//</3.  2i 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.     N.    J. 

Presented  by 

IHe.  Wlc^ow  o-f  Georg'e.IlL.ip'an  ^    ''^^ 

Section y...«i..l.>5 

oopv^  2. 


■^-u 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

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INl."/ 


COMMENTARY 


HOLY    SCRIPTURES: 

CRITICAL,  DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETICAL, 

WITH    SPECIAL    REFERENCE    TO    :\IINISTERS    AND    STUDENTS. 


JOHN    PETER   LANGE,  D.D. 

uc  comfEOTioM  wire  a  nuubeb  or  ebcinext  ecbopean  divines. 


TRANSLATED    FROM   THE    GERMAN,    AND   EDITED,    WITH  ADDUrONS, 
ORIGINAL  AND  SELECTED 


PHILIP   SCHAFF,   D.D. 

m  OONHEOnOS  with   AMERJOAN  6CUOLAB8  OF  VAIUOL'3  EVANGELICAL    DENOMlNATKWi. 


VOL.  XUI.  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT:  CONTArNlNO 
EZEKIEL  AND  DANIEL. 


NEW  YORK: 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS, 

1899 


THE    BOOK 


■-^. 


OF  THE 


PROPHET    EZEKIEL. 


THEOLOGICALLY   AXD   HOMILETICALLY   EXPOUNDED 


BT 

/ 

FR.  WILHELM   JULIUS   SCHRODER,  B.D., 

LATE  PASTOK  OF  THE   REFORMED  CHURCH    AT  ELBEBFELD.  PBU8S1A. 


TRANSLATED,    ENLARGED,    AND    EDITED 

BT 

PATRICK    FAIRBAIRN,  D.I\. 

LATV  PaiNCtPAL  OF  THE   FREE  CHURCH   COLLKOE,  OU •::■:. 7?. 
AND 

Rev.  WILLIAM    FINDLAY,  M.A., 

LARSHALL.    SCOTLAND,  • 

AIDED    BT 

Rbt.  THOMAS   CRERAR,  M.A.,  and   Rev.  SINCLAIR   MANSON.  M.A, 


NEW  YORK : 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1899 


Bstand  according  to  Act  of  Congi^ss.  in  the  jear  irTfi,  tj 

BCBIBNER,    ARMSTRONG    k    CO. 
tfl  ttae  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  CoDgrese  at  Washington. 


Trow's 

Printing  and  Bookbinding  QXt 

205-213  £ast  12th  St., 

NEW    YORK. 


PREFACE. 


The  thirteenth  volume  of  this  work  embiaces  the  Commentaries  on  the  Prophetical  Books  of 
Ezekiel  and  Daniel. 

I.  The  Commentaiy  on  EzEKlEL  was  prepared  ( 1873 )  by  my  friend,  the  Rev.  F.  W.  J. 
ScHRuDER,  Pastor  of  the  First  Eeformed  Church  at  Hberfeld,  a  gentleman  of  thorouffh  theologi- 
cal education,  sound  views,  and  great  pulpit  abilities.  He  intended  to  devote  himself  to  an 
academic  career,  took  the  degree  of  B.D.  (Lk.  T7ieol.),  in  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  began  a 
Commentary  on  the  Old  Testament  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Lanoe,  issuing  a  volume  on 
Genesis,  which  was  well  received.  But  when  the  celebrated  Dr.  F.  W.  KRTTMMAcnER  removed 
from  Elberfeld  to  Berlin  (in  1847),  Mr.  Schrodeb,  on  his  recommendation,  was  selected  hia 
successor,  and  continued  in  this  pastoral  charge  till  his  death,  in  February,  1876.  He  looked 
forward  with  great  interest  to  the  appearance  of  the  English  translation  of  his  work,  on  which 
he  spent  much  labor  and  care. 

The  English  edition  was  intrusted  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  F.\iRB.\ra>?,  of  Glasgow,  one  of  the  fathers 
and  founders  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  himself  the  author  of  a  valuable  Commentary 
on  Ezekiel,  as  well  as  other  well  known  theological  works. '  His  lamented  death  delayed  the  work. 
But  he  had  associated  with  him  his  pupil  and  friend,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Findlay,  M.A.,  of  Larkhall 
Scotland,  who,  in  connection  with  two  other  Scotch  ministers,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Crerar,  JI.A. 
of  Cardross,  and  the  Rev.  SniCLAiR  MansoN,  M.A.,  Free  Church  College,  Glasgow,  complete^ 
the  task.     The  translation  has  been  executed  as  follows : 

Rev.  Wm.  Findlat,  pp.      1-179. 

Rev.  Thos.  Crerar,        180-240. 

Rev.  Dr.   Fairbairn,       241-331,  (close  of  chap.  XXXIV). 

Rev.  S.  Manso.n,  331-492. 


*  Dr.  Patmck  FA1RB.URN  was  bom  in  January,  1805,  and  died  August  6. 1874.  See  the  BioprapbicHl  Sketch  by  Prof, 
DocGLiS.  D.D.  (his  successor),  in  the  "  Monthly  Record  "  of  the  Free  Chnrch  of  Scotland,  for  Oct.  1,  1874,  pp.  417-218. 
»nd  the  Memoir  prefixed  to  Faibbaibn'b  '•  Pastornl  Epistles,"  Edinburgh,  1S75. 


PREFACE. 


Many  of  the  additions,  which  are  numerous,  have  been  extracted  from  Dr.  FAiRBArRN's  Com' 
meutary  and  from  his  manuscript  notes.  His  forte  lay  in  the  development  of  principles  and  com- 
prehensive views  rather  than  in  critical  notes  and  details.  The  chief  additions  are  on  the  English 
literature  of  Ezekiel  (p.  30),  the  vision  of  the  Cherubim  (pp.  52-54),  the  symbolical  actions  fpp. 
77-78),  the  390  days  (p.  81),  the  abominations  in  the  Temple  (pp.  104r-106),  Noah.  Daniel  and  Job 
(p.  151),  the  marriage  union  of  Jehovah  and  Israel  (pp.  161-162),  the  Jewish  Sabbath  (p.  197),  the 
Prince  of  Tyre  (pp.  262-263),  the  Assyrian  cedar  (p.  284),  the  image  of  the  Shepherd  (p.  318),  the 
d'vine  promises  in  Chaps.  XXXIV-XXXVII  (pp.  353-353),  Gog  and  Magog  (pp.  372-373),  and 
especially  on  the  vision  of  the  Temple  (pp.  439^44). 

II.  The  Commentary  on  Daniel  is  the  work  of  Prof.  Zockler  (1870),  whom  the  readers  of 
Lanqe  already  know  as  one  of  the  largest  and  ablest  contributors  to  the  Old  Testament  part  of 
this  Commentary. 

The  English  edition  of  Daniel  is  the  work  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Strong,  of  Drew  Theological 
Seminary,  aided  by  the  Rev.  6.  Miller,  B.D.,  of  Walpach  Centre,  N.  J.,  who  prepared  the 
first  draft  of  the  translation.  Dr.  Strong  has  inserted  the  Biblical  Text  with  its  emendations 
and  Critical  Notes,  and  has  made  all  the  additions  to  the  Commentary.  The  most  extensive  of 
these  are  the  synoptical  view  of  Daniel's  prophecies,  in  tabular  form,  given  in  the  Introduction, 
originally  prepared  by  Dr.  Strong  for  another  work,  and  the  excursus  on  the  Seventy  Weeks. 
Dr.  Strong  has  everywhere  added  the  interpretations  of  later  or  unnoticed  Commentaries,  espec- 
ially those  of  Dr.  Keii,  and  Moses  StujIRT.  He  differs  from  the  German  author  with  respect 
to  the  genuineness  of  certain  parts  of  Chap.  XI  (vers.  5-39),  and  hopes  he  has  fully  vindicated  the 
complete  integrity  of  the  text,  as  well  as  cleared  up  those  difficulties  which  the  author  has 
confessedly  left  nnsolved.  Dr.  Zockler  himself  admits,  in  the  Preface,  that  his  doubts  con- 
cerning Chap.  XI.  are  purely  subjective,  (the  supposed  analogia  visionis  prophetica,)  and  that  the 
external  testimonies  are  all  in  favor  of  the  integrity  of  the  text. 

PHILIP  SCHAFF. 

New  Yoek,  Oct.,  18W. 


THE   PROPHET   EZEKIEL. 


INTRODUCTION. 

§  1.   NAME   OF  THE  PROPHET,   AND   FTS  MEASmfG. 

In  Hebrew,  Jechedseqel ;  according  to  the  Greek  translation,  Jezeii-el ;  in  Sirach  in  GrecizeO 
form,  Jezeki-elos,  as  Josephus  also  writes  the  name ;  in  Latin  (Vulgate),  Ezechi-el ;  Luther, 
Heseki-el. 

'?Hpm'>  is   a  compound  either  of  hvi  ptri'    (Ewald)   or  of  ^N  pjn'  (Gesenius).     In  the 

former  case  the  meaning  of  the  name,  according  to  prevailing  linguistic  usage,  would  be  the 
intransitive  one :  ^^  God  is  strong  (firm)"  (Hengstenberg :  "or  he  in  relation  to  whom  God 
becomes  strong  ") ;  in  the  other  case  the  name  of  the  prophet  would  mean :  "  God  strengthens" 
i.e.  "  whom  God  makes  firm  (hardens)  "  (Baumgarten  :  "  whose  character  is  a  personal  confir- 
mation of  the  strengthening  of  God  ").  The  verb  pfn  may  be  compared  with  inx'^'-'  {'"X'';), 
"to  he  strong;"  in  its  radical  meaning  it  has  a  transitive  character  ("to  straiten,"  "to 
press,"  "to  make  firm,"  "to  fetter").  Hiller  in  the  Onomastkon  sacrum  translates  the 
name  Ezekiel :  Deus  prxvahbit ;  and  a  similar  explanation  is  given  by  Witsius  also  (Treatise, 
De  Pruphetis  in  i-apl.  Bahy}.,  Miscell.  s.  i.  19,  6),  J.  H.  Michaelis,  and  others. 

The  names  of  the  prophets  have  their  providential  element,  so  that  they  may  produce  the 
impression  of  emblems  in  word.  What  the  character  of  the  time  is  in  the  divine  judgment 
and  the  special  task  of  the  prophet,  his  calling  from  God,  and  therefore  also  his  comfort 
against  men,  appear  to  have  found  expression  in  the  name. 

"  Like  all  the  names  of  the  canonical  prophets,  the  name  of  Ezekiel  also  is  not  such  a 
name  as  he  had  borne  from  his  youth,  but  an  official  name  which  he  had  assumed  at  the 
beginning  of  his  calling"  (Hengstenberg). 

When  passages  like  chap.  i.  3,  iii.  14  in  Ezekiel  are  quoted  for  the  explanation  of  his  name, 
we  arrive  at  no  further  result  than  something  like  what  may  be  said  distinctively  of  the 
prophetic  order  in  general, — this  compulsion  of  the  human  spirit  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  a 
result  of  superior  divine  power.  The  holy  men  of  God  were  ([epofiifoi  i/ird  'rrnvfiaTos  aylou, 
'J  Pet.  i.  21  ;  God  carried  them  along  with  Him  (Ezek.  iii.  14),  proved  Himself  first  of  all  in 
themselves  to  be  the  strong  God.  But  while  "the  hand  of  Jehovah  was  upon  him,"  and 
"  was  strong  upon  him,"  there  is  besides  a  distinctive,  peculiar  element  in  Ezekiel,  as  con- 
trasted e.f/.  with  Jeremiah  (comp.  his  first  appearance,  Jer.  i.  4-7,  xx.  7),  or  even  as  in  the 
case  of  Jonah.  The  interpretation  of  the  name  assumes  a  viore  individual  aspect  only 
when  passages  like  chap.  iii.  8,  9  are  also  taken  into  consideration.  Hard  aijainsl  hard  (pTH) 
is  accordingly  the  mission  of  our  prophet,  the  counter-hard  he  is  to  be  according  to  God's 
will.  God  stands  fast  to  His  purpose,  alike  as  respects  judgment  and  as  respects  salvation  -. 
this  is  the  stamp  of  the  time  according  to  God  in  the  name  of  Ezekiel,  the  objective  programme 
of  his  mission  for  those  to  whom  he  is  sent,  and  let  the  heathen  also  know  it.  Ami  for  the 
accomplishment  of  such  a  task  God  strengthens  him  (the  subjective  side),  i.e.  iu  conformity 
with  his  nature,  which  is,  of  course,  of  another  type  from  that  of  his  parallel  Jeremiah  (§§  2, 
4).  Ezekiel  has  not  the  "tender  heart"  and  "soft  disposition."  but  is  "an  individuality 
already  endowed  by  nature  with  admirable  strength  of  mind  "  (Havernick).  Where  the 
man  is  iron,  the  divine  preparation  consists  in  this,  that  God  makes  hira  .steel,  hardens  him, 
— lends  to  his  natural  power  and  energy  the  consecration  of  a  sword  vf  God  (Isaiah  =  Godl 
(is)  salvation,  God  (is)  gracious;  Ezekiel  =  God  (is)  hard). 

i, 


EZEKIEL. 


Appendix. — "  We  may  suppose  that  pious  parents  in  those  very  corrupt  times  wished  to 
testify  their  faith  and  to  recommend  it  to  their  eliildren  by  bestowing  on  them  names  so 
significant:  that  God  will  support  the  pious  with  His  might,  and  carry  through  the  covenant 
of  His  grace  with  His  strong  hand  "  (Witsius). — "  The  name  is  borrowed  from  the  invincible 
might  of  God  and  our  Saviour,  and  our  prophet  was  able  to  comfort  and  fortify  himself 
against  all  temptations  and  difficulties  in  his  office  by  the  mere  remembrance  even  of  his 
name  and  its  meaning"  (J.  H.  Micliaelis). — "This  prophet  strengthened  and  fortified  the 
souls  of  the  Israelites,  and  on  this  account  he  was  so  named  through  Divine  Providence  from 
his  birth ;  i.e.  he  was  to  express  the  might  and  strength  of  God,  which  He  would  manifest  in 
the  future  redemption.  For  the  prophets'  names  were  by  no  means  given  them  at  the  will 
and  pleasure  of  their  parents,  but  they  got  such  names  from  above,  through  Divine  Provi- 
dence, as  corresponded  with  their  sphere  of  activity  and  their  deeds  "  (Abarbanel).  "  God,  the 
Strong,  imparts  power,  gives  strength  and  continuance.  Thus  might,  power,  strength  from  the 
hand  which  alone  is  strong;  with  human  impotence  nothing  is  ever  done"  (W.  Neumann). — 
"  Many  explain  the  name  of  the  prophet  in  this  way  :  '  he  who  is  strengthened  by  the  Lord  ; ' 
others  in  this  way :  '  he  who  holds  fast  to  God ; '  and  the  man  who  will  discharge  his  office 
with  success  must  be  strengthened  by  the  Lord,  for  mere  natural  strength  is  too  powerless 
to  bear  such  a  burden  and  to  withstand  the  violence  of  the  enemy.  Let  a  man  therefore 
hold  fast  to  God,  in  order  that  he  may  overcome  through  the  power  of  the  Most  High;  let 
him  do  so  with  prayer,  in  order  that  his  work  may  have  a  blessed  result"  (J.  F.  Starck). 

§   2.    HIS   POSITION   AMONG    "  THE   FOUR   GREATER   PROPHETS." 

As  is  well  known,  the  acceptance  of  four  so-called  "  greater  prophets,"  including  Daniel 
as  such  after  Ezekiel,  in  Luther's  translation  of  the  Bible,  rests  on  the  precedent  of  the 
Vulgate,  which  in  this  had  been  anticipated  by  the  Greek  translation  of  the  LXX.  and  also 
by  Josephus,  while  the  editions  and  Mss.  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  reckon  only  three  D'Tnj — 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel — and  place  Daniel  among  the  D'3in3- 

If  the  designation  of  the  "  greater  "  prophets  has  a  mere  outward  reference  to  the  size 
of  their  books  which  have  come  down  to  us,  a  deeper  instinct  has  combined  the  three,  and 
then  also  added  the  fourth.     We  have  here  the  fourfold  Old  Testament  gospel. 

Tiie  fact  that  in  the  Talmud,  as  in  German  and  French  codices  (comp.  W.  Neumann  on 
Jeremiah,  pp.  10  sqq),  Jeremiah  is  the  first,  and  Ezekiel  and  Isaiah  follow  him, — of  which 
Kimchi  gives  this  as  the  explanation  :  "  As  the  books  of  Kings  (being  those  which  precede) 
close  with  the  devastation,  and  the  whole  of  Jeremiah  is  occupied  with  the  devastation,  and 
as  Ezekiel  on  the  other  hand  ends  with  comfort,  and  Isaiah  is  wholly  comfort,"  the  Talmudists 
had  joined  "devastation  with  devastation,  and  comfort  with  comfort," — gives  no  help  indeed 
to  a  deeper  understanding  of  the  connection,  but  we  see,  although  this  order  of  succession 
differs  from  the  Rabbinical  one  of  the  Masoretic  text,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other  a 
prophetic  triad,  and  that  consisting  of  the  same  persons.  The  one  arrangement  is  pre- 
dominantly according  to  contents,  the  other  is  chronological. 

The  Caln-er  Handbuch  thus  expresses  itself:  "  Ezekiel  forms  with  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah 
a  glorious  triad.  WhUe  Isaiah  exhibits  the  servant  of  God  marching  along  in  exalted 
greatness,  and  Jeremiah  exhibits  him  gently  admonishing,  silently  suffering,  Ezekiel  is  the 
one  who,  in  the  first  place,  breaking  in  pieces  the  hard  hearts  with  the  hammer  of  the  law, 
represents  the  strict  inexorable  judge,  but  thereafter,  pouring  soothing  balm  into  the  open 
wounds,  approves  himself  as  the  healing  physician.  Faith,  love,  hope,  would  be  a  suitable 
inscription  over  these  three  prophetic  books  also." 

Whether,  then,  we  make  the  ascent  from  Isaiah  with  the  Rabbins,  or  to  Isaiah  with  the 
Talmudists,  in  either  arrangement  Ezekiel  has  Jeremiah  as  a  neighbour ;  and  consequently 
for  his  position  in  the  triad  this  juxtaposition,  which  is  also  otherwise  confirmed  (§  3),  is 
fii-st  of  all  to  be  noticed.  What  Jeremiah's  policy  of  the  kingdom  of  God  is  in  its  melancholy 
way,  in  presence  of  the  temple  and  while  still  in  the  holy  city,  that  same  is  the  choleric^ 
Ezekiel,  far  from  the  sanctuary  among  those  already  carried  away.  "  Humble  yourselve* 
therefore  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  that  He  may  exalt  you  in  His  time," — so  runs  the 
preaching  of  both,  this  is  their  harmonious  note;  thus  an  announcement  ol  judgment,  of  the 
full  measure  of  punishment ;  just  as  Calvin  says,  that  "  God  has  made  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel 

'  The  Ezekiel  of  Michael  Angelo  on  the  roof  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  is  correctly  described  by  H. 
Grimm  in  his  Life  of  Michael  Angela,  "with  the  upper  part  of  the  body  eagerly  bent  forward,  the 
right  hand  stretched  out  in  tlie  act  of  demonstration,  holding  in  the  left  an  unrolled  parchment ;  it  ii 
M  if  one  saw  the  thoughts  chasing  one  another  in  his  mind." 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  instromeDts  of  arraigning  the  Jews  as  guilty,  and  of  lioWing  up  before  them  the  sentence 
of  condemnation."  * 

But  if  Kzekiel  is  parallel  with  Jeremiah,  he  may  also  further,  likr  him,  be  made  to 
approach  Isaiah.  In  a  theological  point  of  view,  Christ  is  certainly  ahnve  all  and  the 
beginning  of  the  way  of  God  with  sinners,  God's  will  and  purpose  from  eternity.  The 
"  sali'ation  of  Jehovah,"  therefore,  takes  the  lead  among  the  prophets  also,  and  Imiah  haa 
his  place  before  Jeremiah.  Historically,  on  the  other  hand,  Christ  appears  as  the  end  of  the 
law  •  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound  ;  and  out  of  the  curse  on  Israel  came 
the  blessing  to  all  nations.  This  is,  ax  far  as  the  law  w  concerned,  the  historical  transition, 
and  in  fact  that  from  Ezelciel  to  Isaiah.  For,  as  is  included  in  the  meaning  of  the  name 
Ezekiel,  not  merely  does  the  judgment  stand  fast,  but  the  salvation  likewise  stands  fast 
through  God. 

"  As  Isaiah  has  the  calling  to  bring  the  word  of  Jehovah  to  Israel  at  the  time  when  the 
necessity  of  the  judgment  of  the  captivity  to  be  suspended  over  them  had  publicly  manifested 
itself,  and  as  Jeremiah  discharged  the  prophetic  oflSce  when  this  great  and  fearful  turn  of 
affaire  burst  forth  upon  the  city  of  Jerusalem  and  the  house  of  David,  so  Ezekiel  has  the 
prophetic  calling  to  introduce  pereonally  the  stiff-necked  house  of  Israel  into  their  thou.sand 
years'  school  of  trial — into  the  wilderness  of  the  heathen"  (Baumgarten).  ("As  Isaiah 
proclaims  the  wrath  of  God  in  words  of  thimder,  and  Jeremiah  wails  in  deep  plaintive  tones, 
30  Ezekiel  spreads  out  a  multitude  of  splendid  pictures,  like  banners,  under  which  the 
scattered  people  are  again  to  gather  and  comfort  themselves,  above  all  the  picture  of  the 
ideal  temple.  With  Isaiah,  power  of  intellect  predominates ;  with  Jeremiah,  depth  of 
feeling  ;  with  Ezekiel,  fancy."    Wolfg.  Menzel.) 

If,  finally,  we  add  to  the  position  of  our  prophet  in  the  triad  with  respect  to  Jeremiah 
and  with  respect  to  Isaiah  his  position  with  re.'pect  to  Daniel,  the  fourth  and  additional 
greater  prophet,  then  we  have  again  a  parallelism.  The  parallel  of  Ezekiel  with  Jeremiah 
has  reference  to  their  labours  inwardly  among  L<rrael ;  the  parallel  of  Ezekiel  with  Daniel  haa 
reference  to  their  labours  ontwardly  upon  the  heathen.  What  is  the  case  with  Daniel  in  an 
txtraordinary  way  and  in  subordination  to  his  official  position  in  the  world-empire  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  that  is  Ezekiel's  ordinary  calling  and  office.  "It  is  not  merely  the  circum- 
ttances  of  the  theocracy  in  itself  that  Ezekiel  keeps  in  his  eye,"  says  Havernick,  "  but  also 
its  relation  to  the  heathen  world,  chap,  xxv.-xxxii.  It  is  meant  that  we  should  clearly 
perceive  by  means  of  his  word,  directed  to  the  mightiest,  wisest,  and  proudest  nations  of  the 
earth,  the  relation  of  that  heathenism,  which  was  certainly  and  for  ever  sinking,  to  that 
theocracy,  which  was  at  present  indeed  in  a  vanquished  condition,  but  yet  was  ripening  for 
an  everlasting  victory  over  the  world."  Comp.  the  article  Prophetenthum  des  A.  T.,  by 
Oehler.  (Herzog,  Encycl.  xii.  pp.  230  sqq.) — Richter :  "  Ezekiel  encounters  the  heathen 
eymbolism  of  Babylon,  just  as  Daniel  encounters  the  heathen  magic  of  the  Chaldeans." 

§  3.   THE   CIRCUMSTANCES  OF  HIS  LIFE,   INCLUDING  WHAT   IS  TRADITIONAL. 

EzeKel  was  of  priestly  extraction,  like  Jeremiah  and  Zechariah  also.  (The  name  occurs 
again  in  1  Chron.  xxiv.  16  in  a  priestly-Levitical  connection.)  His  father  is  called  (chap, 
i.  3;  "  Buzi  the  priest,"  ^  of  whom  Holy  Scripture  relates  nothing  else.  Witsius  connects 
the  name  'ri3,  "  «•«•  my  insult,"  with  the  time,  which  was  "full  of  disgrace  and  shame." 
Jewish  curiosity  has  discovered  Jeremiah  concealed  under  that  name,  who,  as  is  alleged,  was 
called  "  a  despised  one,"  and  was  Ezekiel's  father.  It  passes  current  generally  with  the 
Jews  as  a  rule  :  that  the  fathers  of  the  prophets  also  must  have  been  prophets,  if  we  find 
them  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

His  extraction,  and  that  from  "the  more  respectable  priestly  families,"  is  evidenced, 
according  to  Havernick,  "also  by  that  closer  relation  in  which  the  prophet  (chap,  ^xi.) 
appears  to  have  stood  to  the  more  distinguished  members  of  the  priesthood.' — Ewald  :  "  As 
these,  the  firet  of  the  exiles,  were  in  general  only  richer  or  more  respectable  Israelites :  he 

*  Umbreit  draws  a  parallel  between  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah  in  the  following  way  :—"  Both  of 
priestly  descent,  but  Jeremiah  is  only  a  prophet ;  Ezekiel  does  not  even  in  a  strange  land  pat  off  the 
priestly  costume,  and  roots  himself  firmly  in  strictly  Levitical  ordinance,  although  he  gives  it  a 
new  form  in  a  free  spirit.  Jeremiah  is  more  the  prophet  of  the  Reformed  Chnrch  development  j 
Ezekiel  represents  ontwardly  the  system  of  priestly  continuance  of  Catholicism." 

=  Unless  by  pjn  (Hengstenberg,  Bnnsen)  Ezekiel  himself  ia  to  be  daiignated  as  the  "  priest  amoi!« 
the  prophets." 


EZEKIEL. 


sprang  besides  from  that  branch  of  Levi  to  which,  in  preference  to  the  ordinary  Levites,  the 
peculiar  priestly  dignity  belonged,  chap.  i.  3,  viz.  the  sons  of  Zadok,  chap.  xl.  46,  xliii.  19 
xliv.  10,  15,  xlv.  3  sqq.,  xlviii.  11 ;  comp.  1  Kings  i.  sqq." 

Born  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  in  the  reign  of  King  Josiah,  he  lived  there  till  he  wa* 
carried  away  into  exile.  His  childhood  and  youth  fall  accordingly  into  the  period  of  the 
following  kings :  Josiah  (the  Pious)  ;  Jehoahaz,  whom  Pharaoh  Necho  sent  captive  to 
Egypt  after  three  short  months ;  Jehoiakim,  the  ungodly  vassal  of  Egypt ;  and  Jehoiachin, 
who  reigned  only  three  months  and  ten  days.  The  "  captivity  of  King  Jehniachin  ''  is  with 
Ezekiel  from  the  commencement  (chap.  i.  2)  and  throughout  an  event  of  such  moment, — 
besides,  he  designates  it  expressly  (chap.  xl.  1)  as  "  our  captivity," — that  he  was  without 
doubt  among  those  who  were  at  that  time  carried  captioe  to  Babylon  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  14  sqq.). 

He  belonged,  accordingly,  not  to  the  poor  and  mean  people  who  remained  behind  in  the 
land  ({•"isri'DV  n?l)-  If  we  take  I  Cor.  i.  26  sqq.  as  not  merely  a  New  Testament  point  of 
view,  then  the  choice  of  Ezekiel  as  a  prophet  is  certainly  interesting.  If  we  fall  in  with 
the  view,  that  a  certain  externality  and  splendour  is  proper  to  the  Old  Testament  everywhere, 
then  the  prophet  who  is  to  be  reckoned  with  the  more  distinguished  Jews  shares  this  Old 
Testament  peculiarity.  Certainly  the  Chaldeans  took  not  only  what  had  importance  as. 
regards  rank,  influence,  property,  power,  and  skill,  but,  if  not  "  above  ali,"  yet  in  addition, 
the  more  spiritual  portion  of  the  nation  with  them,  for  which  Hengstenberg  makes  Jer.  xxiv. 
pass  as  a  proof.     This  happened  about  the  year  B.C.  599  (Winer,  598  ;   Bunsen,  597). 

Josephus,  who  certainly  makes  a  mistake  in  the  outset  in  asserting  that  Ezekiel  was 
already  carried  away  under  Jehoiakim,  designates  him  as  Ttci;  cio  at  the  time,  which 
Baumgarten  (Herzog,  Real-Encyclop.  iv.  p.  297),  following  the  lead  of  J.  H.  Michaelis, 
translates  not  as  "a  boy,"  but  "in  his  youthful  years."  "As  it  is  not  till  the  fifth  year 
after  the  captivity  of  Jeconiah  that  he  is  called  to  the  prophetic  office  (chap.  i.  2),"  this 
notice  has  "an  internal  probability."  On  the  other  hand,  Havernick  thinks  there  is  "  littls 
probability  "  that  Ezekiel  "left  his  home  very  young."  In  favour  of  "a  more  advanced  age 
testimony  is  certainly  borne  by  the  matured,  thorough-going  priestly  spirit  which  prevails 
in  his  prophecies ;  unquestionably  he  had  already  for  a  considerable  time  performed  priestly 
services  in  the  temple,  for  he  betrays  the  most  exact  acquaintance  with  the  ancient 
sanctuary  in  its  separate  parts  (chap,  viii.,  chap.  xl. -xliii.);  with  which  also  the  pro- 
portionally brief  period  of  27  years,  being  the  period  of  his  sojourn  in  exile  (comp.  chap, 
i.  1  with  chap.  xxix.  17),  corresponds,  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  exactly  probable  that  the  prophet 
long  survived  this  period."  If  Hengstenberg  is  right  on  chap.  i.  1  (see  the  exposition), — at 
all  events,  this  hypothesis  of  the  older  expositors  also  recommends  itself  in  preference  to 
others, — then  Ezekiel  at  the  time  of  his  exile  was  in  the  25th  year  of  his  age,  and  we  would 
have  to  place  the, birth  of  our  prophet  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  7th  century  B.C. 

When  he  entered  on  the  prophetic  office  in  the  year  B.C.  593  at  the  Chebar,  where  the 
exiles  had  been  planted  as  colonists,  Jeremiah  had  already  been  acting  as  a  prophet  foi 
more  than  30  years.  According  to  Bleek,  "  it  cannot  indeed  be  doubted  that  Ezekiel  also 
had  known  him  personally,  had  often  heard  him,  and  had  also  read  sayings  of  his."  But 
certainly  we  know  nothing  of  it ;  only  he  shows  evidently  that  he  presupposes  the  older 
contemporary  as  his  companion  in  spirit,  quotes  him,  leans  upon  him,  is  conscious  to  himself, 
personally  and  officially,  of  having  a  commoa  calling  with  Jeremiah.'  Later  tradiliun  has 
constructed  out  of  such  relationship,  in  express  form,  the  position  of  an  assistant  of  Jeremiah. 

In  a  case  where  already  in  the  law  (Num.  viii.  24,  comp.  chap.  iv.  3,  23,  30)  an  earlier  age 
for  service,  for  the  time  of  the  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle,  was  contemplated,  and  where 
David  had  appointed  even  the  20th  year  for  entrance  on  the  Levitical  service  (1  Chron. 
XXX. ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  17  ;  Ezra  iii.  8),  the  emphasis  which  Hengstenberg  has  laid  upon 
Ezekiel's  30th  year  for  the  same,  as  being  "  a  man  of  priestly  family,"  appears  unsuitable. 
Before  his  entrance  on  the  prophetic  office  in  this  year,  there  lie,  of  course,  five  years  of  the 
exile,  in  which  Ezekiel,  far  from  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  could  no  more  execute  the 
priestly  calling  to  which  lie  was  born ;  but  that  he  performed  priestly  duty  before  this  time 

'  "  And  this  was  no  natural  coincidence,  that  they  prophesied,  the  one  at  Jerusalem,  the  other  in 
Chaldea,  in  such  a  way  as  from  one  mouth,  like  two  singers,  the  one  accompanying  the  other's  voice. 
For  we  can  wish  no  better  harmony  than  that  which  exhibits  itself  in  these  two  aeiranti  of  God** 
(Calvin). 


INTRODUCTION.  S 


Is  likewise  probable.'  His  coming  forth  as  a  prophet  in  his  30th  year  compensated  in  an 
extraordinary  way  for  an  incongruity  in  bis  life,  viz.  his  compulsory  retirement  as  priest 
before  the  time  fixed  by  the  law. 

Theodoret  concludes  from  chap.  xxiv.  that  Ezekiel  was  a  Nazarite  (?).  We  see  from  thii 
chapter  that  he  was  married ;  his  -wife  died  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  banishment.  Passages 
like  chap.  iii.  24,  viii.  1,  show  him  to  us  settled  down  in  every  shape,  in  possession  of  a  hoiue 
of  his  own. 

Everything  else  connected  with  his  life,  on  the  other  hand,  belongs  to  that  manifold 
tradition  which  has  become  legend,  just  as  "  outside  his  own  book  there  is  no  further  mention 
of  him  in  the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament "  (Bleek) ;  the  apocryphal  Jesus 
Sirach  alone  mentions  him  with  commendation  (chap.  xlix.).  As  to  the  writings  of  Ezekiel 
falsely  so  called,  see  Fabricius,  Codex  pseudep.  V.  T.  i. 

Thus  there  is  a  fabulous  report  of  a  meeting  between  him  and  Pythagoras,  who,  as  is  well 
known,  is  reported  to  have  gone  in  quest  of  the  temple  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  also;  he  is 
said  to  have  been  a  disciple  of  Ezekiel,  nay,  to  have  been  Ezekiel  himself. — So  miracles  are 
attributed  to  him,  such  as  leading  the  Jews  dryshod  across  the  river  Chebar,  drowning  the 
Chaldeans  therein,  and  the  like. — So  he  is  said  to  have  been  murdered  by  a  fellow-exile,  a 
Jewish  prince  or  judge,  whose  idolatry  he  reproved — to  have  died  as  a  martyr.  See  in  the 
Bomish  Martyrology  at  the  10th  April,  Ezekiel's  day  in  the  calendar. — His  corpse  is  said  to 
have  been  conveyed  into  the  same  sepulchral  cavern  in  which  Shem's  and  Arphaxad's  bones 
had  been  deposited.  "  In  the  middle  ages  there  was  shown,  some  days'  journey  from  Bagdad, 
his  tomb,  to  which  the  Jews  made  pilgrimages  from  Parthia  and  Media"  (Winer);  and 
down  even  to  the  present  day  it  is  said  to  be  a  place  of  pious  veneration.  Comp.  Witsius, 
Misc.  s.  i.  19,  10-U. 

Ezekiel  prophesied  from  the  seventh  year  before,  up  to  at  least  the  sixteenth  year  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, — 22-23  years.  He  would  accordingly  have  been  upwards  of 
fifty  years  of  age.     The  whole  of  his  active  service  as  a  prophet  belongs  to  the  exile. 

§  4.   THE   HISTORICAL   BACKGROUND   AKD  THE  LABOCKS  OF  THE   PROPHET. 

1.  The  general  background  as  connected  with  the  history  of  the  world.  2.  The  more  special 
Jewish  ( Israeli tish?)  one.  3.  The  labours  of  the  prophet  during  the  first  seven  years. 
4.  His  labours  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

I.  Egypt  at  this  period  no  longer  mysteriously  closed  as  of  old,  has  opened  itself  to 
strangers  imder  Psammetichus,  who  has  attained  to  power  by  means  of  strangers  ;  old  Egypt 
goes  to  meet  its  self-dissolution.  New  Egypt,  however,  as  characterized,  for  example,  by  the 
genial  circumnavigation  of  the  whole  of  Africa  under  his  successor  Pharaoh  Necho,  rather 
than  conquests  on  the  Syrian  border  and  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  is  not  able  to  maintain 
itself;  with  the  defeat  at  Carchemish  (Circesium)  B.C.  606,  or  605,  or  604,  the  star  of  the 
Pharaohs  is  already  near  the  horizon. 

It  is  in  part  a  period  of  gigantic  downfalls,  EzekiePs  period  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  power  of  the  Assyrians,  to  which  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and  the  Syrians  had  fallen  a 
prey,  succumbed  to  the  coalition  of  the  Chaldeans  and  Medes.  Nineveh,  stretching  three 
days'  journey  along  the  Tigris,  is  since  then  (606,  625  ?)  that  range  of  hills  consisting  of 
immense  heaps  of  ruins  opposite  Mosul,  which  more  recent  excavations  have  made  so  inte- 
resting. Nebuchadnezzar  the  Conqueror,  the  Destroyer,  remains  the  leader  of  fashion  for  this 
period  in  the  East. 

According  to  Silberschlag's  Chronology  of  the  World  (pp.  81,  83),  there  emerges  already 
about  this  period  the  Heraclide  Caranus,  the  alleged  founder  of  the  Macedonian  empire,  just 
as  the  birth  of  Cyrus  is  to  be  noticed. 

In  Atheyis,  Draco,  at  the  command  of  the  people,  wrote  (B.C.  622  or  624)  his  code.  The 
people  said  it  was  written  with  blood.  Draco  must  therefore  be  followed  by  a  Solon  , 
and  his  more  humane  legislation  also  still  belongs  to  this  period.  It  is  the  period  of  the  so- 
called  "seven  wise  men  of  Greece,"  also  of  the  lyric  poet  AkaMs,  and  of  the  greatest  poetess 

'  "  How  he  spent  his  time  up  till  this  the  greatest  turning-point  of  his  life,  is  not  reported  to  us ; 
but  he  Uved  certainly  in  the  exercise  of  a  predominantly  priestly-judicial  care  for  his  people,  studied 
the  law,  and  rea<i  the  writings  of  the  prophets  who  lived  before  him  "  (Umbreit). 


6  EZEKIEL. 


of  whom  Greece  boasted,  the  Lesbian  Sappho. — For  Roine  contemporary  chronology  uotei 
Tarquiaius  Priscus,  the  fifth  of  those  legendary  "seven  kings,"  who  in  succession  strengthened 
and  consolidated  the  city  and  the  state. 

2.  The  more  special  historic  background,  on  which  the  labours  of  our  prophet  display  them- 
selves, consists  of  the  occurrences  connected  with  the  Jews,  their  circumstances  and  conditiout 
from  the  time  of  the  captivity  of  King  Jehoiachin  (or  Jeconiah). 

At  home  in  the  fatherland  there  is  residing  at  Jerusalem  the  last  king  of  the  house  oj 
David.  The  Babylonian  servitude  has  already  begun  under  Jehoiakim,  when  Daniel  and  his 
companions  were  taken  along  with  him  to  Babylon  (Havernick,  Hengstenberg).  Accord- 
ing to  the  usual  view,  it  began  with  the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin.  Set  up  as  he  was  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  Mattaniah,  at  the  time  21  years  of  age,  the  uncle  of  the  captive  Jehoiachin, 
was  in  truth  a  servant  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  although  he  was  called  king  over  the  worthless 
remnant  left  behind  after  the  draining  away  of  the  strength  of  Judah,  and  had,  perhaps 
under  the  impression  of  "Jehovah's  righteousness,"  been  named  Zedekiah  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar (2  Kings  xxiv.  17  sqq. ;  2  Chron.  xixvi.  10  sqq. ;  Jer.  xxivii.  1 ;  Ezek.  xvii.  13  sqq.). 
Over-confidence  in  his  own  power  and  tact  among  the  people,  as  well  as  with  the  great 
ones,  the  court  party, — obstinate  defiance  throughout  as  regards  the  isolated  prophetic  voice 
of  Jeremiah, — so  much  the  more  willing  an  ear  for  the  allurementa  of  the  lying  prophets, 
— ^incentive  on  the  part  of  his  neighbours,  the  small  kingdoms  of  Tyrus,  Sidon,  Edom, 
Ammon,  Moab,  twned  the  head  of  this  king  by  Nebuchadnezzar's  grace,  alike  as  to  the 
serious  oaths  which  bound  his  conscience  as  respects  his  liege  lord  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  13), 
and  as  to  the  inevitable  consequences  which  such  an  act  of  perjury  and  treachery  must 
bring  with  it.  If  not  yet  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  when  the  king 
himself  even  made  a  journey  as  far  as  Babylon,  and  did  obeisance  there,  in  order  to  remove 
any  suspicion  and  for  the  renewal  of  his  homage,  yet  certainly  his  overweening,  defiant 
pride  did  take  shape  when  Hophra  (Wahprahet,  Apries)  had  succeeded  Necho's  son  on  tht 
throne  of  Egypt.  Negotiations  with  Egypt  were  entered  upon ;  but  even  before  the  Egyptiaa 
weapons  were  at  hand,  Zedekiah  rose  up  in  rebellion  for  himself  in  the  ninth  year  (588?),  pro- 
voking Nebuchadnezzar's  wrath  to  an  open  outbreak.  Quicker  than  Egypt's  promised  help 
wa.s  the  vengeance  of  the  Chaldean,  laying  waste  the  defenceless  land,  before  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem  ;  and  when  Hophra,  after  the  city  had  already  for  almost  a  year  withstood  the 
besiegers,  at  length  draws  near  for  its  relief,  he  is  driven  back  to  Africa  without  striking  a 
blow.  JerusfJem,  now  surrounded  anew,  and  without  any  prospect  of  help,  and  besides 
reduced  within  to  the  last  extremity  by  famine,  can  no  longer  hold  out.  The  enemy  has 
made  a  breach  in  the  walls.  Zedekiah  succeeds  in  making  his  escape  on  the  following  night 
from  the  lost  city ;  but  the  Chaldeans  pursuing  him,  arrest  him  in  his  flight,  and  bring  him 
and  those  belonging  to  him  before  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  had  taken  up  his  )  eadquarters  at 
the  northern  boundary  of  Palestine.  His  children  and  adherents  are  slain  before  his  eyes,  and 
his  own  eyes  the  infuriated  conqueror  causes  to  be  put  out.  Dragged  in  chains  to  Babylon, 
he  ends  his  life  there  in  prison  (2  Chron.  xxxvi. ;  Jer.  xxxix. ;  2  Kings  xxv.).  The  walls  of 
Jerusalem  were  thrown  down  by  Nebuchadnezzar's  command,  the  temple  burnt,  as  well  as 
the  royal  palace  and  all  the  other  prominent  buildings.  After  most  thorough  pillage,  and 
after  the  hand  of  the  executioner  had  inflicted  yet  additional  judgment  at  Riblah  (Jer.  liL), 
the  remainder  of  the  people,  with  their  wives  and  children,  down  to  the  poor  vine-dressers 
and  peasants,  were  carried  into  the  Babylonian  captivity  (B.C.  586  or  587  [588]).  Over  those 
who  still  remained  in  the  land  a  Jewish  governor,  Gedaliah,  was  placed,  at  whose  side  stood 
Jeremiah.  There  gathered  also  around  him  those  who  had  escaped  captivity  by  flight  But 
Gedahah  was  murdered,  and  before  the  vengeance  of  the  Chaldeans,  in  spite  of  the  remon 
strance  of  Jeremiah,  the  last  remnant  of  the  people  fled  to  Egypt,  where  they  settled  dowa 
The  prophet  they  compelled  to  go  along  with  them. 

Comp.  Abriss  der  Urgeschichte  des  Orients  nach  Lenormant,  Manuel  d'hist.  anc.  de  FOrient, 
by  M.  Busch,  i.,  Duncker,  i.  p.  829  sqq. 

Jeremiah  had  during  this  period,  while  the  destinies  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  were  being 
accomplished,  to  take  his  stand  not  only  against  the  kings  and  their  great  ones,  but  scarcely 
less  against  the  people  also,  who  oscillated  between  the  madness  of  heathenish  lusts  and  a 


INTRODUCTION. 


hypocritical  se!/-righteoii^ess  from  their  being  the  people  of  God.  A  degenerate  priesthood  and 
thefaUe  prophets  give  to  the  night-picture  its  demoniac  shading.  "Made  a  defeuced  city 
and  an  iron  pillar,  and  brazen  walls,"  the  prophet  of  mournintj  and  of  tears  stands  alone  with 
bis  God  beside  the  basket  full  of  "  figs,  which  are  not  to  be  eaten,"  and  which  are  to  become 
a  terror  and  a  proverb  to  all  the  world,  and  a  curse  (Jer.  xxiv.).  In  prison  and  scourged, 
in  the  pit  full  of  mire,  subjected  to  hunger  and  deadly  peril,  as  well  as  when  receiving  the 
distinctions  of  the  Chaldean,  to  whom  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  promising  the  victory, 
and  even  upon  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem  and  with  the  last  remnants  of  Judah,  Jeremiah  remains 
the  watchman  of  his  native  land  (Jer.  xxxix.  xl.).  His  occasional  relations  to  the  colonists  in 
Babylon  (Jer.  xxix.  li.),  as  well  as  the  close  of  his  life  in  Egypt  (Jer.  xlii.-xliv.),  make  no 
essential  change  in  this  character.  It  is  only  similarly  elegiac,  tragic,  if  one  will,  that  as 
Josiah,  the  pious  king  under  whom  Jeremiah's  prophetic  mission  began,  must  fall  at  Megiddo 
in  conflict  with  the  Egyptians,  so  it  was  just  in  Egypt  that  Jeremiah  also  disappeared. 

To  the  occurrences  just  narrated  the  labours  of  JSzekiel  bear  reference.  He  supplements 
■and  continues  those  of  his  parallel  Jeremiah. 

His  visions,  discourses,  and  actings  are  the  accompaniment  of  the  inward  and  outward 
corruption  of  Judah  ;  the  final  decision  there  forms  the  basis  of  the  principal  division  in  the 
writings  of  our  prophet  (§  6). 

The  circumstances  at  the  river  Chebar  were  certainly  not  in  general  the  same  with  thesi, 
in  the  fatherland,  which  were  ever  fluctuating,  and  never  properly  decided  till  the  desti-uctioii 
of  Jerusalem ; — they  were  settled,  in  so  far  clear,  as  they  were  the  circumstances  of  exile,  of 
Babylonian  captivity ;  although  this  captivity,  as  is  plain  from  many  a  circumstance,  in 
God's  providence  has  unmistakeable  traces  of  forbearance,  of  preservation  in  it.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's procedure,  even  with  respect  to  those  who  remained  behind  at  the  very  end  in  their 
native  land,  is  based  upon  a  secret  conviction  of  their  being  the  people  of  promise,  which  re- 
minds one  involuntarily  of  the  prophecies  of  Balaam,  who  was  of  course  from  the  Euphrates. 
However  much  he  feels  himself  to  be  a  conqueror,  he  appears  to  know  also  that  it  is  given 
him  to  execute  a  judgment  of  God ;  he  shows,  as  is  quite  explicable  in  this  way,  many  a 
enrprising  consideration  for  those  who  are  the  objects  of  the  judgment. 

It  would  be  of  importance  for  the  history  of  heathenism  to  find  the  connection  between 
Melchizedek  and  Balaam  and  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  strong  heathenisms  lead  us  to  suppose 
a  strong  original  consciousness  of  God. 

Thtis  the  exiles  were  no  slaves  of  the  Clialdeans.  Probably  lands  had  been  let  out  to 
them  in  consideration  of  a  tribute.  So  far  as  we  know,  it  did  not  amount  to  bond-service, 
as  in  Egypt  formerly.  So  much  the  easier  was  it  to  establish  a  kind  of  civil  commonwealth  in 
the  strange  land.  This  people,  moreover,  are  like  the  cactuses,  both  as  respects  the  contrast 
of  odd  angular  forms  with  splendid  blossom,  and  because  when  torn  away,  even  on  the  most 
barren  soil,  they  also  take  root  again  immediately  and  continue  their  existence.  Even  in 
Egypt  what  an  organic  connection  had  remained  unbroken !  And  so  we  perceive,  in  chap, 
viii.  1,  "the  elders  ofJudah^'  assembled  around  Ezekiel.  The  whole  mode  of  procedure  on 
such  an  occasion  shows  certainly  that  these  Jews  have  no  longer  any  temple,  can  no  longer 
offer  any  sacrifices,  looks  like  the  later  synagogue  worship  in  its  first  beginnings.  There  would 
also  be  no  want  of  mockery  and  derision  on  the  part  of  the  heathen  (comp.  Dan.  v.).  But  yet 
the  permission  to  hear  the  wiU  and  counsel  of  Jehovah  from  the  mouth  of  His  prophet  exists. 
Religious  persecution  found  no  place,  although  the  tolerance  of  the  Chaldeans  might  come 
into  stern  collision  with  the  exclusive  confession  of  Jehovah  (Dan.  iiL).  Such  was  outwunUy 
the  condition  of  the  Jews  during  the  exile  in  civil  and  in  religious  respects. 

Before  we  frame  for  ourselves  a  picture  of  the  inner  condition  of  the  exiles,  and  thus  of 
the  whole  of  our  prophet's  labours  and  of  their  peculiar  character,  there  is  a  preliminary 
question :  Whether  and  in  how  far  the  labours  of  Ezekiel  had  respect  also  to  the  exiles  of  the 
former  separate  kingdom  of  Israel,  who  had  been  carried  into  captivity  more  than  a  century 
before  t    (Comp.  J.  J.  Hess,  Geschichte  der  Regenten  von  Juda  nach  d.  Exilio,  i.  p.  3  ff.) 

The  decision  of  this  question  depends,  fortunately,  not  on  the  mere  geographical  deter- 
mination of  the  "river,  Chebar"  (Ezek.  2.  3)  and  Hahor  (2  Kings  xvii.  6,  xviii.  11).  While 
Umbreit,  Havernick,  Winer,  Gesenius,  Ritter,  Bleek,  Bunsen  identify  the  two,  and  under- 


8  EZEKIEL. 


stand  the  sufficiently  well-known  Mesopotamian  Chaboras  (Syriac,  Chebar  or  Cliabur  ;  Arabic, 
Chabur ;  in  Strabo,  ^Ajioppa;),  which  rises  to  the  north  of  Ras  el  Ain  at  the  foot  of  th« 
Masian  Mountains,  receives  the  Mygdonius  and  falls  into  the  Euphrates  at  Circesium,  bv 
■which  means,  even  locally,  Ezekiel  would  be  placed  at  the  same  time  among  the  exiles  of  th 
ten  tribes  ;— Ewald,  Delitzsch,  Keil,  Baumgarten,  Bahr  (Lange  on  2  Kings,  p.  183)  distinguia 
"Chebar"  and  "  Habor."  The  "river  Chebar"  is  to  them  the  river  indicated  in  Upper 
Mesopotamia;  "Habor,"  on  the  other  hand,  a  tributary  of  the  Tigris,  in  northern  Assyria, 
which  gives  very  much  the  impression  of  what  is  sought,  although  it  is  called  Khabur 
Chasanix  (J.  Wickelhaus  in  der  deutsch.  morgenl.  Zeitschr.  v.  p.  467  sqq.).  If  one  cannot 
admit  the  identity  of  "Chebar"  and  "  Habor,"  it  agrees  at  all  events  much  better  with  the 
text  in  2  Kings  xvii.  6,  xviii.  11,  especially  if  one  compares  1  Chron.  v.  26,  to  take  niarr^' 

along  with  npna ,  and  to  interpret  the  one  like  the  other,  viz.  in  both  cases  as  a  province 

understanding  it  of  the  mountainous  region  "Chaboras"  (Ptol.  vi.  1)  between  Media  arf 
Assyria — a  view  which  Jewish  tradition  would  support,  as  it  banishes  the  ten  tribes  thithe* 
But  the  relation  of  the  exiles  of  Israel  to  those  of  Judah  is  not  at  all  affected  through  a  loc; 
separation  of  the  two.     This  rested  on  quite  a  different  basis  from  anything  that  could  b 
denied  as  a  result  of  geographical  investigations,  or  that  could  be  proved  only  by  means  • 
such.      The  breaking  off  of  the  separate  kingdom  of  Israel  was  in  its  very  origin  almost 
entirely  of  a  political  nature.     The  God-fearing  among  the  separate  tribes  had  never  lost  the 
religio-national  unity  of  the  people  of  God  out  of  their  hearts.     And  so  Ezekiel's  representa- 
'tions  also  (chap.  xvi.  xxiii.  etc.)  embrace  Judah  and  Israel  together  as  regards  the  hope,  ju.st 
is  in  the  corruption.    With  the  downfall  of  the  state,  both  the  peculiar  court  religion — in  othr '- 
ivords.  state  religion — of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and  the  whole  separation,  which  had  been  uphel ' 
only  with  much  exertion,  came  to  the  groimd.     Finally,  as  the  exile,  which  at  a  later  perior" 
absorbed  Judah  also,  compensated  in  outward  respects  for  the  wide  separation  from  each  otL 
which  had  existed  for  a  hundred  years  and  upwards,  so  still  more  it  brought  the  separated  or. 
inwardly  to  one  another.    The  same  land,  the  same  suffering  1    The  latter  had  its  influence  on  t! 
better  portion  at  least.     For  Judah,  however,  the  fruit  of  the  chastisement  experienced  cou 
not  possibly  be  the  mere  quickening  of  her  own  piety  ;  prophetic  prediction  certainly  (such  i 
Jer.  XXX.  3  sqq.)  set  before  her  the  prospect  of  Israel  also  being  reunited  with  her  in  the  restora 
tion  !     The  pious  ones  of  Judah  must  have  awaked  to  the  consciousness  of  a  holy  mission,  of 
a  task  of  love  with  respect  to  the  sheep  of  the  ten  tribes  which  had  been  torn  away  from 
David's  flock.     The  furtherance,  the  realization  of  this  consciousness,  lay  throughout  within  the 
sphere  of  EzekieVs  labours  (comp.  Ezek.  xxxvii.  16  sqq.,  xlvii.  13).     Whatever  of  a  hindering 
resisting  element  it  might  possibly  have  encountered  from  the  other  side — say,  in  the  priesti'. 
officials,  prophets   of  the  Israelitish  state  religion,  or  in  general  in  heathenishly  incline^ 
individuals  of  the  ten  tribes — had  already  in  course  of  time  been  removed  out  of  the  way? 
had  certainly  passed  into  heathenism.     The  kernel  of  Israel  yielded  themselves  to  the  attempts 
at  approach  on  the  part  of  Judah,  attached  themselves  to  her,  ranged  themselres  under  her.     In 
this  way  is  explained, the  naming  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  only  in  the  edict  of  Cyrus  (Ezra  i.), 
although  it  was  published  in  the  whole  of  his  kingdom,  and  therefore  also  where  exiles  from 
Israel  had  their  abode  ;  just  as  in  fact  the  people  collectively  got  the  name  of  Judah.     Though 
it  might  be  the  case  that  the  preponderating  majority  of  the  Jews  were  united  in  doing  so, 
and  that  at  the  commencement  a  proportionally  small  number  of  Israelites  returned,  because 
these  latter,  on  account  of  their  much  longer  exUe,  had  more  difficulty  in  getting  themselves 
disentangled ;  yet  Anna  (Luke  ii.  36)  was  "  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,"  and  Paul  testifies  (Acta 
xxvi.  7)  of  his  own  nation  as  to  lahxa.(fv'Ko!i,  and  the  millions  of  Jews  who  were  at  the  time 
of  Christ  and  afterwards  in  the  dispersion  can  hardly  be  traced  back  to  Judah  and  Benjamin 
merely  (comp.  Herzog,  Ueal-Encyclopddie,  i.  p.  651  sqq.,  and  Hengstenberg's  History  of  the 
Kingdom  <f  God,  ii.  p.  285  sqq.  [Clark's  Trans.]). 

3.  For  the  position  of  our  prophet  among  the  exiles  of  Judah,  the  occurrence  of  the  final 
decision  with  respect  to  Jerusalem,  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  the  temple,  and  the  downfall 
of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  also,  is  the  event  from  the  date  of  which  the  prophetic  labours  of 
Ezekiel,  which  had  hitheito  been  related  to  those  of  his  parallel  Jeremiah  as  supplementary 
and  confirmatory,  gain  the  character  of  an  independent  continuation  of  the  same.  Comp. 
Ezek.  iii.  12  sqq.,  xxiv.  26  sqq.,  xxxiii.  21  sqq.     With  the  apparently  for  ever  lost  father- 


INTKODUCTION. 


land,  the  prophet  of  the  fatherland  also  now  steps  into  the  background.  All  is  now  exile, 
and  Ezek-iel  is  the  prophet  of  the  exile.  Hitherto  Judah  abroad  and  Judali  at  home  had 
remained  in  ttie  closest  possible  connection,  and  the  co-operation  of  Ezekiel  with  Jeremiah 
jd  been  the  prophetic  corrective  of  this  relation.  Comp.  Ezek.  iv.  v.  vi.  vii.,  etc.  Thfc 
ujportation  of  King  Jehoiachin  had  at  the  same  time  laid  hold  in  part  of  those  members  oi 
the  covenant  people  who,  in  an  inward  and  spiritual  point  of  view,  come  into  consideratiol 
On  the  whole,  it  was  already  significant  for  those  carried  away  captive  with  Jehoiachin,  tlia 
they  had  complied  with  the  counsel  of  Jeremiah,  and  his  preaching  of  unconditional  sub- 
mission to  the  Chaldean  power.  They  are  favourably  contrasted  in  this  respect  alike  with 
those  who  remained  behind  until  the  captiii/y  under  Zedekiah  (Jer.  xxix.  16  sqq. ;  Ezek.  xiv. 
22  sqq.),  and  especially  with  those  who  fled  at  last  to  Egypt,  whose  description  is  given  in 
Jer.  xliv. ;  comp.  Ezek.  xxxiii.  23  sqq.  But  a  reaction  did  not  fail  when,  after  Jehoiachin's 
aptivity,  Zedekiah  maintained  himself  in  the  government  for  eleven  additional  years.  What  a 
jjng !  what  a  government !  and  yet !  ?  Yea,  it  came  to  this,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  com- 
'islled  to  raise  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  before  the  actually  approaching  Egyptian  auxiliaries ! 
^ad  not  Jeremiah  perhaps  taken  loo  gloomy  a  view  of  matters,  spoken  with  exaggeration  of 
^seventy  years' bondage  under  Babylon?  Comp.  Ezek.  xii.  Those  who  remained  behind 
■,^re  able,  not  without  the  semblance  of  hope,  of  a  prospect  of  continuance,  to  bojist  of  the 
.injoyment  of  the  holy  land,  of  the  possession  of  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem ;  they  boasted  of 
being  (Ezek.  xi.  15  sqq.),  and  appeared  to  be,  the  patriots,  the  faithful  worshippers  of  Jehovah; 
while  upon  the  captives  who  had  given  ear  to  Jeremiah,  as  upon  himself,  there  might  fall  the 
suspicion  of  being  cowards,  fugitives, — of  being,  if  not  exactly  ungodly  traitors,  at  least  persons 
v?ho  had  been  unconsciously  misled.  In  such  circumstances  there  were  not  wanting  for  pious 
l>,eartB  even  certain  hours  of  severe  temptation,  when  they  might  be  on  the  verge  of  despair. 
AVhat  inference,  then,  may  thence  be  drawn  with  respect  to  the  rest — the  large,  more  or  less 
(J.jphly-minded  mass  of  those  carried  captive  with  Jehoiachin  !  They  were  the  children  of  their 
^^(.hers  in  disposition  also  (comp.  Ezek.  ii.  3  ff.,  iii.  7  ff.) ;  the  foolish  imaginations  of  those 
"^  dwelling  in  Palestine  were  to  them  thoroughly  congenial,  they  dreamt  similar  dreams,  the 
iflusive  power  of  Egypt  had  currency  with  them  also  ;  and  false  prophets  and  soothsayers, 
.■(bo  corresponded  with  the  anti-Jeremian  party  at  Jerusalem,  found  only  too  much  acceptance 
^1  their  midst  (Jer.  xxix.  8  sqq.,  21  sqq.  ;  Ezek.  xiii.).  Ezekiel's  labours  during  this  period, 
during  t)iQ  first  seven  years  of  his  prophetic  ottice,  among  those  carried  captive  with  Jehoiachin, 
which  are  delineated  for  us  more  specially  in  accordance  with  such  circumstances  and  these 
inner  conditions  of  the  exiles  so  far  as  regards  their  spiritual  historical  background,  accom- 
panied, supported, — as  we  have  said,  completed  and  confirmed  the  labours  of  Jeremiah,  who 
jp  his  part,  as  Jer.  xxix.  shows,  by  his  word  extended  his  influence  to  the  exiles  also, 
{j  4.  The  fall  of  Jerusalem  increased  the  community  of  the  exile  by  means  of  the  still  more 
extensive  deportation  which  was  decreed  for  Judah  in  consequence  of  this  occurrence  (Ezek. 
xxxiii.  31  sqq.).  What  had  hitherto  upheld  the  pride  and  the  frivolity  of  the  majority  of  the 
nation,  had  now  come  to  the  ground ;  the  stern  reality  had  followed  the  hope  of  which  they 
dreamed ;  the  overweening  trust  in  human  help  had  received  a  deadly  blow.  That  in  the 
case  of  many  great  despondency  took  the  place  of  great  defiance;  that  with  the  hope,  according 
to  which  they  dreamed  of  the  future,  and  according  to  which  they  gladly  allowed  the  false 
prophets  to  prophesy  of  it,  all  hope  of  every  kind  disappeared,  and  that  no  trust  in  the  Lord 
won  a  place  for  itself,  was  natural,  was  in  accorilance  with  human  nature.  Those  carried 
captive  with  Zedekiah  were  on  the  whole  desperate,  determined  men.  They  were  also  later  of 
coming  into  the  school  of  the  exile,  where  this  had  already  been  able  to  exercise  a  wholesome 
influence  upon  their  predecessors.  Although  need  and  misery  in  themselves  are  just  as 
capable  of  making  men  worse  as  of  making  them  better,  yet  we  must  take  into  consideration 
for  the  result,  whether  the  one  or  the  other,  a  rougher  state  of  mind  or  one  more  prepared  by 
divine  grace.  Those  who  brought  along  with  them  from  home  into  the  strange  land  the 
sympathy  for  heathenish  ways,  would  the  less  resist  apostasy  and  a  complete  passing  over  into 
heathenism,  where  they  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  the  heathen  world,  the  mo^e  easily 
they  could  in  this  way  avoid  mockery  and  contempt  on  the  part  of  the  heathen,  and  «pend  a 
happier,  more  pleasant  life.  The  137th  Psalm  disavows  even  in  the  remembrance  every 
weakening  of  the  Jewish  patriotic  feeling,  of  the  home-sickness  for  Jerusalem  ;  yet  how  many 
a  one,  especially  in  so  tolerable  a  condition  as  existed  outwardly  during  the  exile,  was  fixed 


10  EZEKIEL. 


down  by  that  plot  of  ground  which  he  purchased,  and  whose  produce  made  hiia  comfortable 
perhaps  much  more  so  than  he  was  before  in  Palestine !  For  an  influential  bearing  on  the 
world  also  (the  original  divine  destination  of  the  Jewish  character  for  the  world's  salvation), 
through  preparatory  training  for  its  commerce,  for  enriching  business  transactions  throughout 
tlie  whole  world,  the  circumstances  of  the  exile,  especially  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
may  have  had  their  influence.  Meanwhile  there  lay  as  a  burden  upon  the  pious  portion  of  the 
exiies  the  whole  pressure  not  merely  of  the  misery  of  the  strange  land,  far  from  the  land  oi 
their  fathers,  which  was  in  fact  the  pledge  of  all  God's  promises,  so  that  for  them  the  exile 
embodied  the  question,  and  made  it  a  standing  one:  Where  is  now  thy  God?  but.  inasmuch 
as  now  that  which  had  been  announced  from  Moses  onwards  through  the  prophets  had  really 
occurred,  there  was  in  addition  the  much  heavier  burden  on  their  conscience,  that  they  beheld 
themselves  under  a  judgment  of  God,  under  a  punishment  long  enough  held  back — that  they 
'  were  suffering  from  no  mere  vicissitude  of  political  misfortune.  If,  in  weighing  the  misfortune 
of  the  children  and  the  guilt  of  the  fathers,  the  righteousness  of  Jehovah  was  to  be  held  up, 
and  the  way  of  earnest  conversion  before  self-righteous  misconception  as  before  frivolous 
mockery  (corap.  ch.  xviii.),  so,  where  in  the  present  instance  the  feeliug  of  guilt  on  the  part 
of  afflicted  consciences  broke  down  all  courage,  and  a  divine  sadness  wrestled  with  despair 
under  the  wrath  of  God,  comfort  and  the  promise  of  salvation  above  and  beyond  all  misery 
had  their  authorized  place.  If,  therefore,  -.p  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  in  order  to  confirm 
Jeremiah,  the  work  of  our  prophet  had  been  chiefly  a  preaching  of  repentance,  not  of  course 
without  thought  of  salvation,  of  forbearance  and  deliverance  (e.g.  ch.  vi.  8  sqq.,  ix.  4  sqq.). 
—after  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  the  temple  the  activity  of  Ezekiel  manifests  itself  pre- 
dominantly in  the  announcement  of  salvation,  although  on  the  ground  of  the  preceding  call  to 
that  conversion  which  alone  saves,  and  along  with  the  repetition  of  the  same.  Comp.  ch 
xxxiii.  xxxiv. 

§   5.    CONTENTS  AND   DIVISION   OF  THE  BOOK. 

1.  The  work  of  our  prophet,  the  picture  of  his  prophetic  life,— and  this  is  most  truly  bia 
life-picture,— is  furnished  us  first  of  all  by  the  contents  of  his  book,  according  to  Umbreit's 
description,  "  a.s  in  a  prophetic  diary  carried  on  by  himself."  "  Where  the  work  of  the 
prophets  was  par  excellence  a  spiritual  one,  consisting  in  the  preaching  of  the  word,  there  the 
communication  and  preservation  of  this  word  is  itself  the  portraiture  of  their  activity,  in  very 
deed  their  prophetic  biography.     The  latter  is  the  case  with  Ezekiel"  (Hiivernick). 

The  very  first  three  chapters  give  us  a  glimpse  as  into  a  programme.  Still  more  as  regards 
the  object  of  the  vision  in  ch.  i.,  with  which  the  book  opens,  than  as  regards  the  divine  com- 
mission in  ch.  ii.  and  iii.,  the  prophet  appears  to  us  at  the  very  beginning  as  he  will  be  up  to 
the  end  in  the  peculiarity  of  his  prophetic  work  according  to  the  divine  appointment.  This 
is  tiot  merely  that  he  is  to  be  a  prophet  in  the  exile,  which  is  the  only  thing  Calvin  makes  pro- 
minent, but  rather  that  he  has  to  represent  the  glory  of  Jehovah  in  the  exile.  This  is  the  key 
to  his  prophetic  labours  in  their  strictest  individuality.  As  regards  the  divine  commission  to  the 
prophet  in  ch.  ii.  and  iii.,  what  stands  opposed  on  man's  part  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  same, 
partly  outside  (ch.  ii.  3  sqq.),  partly  in  himself  (ch.  ii.  8  sqq.),  just  as  what  is  said  with  respect 
to  the  equipment  of  Ezekiel  on  God's  part  (ch.  iii.  4  sqq.),  is  immediately  connected  with 
what  is  very  similar  in  the  case  of  Jeremiah  (see  the  exposition). 

Oh.  iv.  and  v.,  however,  change  the  scene  entirely  to  the  (§  4)  foresaid  parallelism  of 
Ezelciel  and  Jeremiah,  which  we  found  significant  as  regards  the  first  labours  of  our  prophet: 
from  a  fourfold  (ch.  iv.  1-3,  4  sqq.,  9  sqq.,  v.  1  sqq.)  .■symbolical  representation  of  the  im- 
pending/a^f  of  Jerusalem  and  its  inhabitants,  the  accompanying  interpretation  of  the  symbols 
leads  to  two  almost  Jeremian  discourses  of  rebuke  against  Judah,  ch.  vi.  and  vii. 

What  was  already  made  prominent  in  these  discourses  of  rebuke  as  guilt,  the  idolatrous 
apostasy  from  Jehovah,  is  represented  with  the  plastic  art  of  heathen  worship  and  a  liturgical 
vividness— ft?/  the  vi.non  of  the  abominations  in  the  temple  (ch.  viii.),  in  which  from  the  first  the 
"image  of  jealousy"  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  (ch.  i.)  confront  each  other  (ch.  viii.  3,  4), 
and  this  latter  (ch.  ix.  3  sqq.)  causes  the  judgment  to  be  carried  out  inexorably  on  the  guilty, 
especially  on  the  city  (ch.  x.). 

As  the  11th  chapter,  in  which  the  vision  closes,  once  more,  and  through  a  striking  case  of 


IXTRODUCTIOX.  li 


death,  brings  into  prominence  the  leafler.i  of  the  people  (the  demagogues),  so  the  i-ytnbolical 
transaction  in  ch.  xii.  singles  out  the  lot  of  the  king  at  Jerusalem,  so  that  with  the  "  bread" 
and  "water"  a  termination  is  reached  in  the  meantime  of  the  misery  which  is  to  come  upon 
the  land  and  its  inhabitants.  The  only  thing  remaining  is,  that  the  prophet  should  announce 
the  execution  of  the  punishment  as  being  one  that  is  near,  ver.  21  sqq. 

The  circumstance  that  his  repeated  (vers.  21  sqq.,  26  sqq  )  previous  announcement  of  the 
nearness  of  the  judgment  takes  the  shape  in  ch.  xiii.  of  a  discourse  against  the  false  prophets 
and  prophetesses,  cannot  (according  to  ch.  xii.  24)  lie  outside  the  context,  and  the  explanation 
come  to  with  the  idolatrous  seekers  after  oracles  in  ch.  xiv.  easily  fits  into  it ;  the  elders  of 
the  people  who  are  guilty  of  such  consultation  are  just  sitting  before  the  prophet,  and  the 
guilt,  essentially  similar  to  their  own.  oi  faithless  Jerusalem  (ver.  12  sqq.)  justifies  to  their 
consciences  the  righteousness  of  the  punishment  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  just  as  such 
justification  will  also  take  place  through  the  remnant  from  Jerusalem  (vers.  22,  23),  who  will 
come  to  be  seen  by  them.  But  after  Jerusalem  has  been  depicted  in  ch.  xv.  as  a  vine  tree  fir 
the  burning,  especially  after  she  has  been  depicted  in  detail  as  a  lewd  adulteress  in  ch.  xvi., — 
idolatry  in  that  case  being  adultery  and  lewdness. — and  after  the  riddle  u-ith  respect  to  th' 
royal  house  of  David  in  ch.  xvii.  is  followed  by  the  thorough  statement  of  the  divire  rigldeousnesf 
in  ch.  xviii.,  and  lastly  by  the  lamentation  in  ch.  xix.  over  the  perishing  kingdom  of  Israel, 
ch.  XX.  merely  contains  in  adtlition  a  surve;/  of  the  objective  as  well  as  subjective  guidance  of 
the  people  from  of  old,  for  the  purpose  in  ch.  xxi.  of  setting  forth  with  the  most  living  distinct- 
ness the  express  announcement  of  the  nearness  of  the  judgment  (conip.  ver.  12),  and  then  alike 
the  punishment  nnil  (with  equal  sharpness)  the  guilt — Jerusalem's  in  jmrticiilar,  and  Juilah's  ana 
TsraeCs  in  common — are  portrayed  in  ch.  xxii.  and  xxiii. 

In  ch.  xxiv.  the  predicted  nearness  of  the  judgment  is  a  fid  of  such  a  kind,  that  the 
prophet  must  for  liinisi-lf  write  down  the  d;iy,  that  the  fact  of  the  death  of  his  wife  fumishei* 
the  mournful  illustration,  .and  that  the  prophet  does  nut  uovf  any  longer  speak,  but  is  silent 
respecting  Jerusalem. 

But  during  this  silence  respecting  Israel  the  prophetic  word  goes  forth  with  loud  voice 
against  those  without,'  such  as  Animon  (comp.  ch.  xxi.  33  sqq.)  and  Moah,  Edam,  the  Philistines 
(ch.  XXV.),  then  Tyi-us  and  Sidon  (ch.  xxvi.-xxviii.),  and  lastly  Egypt  (ch.  xxix.-xxxii.). 
There  is  no  passing,  as  in  the  case  of  Paul,  from  the  synagogue  to  the  heathen.  Neither  is  it 
the  joy  with  Zion's  joy.  but  the  joy  in  Zion's  suffering,  that  forms  the  point  of  departure. 
They  are  therefore  predictions  o!  judgment ;  the  doicnfall  of  Jerusalem  determines  the  colour  anil 
tone  of  these  chapters,  which  appear  like  an  appemlix  to  what  goes  before.  The  judgment  begins 
at  the  house  of  God,  yet  it  will  not  spare  the  rest  of  the  world.  And  here  the  predominating 
element  as  regards  the  carrying  out  of  the  judgment  and  the  foreign  nations  that  are  named 
is  the  connection  with  j\eliucliadnez:nr,  just  as  on  the  other  hand  the  more  intimate  historical 
relation  to  Jerusalem  down  to  the  last  days  if  Judah.  (As  to  the  chronology,  see  §  6.  and  the 
introductory  observations  to  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.) 

These  predictions  rightly  form  the  transition  to  the  predominantly  comforting  labours  or 
Ezekiel  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  For  the  ever  repeated  closing  statement  as  the 
judgments  are  announced,  "and  ye  shall,"'  or  "thou  shalt,"  or  "they  shall  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord"  (comp.  ch.  xxv.  h,  7,  11),  necessarily  contaiaed  for  the  exiles  the  consolation,  that 
the  malicious  delight  in  Judah's  misery  (ch.  xxv.  3,  C,  xxvi.  2)  is  not  to  issue  in  contempt  for 
Judah "s  God  also  (ch.  xxv.  8,  xxviii.  2,  0,  22.  .xxix.  3,  9).  but  that  their  Judge  will  rather 
seat  Himself  in  judgment  on  their  false  heathen  friends  also,  especially  on  Egypt  (ch.  xxix. 
C.  7,  16),  If  Jehovah  made  Himself  known  in  such  a  way  to  the  heathen,  then  the  j.idgments 
over  tliem  and  their  gods,  with  whom  Israel  had  sinned,  to  whom  they  had  looked  up  in  trust 
or  in  despair,  removed  at  the  same  time  many  a  stone  out  of  that  path  which  the  peojile  had 
to  tread  for  their  salvation.  But  with  their  conversion  to  the  only  true  God — that  was  the 
path — the  former  more  negative  consolation  arising  from  those  judgments  on  the  heathen 
nations  grew  into  a  very  positive  one  for  the  people  of  Jehovah.  As  already,  in  the  previous 
announcements  of  Judah's  punishment  (comp.  ch.  vi.  9,  xi.  16  sqq.,  xvi.  60  sqq.,  xvii.  22  sqq., 

'  A  similar  juxtaposition  of  predictions  rcspectinij  the  heathen  is  found  both  in  Jeremiah  (ch.  xlvi-U., 
at  the  close)  and  in  Isaiah  (ch.  xiii. -xxiii.).  Comp.  Delitzsch,  Comm.  on  Isaiah,  p.  204  sqq.  [CLirk's 
Trans.].  In  Isaiali,  as  in  Ezekiel,  it  is  a  provisional  temporary  silence;  in  Jeremiah,  one  that  is  final 
respecting  Israel. 


EZEKIEL. 


XX.  iO  sq(i.),  prii.ipecl.t  of  salvation  are  opened  up,  so  the  closing  note  of  the  prediction  of  judg- 
ment on  Sidon  (ch.  xxviii.  25  sqq.),  on  Egypt  (ch.  xxix.  21),  is  express  consolation  for  tht 
exiles.  Now  what  comes  in  tlie  shape  of  consolation,  as  being  salvation  for  the  people  of  God. 
cannot  in  the  end  be  accomplished  without  blessing  for  the  heathen  world,  in  which  and  for 
which  Israel  is  placed  from  the  beginning  as  a  mediator  of  salvation.  The  judgments  on  one 
and  another  and  another  of  the  heathen  nations  are  consummated,  of  course,  in  the  additional 
judgment  on  the  heathen  world-power  antagonistic  to  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  yet  the  salvation 
of  the  Jews  comes  to  be  for  the  good  of  the  human  race.  The  recovery  of  the  consciousnes? 
of  her  peculiar  spiritual  calling  as  a  nation  must  be  the  highest,  the/«Z/  consolation  for  Israel, 
to  whom  alike  her  own  judgment  and  that  on  the  heathen  shaped  themselves  into  a  process  of 
purification  for  her  divine  world-task. 

The  silence  of  Ezekiel  (ch.  xxiv.)  had  been  accordingly,  as  the  predictions  with  respect  to 
the  other  nations  have  informed  us,  not  merely  for  judgment  on  Israel,  but  at  the  same  time 
a  icaitiiig  for  the  promise  of  God  with  respect  to  His  people,  and  that /rom  among  the  heathen  also. 
Conip.  ch.  xlvii.  1  sqq.,  22,  23. 

As  the  prophet  is  now  entering  again  on  his  labours  among  the  children  of  his  people,  it  is 
thus  suitable  that  in  ch.  xxxiii.  he  again  becomes  conscious  of  his  prophetic  mission  from  God,' 
when  this  h.is  to  take  effect  in  face  of  the  fact  now  accomplished  and  in  view  of  the  present 
situation.  The  promise  of  ch.  xxxiv.  starts  therefore  from  the  shepherds  of  Israel,  under 
whom  the  sheep  have  been  scattered  ;  in  their  stead  the  Lord  Jehovah  will  interest  Himself  in 
the  flock,  and,  when  it  is  again  gathered,  will  make  His  servant  David  the  one  shepherd  amid 
blessings  which  have  as  their  aim  mankind  generally.  And  as  the  bad  shepherds  furnish  the 
occasion  for  the  restoration  of  the  Head,  so  we  have  for  that  of  the  mtmbers  Edom  as  a  nation 
(ch.  XXXV.),  in  contrast  with  which  ch.  xxxvi.  celebrates  the  mountains  of  Israel  and  the 
sanctification  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  in  His  people  (ver.  i3  sqq.),  to  which  prospect  so  rich  in 
promise  a  temporary  conclusion  is  furnished  in  ch.  xxxvii.  by  the  vision  of  the  resurrection  and 
quickening  of  the  dead  bones,  as  well  as  by  the  symbolical  action  with  the  one  slick  out  of  the  two 
sticks  (ver.  15  sqq.),  which  is  intended  to  signify  the  reuniting  of  Israel  with  Judah  under  the 
One  King  David. 

The  bearing  toward  what  is  without,  the  world-position  of  the  people  of  God  in  this  con- 
nection, as  following  upon  their  inward  restoration  (which  has  hitherto  been  the  object  of 
promise),  is  brought  into  view  by  ch.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.  against  Gog  of  Magog.  In  this 
symbolical  and  typical  representation  of  the  powers  hostile  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  will  be  perfected  alike  in  the  consuming  judgment  toward  Gog,  and  in  glorifying 
mercy  toward  Israel. 

The  close  of  the  book  (ch.  xl.-xlviii.)  is  devoted  to  the  prophetic  portrayal  of  the  divine  glory 
in  the  glory  of  His  kingdom;  the  temple  and  its  service  (ch.  xl.-xlvi.),  the  holy  land  and  the 
holy  city  "Jehovah  Shammah"  (ch.  xlvii.  and  xlviii.),  furnish  the  types  consecrated  from  of 
old  for  the  purpose. 

2.  The  statement  of  the  contents  which  we  have  thus  attempted,  as  it  has  at  the  same  time 
shown  the  profound  inner  connection,  the  carrying  out  of  the  all-dominating  idea  of  the  glory  of 
Jehovah,  is  still  further  confirmed  by  the  division  of  the  book. 

The  collection  of  visions,  emblematical  actions  and  facts,  of  discourses  and  predictions,  of 
which  it  is  composed,  is  divided,  alike  by  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem  and  by  the  silence  of  the 
prophet  with  respect  to  his  own  people,  into  the  two  principal  parts:  (1)  Ch.  i.-xxiv.  :  The 
Prophecy  of  Judgment ;  (2)  Ch.  xxxiii.-xlviii. :  The  Prophecy  of  the  Merciis  of  God  toward  His 
people  in  the  world.^  A  third  transition-section  is  formed  by  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.  :  announcements 
of  judgment  on  the  seven  heathen  nations,  i.e.  cities. 

^  Especially  when  the  symbolical  representation  (ch.  ii.  8-iii.  3)  of  this  mission  and  of  the  divine 
charge  to  the  prophet  from  the  outset  made  the  taste  of  sweetness  follow  after  the  lamentation 
and  woe. 

*  By  these  two  principal  parts  of  the  book  is  Josephus  {Antiq.  x.  5.  1)  perhaps  to  be  explained,  who, 
in  speaking  of  Jeremiah,  says  further:  "But  it  is  not  he  alone  that  predicted  such  things  to  the  people 
beforehand,  but  the  prophet  Ezekiel  also,  who  wfH^H  wi^t  nvrm  Kt  ^ifi>.i»  >{<t'\}/sr  MmriXiwtf."  By  Haver- 
nick  and  others  the  trf*««r  is  referred  to  Jeremiah.  Unibreit:  "The  first  large  half  of  his  book  contains 
the  bitter  element  of  his  discourse,  the  second  the  sweet  element,  i.e.  the  promise  of  the  coming  times 
of  redemption  ;  the  first  begins  with  the  departure  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  from  the  old  profaned 
temple,  the  second  closes  with  the  return  of  the  same  into  the  new  cleansed  sanctuary." 


INTRODL'CTIUJV.  13 


HiTZia  :  "The  oracles  of  Ezekiel  are  put  together  in  an  arranged,  organic  book.  Against 
the  sum-total  of  forty-eight  chapters  no  objection  is  to  be  brought:  it  cannot  therefore  be 
reganieii  as  an  acciilent,  if  at  ch.  xxiv.,  exactly  with  the  half,  tlie  series  of  domestic  predic- 
tions before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  comes  to  an  end.  This,  which  is  forthwith  (ch.  xxv.  2  sqq.) 
presupposed  as  having  taken  place,  forms  the  middle  and  crowning  point  of  the  book.  I'he 
foreign  oracles,  words  of  threatening  against  seven  neighbouring  nations,  from  the  conunence- 
ment  and  for  the  most  part  date  from  the  period  after  the  downfall  of  Judah,  and  are 
occasioned  by  this  very  catastrophe;  the  whole  collection  was  placed  suitably  at  the  beginning 
of  the  second  part,  which  is  in  this  way  just  the  more  sharply  contrasted  with  the  first." 
Hengsteiiberg  {(.'hriMolofiy,  2d  edit.)  likewise  distinguishes  two  principal  parts,  but  in  this 
way:  "Predictions  before  the  destruction  (ch.  i.-xxxii.),  and  after  the  destruction  (ch. 
xxxiii.-xlviii.) ;  in  the  former  the  tendency  being  mainly  to  counteract  the  foolish  illusions,  to 
call  to  repentance  as  the  only  means  of  salvation  ;  in  the  latter  to  combat  despair  by  portray- 
ing that  salvation  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  etc."  Similarly  also  Havernick  :  "Two  great 
sections,  of  which  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  forms  the  turning-point  (ch.  i.-xxxii.  and 
xxxiii.-xlviii,).  In  the  former  period  Ezekiel  discharges  the  prophetic  office  of  nhuke,  after- 
wards the  oSce  of  comforting  and  of  promise."  On  the  other  hand,  Kliefoth  looks  upon  "  the 
collection  of  predictions  against  foreign  nations  as  a  separate  part  of  the  book,"  and  makes 
this  division:  "The  Introduction,  ch.  i.  1-iii.  21;  the  First  Part,  ch.  iii.  22-xxiv.  27;  the 
Second  Part,  ch.  xxv.  1-xxxiii.  20 ;  the  Third  Part,  ch.  xxxiii.  21-xlviii.  35."  De  Wette: 
"  The  Jirst  part  is  arranged  with  perfect  accuracy  according  to  the  chronology ;  the  foreign 
oracles  in  the  feanul  part,  however,  are  grouped  together  in  accordance  with  an  arrangement 
by  contents.  This  collection  is,  as  it  were,  a  supplement  or  episode,  inasmuch  as  at  ch.  xxiv. 
27  a  resting-point  is  given,  or  because  several  of  these  predictions  really  belong  to  the  period 
between  ch.  xxiv.  27  and  xxxiii.  21,  while  the  others  are  ranged  with  them  because  of  the 
similarity  of  their  contents.  With  the  tidings  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  at  ch.  xxxiii.  21 
the  prediction  advances  a  step,  and  the  whole  of  the  third  part  belongs  to  this  period  after  the 
destruction."  Neteler  distributes  each  of  the  three  parts  of  the  book  into  four  sections,  and 
each  section  into  four  pieces. 

The  twofold  division  of  the  book,  as  Hitzig  makes  it,  is  an  example  of  arithmetical  division : 
2  into  48  gives  2-1  chapters  to  each.  As  to  the  details  of  subdivision,  he  looks  upon  each  of  the 
principal  parts  as  formirg  three  unequal  sections:  I.  (1)  ch.  i.-vii. ;  (2)  ch.  viii.-xix. ;  (3) 
ch.  xx.-xxiv.  II.  (1)  ch.  xxv.-xxxii. ;  (2)  ch.  xxxiii.-xxxix.  ;  (3)  xl.-xlviii.  According  to 
Hitzig,  the  thing  aimed  at  was  merely  "to  incorporate  the  mass  of  the  oracles."  (1)  If  this 
appears  to  be  too  little  for  an  "  arranged,  organic  book,"  Kliefoth 's  principle  of  division, 
according  to  the  formula,  "And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me  thus,"  gives  the  impression 
of  something  that  is  too  artificial.  Our  position  must  be  this :  The  chronological  element 
cannot  be  the  determining  one  everywhere,  nor  even  for  the  most  part,  as  regards  the  division 
in  detail ;  for  neither  are  the  dates  so  generally  given,  nor  do  they  even  regulate  a  separate 
part,  such  as  ch.  xxv.  sqq.  More  tenable  as  a  division  of  our  book  in  respect  to  details — more 
tenable  even  than  one  furnished  by  the  matter-of-fact,  Aij>(oriCO-material  element — is  that 
afforded  by  the  inner  substance,  a  method  by  which  we  shall  have  to  look  at  the  fundamental 
idea  oj'  the  glory  of  Jehorah  manifesting  itself  in  judameiit  and  pitying  grace. 


SUBDIVISION  OF  THE   PRINCIPAL  PARTS. 

A.    First  Principal  Part:  Ch.  i.-xxiv. 

The  Prophecy  of  Judgment. 
* 
I.  The  Divine  Mission  of  Ezekiel:  ch.  i.-iii.  11. 

1.  The  Vision  of  the  Glory  of  Jehovah,  ch.  i. 

2.  The  Divine  Commission  to  the  Prophet,  ch.  ii.  1-iii.  11. 

ri.   The  First  Execution  of  the  Divine  Commission:  ch.  iii.  12-vii  37. 

1.  The  Installation  and  Instructions,  ch.  iii.  12-27. 

2.  The  Four  Signs  and  their  Interpretation,  ch.  iv.  1-v.  17. 
&  The  Two  Discourses  of  Rebuke,  ch.  vi.  and  viL 


14  EZEKIEL. 


III.   The  Subsequent  Execution  of  Divine  Commissions:  ch.  viii.-xxiT. 

1.  The  Vision,  ch.  viii.-xi. 

(1)  Of  the  Abominations  in  the  Temple,  ch.  viii. 

(2)  Of  the  Judgment  on  the  GuOty,  ch.  ix. 

(3)  In  particular  of  the  Coals  of  Fire  on  the  City,  ch.  z. 

(4)  Of  the  Leaders  of  the  People,  ch.  xi. 

2.  The  Signs,  ch.  xii.  1-20. 

(1)  The  Sign  of  the  Departure  of  the  King,  ch.  xii.  1-16. 

(2)  The  Sign  of  Bread  and  Water,  ch.  xii.  17-20. 

3.  The  Near  Execution  of  the  Punishment,  ch.  xii.  21-xxiv.  27. 

(1)  The  repeated  Preliminary  Announcement,  ch.  xii.  21-28. 

(2)  The  Discourse  against  the  False  Prophets  and  Prophetesses,  ch.  zin. 

(3)  The  Testimony  against  the  Idolatrous  Seekers  after  Oracles,  ch.  xiv 

(4)  The  Parable  of.  the  Vine  Tree  for  the  Burning,  ch.  xv. 

(5)  The  Story  of  the  Lewd  Adulteress,  ch.  xvi. 

(6)  The  Riddle  about  the  Royal  House  of  David,  ch.  xvii. 

(7)  The  Laws  of  the  Divine  Punitive  Righteousness,  ch.  xviiL 

(8)  The  Lamentation  over  the  Kings  of  Israel,  ch.  xix. 

(9)  The  Survey  of  the  Leading  of  the  People  from  of  old,  ch.  zx. 

(10)  The  Approaching  Judgment,  ch.  xxi. 

(11)  The  Conviction  of  the  Ripeness  for  Judgment: 

a.  as  well  of  Jerusalem  in  particular,  ch.  xxii. 

b.  as  of  Judah  and  Israel  collectively,  ch.  xxiii. 

(12)  The  Marking  down  of  the  Event  that  is  taking  place,  the  Discourse  in  Signs,  aai 

the  Virtual  Sign  (the  Silence  of  Ezekiel),  ch.  xxiv. 

A — B.  Ch.  xxv.-xxxii. 

The  Transition  from  the  Prophecy  of  Judgment  to  the  Prophecy  of  Mercy  by  means  of  (hi 

Predictions  against 
I.  1.  Ammon,  -> 

2.  Moab,  I  ^. 

3.  Edom,  f  ^^-  ^"• 

4.  The  PhUistines,     J 

II.  1.  Tyrus,  cIl  xxvi.  1-xxviii.  19.  • 

2.  Sidon,  ch.  xxviii.  20-26. 

III.  Egypt,  ch.  xxix.-xxxii. 

B.  Second  Principal  Pabt  :  Ch.  xxxiii.-ilviii. 
The  Prophecy  of  the  Mercies  of  God  toward  His  People  in  the  World. 

I.   TTie  Renewal  of  the  Diurne  Mission  of  Ezekiel,  ch.  xxxiii. 

1.  His  office  of  Watchman  in  itself,  ch.  xxxiii.  1-20. 

2.  The  same  in  view  of  the  Event  that  has  taken  place  (the  re-opening  of  the  mouth  of 

Ezekiel),  and  in  face  of  the  state  of  affairs  as  well  as  of  hearts,  ch.  xxSriii.  21-33. 

II.  The  Divine  Promises. 

1.  Against  the  Shepherds  of  Israel  of  the  Shepherd  Mercy  of  Jehovah  toward  His  Fleck. 

and  of  His  Servant  David,  ch.  xxxiv. 

2.  Against  Edom  with  respect  to  the  Mountains  of  Israel  in  consequence  of  the  Self- 

aanctification  of  the  Name  of  Jehovah,  ch.  xxxv.  and  xxxvi. 
S.  (1)  In  the  Vision  of  the   Resurrection  and   Requickening  of  the   Dead  Bones,  ch 
zxzrii.  1-14. 


INTKODUCTION. 


lo 


(2)  By  means  of  the  Symbolical  Action  with  the  One  Stick  out  of  the  Two  Sticks 

along  with  the  Interpretation,  ch.  xxxvii.  15-28. 
4    Against  Gog  of  Magog  for  the  Glorification  of  Jehovah  in  the  W^orld    «h.  xxxviii 

and  xxxix. 
5.  In  the  Vision  of  Glory. 

(1)  Of  the  Temple  and  its  Services,  ch.  xl.-xlvi. 

(2)  Of  the  Holy  Land  and  of  the  Holy  City,  ch.  xlvii.  and  zlviii. 


§   6.    CHRONOLOGICAL  SKETCH  ACCORDING  TO  THE  DATES  IN  THE   BOOK. 


Day. 

MoDth. 

Year  of 
the  Captivity 

of  KiDf; 
Jefaoiachln. 

Chapibes. 

5 

4 

5 

Ch. 

i.-vii. 

1 

5 

G 

6 

viii.-xix. 

10 

5 

7 

xx.-xxiii. 

10 

10 

9 

xxiv.  XXV.  ? 

12 

10 

10 

xxix.  1-16,  XXX. 

1,  19.? 

1 

1 

11 

xxvi.-xxviii. 

7 

1 

11 

XXX.  20-26. 

1 

3 

11 

xxxi. 

5 

10 

12 

xxxiii.  (ch.xxxiv 

-xxxix.  ?) 

1 

12 

12 

xxxii.  1-16. 

15 

12 

12 

xxxii.  17-32. 

10 

1 

25 

xl.-xlviii. 

1 

1 

27 

xxix.  17-21. 

It  is  clear  from  this  chronological  sketch,  so  far  as  dates  in  the  book  make  it  possible,  that 
Beveral  of  the  predictions  of  judgment  on  the  heathen  encroach  on  the  second  principal  part 
of  the  book.  As  the  prophecy  of  the  divine  mercy  begins  on  the  ground  of  the  renewed  call 
to  conversion,  and  with  repeated  earnest  accusation  of  Israel  (ch.  xxxiii.  xxxiv.  xxxvi.),  sc; 
tne  promises  of  God  for  His  people  are  accompanied  by  the  tone  of  judgment  on  the  hostile 
world-powers,  their  judgment  and  downfall — comp.  ch.  xxxv.  xxxviii.  xxxix. — as  contrast, 
background,  as  well  as  necessary  transition  to  the  glorification  of  the  Lord  in  His  kingdom  ■ 
and  so  there  belong  also  to  this  class  the  predictions,  ch.  xxxii.  1-16,  17-32,  ch.  xxix.  17-21, 
XXX.  1-19,  which  thus  occupy  in  the  transition  section  (A — B)  a  preparatory  place. 

It  is  likewise  clear  from  the  above  table,  that  many  a  question  will  have  to  be  answered 
just  by  the  detailed  exposition  of  the  passages  referred  to,  and  perhaps  only  in  accordance 
with  probability. 


§  7.    THE   CHARACTERISTICS   OF  EZEKIEL'S  PROPHECY. 

J.  Gorres  says,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  History  of  the  Myths  of  the  Asiatic  World 
(p.  477),  of  our  prophet:  "Like  a  flame  from  heaven,  Ezekiel  blazes  up  darkly  glowing,  a 
great  strong  nature,  his  imagination  a  furnace  of  seething  metal,  genuinely  oriental  in  his 
whole  character."  Giving  prominence  to  more  than  the  mere  natural  peculiarity  of  Ezekiel, 
Hengstenberg  draws  the  picture  in  his  C hristoloijy :  "A  spiritual  Samson,  who  with  strong 
arm  grasped  the  pillars  of  the  idol  temple  and  dashed  it  to  the  ground  ;  a  powerful  gigantic 
nature,  which  by  that  very  circumstance  was  fitted  effectively  to  combat  the  Babylonian  spirit 
of  the  age,  which  was  fond  of  powerful,  gigantic,  grotesque  forms,  standing  alone,  but  equal 
to  a  hundred  trained  in  the  schools  of  the  prophets." 

We  may  begin  the  discussion  of  the  characteristics,  as  Ezekiel's  book  of  prophecies  exhibits 
them,  by  pointing  back  to  the  interpretation  of  his  name  (§  1).     His  prophetic  peculiarity  ana 


/6  EZEKIEL. 


manner  of  representation  is  reflected  first  of  all  in  general,  and  that  throughout,  in  hii  name. 
Comp,  also  §  2.' 

Then,  in  particular,  above  other  things,  emphasis  must  be  laid  on  the  priestly  stamp  which 
the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  bears.  If  Keil  {Bibl.  Comm.  p.  9)  appears  to  have  his  diflRculties  in 
this  respect,  he  is  certainly  right  as  against  the  opposite  views  brought  forward  by  him ;  but 
this  predominantly  "symbolical  and  allegorical  dress,"  which  is  "carried  out  into  the  most 
minute  details,"  as  it  belongs  to  Ezekiel  above  "all  other  prophets,"  could  with  difficulty  ic 
tlie  case  of  a  Jew  be  better  obtained  than  in  the  Levitical  service,  than  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  than  by  means  of  a  priestly  education  and  training, — in  short,  in  a  priestly-Levitical 
way.  A  Levite  lived  in  the  Mosaic  worship,  a  priest  lived  in  the  midst  of  symbolism  and 
allegory ;  he  became  accustomed  to  it  (especially  if  he  brought  along  with  him  a  mind  suited 
for  it,  and  possessed  the  sanctified  imagination  of  Ezukiel)  from  his  surroundings,  from  his 
whole  actings,  as  it  were  involuntarily  as  his  prevailing  mode  of  expression.  Thus  "  lie  the 
elements,"  as  Keil,  following  Havernick,  remarks,  for  the  vision  at  the  very  commencement 
(ch.  i.),  "in  tlie  enthronement  of  Jehovah  above  the  cherubim  on  the  lid  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,"  consequently  in  what  was  of  necessity  the  crowning-point  of  a  priest's  life  and  of 
priestly  contemplation,  according  to  Lev.  xvi.  As  the  glory  of  Jehovah  is  the  ruling  element 
in  the  whole  book,  its  priestly  keynote  is  thus  sufficiently  indicated  :  but  the  closing  chapters, 
with  the  prophetic  description  of  the  new  temple,  etc.,  completely  reveal  the  priest-prophet, 
and  are  only  to  be  explained  from  a  genuine  priestly  fancy.^ 

A  further  characteristic  of  the  methoil  of  Ezekiel's  prophecy  is  a  lofly  ideality,  a  high 
figurativeness  leaving  far  behind  it  the  usual  forms  of  existence,  side  hy  side  on  the  other  hand 
with  a  severe  realism,  encountering  sensunlism  sensually.  Both  elements  in  their  contiasts,  in  theii 
conflict  with  one  another,  give  to  the  prophetic  form  of  Ezekiel  an  eminently  original  vivacity. 

His  sojourn  in  exile  may  be  looked  upon  as  contributing  to  this  in  a  twofold  respect :  in 
the  first  place,  in  so  far  as  our  prophet  was  thereby  withdrawn  from  the  proper  scene  of 
events ;  and  in  the  second  place,  inasmuch  as  he  was  at  the  same  time  placed  in  the  midst  of 
the  Babylonian  world. 

If  Jeremiah  is  himself  present  on  the  scene  of  events,  is  every  instant  enduring  his  part  in 
the  vicissitude  of  actual  occurrences,  has  to  interfere  in  the  circumstances  lyuig  immediately 
before  Iiini,  and  if  therefore  he  led  a  more  stirring  outward  life,  his  style  corresponds  tliere- 
with — -that  of  more  popular  prophetic  discourse ;  his  whole  activity  takes  its  complexion  from 
the  particular  actual  occurrence.  Ezekiel,  on  the  other  hand,  far  as  he  was  from  Judea, 
standing  face  to  face  with  the  hnaginings  of  the  exiles  (whatever  inner  connection  these 
f Diced  with  the  fatherland),  amid  the  most  diverse  rumours,  dispositions,  and  feelings,  was 
pointed  to  the  divine  communication  hy  means  of  revelation.     It  is  therefore  only  fitting  if  he 

'  "  Above  all  others,  the  prophet  is  distinguished  by  an  uncommon  power  and  energy.  Ezekiel  is  one 
of  the  most  imposing  organs  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  Old  Covenant,  a  really  gigantic  phenomenon. 
In  opposition  to  the  present,  he  steps  forth  with  all  sternness  and  iron  consistency,  an  inflexible  nature, 
encountering  the  abomination  with  an  immoveable  spirit  of  boldness,  with  words  full  of  consuming  fire. 
Unceasingly  he  holds  tip  the  one  thing  that  was  needful  before  the  deaf  ears  and  hard  hearts  of  the 
people.  The  overpowering  element  of  his  eloquence  rests  on  this  union  in  it  alike  of  imposing  strength 
and  indefatigable  consistency." — (Havernick,  Comment,  p.  xiv.) 

■  Ewald  asserts  that  in  this  last  great  section  of  his  book  Ezekiel  "begins  already  to  look  on  what 
the  people  regard  as  sacred  and  the  priesthood  of  Israel  with  that  timidity  and  externality  which 
becomes  ever  more  prevalent  after  his  time,"  and  sees  therein  "just  a  consequence  of  the  one-sided 
literary  conception  of  antiquity  according  to  mere  books  and  traditions,  as  well  as  of  the  depression  of 
intellect  increased  by  the  longer  duration  of  the  exile  and  bondage  of  the  people."  The  exposition  will 
as  decidedly  reject  the  alleged  "timidity  and  externality,"  as  Havernick  rightly  points  to  this,  what 
"  a  high  spirit "  rather,  "  which,  looking  away  from  all  the  pains  and  sufiferings  of  the  present,  lives  in 
tne  future  and  the  reconstruction  of  the  kingdom  of  God  with  fresh  enthusiasm,  meets  us  just  in  th« 
second  part  of  Ezekiel."  If,  however,  the  detailed  character  of  tlie  description  were  to  make  the  im- 
pression of  "  externality,"  then  this  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  prophet  in  the  very  first  chapter  of  his  book, 
and  characterizes  his  popular  addresses  no  less  than  his  visions.  One  may  look  upon  this  at  the  same 
time  as  the  later  literary  style  ;  but  the  manner  of  Ezekiel  is  once  for  aU  to  take  a  penetrating  view  o< 
his  subject  on  all  sides,  as  he  himself  wholly  lives  and  moves  therein,  and  to  exhaust  it  as  far  at 
possible.  The  more  tranquil  outward  (public)  life  of  Ezekiel,  as  compared  with  Jeremiah,  is  therefor* 
not  yet  the  "  learned  "  "  literary  leisure  "  which  Ewald  makes  it  out  to  be. 

*  In  thii  as  in  many  other  respects,  Ezekiel  may  be  compared  with  Tertullian. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 


looks  at  things  as  from  afar,  thus  from  the  divine  idea  of  Jehovah's  self-accomplishing  glury. 
His  activity  thus  ideallij  conditioned  concerns  itself  with  the  certain  fact  cliiefly  accoidmij  to 
lis  essence,  in  its  necessity  and  character  of  fact  as  such.  On  the  height,  it  is  not  so  much  the 
ever-recurring  gust  of  wind,  the  whirhng  dust,  the  falling  of  the  heavy  raindrops,  and  anou 
the  first  flash  of  lightning,  the  rolling  of  the  first  thunder,  that  affects  us ;  it  is  especially  the 
existence  of  the  thunder-cloud  coming  from  afar  that  has  the  power  to  engross  our  attention. 
In  the  distance  from  where  the  event  actually  occurs  as  an  isolated  phenomenon,  the  prophetic 
life  will  be  for  the  most  part  internal, — a  contemplative,  ideal  one ;  instead  of  the  separate 
occurrences,  by  means  of  which  the  fact  is  accomplished  on  its  theatre,  tliere  will  meet  ua 
here,  according  to  individuality  and  surroundings,  as  well  as  (in  the  case  of  a  prophet)  ever 
under  the  special  divine  impulse  (in  vision),  the  separate  forms  of  representation,  by  means  of 
which  the  contemplative  spirit  seeks  to  put  in  shape  for  itself  and  others  the  ruling  idea  0}  the 
whole.  Hence,  to  make  of  Ezekiel  a  recluse  and  pedant, — to  fancy  him,  as  Ewald  does,  "  a  mere 
literary  man  confined  to  his  own  house  aud  the  narrow  Umits  of  domestic  hfe"  {The  Prophels 
of  the  Old  Covenant,  ii.  p.  210), — will  appear  to  a  believer  in  an  extraordinary  diviue  revelation 
to  be  an  idea  which  may  be  mentioned  because  of  its  singularity,  not  refuted.  Only  on  the 
standpoint  of  rationalistic  or  naturalistic  materialism,  where  one  makes  the  prophets  at  his 
own  hand  (comp.  another  passage  at  p.  203),  are  such  conceptions  aud  representations  at 
home.  The  high  position  of  Ezekiel  in  God's  fixed  purpose — the  more  so  that  he  has  his 
abode  far  from  the  sinking  fatlierlaud,  among  his  fellow-captives  by  the  Chebar — explains,  in 
connection  with  his  poetic  gift  (acknowledged  even  by  Ewald),  sufficiently  the  lofty  ideality  of 
his  prophetic  mode  of  representation.' 

As  to  what  has  been  maintained  on  the  other  side  with  respect  to  the  "influence  of  the 
Babylonian  spirit  and  taste  on  the  form  of  his  prophecy,"  viz.  in  reference  to  his  symbolism, 
we  must  agree  with  Keil  in  the  view,  that  the  admission  "of  Old  Testament  ideas  and 
views,"  alike  for  the  contents  and  for  the  form,  in  general  is  sufficient  (comp.  the  work 
referred  to,  p.  6  sqq.) ;  on  the  other  hand,  as  respects  the  filing  up  of  the  picture  in  detail,  the 
exposition  may  indeed  specify  many  an  Assyro-Babylouian  feature. 

Thus  ch.  xl.  sqq.,  with  their  architectural  Jinish  and  picturesqueness  of  detail,  transport  us  in 
a  lively  way  into  the  midst  of  the  immense  architectural  labours  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  by  means 
of  which,  when  returned  home  from  his  victories,  he  transformed  his  metropolis  Baliylou 
mto  the  finest  2  city  of  the  world,  not  merely  adorning  and  enlarging  it,  but  fortifying  it 
quite  as  much,  just  as,  in  like  manner,  in  order  to  preserve  the  original  territory  of  the 
kingdom,  the  land  of  Shinar,  aud  the  capital,  from  the  Medes,  he  caused  the  so-called  Median 
wall  to  be  carried  across  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Tigris.  The  late  Professor  Henj;stenberg 
said  to  me  long  ago,  in  course  of  a  conversation  about  the  last  chapters  of  Ezekiel,  the 
prophet  must  certainly  have  had  a  "  knowledge  of  building,"  just  as,  e.g.,  Riggenbach's 
treatise  also  on  the  tabernacle  betrays  such  knowledge.  At  all  events,  the  probability  is  as 
great  of  there  being  a  natural  substratum  for  the  detailed  restoration  of  the  divine  visions  at 
the  close  of  his  book  in  what  the  priest  of  Judah  in  Babylonian  exile,  by  means  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's ■'  immense  buildings  in  city  and  country,  was  able  to  appropriate  from  what  he  saw 

'  "The  flame  of  the  divine  wrath,  the  mighty  rushing  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  the  holy  majesty  o 
Jehovah,  as  the  seer  has  beheld  it,  is  wonderfully  reproduced  in  his  discourse  "  (Havernick). 

•  For  this  we  have  the  ocular  testimony  (thoroughly  confirmed  by  lately  discovered  inscriptions)  of 
Herodotus,  who  visited  Babylon  in  course  of  the  fifth  century  before  our  era.  The  city  had  tlie  form 
of  a  rectangle  (comp.  Ezek.  xlviii.  30  sqq.).  Herodotus  describes  the  wall  200  feet  high  with  its  100 
gates  (comp.  also  Ezek.  xl.  xlii. ),  with  posts  and  thresholds  of  massive  bronze.  The  deep  and  swiftly 
flowing  Euphrates  (comp.  Ezek.  xlvii. )  intersected  Babylon,  discharging  itself  into  the  Ei-y thrasan  Sea. 
The  outer  wall  served  as  a  work  of  defence.  In  the  midst  of  the  one  half  of  the  city  was  the  royal 
palace,  with  large,  strongly  fortified  enclosure  ;  in  the  midst  of  the  other  half  of  the  city  was  the 
sanctuary  of  Bel  with  its  brazen  gates  (comp.  ch.  xlviii  21  sqq.).  Herodotui' description  of  Babylon 
reads  like  a  parallel  to  Ezek.  xl. -xlviii.  (The  circumference  of  Babylon,  as  the  great  outer  wall  deter- 
mined it,  was,  according  to  the  measurements  of  Oppert,  the  topographer  of  the  old  Chaldean  city,  sevec 
times  that  of  modem  Paris  ;  the  inner  and  more  contracted  wall  embraced  still  a  much  larger  area  thac 
London.)  "In  symbolical  effect,"  says  Lange  on  one  occasion,  "human  cultiure  becomes  a  picture  ol 
iU\ine  worship." 

'  Nebuchadnezzar  as  a  builder  outstripped  all  his  predecessors  (Fr.  Lenormant,  Manuel,  ii.  17  sqq). 
He  rebuilt  almost  entirely  the  royal  city  of  the  old  Cushite  rulers,  lying  on  the  eastern  bank  of  th« 
Euphrates ;  a  gigantic  new  palace  rose  there  at  his  command,  recognizable  eren  at  the  present  day  ia 

B 


18  EZEKIEL. 


and  understood  in  this  connection.  Nay  rather,  in  contrast  with  the  buildings  of  Neliuchad- 
nezzar,  the  buildinrj  of  Jehovah  rises  up  in  Ezekiel  as  the  architectural  antithesis  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  to  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  as  these  latter  are  symbolized  and  typified  by  tiie 
world-empire  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  In  this  way,  face  to  face  with  "  the  dominion  of  the  world- 
powers,"  as  Auberlen  designates  the  stadium  of  the  Babylonian  captivity  '■  in  the  history  of 
the  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God,"  a  significant  memento  was  set  up.  Oui-  view  is, 
that  the  impression  which  the  melting  and  expenditure  of  brass  and  of  gold  necessary  for  the 
gigautic  buildings  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the  innumerable  brick  kilns,  were  fitted  to  make, 
is  to  be  met  with  in  comparisons  such  as  Ezek.  i.  4,  7,  13,  27,  viii.  2,  x.  2,  xxii.  20,  22,  etc. 

But  especially  the  designedly  sensual  realism '  of  the  representation,  of  the  singular  mode 
of  expression  in  chapters  like  ch.  xvi.  and  xxiii.,  seems  to  have  borrowed  its  colouring  from 
the  so  notorious  gross  sensuality  of  the  Babylonian  idolatry,  in  which  the  most  unbridled,  most 
shameless  naturalism  prevailed.  Thus  Herodotus  relates  of  the  temple  of  Bel,  that  in  the 
chapel  in  the  uppermost  tower  "there  is  a  bed  quite  prepared,"  and  tliat  "no  one  spends  the 
night  in  it  but  a  woman  of  the  land  whom  the  god  appoints."  Bilitta,  or  Mylitta,  the  great 
goddess  of  nature,  who  combined  the  contrasted  qualities  of  the  heavenly  and  the  popular 
Venus,  Tauth  and  Zarpanit,  demanded  usually  of  every  woman  of  the  laud  once  in  her  life 
her  prostitution  to  a  stranger  as  an  offering.  So  Nana  or  Zarpanit,  worshipped  at  Kutha, 
bore  the  surname  of  Succoth-Benoth,  which  likewise  points  to  such  prostitutions  in  honour  of 
the  goddess.     Comp.  the  apocryphal  epistle  of  Jeremiah,  vers.  42,  43. 

the  hill  of  rubbish  Kasr,  one  of  the  largest.  An  artificial  hill  was  the  site  of  the  celebrated  ' '  hanging 
gardens,"  which  were  intended  to  represent  to  his  Median  consort  Amytis  her  beautiful  fatherland  ; 
terraces  rising  step  by  step  one  above  the  other,  an  "  Isola  Bella"  on  land,  according  to  Oppert  the 
great  rubbish-deposit  of  Amram.  Of  the  "temple  of  the  foundations  of  the  earth,"  called  also  Bit 
Saggiitii  ("the  temple  which  raises  its  head"),  that  very  ancient  terraced  pyramid  of  the  royal  city, 
with  the  alleged  tomb  of  the  god  Bel-Merodach  and  an  esteemed  oracle,  Nebuchadnezzar  says  in  an 
inscription :  "  Bit  Saggatu  is  the  great  temple  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  dweUing  of  the  lord  of  the 
gods,  Merodach.  I  have  restored  his  sanctuary,  the  seat  of  the  supreme  authority,  overlaying  it  with 
pure  gold."  A  second  terraced  pyramid  was  erected  by  him  beside  it  as  a  temple  for  the  goddess 
Zarpanit.  On  the  side  of  the  "secular  city"  (Uallat)  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Euphrates,  now  HUlah, 
where  the  captives  from  the  different  countries  and  Jews  also  were  settled,  Nebuchadnezzar  restored  the 
tower  of  Babel,  and  built  therein  the  great  temple  of  Bel,  called  Bit-Zida,  and  "  the  temple  of  the  seveij 
heavenly  spheres."  An  inscription  discovered  some  years  ago,  and  translated,  calls  it  "the  terrace- 
tower,  the  everlasting  house,  the  temple  of  the  seven  lights  of  the  earth  (planets),  to  which  the  oldest 
mention  of  Borsippa  (i.e.  '  the  tower  of  the  languages')  is  attached,  which  the  first  king  built,  but  was 
not  able  to  finish ;  men  had  forsaken  it  since  the  days  of  the  flood,  expressing  their  words  in  confusion. 
The  earthquake  and  the  thunder  had  shaken  the  crude  brick,  and  had  split  the  burnt  brick  of  the 
facing ;  the  crude  brick  of  the  foundation- walls  had  sunk  down  into  hillocks. "  Herodotus  also  gives  a 
description  of  this  building  restored  as  a  temple.  General  Rawlinson  has  pointed  out  that  the  seven 
storeys  with  the  sanctuary  of  the  god  above  were  painted  as  with  the  colours  of  the  seven  heavenly 
bodies ;  the  succession  of  colours  represented  at  the  same  time  the  succession  of  the  days  of  the  week. 
The  cuneiform  inscriptions  of  Nebuchadnezzar  enumerate  other  temples  besides,  which  he  restored  or 
erected  anew,  and  likewise  in  the  other  cities  of  Chaldea.  Those  of  Kai  also,  on  the  Euphrates  at 
Babylon,  were  finished  by  him  ;  but  just  as  he  cared  for  "  the  city  of  his  kingdom  "  (so  he  calls  it  in  his 
inscriptions),  so  in  like  manner  he  cared  for  the  remaining  portions  of  his  land  :  he  restored  the  cele- 
brated royal  canal  (Naharwalkor),  and  below  Sippara  he  caused  an  immense  lake  to  be  dug  for  the 
purpose  of  ii-rigation.  It  is  certainly  to  be  conceded  that  such  activity  in  building  on  the  part  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  will  somehow  be  reflected  in  the  prophetic  form  of  Ezekiel,  whose  labours  were  carried 
on  in  presence  of  it. 

"As  the  symbolism  and  appUcation  of  simiUtudes,  images,  and  proverbs  is  in  general  only  a  means 
to  an  end,  that  of  illustrating  the  truths  to  be  brought  forward,  and  of  strengthening  by  means  of  illus- 
tration the  effect  of  the  word  and  the  discourse,  so  the  like  end  is  also  served  by  the  detail  and  circum- 
stantiality of  the  representation,  and  even  by  the  repetition  of  thoughts  and  expressions  under  new 
points  of  view.  The  people  to  whom  Ezekiel  had  to  preach  repentance  by  the  announcement  of  divine 
judgment  and  salvation  were  a  rebeUious  race,  of  brazen  face  and  hardened  heart.  If  he  wished  to 
exercise  towards  these  faithfully  and  conscientiously  the  oflice  of  watchman  committed  to  him  by  thu 
Lord,  he  must  both  rebuke  the  sins  of  the  people  with  strong  words  and  in  drastic  fashion,  and  portray 
the  terrors  of  the  judgment  vividly  before  their  eyes,  and  also  set  forth  in  a  way  that  would  strike  the 
senses  that  salvation  which  was  to  spring  up  thereafter  for  the  penitent."— Keil.  "Est  atrox, 
•ehemens,  tragicus,  totus  in  Iumwv,  in  sensibus  elatus,  fervidus,  acerbus,  indignabundus.  In  eo  genere, 
*d  quod  unice  videtur  a  natura  comparatus,  niminun  vi,  impetu,  pondere,  granditate,  nemo  ex  omci 
icriptonun  numero  eum  unquam  aequavit." — LowrH. 


INTRODUCTION.  19 


From  the  circumstance  that  our  prophet  was  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  Babylonian  world, 
yet  another  peculiarity  characterizing  him  and  his  book  is  explained,  viz.  his  surprismyls 
accurate  knowledge  of  foreign  nations  and  their  affairs  (comp.  ch.  xxvi.  sqq.,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.). 
In  this  respect  he  makes  the  impression  of  a  man  who  has  travelled  much  and  far.  Naturally, 
Ewald  finds  in  this  a  confirmation  of  his  strange  view  of  Ezekiel  sittii.g  over  his  books,  of  tlie 
"  literary  and  learned  man  "  at  the  expense  of  the  genuine  prophet.i  It  is  true  :  "  the  position 
and  circumstances  of  the  nations  and  countries  of  the  earth  are  described  by  him  with  a  com- 
prehensiveness and  a  historical  vividness  such  as  belongs  to  no  other  prophet."  But  for  tbia 
there  was  no  need  in  the  kingdom  of  Babylon  of  any  far-fetched  "learning  ;"  it  was  enough, 
with  an  actual  interest  and  the  necessary  mental  endowments, — which  even  the  mastery  of  hit 
materials  possessed  by  Ezekiel  sufficiently  shows,— if  there  were  simply  open  eyes  and  ears,  for 
Babylon  was  one  of  the  centres  of  eastern  commerce  (Ezek.  xvii.  4,  xvi.  29),  as  its  geographical 
position,  where  Higher  and  Lower  Asia  meet,  between  two  great  rivers,  which  placed  it  in 
connection  with  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Indian  Ocean,  amply  justifies,  and  as  may  also  be 
shown  in  other  ways.  At  this  market-place  so  situated,  the  caravans  of  the  east  and  west 
came  together,  and  the  mariners  of  Africa,  Arabia,  and  India  met  one  another.  Here  they 
obtained  by  barter  the  products  of  Babylonian  industry,  which  was  employed,  down  even  tc 
the  villages,  e.g.  in  woollen  and  linen  weaving,  in  the  manufacture  of  garments  and  carpets. 
Babylonian  weapons,  furniture,  jewellery,  and  other  fancy  goods  were  articles  not  less  desired. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  came  to  Babylon  wines  from  Armenia,  precious  stones  and  large 
dogs  from  India,  as  also  the  finest  woollen  stuffs  from  Persia,  perfumes,  spices,  gold,  ivory, 
and  ebony  from  Arabia  and  Ethiopia.  In  the  city  of  Babylon  the  great  world-roads  con- 
verged (comp.  Lenormant,  p.  35  sqq.).  In  addition,  a  powerful  uavy ;  Babylonian  ships 
sailed  over  the  Persian  Gulf.  According  to  Strabo,  there  were  factories  and  colonies  of 
Babylonians  in  distant  lands. 

One  sees  that  the  Babylonian  exile  had  a  similar  task  to  that  of  the  sojourn  of  the  people 
in  Egypt  in  former  days ;  it  was  only  a  more  advanced  secular  school  for  the  Jews. 

If  now  we  must  specify  vision  and  symbolism  as  being,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  charac- 
teristic of  Ezekiel's  prophecy,  there  is  thus  expressed  a  departure  from  the  previous  fundamental 
form  of  prophecy,  viz.  inspired  popular  discourse  (which  is  the  peculiarity  e.g.  of  Isaiah,  and 
also  of  Jeremiah  even),  and  an  approach  to  Daniel's  peculiarity.  What  steps  more  into  the 
background  with  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  other  prophets  (Isa.  vi.  ;  Jer.  xxiv.),  begins  to  be 
more  prominent  in  Ezekiel,  although  "  the  word  of  Jehovah  "  also  comes  to  him  repeatedly 
along  with  it.''  The  lower  form  of  dream  is  not  found  in  our  prophet;  but  divine  revelation 
comes  to  him  in  a  waking  state,  in  the  higher  form  of  vision  (Ezek.  i.,  viii.  sqq.,  xl.  sqq.)  ;  and 
just  as  in  the  dream  plastic  symbolism  is  the  rule,  so  symbolic  representation,  figurative  and 
allegorical  discourse,  parabolic  speech,  the  enigmatic  is  the  seer's  mode  of  expression  in  word 
as  in  action  (Ezek.  i.,  xv.,  xvii.,  iii.,  iv.,  v.,  etc.).  Hess  :  "  One  might  call  it  pantomimic."  The 
more  that  God  is  unveiled  before  the  prophet,  in  so  much  the  more  veiled  a  way  does  he  shape 
his  reproduction  of  what  he  has  seen  for  the  profane  multitude.  (Comp.  in  this  connection 
the  phenomena  in  the  case  of  one  who  has  risen  from  the  dead.  Auberlen  quotes  also  Matt, 
xiii.  10  sqq.')  Only  when  Ezekiel  is  to  be  at  the  same  time  an  expositor,  and  he  is  so  almost 
throughout  (ch.  i.  28,  iv.  3,  18  sqq.,  xvii.),— it  is  in  this  way  the  transition  is  made  in 
his  case  to  the  plain  word,  to  the  prophetic  popular  discourse,— do  logical  thought  and  con- 
ceptions again  make  their  appearance.  That  being  in  the  Spirit  (Kev.  i.  10,  iv.  2),  as  distin- 
guished from  this  speaking  in  the  Spirit,  is  the  apocalyptic  element  of  Ezekiel.     He  testifies  of 

'  And  yet  Ewald  concedes,  and  in  words  copiously  recognises  (pp.  204-206),  a  public  ministry  of 
Ezekiel,  and  that  with  "clearest  consciousness  of  his  being  a  genuine  prophet,"  and  "more  plainly 
expressed  than  in  the  case  of  any  earlier  prophet." 

•  "We  find  in  the  prophet  partly  a  purely  didactive  mode  of  discourse  tranquilly  unfolding  itself, 
gimilar  to  what  is  to  be  found  in  the  older  prophets,  ch.  xii-xix.  The  etyle  is  then  the  usual  one  of 
prophetic  rhetoric,"  etc.  (Hav.). 

'  "That  mode  of  representation,  because  it  introduces  us  immediately  to  the  inner  world  of  the 
prophetic  spirit,  has  a  mysterious,  ofttimes  obscure  and  enigmatic  character.  The  prophet  loves  this 
rr-ode  of  speech  so  much  the  more,  when  it  rouses  attention  and  inquiry,  and  the  more  impressively  a 
word  of  such  a  kind  touches  men's  hearts.  Jerome  designates  our  book  as :  scripturarum  oceanum  e* 
mysteriorum  Dei  labjTinthum"  (Hav.).  Perhaps,  for  the  idea  of  Theosophy  (comp.  the  article  of  Lauge 
in  Henog  xvi.),  the  Old  Testament  point  of  connection  may  be  got  from  EzekieL 


M)  EZEKIEL. 


it  fpjra  the  beginning  (ch.  i.  1)  :  that  "  the  heavens  were  opened,"  and  "  he  saw  visions  uf 
God."  (C"mp.  the  profound  reinarlis  of  Auberlen  on  the  three  fornjs  of  Old  Testament 
revelation,  Theophany,  Prophecy,  Apocalypse,  in  his  Daniel  and  lievelalion,  p.  70  sqq.') 

We  shall  also  in  the  case  of  Ezeliiel  be  able  to  speak  of  "n  lonk  that  is  all-embracing,'' 
according  to  Auberlen  the  one  peculiarity  of  apocalypse,  just  as  we  shall  meet  in  our  prophet 
with  the  other  peculiarity  remarked  by  him,  "  specialty  of  prediction,"  that  apocalypse  "  gives 
more  of  the  detail  of  universal  history  and  more  eschatological  detail  than  prophecy,"  not 
exactly  in  the  way  in  which  it  occurs  in  Daniel,  but  yet  in  similar  fashion.  Haveriiick  says  , 
'■Rightly  did  Witsius  call  the  donum  prophetix  of  our  prophet  incomparabile.  True  indeed, 
he  grasps  the  future  more  in  its  general  features, — the  most  comprehensive  possible  torm  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  whole, — but  along  with  that  there  are  not  wanting  also  remarkable 
gUmpses  into  the  detail  of  the  future,  predictions  strictly  so  called,  on  which  by  means  of  their 
exact  fulfilment  the  seal  of  truth  and  of  divine  enlightenment  on  the  part  of  the  prophet  is 
impressed,  ch.  xxvi.  sqq.,  xii.  12  sqq.,  xxiv.  ;  comp.  ch.  xxxiii."  (ch.  xi.  lU ;  comp.  with 
Jer.  Hi.  10).  Year,  month,  and  day  are  given  us ;  it  is  the  prophet's  coi;scious  intention  to 
remove  every  suspicion  of  a  vaticinii  post  evtntum. 

But  apart  from  these  definite  predictions,  the  general  sensuousness,  the  complete  visibility  oj 
the  prophetic  form  oJ  tCzekiel  is  the  suitable  counterpart  of  the  Chaldean  world  which  so  cauyht 
the  eye,  and  amid  which  Israel  is  in  a  state  of  dread ;  and  still  more  was  it,  on  the  other  hand, 
adapted  for  the  comfortless  despondency  and  almost  despair  of  those  banished  thither,  from 
whom  everything  visible,  which  had  been  to  them  a  pledge  of  the  divine  favour,— land,  and 
city,  and  temple,  and  the  beautiful  ordinances  of  divine  worship, — seemed  to  have  vanished  for 
ever,  to  comfort  them  against  the  whole  aspect  of  things  visible  with  something  visible  from 
God,  and  as  it  n-ere  palpably  heavenly.  For  this  purpose  there  lies  a  security  from  God  in  the 
appearance  of  Ezekiel,  a  sacramental  character,  one  might  say,  to  which,  equally  with  the 
most  definite  predictions,  a  number  of  formulas  recurring  through  the  whole  book  contribute, 
such  as.  "and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,"  or,  "they  shall  know  that  a  prophet  is 
in  their  midst,"  "  and  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,"  "  the  hand  of  Jehovah 
came  upon  me,"  or  the  like,  " as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,"  "I,  Jehovah,  have  said 
it,"  etc.  ("Thus  saith  Jehovah  the  Lord"  occurs,  according  to  KJiefoth's  reckoning,  121 
times.)  To  perceive  in  such  formulas  (as  Ewald  does)  "  as  it  were  an  encouraging  of  them- 
selves on  the  part  of  the  fainting  prophetic  order,"  or  even  the  boastful,  stupid  weakness  of 
old  aL'C,  is  to  misunderstand  the  intentional  emphasizing  of  the  divine  origin  and  contents, 
which  Ezekiel  claims  for  his  announcements.  Not  less  does  our  prophet  over  and  over  again 
emphasize  the  divine  commission,  the  divine  impulse,  to  speak  this,  to  do  this  or  that  (ch. 
vi.  1,  .\iii.  2,  17,  xvi.  2,  xvii.  2,  xxxv.  2,  xxxvi.  1,  xxxviii.  2,  iii.  1  sqq.,  iv.  4  sqq.,  xii.  1  sqq., 
xxi.  24  sqq.,  etc.).  This  is  the  more  suitable  in  confronting  his  doubting,  unbelieving,  and 
rebellious  hearers,  especially  for  the  opening  apocalypse,  where,  in  the  case  of  the  visions  and 
symbols,  mere  human  imagination  might  very  greatly  deceive  itself  and  impose  upon  others. 
But  Ezekiel  is  from  the  first  set  by  Jehovah  to  speak  and  to  execute  the  words  of  Him  who 
thus  commissioned  him,  and  of  Him  only  ;  his  whole  book  is  the  fulfilment,  and  nothing  more, 
of  the  symbolic  procedure  in  ch.  ii.  8  sqq. 

In  connection  with  this  we  must  also  understand  the  standing  address  of  God  to  the  prophet 
"son  of  man,"  viz.  of  one  who  of  himself  would  be  quite  incapable  of  such  communications, 
flesh  of  flesh,  man  of  man  ! 

As  regards  the  close  connection  of  Ezekiel  with  the  Pentateuch,  Keil  is  perfectly  right  ia 
asserting  that  he  has  this  "in  common  with  all  the  prophets."  "Along  with  his  immediate 
predecessor  Jeremiah,  he  is  distinguished  in  this  respect  from  the  earher  prophets  by  the  fact 
that  the  verbal  references  in  both  become  more  frequent  and  appear  more  prominent,  which  ia 

'  To  this  category  belongs  also  the  significant  occurrence  of  the  number  seven :  thus,  seven  times 
prophecy  about  Egypt  (ch.  xxix.  sqq.);  and  so,  seven  nations  against  whom  judgment  is  predicted 
(ch.  XXV.  sqq. ),  by  means  of  an  intentional  separation  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Klief oth  has  shown  that,  even 
OS  respects  the  whole  book,  according  to  the  formula,  "  and  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying," 
it  consists  of  7  x  7  words  of  God :  "an  arrangement  according  to  the  nimiber  seven,"  says  he,  "  which 
we  find  in  the  book  of  Zechariah  and  in  the  Apocalypse,  carried  out  in  a  different  fashion ;  for  what 
these  prophets  predict  will  be  fulfilled  and  accomplished,  like  God's  work  of  creation,  in  seven  days.* 
Comp.  besides,  on  Apocalypse  and  Prophecy,  Lange  on  Genesis,  p.  36. 


INTRODUCTION.  2i 


accounted  for  chiefly  by  tlie  circumstance,  that  tlie  apostasy  from  the  law  had  become  so  great, 
in  consequence  of  whic^h  the  judgments  already  threatened  in  the  Pentateuch  were  falling 
upon  them,"  etc.  Ewald  says  that  Ezekiel  "  makes  use  of  the  Pentateuch  .is  a  matter  of  pure 
learning"  and  certainly  without  genuine  "prophetic  originality  and  independence;"  but  the 
complete  proof  to  the  contrary  is  already  furnished  by  his  mode  of  understanding — which  is 
not  only  sensible,  but  a  result  of  his  being  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost — this  very  ceremonial 
law  in  an  eschatological  or  Christologica,!  respect.  In  reference  to  the  moral  law,  we  may 
compare,  as  against  Ewald,  ch.  xviii.,  for  example,  of  which  chapter  Umbreit  remarks  that  it 
"  brings  out  in  the  most  splendid  manner  the  ethical  character  of  our  priestly  prophet."  "  If  one 
sees  in  the  ceremonial  law  narrow  and  narrowing  forms,  crippling  our  mental  freedom,  then 
certainly  the  entering  on  the  same,  as  Ezekiel  does,  itself  appears  as  a  narrow-mindedness. 
But  the  law  has  a  higher  significance  for  the  prophet ;  and  with  how  free  a  step  intellectually — 
with  all  his  attachment,  fidelity,  love  to  the  same — he  enters  on  the  subject,  is  shown  by  the 
deeper  apprehension  of  the  ideas  which  are  enstamped  on  the  ordinances  of  the  law  and  of  the 
spiritual  import  of  the  legal  forms,  so  that,  as  the  very  section  ch.  xl.  sqq.  shows,  he  stands 
in  a  relation  of  nowise  slavish  dependence  on  the  law,  but  has  clearly  recognised  its  ex.act 
significance  for  the  perio<l  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Covenants,  alike  in  their  agreement  and 
in  their  diversity  "  (HaV.).  How  different  is  Ezekiel's  way  of  dealing  with  the  law  from  that 
of  Ezra,  also  a  priest,  the  scribe  !  Corap.  besides  Oehler  (Herzoo"s  Real-Encycl.  xii.  pp. 
227,  229).  "The  position  of  Ezekiel  among  the  exiles,"  remarks  the  latter,  "is  to  be  com- 
pared relatively  with  that  of  the  propheU  in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes ;— among  the 
taptives  of  Israel,  where  the  tendency  to  idolatry  was  deeply  rooted  (Ezek.  xiv.  3  sqq.),  and 
where  also  still  later  (Isa.  Ixv.)  the  apostasy  spread  mightily,  to  preserve  a  religious  com- 
munity, within  which  the  Church  of  the  future  might  be  perpetuated.  This  object  was  also 
served  by  the  maintenance  in  particular  of  the  sabbath-festival,  a  salutary  fence  for  the  people 
thrown  among  the  heathen,  a  protection  against  the  ways  of  the  heathen,"  etc. 

As  to  the  "  lihrary  style  "  of  Ezekiel,  Ewald's  judgment  is,  that  his  mode  of  representatioi 
"seldom  falls  away,  like  that  of  Jeremiah,  easily  recovers  itself,  and  as  a  rule  is  beautifully 
rounded  off ;  his  language  has  already,  scattered  here  and  there,  many  an  Aramaic  and  other- 
wise foreign  element,  the  influx  of  the  exile,  yet  fortunately  it  leans  most  on  the  older  models ; 
the  discourse  is  rich  in  rare  comparisons,  often  charming,  and  at  the  same  time  striking,  full  of 
manifold  turnings  (which  are  often  beautifully  elaborated),  and  where  it  rises  higher,  of 
genuine  dramatic  liveliness;  it  has  also  a  certain  evenness  and  repose,  in  contrast  with 
Jeremiah,"  etc.  Comp.  Hiiv.  Comm.  p.  xxiii ;  Keil,  Comm.  p.  10 ;  Zunz,  Goltesflienstl.  Vortr. 
d.  Jnden,  p.  159,  who  adduce,  besides,  the  expressions  original  to  Ezekiel,  not  occurring  else- 
where, which  perhaps  are  formed  by  himself.  Schiller  (as  Richter  tells  us)  read  Ezekiel  with 
the  greatest  pleasure,  because  of  his  finished  glorious  pictures,  and  wished  even  yet  to  learn 
Hebrew,  in  order  to  be  able  to  read  him  correctly.  Herder  calls  our  prophet  "the  ^Eschylua 
and  Shakespeare  of  the  Hebrews." 


§  8.    COMPOSITION,  COLLECTION,  ARRANGEMENT,  GENUINENESS  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  book  which  bears  Ezekiel's  name  is  pervaded  throughout  bij  one  nvd  the  same  spirit  alike 
o/Gud  and  ofvian.  In  all  its  separate  parts  there  meets  us,  as  respects  contents  and  form, 
mode  of  representation  and  language,  the  same  very  peculiar  stamp  of  this  prophet.  Ewald 
acknowledges :  "  Even  the  slightest  attention  shows,  that  everything  in  it  really  proceeds 
from  his  hand."  De  Wette  :  "  That  Ezekiel,  who  usually  speaks  of  himself  in  the  first  person, 
has  written  down  everything  himself,  is  a  matter  of  no  doubt."  Gesenii'S  :  "  The  book  belongs 
to  that  not  very  numerous  class,  which  from  beginning  to  end  maintain  a  unity  of  tone,  which 
is  evinced  by  favourite  expressions  and  peculiar  phrases;  and  by  this  circumstance  alone  every 
suspicion  of  spuriousness  as  regards  particular  sections  might  be  averted." 

"  Groundless  doubts,"  De  Wette  calls  them  {Introd.  7th  edit.).  Those  of  some  of  the 
Rabbins  (comp.  H.  Witsii,  Misc.  s.  i.  ch.  xix.  9)  "were  merely  dogmatic;"  the  learned  Jew 
Zunz  has  lost  himself  on  the  same  path  towards  the  Persian  epoch.  Keil,  Introd.  p.  36l! 
[Clark's  Trans.]. 

But  although,  as  Keil  concludes,  "the  genuineness  of  Ezekiel's  prophecies  is  at  present 


12  EZEKIEL. 


(1868)  acknowledged  with  one  voice  by  all  critics,  just  as  also  no  doubt  any  longer  exists  on 
this  point,  that  the  writing  down  and  editing  of  the  same  in  the  book  handed  down  to  us  hns 
been  executed  by  the  prophet  himself:"  "yet  as  to  the  manner  in  wliich  the  whole  book 
originated,  its  collection  and  arrangement,  a  general  understanding  has  by  no  means  been 
arrived  at"  (Havernick). 

The  "want  of  arrangement,"  which  Jahn  remarked  in  his  Introduction,  because  of  the 
Interruption  of  the  chronological  sequence  by  the  prophecies  against  foreign  nations  (oh. 
xxix.  17  sqq.,  xxvi.  1,  xxix.  1,  xxxv.,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.),'  may  in  general  be  regarded  as 
cleared  up  by  §§  6  and  6,  as  to  the  detail  the  exposition  will  have  to  step  forward  ;  to  ascribe 
it  to  the  "copy  of  the  transcriber  or  collector,"  is,  from  perplexity,  to  adopt  a  view  wiiich 
explains  nothing. 

Eichhorn  in  his  Introduction  adopted  the  supposition  of  small  separate  book-rolls,  upon 
one  of  which,  for  the  sake  of  economy,  often  two  prophecies  of  the  most  diverse  periods  were 
written,  the  collector  having  shrunk  from  the  trouble  of  re-transcribing  them,  and  contented 
himself  with  the  putting  together  of  the  separate  rolls  (! !). 

In  support  of  the  view  which  ascribes  the  collection  also  to  Ezekiel  himself,  Havernick  in  his 
Comm.  urges  the  following ;  (1)  the  systematic  arrangement,  which  throughout  corresponds 
to  the  contents,  and  combines  strictly  chronological  sequence  with  arrangement  according  to 
subject-matter  (in  the  prophecies  against  foreign  nations)  ;  (2)  the  closest  internal  connection 
in  the  whole  and  in  the  separate  parts,  where  every  separate  section  looks  back  to  the  pre- 
ceding ;  (3)  the  occasional  closing  notices,  which  in  the  collection  of  the  whole  have  been 
appended  most  suitably  by  the  prophet  himself. 

Ewald  makes  our  book  "  first  to  have  originated  gradually  from  several  layers,  the  mass 
not  to  have  been  written  till  several  years  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  the  leisure  of 
domestic  life;"  it  is  "quite  possible  that  Ezekiel  began  to  write  down  many  a  thing  even 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem"  (ch.  xvii  19,  xii.  13,  xvii.  20).  Comp.  said  work,  p. 
213  sqq. 

In  favour  of  the  written  composition  hy  Ezekiel,  ch.  ii.  9,  10  is  certainly  not  without 
significance.^  And  where  our  prophet  had  not  the  temple  with  the  people  flocking  together 
for  oral  address  before  him,  where  he  could  approach  his  auditory,  the  exiles  scattered 
throughout  the  Chaldean  empirej  only  by  means  of  written  communication,  there  is  no  necessity 
whatever,  in  support  of  a  speedy  written  composition  of  the  separate  discourses,  prophecies, 
visions,  to  draw  the  inference  from  Jer.  xxix.  that  there  was  also  a  more  extensive  written 
intercourse  between  the  place  of  exile  and  the  fatherland.  Yet  Bleek  in  his  Introd.  urges,  as 
an  argument  for  their  being  originally  committed  to  writing,  and  that  not  long  after  the 
revelation,  the  sentences  with  respect  to  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem  before  the  destruction  of  the 
city  and  with  respect  to  the  foreign  nations,  whilst  he  finds  a  later  re-touching  not  unlikely. 
If  it  was  "the  prophetic  custom  of  this  period  especially"  (Hiiv.),  conip.  Dan.  vii.  1,  Jer. 
xixvi.,  to  commit  prophecies  to  writing  immediately,  then  must  the  view,  that  in  the  case  of 
Ezekiel  also  tlie  written  composition  of  the  separate  parts  preceded  the  collection  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  whole  by  the  prophet, — a  view  which  is  specially  favoured'  by  the  very  uniform 
setting  of  the  separate  pieces,  by  the  similarity  of  the  inscriptions,  where  they  are  found,  by 
the  recurring  insertion  with  the  formula  "and  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me," — appear 
so  much  the  more  natural.  Prophecies  like  those  which  form  the  close  of  the  book,  must  have 
been  sketched  in  writing  before  being  orally  delivered,  and  may  afterwards  have  been 
amplified.  The  dates  of  Ezekiel  are  by  no  means  "kept  in  so  general  a  form"  as  Ewald 
asserts ;  year,  month,  and  day  are  given,  rather  like  the  deliberate  consciousness  of  the 
moment,  than  at  random  according  to  a  very  much  later  recollection.    The  peculiar  description 

'  Db  Wette  :  "Of  course  ch.  xxxv.  ought  to  stand  beside  ch.  xxvi.,  but  it  has  also  a  suitable  place 
here  (much  the  same  as  Isa.  l-^iii.  1-6) ;  but  ch.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.  have  more  a  home  than  a  foreign 
reference,  and  with  perfect  right  are  attached  to  ch.  xxxvii." 

'  "  It  was  the  more  likely  for  the  prophet  from  the  first  to  commit  to  writing  the  contents  of  the 
prophetic  revelation  entrusted  to  him  by  Jehovah,  inasmuch  as  the  beginning  of  the  discourses  which  he 
had  to  deliver  to  the  people  was  represented  to  him  in  the  form  of  a  writing.  The  inward  necessity  of 
writing,  however,  was  much  more  urgently  present  as  regards  that  portion  of  the  prophetic  announce- 
ment which  was  to  be  realized  after  the  threatenings  should  have  fulfilled  their  piirpose,  than  in  th* 
o«ae  of  the  threatenings  themselves,  with  which  the  prophet  had  to  begin." — Badmoabten. 


INTRODUCTION.  23 


in  detail  of  our  prophet  may  also  certainly  be  traced  back  with  Haveniick  to  the  strength  and 
freshness  of  a  present  revelation  and  ecstasy,  and  may  be  used  as  an  argument  for  writtei: 
composition  before  the  preparation  of  the  whole.     Comp.  besides,  Kliefoth,  p.  81  sqq. 

That  "the  Masoretic  text"  is  "more  faulty  than  in  almost  any  other  book  of  the  Old 
Testament,"  is  an  exaggeration  on  the  part  of  Ewald.  Just  as  little  was  it  "  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  LXX.  in  a  far  purer  form  "  (Hitzig).  But  yet  the  comparison  of  the  latter,  as  well  as 
of  the  Peschito.  is  interesting  for  settling,  or  at  least  throwing  light  upon  difficult  cases.  To  the 
Ale.tandrian  Philo  the  Greek  translation  of  Ezekiel,  with  whom  certainly  he  had  the  greatest 
sympathy,  appears  not  to  have  been  at  all  accessible.  (Frankel,  Vorstudien  zu  dcr  Sept. 
p.  39.) 

§  9.   THE  CHRISTOLOGT  OF  EZEKIEL. 

"  The  Old  Testament  Christology  is  a  result  of  this  circumstance,  that  the  divine  promise 
comes  forth /mm  the  judgment  of  God"  (Lange)  ;  and  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  maybe  looked 
apon  as  the  element  which  determines  the  second  group  of  the  Messianic  prophecies.  Comp 
Lange,  Pos.  Day.  p.  674.  And  so  throughout  the  announcement  of  future  salvation  has  as  its 
precursor  the  judicial  activity  of  Jehox'dh.  There  there  is  no  rest,  till  the  last  extremity  has 
been  reached,  and  the  last  drops  of  Judah  have  been  scattered  among  the  heathen.  Thii 
background  of  judgment,  on  which  the  Christological  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  displays  itself,  is 
therefore  the  universal  Old  Testament  one  of  the  prophets,'  just  as  he  occupies  it  specially  in 
common  with  Jeremiah. 

Thus  Ezekiel  (ch.  xi.  13)  cries  with  loud  voice,  that  God  is  making  a  full  end  of  the 
remnant  of  Israel,  and  receives  thereupon  the  promise  (ver.  16),  that  the  Eternal  Himself  will 
be  "as  a  sanctuary"  to  the  exiles  for  the  short  time  of  their  banishment.  Out  of  apparently 
complete  extermination  in  judgment  there  rises  up  what  in  a  certain  measure  already  forms  a 
preparation  for  the  close  of  the  book. 

Yet  the  priestly  element  can  neither  on  this  account,  nor  on  the  whole,  be  regarded  as  the 
peculiarity  of  Ezekiel's  Christology.  The  utmost  we  can  maintain  is,  that  it  is  a  predominant 
element  in  the  manner  of  our  prophet's  conception  and  representation  (comp.  §  7)  in  this 
respect  also.  For  the  priestly  conception  is  certainly  to  be  found  in  Jeremiah  too,  for  example, 
and  just  in  ch.  iii.  14-17,  where  Havernick  finds  "Jeremiah's  fundamental  idea"  of  the 
Messianic  salvation  expressed.  It  can  also  with  difiiculty  be  shown,  at  least  in  the  case  of 
Ezekiel,  that,  as  Lange  asserts,  "  the  kingly  office  of  the  Messiah  steps  into  the  background ;" 
it  may  be  admitted  with  respect  to  His  prophetic  office.  For,  in  accordance  with  Exod.  xix.  6, 
— "  the  gospel  of  the  Old  Testament "  (to  use  the  words  of  Ewald), — the  kingdom  remains  the 
keynote,  and  the  all-pervading  view  of  the  Messiah  is  that  of  the  King,  wliether  resting  on 
2  Sam.  vii.,  or  going  back  to  Gen.  xlix.  Not  only  does  Ezekiel  share  sucli  an  expectation  with 
all  the  prophets,  but  immediately  on  his  opening  up  the  Messianic  prospect,  in  ch.  xvii.  22-:.'4. 
we  have  the  planting  of  the  cedar  "on  the  high  mountain  of  Israel,"  i.e.  the  raising  up  of  the 
Davidic  kingdom,  to  whose  protection  the  nations  wiD  submit  themselves  (comp.  besides  oiv 
ch.  XX.  33,  37).  The  "coming  One"  of  ch.  xxi.  32,  "whose  right  it  is"  ("perhaps  will 
allusion  to  the  already  Messianically  interpreted  passage,  Gen.  xlix.  10,"  remarks  Bleck),  is  al 
all  events  a  king.  And  just  to  the  same  effect  we  shall  have  to  interpret  ch.  xxix.  j1, 
especially  the  causing  "the  horn  to  bud  forth."  But  now  even  in  ch.  xxxiv., — while,  with 
Tholuck,  we  must  admit  that  "  the  name  of  shepherd  corresponds  to  that  of  ruler  in  its  ethical 
idea," — where  Jehovah  takes  upon  Himself  the  care  of  the  flock  scattered  under  the  bad 

'  Tholuck  (Dk  PropMen  und  ihre  Weissagungen,  pp.  37  sqq.,  78)  gathers  up  "all  prophecies  under 
the  category  of  that  holy  order  of  retributive  justice  which  bears  sway  in  the  history  of  mankind." 
(Zephaniah  is  in  outline  this  prophetic  theodicy  of  God  in  history.)  "As  law  and  retribution  are  inter 
changeable  ideas,  it  was  a  matter  of  necessity  that  legal  exhortations  should  become  the  prophecy  of 
frjtribution  in  the  future — for  individuals  and  for  whole  nations,  closing  with  the  prospect  of  the  last 
judgment,  by  means  of  which  the  idea  of  the  theocracy  is  destined  to  reach  its  ultimate  fulfilment.'' 
Havernick  (Vorl.  uber  die  Theologie  d.  Alten  Testaments,  p.  147) :  "Prophecy  keeps  in  its  eye  the  future 
of  the  people,  while  it,  as  it  were,  gives  up  the  present.  From  the  judgment  upon  the  theocracy  as 
chastisement  comes  forth  the  salvation.  The  judgment  upon  the  nations  is  nothing  but  the  glorification 
of  the  theocracy,  as  a  victorious  power  over  heathendom.  Every  announcement  of  judgment  upon  the 
world  it  therefore,  in  realitv.  UeBsianic,  lilte  tnat  of  the  theocratic  judgment." 


M  EZEKIEI.. 


shepherds  (ver.  11  sqq.),  this  is  to  be  done  by  means  of  His  servant  David,  so  that  the 
servant  of  the  Lord  is  neither  the  people,  nor  the  true  Israel,  nor  the  prophetic  order,  noi 
even  the  Messiah-prophet,  but,  as  ver.  24  expressly  says,  "the  prince."  Comp.  in  addition, 
ch.  xxxvii.  22,  24,  25 :  "  My  servant  David  shall  be  prince  over  them,"  etc.,  "  and  David  My 
servant  shall  be  their  prince  for  ever." 

We  may  accordingly  assert  rather,  that  the  kingly  office  is  prominent  in  Ezekiel's  picture  of 
the  Messiah,  and  that,  along  with  the  prophetic  office,  the  Messianic  priesthood  as  well  remains 
in  the  background  with  our  prophet.  At  ch.  xxi.  31  [26,  Eng.  vers.]  the  priestly  dignity, 
which  Tholuck  holds  to  be  still  a  matter  of  controversy,  appears  at  most  in  union  with  the 
kingly.  Among  the  priests  of  the  temple  (ch.  xl.  sqq.)  the  high  priest  is  not  named,  but  » 
high-priestly  mode  of  acting  is  made  the  duty  of  the  priests.  These  are  to  become  a  high- 
priesthood,  just  as  the  whole  temple  becomes  a  holy  of  holies.  That  "  the  Lord"  is  "at  the 
same  time  the  high  priest,"  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  circumstance.  Undoubtedly  "  the 
man  "  in  ch.  xliii.  6  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other;  and  when  it  is  there  said  by  the  glory  of 
Jehovah,  when  it  enters,  with  respect  to  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  "  the  place  of  My  throne," 
this  comes  rather  from  the  lips  of  God  as  King,  than  from  the  lips  of  a  high  priest. 

On  the  whole,  the  peculiarity  of  Ezekiel  in  his  Christologioal  relations  may  perhaps  be  said 
to  attach  less  tn  the  personality,  which,  as  so  circumstanced  and  clothed  with  such  an  office,  by 
this  or  tliat  other  work,  mediates  the  Messianic  salvation,  than  to  this  salvation  itself.  As  with 
Jeremiah  already  expressly  the  "Jehovah  our  Righteousness"  of  the  Messiah  (ch.  xxiii.  6) 
passes  over  to  the  Messianic  people  (ch.  xxxiii.  16),  so  Ezekiel's  prophecy  occupies  itself 
peculiarly  with  the  Messiayiic  salvation  of  the  people.  That  of  course  is,  just  as  elsewhere  also 
in  the  prophets,  that  Judah,  and  along  with  Judah  Israel  also,  is  to  return  from  the  exile. 
The  deliverance  from  Babylon  and  that  other  very  different  redemption  run  into  one  another. 
just  like  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  last  judgment  in  the  eschatological  discourses  of 
Jesus.  Nor  can  it  be  looked  upon  as  anything  peculiar,  that  this  outward  return  is  conceived 
of  Messianically  as  an  internal  one,  as  conversion  to  the  Lord ;  for  the  case  is  the  same  with 
Jeremiah  (ch.  xxiv.  5  sqq.,  xxxi.  10  sqq.,  xxx.  18  sqq.).  But  although  the  subjective  side  is 
not  forgotten,  that  the  remnant  shall  remember  and  loathe  themselves  (Ezek.  vi.  9,  xviii. 
31  even,  xxxvi.  31  sqq.),  yet  the  objective  testimony  preponderates  even  in  ch.  xi.  16:  "I 
will  be  to  them  as  a  sanctuary."  Of  course  this  "Jehovah  as  a  sanctuary"  may  be  looked 
upon  as  Ezekiel's  parallel  to  Jeremiah's  "Jehovah  our  Righteousness,"  and  compared  with 
Jer.  iii.  16,  17,  Ezek.  xx.  40  sqq.  The  fundamental  idea  of  Israel  is  "a  kingdom  ofpriests,'' 
"  a  holy  people,"  whose  head  is  the  King-priest,  the  Messiah,  ch.  xxxvii.  23,  28.  If,  however, 
Jeremiah,  in  describing  the  Messianic  salvation,  as  it  will  be  accomplished  in  the  people,  as  they 
will  be  put  in  possession  of  it.  speaks  of  the  "  heart,"  which  God  will  give,  to  know  Him,  of  the 
"  new  covenant,"  where  God  "  puts  His  law  in  their  inward  part  and  writes  it  on  their  heart," 
of  the  "one  heart  and  one  way"  (Jer.  xxxii.  39  sqq.),  Ezekiel  on  his  part,  and  that  just  at 
ch.  xi.  19,  employs  similar  language,  but  the  "  new  spirit,"  like  "  the  spirit"  occurring  before 
in  ch.  i.  12,  20  sqq.,  is  characteristic,  is  something  additional  (ch.  xviii.  31) ;  comp.  besides, 
ch.  xvi.  60  sqq.  The  Messianic  salvation  of  the  people  (quite  in  harmony  with  the  charactei 
of  the  book,  according  to  ch.  i.)  is  described  as  a  sanctifying  or  glorifying  of  Gad  in,  as  well  as 
upon  Israel  (ch.  xx.  41,  xxviii.  25,  xxxix.  27;  comp.  John  xvi.  14).  Based  on  this  thought 
there  arises  the  cleansing  (ch.  xxxvi.  22  sqq. ;  comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  32,  33,  xxxvii.  23),  which  the 
.Messianic  period  holds  out  in  prospect  (ver.  25),  and  the  gift  of  a  new  heart  and  new  spirit 
(ver.  26),  which  again  (ver.  27)  is  made  to  include  in  it  the  fact,  that  God  puts  His  i^pirit  in 
their  breast.  The  putting  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  whole  house  of  Israel  forms  the  kernel  of 
the  very  characteristic  vision  of  ch.  xxxvii.  (comp.  ver.  14),  and  is  expressly  spoken  of  in 
ch.  xxxix.  29  as  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  upon  the  house  of  Israel.  That  and 
nothing  else  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  Christnlogy  of  Ezekiel;  in  other  words:  th£  development  of 
the  Messiah,  the  Spirit-anointed  of  God,  iJie  Christ,  into  Christianity  in  the  true  Israel.  Hence, 
"the  peculiar  blessing  of  the  temple"  (ch.  xl.  sqq.)  is  "its  water-spring,"  ch.  xlvii.  (Lange), 
which  is  at  the  same  time  the  key  to  the  understanding  of  these  closing  chapters  of  our  book 
(John  vii.  38,  39).  Its  Christology  moves  already  within  the  circle  of  the  economy  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  nay,  even  ch.  i.  of  our  prophet  is  to  be  understood  in  accordance  with  John 
ivi.  14.  One  might  say :  ecclesiastically,  while  Daniel  prophesies  of  the  Messiah  in  Hit 
kingdom  above  all  politically,  on  the  side  of  the  world.     Comp.  besides,  the  following  sentioo. 


INTRODUCTION. 


I  10.    OF  THE  USE,  THEOLOGICAL  IMPORT,  AND  DIFFERENT  WAYS  OF  L'NDERSTANDINO 
THE  BOOK  OF  EZEKIEL. 

Starke's  Bibelwerk,  v.  p.  1703,  says  at  §14:  "Godly  readers  find  in  this  book  profit  and 
edification  enough,"  to  wit,  in  general :  "in  distress  and  trouble  comfort  and  consolation,"  as 
weU  as  "  the  most  delightful  instruction  as  to  a  God-pleasing  walk."  "  Everywhere  one  per- 
ceives how  earnestly  God  seeks  to  awaken  men,  and  to  deliver  them  from  the  power  of  dark- 
ness, sometimes  by  promises,  sometimes  by  threatenings,  but  sometimes  also,  if  words  are 
going  to  prove  of  no  avail,  by  means  of  public  calamities."  "  But  in  particular  the  prophet 
serves — (1)  to  give  us  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  mercy,  righteousness,  truth,  and  power; 
(2)  to  give  us  the  knowledge  of  the  hatefulness  of  sin,  for  whose  sake  whole  kingdoms  are 
laid  waste ;  (3)  he  gives  us  rules  as  to  what  every  one  has  to  do  in  his  office  on  the  breaking 
out  of  God's  judgments  ;  (4)  he  warns  us  how  we  are  to  be  on  our  guard,  etc.,  against  false 
security,  apostasy,  presumption,  hypocrisy,  and  the  like ;  (5)  and  how,  in  the  midst  of  the 
greatest  corruption  and  severest  oppression  of  the  Church,  we  ought  not  to  lose  heart  altogether, 
but  to  believe  assuredly,  that,  as  God  is  able  to  punish  and  exterminate  His  enemies,  so  also 
He  is  able  to  improve,  protect,  and  make  His  Church  glorious." 

Ewald  shows  how  this  tise  for  all  time  connects  itself  with  the  immediate  aims  of  Ezekiel  in 
the  publication  of  his  book,  when  he  remarks  among  other  things:  "  For  one  thing,  he  had  to 
show  that  Jerusalem  must  fall,  becau.se  it  was  in  itself,  and  had  been  for  long,  in  a  state  of 
irremediable  confusion  and  perversity,  and  therein  at  the  same  time  for  the  living  there  lay 
the  right  lesson  and  warning  for  the  future  ;  but,  secondly,  he  must  also  set  forth  the  certainty 
of  a  better  future,  and  of  the  indestructibility  of  the  true  Church,  and  bring  out  clearly  the 
genuine  hope  as  opposed  to  despair,  as  well  as  in  opposition  to  hasty  and  vain  expectations  ;  in 
keeping  alive  the  sacred  fire  during  the  long  period  of  the  exile  this  book  certainly  had  no 
small  influence,"  etc.  Jesus  Sirach  expresses  himself  in  these  terms  about  our  prophet, 
according  to  Fritzsche's  translation  (ch.  xlix.  8,  9):  "Ezekiel  beheld  the  vision  of  glory, 
which  the  Lord  caused  him  to  see  upon  the  chariot  of  the  cherubim ;  for  he  made  mention  of 
the  enemies  in  wrath,  and  did  good  to  those  who  walked  in  right  ways ;  but  he  comforted 
Jacob,  and  delivered  them  by  assured  hope." ' 

As  regards  the  import  of  Ezekiel  theologically  considered,  we  shall  the  more  readily  abide 
by  what  the  son  of  Sirach  makes  a  starting-point,  as  the  glory  of  God  has  already  repeatedly 
been  found  by  us  to  be  of  importance  in  getting  at  the  contents  of  our  book.  In  this  way 
Ezekiel's  theology  is  characteristically  indicated.  If,  distinctively,  God's  "  majesty  "  expresses 
His  incomparable  and  immeasurable  exaltation  above  heaven  and  earth,  that  unique,  abso- 
lutely perfect  independence  of  His  being,  in  virtue  of  which  He  is  God  alone,  in  whom  the 
greatness,  power,  beauty,  continuance,  and  splendour  of  life  are  properly  inherent,  then 
Ezekiel  makes  known  to  us  the  glory  of  Jehovah  as  being  the  se\i-representation  of  the  divine 
life-form  in  order  to  manifeftatum.  As  the  "  majesty  "  would  be  the  sum  of  all  supramundaue 
divine  attributes,  so,  according  to  him,  the  glory  is  the  whole  maiiijhitation  of  God  in  mundane 
things.  As  the  divine  "  majesty  " — which  by  this  means  is  shown  to  be  moral — has  as  its 
counterpart  the  "holiness"  of  God,  in  accordance  with  which  God  is  Himself  pure,  so  the 
divine  glory  finds  its  counterpart  in  the  righteousness  of  God,  in  virtue  of  which  God,  as  Cleanser 
or  Sanctifier,  alike  in  judgment  and  in  mercy,  restores  as  well  as  displays  His  glory  in  the  world. 
The  righteousness  of  God  is,  next  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  in  connection  therewith,  the  peculiar 
theologoumenon  of  Ezekiel.  From  this  theological  standpoint  he  delineates  the  downfall  of 
Jerusalem,  and  likewise  the  downfall  of  the  heathen  nations  referred  to.  Both  have  refused  in 
free  surrender  to  consecrate  themselves  to  God,  but  have  as  much  as  ever  they  could  in  their 
own  case  treated  God  profanely,  and  made  the  world  on  its  part  unclean.  The  divine 
righteousness  in  judgment,  as  it  is  executed  on  both,  adjusts  this  disorder,  this  contradiction 
as  regards  God's  manifestation  in  the  world,  as  regards  His  divine  glory,  through  their  being 
taken  away  by  force,  inasmuch  an  God  consecrates  to  Himself  the  one  as  well  as  the  other  as  a 
sacrifice,  and  in  this  way  making  atonement  for  the  sin  by  means  of  the  punishment,  cleanses 
the  world  also,  which  is  destined  to  be  and  to  become  full  of  His  glory,  and  thus  restores  Hie 
glory  in  fiis  respect.     From  the  same  theological  standpoint  mercy  and  salvation  also  are 

'  Gregory  eets  up  Ezekiel  as  a  teacher  and  pattern /or  jn-eocAcn. 


EZEKIEL. 


nonceived  of  in  Ezekiel,  and  in  fact  under  the  presupposition  of  a  substitution.  "  For  the 
righteousness  of  God,"  says  Beck  (Lehrsatze,  p.  115  sqq.),  "  is  hallowed  not  merely  iu 
punishing,  but  also  in  putting  again  to  lights  and  creating  anew,  when  He  puts  His  law  as 
light  and  spirit  outwardly  and  inwardly  in  the  life,  and  sets  up  with  creative  power  in  the 
world,  as  its  everlasting  salvation,  the  reign  of  law  which  had  been  interrupted  by  sin."  The 
self-manifestation  of  His  glory  is  on  this  side,  in  fact,  also  its  restoration  through  righteousness, 
but  still  more  its  blissful  and  lovely  exhibition.  Although  a  substitutionary  suffering  of  the 
Servant  of  God,  as  in  Isa.  liii.,  is  not  met  with  in  Ezekiel,  yet  the  cleansing  of  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26 
is  conceived  of  as  one  effected  by  priestly  mediation ;  and  the  fact  that  substitution  is  no 
strange  thought  to  our  prophet,  that  such  a  view  is  with  him  fundamental,  and  will  therefore 
also  be  presupposed  by  him  for  the  salvation  of  Israel  tlirough  the  mercy  of  God,  is  shown  by 
the  tetralogy  of  recurring  passages,  ch.  xiv.  14,  16,  18,  20.  As  there  is  no  one  now  among 
the  people,  either  prophet,  or  priest,  or  king,  able  to  step  into  the  breach,  a  substitution  is 
demanded,  by  means  of  which  full  atonement  can  be  made,  by  means  of  which  righteousness 
gains  the  victory,  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  in  grace  and  mercy  comes  to  be  manifested. 
(Comp.  besides,  Oehler's  very  suggestive  article  in  Herzog,  ix.  p.  419.)  Hence  the  word  of  the 
prophet  ever  again  just  demands  conversion  to  God,  with  whom  all  things  are  possible,  while 
the  delusion  of  a  substitutionary  suffering  of  the  children  for  the  guilt  of  their  fathers  is 
dismissed  in  the  most  energetic  and  decided  way  in  ch.  xviii.  For  the  righteousness  which 
Ezekiel  holds  up  as  a  righteousness  for  man  is  "  to  do  what  is  lawful  and  right,"  "  to  deal 
truly  "  (ch.  xviii.  5,  9),  "  to  be  righteous,"  and  not  to  depart  from  righteousness,  therefore  also 
to  remain  righteous  (vers.  24,  26)  :  so  that  these  children  can  neither  know  themselves  to  be 
guiltless,  so  as  even  to  be  capable  of  a  substitution  for  their  fathers,  nor  durst  they  allow 
themselves  to  be  satisfied  with  a  righteousness  of  pious  pretence  (in  contrast  with  one  that  is 
personal  and  actual,  and  real  and  abiding) ; '  but  they  are  to  make  themselves  a  new  heart  and 
a  new  spirit  (ver.  31).  As  in  particular  this  closing  demand  of  the  18th  chapter,  in  which  the 
whole  discourse  about  righteousness  culminates,  lets  it  be  seen  that  the  way  of  Israel's  thoughts 
hitherto  has  been  a  false  one,  inasmuch  as  the  matter  in  hand  is  more  a  conversion,  will 
involve  the  new  birth,  a  new  creation,  so  in  this  way  there  rises  into  view,  at  the  same  time,  as 
the  true  way  for  every  man,  the  way  to  God,  and  therein  the  way  of  God,  that  God  who  "  has 
no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth  "  (vers.  32,  33,  ch.  xxxiii.),  as  the  way  of  life. 
Each  for  himself,  so  runs  with  Ezekiel  the  antithesis  to  all  fancied  substitution  in  the  judgniest 
of  God,  an  antithesis  which  leads  to  death  (ver.  4).  But  as  God  wills  the  life  of  him  who 
"  turns  from  his  way,"  the  true  way  of  life  must  offer  a  better,  even  a  true  substitution. 

Baumgarten,  however,  gives  less  prominence  (Herzog's  Real-Encyl.  iv.  p.  298  sqq.)  to 
such  an  ethien-theological  meaning  of  our  book  than  to  an  eschatological  one,  when  he  asserts, 
"  that  according  to  Scripture  Israel's  state  of  captivity  by  no  means  ceases  after  the  return  of 
a  few  thotisands  to  Jerusalem  under  Cyrus,  but  continues  down  to  the  present  day,  and  will 
last  until  the  general  conversion  of  Israel."  The  interpretation  attempted  from  this  point  of 
view  of  the  vision  in  ch.  i.,  of  the  "prophetic  word  during  the  exile,"  of  the  "  labours  of 
Ezekiel  during  Israel's  captivity," — one  may  apply  to  it  Baumgarten's  own  words — "  drags  into 
the  passage  with  one's  own  hand  the  very  thing  that  is  to  be  proved  from  it."  Here,  however, 
the  opportunity  presents  itself,  before  we  enter  on  the  exposition  of  the  book  of  Ezekiel,  of 
discussing  the  different  modes  of  interpreting  it.  Baumgarten  finds  iu  the  passage  quoted,  that. 
in  Ezek.  i.-iii.  (comp.  ch.  xi.  22,  23)  "  it  is  shown  most  clearly  that  a  new  method  of 
revelation  on  God's  part  is  to  begin,  wherewith  there  is  given  in  Israel,  even  without  the 
instrumentality  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  priestly  service,  a  possibility  of  further  development 
and  progress ;"  and  then,  in  support  of  this  view,  he  brings  forward  "  as  a  new  (?)  beginning 
of  inner  development"  the  "prophetic  position  and  labours  of  Ezekiel  during  the  exile,"  in 
connection  with  which  reference  is  made  to  Ezek.  viii.  1,  xi.  25,  xiii.  24  (xiv.  1),  xx.  1,  xxiv. 
19,  xxxiii.  31,  32,  just  as  the  continuation  is  found  "  in  the  ordinance  of  the  synagogue  down 
to  the  present  day."      "  What,  above  all,  the  meaning  of  the  last  third  of  the  book  amounts 

I  "  The  bad  sort  of  mere  outward  righteousness  and  sham  holiness  (says  Baumgarten),  which  was  one 
day  to  bring  blasphemy  and  bloody  persecution  on  the  holy  and  righteous  King  of  Israel  and  Him  who 
was  demonstrated  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  as  well  as  on  His  Spirit-anointed  messengers  of  peace.  Hence, 
also,  Ezekiel's  prophetic  labours  in  word  and  deed  are  directed  far  more  against  this  deepest  and  most 
Usting  corruption,  than  tgainst  all  else." 


INTRODUCTION.  27 


to,"  Baumgarteu  gives  as  follows,  ch.  xxxvi.  xxxvii.  :  "  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  buried 
nation,  and  an  everlasting  spring  for  their  frost-bound  land,  us  soon  as  the  spirit  of  prophecy 
shall  prove  mighty  enough,  in  the  power  of  its  divine  source,  to  breathe  upon  and  wake  up 
this  field  of  the  dead. — which  the  prophet  even  is  able  to  do  as  yet  only  in  type  (ch.  xxxvii. 
3,  7). — when  the  spirit  of  the  prophetic  word  shall  have  entirely  filled  the  Gentile  world,  or  (?) 
when  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  come  in,  and  by  this  means  shall  have  the  power 
and  the  task  to  wake  up  the  dead  people  of  God  (Rom.  xi.  25,  26)." — Ch.  xl.-xlviii.  :  "For 
when  Israel  as  a  nation  is  converted  to  their  God,  how  can  they,  how  dare  they  exhibit  their 
faith  and  obedience  otherwise,  than  in  the  forms  and  ordinances  which  Jehovah  has  given  to 
this  nation  ?  And  is  it  not  plain,  that  only  after  this  conversion  will  the  whole  law  in  all  its 
parts  receive  that  fulfilment,  which  it  has  always  hitherto  demanded  in  vain  ?  The  Church  of 
God  is  to  find  its  goal  in  the  condition  here  seen  and  described  by  the  prophet  of  Israel  (!).  At 
that  goal  the  Gentiles  finally  enter  again  into  the  community  of  Israel  (!),  and  find  in  the  law 
of  Israel  their  national  (!)  statute-book,  accor<Hng  to  the  will  of  God.  We  must  accustom 
oureelves  to  recognise  in  these  lofty  and  glorious  descriptions  not  merely  the  final  shape  of 
Israel,  but  also  the  ultimate  model  for  the  converted  and  incorporated  Gentiles  (comp.  ch. 
xlvii.  22  ?)."  This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  on  a  fuller  treatment  of  this  extreme  development 
of  a  view  of  our  prophet,  in  support  of  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  and  that  to  the 
Hebrews  do  not  appear  to  have  been  written,  nor  Acts  xv.  to  have  been  meant ;  it  must  just 
be  left  to  characterize  itself.  Tholuck  {Die  Prophelcn  und  Hue  Weissarj.  p.  151  sqq.)  says : 
"  Although  in  scarcely  any  other  department  of  Scripture  has  there  been  the  same  fluctuatiou 
with  respect  to  the  hermeneutical  principles  as  in  the  exposition  of  the  prophets,  yet  we  may 
take  the  liberty  of  saying,  that  throughout  all  periods  and  sections  of  the  Church  the  li/pi)t<i(jical 
character  of  prophecy  has  been  usually  taken  for  granted.  In  reference  alike  to  Old  Testament 
prophecy  in  general,  and  to  our  prophet  also  in  particular,  we  shall  have  to  distinguish  more 
exactly  the  following  different  modes  of  interpretation  (comp.  with  Tholuck,  the  valuable 
article  of  Oehler  on:  '  Prophecy,'  Herzog's  Real-Encycl.  xvii.  p.  644  sqq.)  :  —  1.  The 
allegorical  interpretation,  which,  with  a  one-sided  development,  must  degenerate  into 
arbitrariness,  as  the  exegesis  of  the  ancient  Church  shows  us.  2.  The  historical  interpretation 
of  the  Antiochean  school,  then  of  a  Grotius,  now  of  the  rationalistico-naturalistic  criticism. 
3.  The  symhiilical  (e.g.  HXv.,  Hengst.)  and  the  mi/slical  interpretation  (e.g.  of  the  BerUburij 
Bible).  4.  The  typical  interpretation,  which  is  combined  sometimes  with  the  symbulic;d, 
sometimes  with  the  allegorical,  sometimes  with  the  historical,  just  as  in  general  all  these 
interpretations  are  mixed  in  the  different  expositors.  If  one  chooses  to  call  the  historical  the 
realLitic  interpretation,  the  other  Interpretations  may  be  contrasted  with  it  as  itJt.ati.itic ;  and 
if  they  are  not  to  escape  a  certain  measure  of  censure  by  being  designated  as  "  spiritualistic," 
as  is  done  by  Oehler,  then  the  opposite  interpretation  might  not  without  reason  admit  of 
being  designated  as  a  materialistic  one.  Pietism  in  former  days,  just  as  it  revived  Jewish 
legality  to  the  hurt  of  the  ideality  of  free  Christian  life,  bordered  with  its  chiliasms  on  a  view 
of  the  prophetic  word,  which  Jerome  ('  down  till  Lyra  and  Luther,  an  authority  in  the 
exposition  of  the  prophets.' — Thollck)  had  condemned  as  Judaizing  "  :  "  Ut  quse  Judaei  et 
nostri,  immo  non  nostri  Judaizantes,  carnaliter  futura  contendunt,  nos  spiritualiter  jam 
transacta  doceamus,"  sqq.  "A  comparatively  small  fraction,"  Tholuck  calls  them,  "who, 
just  as  recently  again  most  of  the  English  and  a  number  of  South  German,  especially 
tVurtemberg  theologians  have  done,  held  themselves  bound  by  the  letter  to  understand 
literally  what  is  said  of  the  return  of  Israel,  of  the  taking  possession  of  the  lands  of  the 
heathen,  of  the  new  temple,  and  sacrificial  worship." 

As  regards  the  general  view  lying  at  the  foundation  of  the  following  exposition  of  the  book 
(jf  Ezekiel,  it  coincides  with  Oehler  in  this,  that  prophecy  is  directed  to  the  end,  as  being  at  the 
same  time  the  goal  of  the  history  of  Israel.  There  belongs  to  it,  therefore,  an  eschatologicai 
character  in  general,  and  inasmuch  as  the  history  of  Israel  is  determined  essentially  and  dis- 
tinctively by  the  laio  (Rom.  ii.  17  sqq.),  and  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law,  the  eschatological 
character  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  must  be,  especially  in  its  position  towards  the  law,  nay, 
in  the  law,  to  a  large  degree  the  Christological  one.  For  "  all  the  prophets  and  the  law  (itself) 
prophesied  until  John  the  Baptist"  (Matt.  xi.  13);  in  Him,  therefore,  to  whom  John  conk 
point  with  his  finger,  this  prophecy  ceases ;  it  has  become  fulfilment  (2  Cor.  i.  20 ;  Matt,  v 
18  5  Heb.  i.  1 ;  1  John  ii.  18  ;  1  Pet.  It.  7).     The  development  of  such  fulfilment  of  propheoy 


S8 


EZEKIEL. 


as  it  is  given  in  Christ,  embraces,  as  may  be  understood,  the  perfecting  of  the  Church,  so  tlia< 
in  this  sense,  and  as  regards  this  relation,  there  occur  also  eschatohgical  element.^  in  the  narrower 
acceptation  of  the  word  in  the  Old  Testkment  prophets,  apocalyptic  features  in  their  picture  ol 
the  Messiah.  But  as  the  development  of  Christ  in  the  perfecting  of  the  Church  is  that  which 
takes  place  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  which  reason  the  eschatological  tenets  of  the  Christian 
faith  stand  rightly  in  the  third  article,— the  end  of  the  ways  of  God  in  this  respect  is  not  flesh, 
but  (now  that  the  Word  has  become  flesh)  the  glorified  corporeity,  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  (Rom.  xiv.  17),— so  also  nothing  can  be  taken  into  view, 
for  the  eachatologj  strictly  so  calkil,  which  would  result  in  a  national  Israel  and  an  establishuig 
of  its  law,  or  even  in  a  Jewish-Christian  redeemed  humanity,  especially  as  in  Christ  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek  availeth  anything  (Gal.  iii.  28),  and  the  law  has  come  in  between  merely,  and 
that  because  of  sin,  until  the  Seed  of  promise  should  come,  unto  whom  it  had  to  serve  as  a 
schoolmaster  only  (Rom.  v.  20 ;  Gal.  iii.  19,  24).  "  Prophecy  contents  itself,"  says  Tholuck 
in  the  work  referred  to,  "  with  setting  forth  the  full  realization  of  the  kingdom  planted  in 
Israel,  and  along  with  that  the  satisfying  of  the  religio-moral  need  of  redemption  on  the  part 
of  mankind,  as  the  ultimate  goal  of  the  earlier  history  of  mankind."  Tholuck,  therefore,  looks 
upon  "  the  realization  of  the  pictures  in  Ezek.  xl.  sqq.,  in  the  spiritual  sense,  as  having  already 
taken  place  in  the  Christian  Church,"  while  Oehler  again,  especially  because  of  Rom.  xi.  26,' 
at  the  same  time  holds  strongly,  as  an  essential  element  of  all  prophecy,  that  of  Ezekiel 
included,  the  actual  "restoration  of  the  covenant  people,  preserved  as  they  are  even  in  their 
rejection  for  the  fulfilment  of  their  destiny."  Comp.  besides,  the  reasons  which,  according  to 
Tholuck  (p.  197  sqq.),  stand  opposed  to  a  "  gross  realistic "  view  of  the  last  chapters  of 
Ezekiel.  Havernick  {Vorles.  uher  die  Theologie  des  A.  T.)  expresses  himself  thus  (p.  165): 
"  The  closing  predictions  of  Ezekiel  have  in  earlier  times  been  usually  understood  typically, 
and  referred  directly  to  the  person  of  Christ,  the  apostles  and  Christian  affairs  in  general,  and 
in  this  way  the  typical  system  in  principle  degenerated  into  a  wild  allegory.  This  mode  of 
interpretation  has  called  forth  the  other  extreme,  according  to  which  the  prophets  are  per- 
mitted to  determine  nothing  else  beforehand  but  the  state  of  things  as  it  was  really  to  take 
place  (but  did  not  take  place)  after  the  exile,  prophecy  being  thus  transformed  into  a  new 
legislation.  Hence  the  prophetico-symbolical  interpretation  is  most  correct,  according  to  which 
those  representations  are  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  which  they  had  already  for  one  living 
under  the  Old  Testament  theocracy,  viz.  as  symbols,  whose  true  and  fall  significance  is  to  be 
realized  only  in  the  new  Church." 

(On  prophecy  in  general  one  may  compare  also  the  thoughtful  and  profound  statement  by 
Beck,  Christl.  Lehrwissenschaft,  p.  354  sqq.) 

'  We  may  be  permitted  to  take  this  opportunity  of  casting  a  glance  on  this  oft-mentioned  passage, 
without  attempting  (for  time  would  faU  us  for  such  a  purpose)  to  defend  the  foUowing  interpretation  m 
view  of  the  context  in  Kom.  ix.-xi.  First  of  all  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  Kom.  xi.  25  the  apostle 
epeaks  of  a  /«r«i««.  »«/«,  placing  the  pronoun  after  the  substantive,  whereby  rnn  is  made  to  refer  not  to 
what  follows,  but  to  what  has  been  already  said  :  "the  foresiiid  mystery."  Let  one  compare  Eph.  v.  32 
and  1  Cor.  xi.  25  with  ver.  26.  Then,  further,  and  this  is  the  most  important  consideration,  exegetical 
tradition  must  submit  to  be  told,  that  in  lufix,  if  one  translates  it  as  hitherto  :  "  in  part,"  is  not  very 
appropriate  in  any  of  the  passages  where  it  occurs  elsewhere  (Rom.  xv.  15,  24 ;  2  Cor.  i.  14  ;  u.  o). 
Mr««  (/..7«.)  is  the  portion  that  is  due  (Rev.  xxl  8),  and  so  i«  ;«>«  wiU  mean :  as  is  due,  m  due 
measure,  or  :  of  right.  The  LXX.  give  their  support  to  this  meaning,  and  it  suits  admirably  in  the  New 
Testament  passages  in  question.  The  foresaid  mystery  is  that  discussed  in  Rom.  ix.  sqq. ,  which  is  spoken 
of  to  the  Ephesians  also,  namely  :  that  Christ  hath  made  in  Bivuelf  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  these  two,  one 
new  man  (Eph.  ii.  15),  so  that  all  believers  from  among  Jeies  as  well  as  Gentiles  are  one  in  ChriM  (Gal.  iii. 
28),  Jsniel  after  the  Spint,  the  Israel  of  God  (GaL  vi.  16).  This  mystery  we  ought  to  know  well,  in  order 
that  we  may  not  in  our  self-sufficiency  forget,  thai  hardening  has  happened  to  the  nation  of  Isrrael  accord- 
ing to  desert,  of  right,  which  judgment  of  hardening  endures  unto  the  end,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentile 
ntUi^Mi  be  come  in,  namely,  in  Israel's  place  as  a  nation,  «.J  ««r«  (ver.  26),  i.e.  and  so  (but  not :  and  then), 
in  this  way  all  Israel  shall  be  saved.  That  is  to  say  :  when  the  silently  and  continuiOly  growing  temple 
of  God  shaU  be  built  up  to  the  last  stone  (Eph.  ii.  21),  in  this  way  shall  all  Israel,  i.e.  all  that  belong  «o 
it  in  truth  (Rom.  ix.  6),  in  this  way  shall  all  the  children  of  the  promise  attain  to  salvation,  which 
would  be  the  inxCrfmc  m  xtfinnnan,  the  full  salvation  (Eph.  L  14),  the  ioiixW'.s  t».  vii.  ni  lui  (Rom. 
viii.  19).  And  with  this  agrees  also  the  Pauline  application  of  the  quotation  from  Isa.  lix.  20,  viz.  not 
for  Zion  (ii'V^)  Sept.  i««i.  ai,,  but  U  2ii. ;  thus  (rf»),  when  the  salvation  comes  from  the  Jews  to 
the  Gentiles.     Comp.  Doctrinal  Reflections  on  Deut.  xxx.  (Lange's  Com.). 


INTRODUCTION.  2S 


Extremely  iTiteresting  is  the  view  of  Ezekiel,  to  which  the  unkuown  painter  of  the  lotelv 
rediscovered  noteworthy  wall-paintings  in  the  remarkable  double  church  of  the  12th  century, 
at  Sohwai-z-Rheindorf,  opposite  Bonn,  has  given  expression.  (Comp.  SiMOXs,  Die  Doppel- 
kirche  :u  Scliwarz-RheiniJur/;  KuGLER,  Handtiuch  der  Kunstfjenchichte,  ii.  3  Aufl.  pp.  96, 
180  sqq.  ;  Rheiidaiu/s  Buudeiikmale  des  Mittelallers,  7  Heft.)  Formerly  a  collegiate  church,  it 
'eft  free  for  the  canonesses,  whose  places  were  in  the  upper  chapel,  the  look  (through  a  round 
opening,  with  balustrade)  at  the  high  altar  in  the  lower  church  area.  From  this  lower  church 
the  wall-paintings  taken  from  the  book  of  Ezekiel  rise  up,  closing  with  a  representation  from 
the  Revelation  of  John,  above  the  altar  of  the  upper  church.  These  lower  wall-paintings  after 
Ezekiel  place  together,  e.y.  the  vision  of  Ezekiel  in  ch.  i.,  and  the  transfiguration  of  Christ  ; 
the  manifold  abominations  in  the  temple  (Ezek.  viii.  sqq.),  and  the  expulsion  of  the  buyers 
and  sel:ers  by  the  Saviour;  and  opposite  one  another  Ezekiel's  visions  of  judgment,  and  the 
final  self-judgment  of  Israel  by  the  crucifixion  of  the  Messiah.  What  Kugler  (following  Hohe) 
mistakenly  interprets  as  the  figtire  of  "  a  saint,"  is  the  Apostle  Paul,  marked  out  as  such  by 
his  long  Roman  garment  and  his  youthful  form  (Acts  vii.  58),  as  well  as  by  the  threefold  halo 
(2  Cor.  xii.  l',  •'  up  to  the  third  heaven  "),  to  whom,  on  the  other  side,  corresponds  Peter,  as 
he  who  has  the  keys  of  the  Church  upon  earth,  the  temple  of  Ezekiel.  The  whole,  down  to 
the  minutest  details,  is  a  spirited  exegesis  of  our  prophet,  in  the  style  of  the  middle  ages. 


§11. 

1.  BabbinicaL — R.\sCHi,  as  he  is  usually  called,  R.  Salomon  ben  Isaaki,  incorrectly  named 
"  Jarchi,"  Latin  by  Breithaupt,  Commen(ariiis  Htbr.  in  proph.  majores,  etc. ;  Lai.  vers.  ed.  J.  Fr. 
Breilhaupl,  4,  Gotha  1713. — David  Kimchi  ("  Radak,"  according  to  Jewish  abbreviation) 
in  BuxTOiiF's  Rabhinical  Bilile. — Isaac  Abarbanel,  Amsterdam  edition,  1641,  fol. — Salomon 
BEN  Melech  (called  "  Michlal  Jophi "),  edition  in  fol.,  with  Abend.uia's  additions,  Amster- 
dam, 1685. — Of  more  recent  Jeivish  expositions,  L.  Philippson,  hraelitiscke  Bibel,  2  Ausg., 
Leipzig  1858,  ii.  Theil,  was  used. 

2.  Patristic. — Origen,  Homilix  XIV.  in  Ezechielem,  ix.'Kayxi  us  to*  li^tKiiih. — Gregory 
Nazianzen,  Annnlalio  de  quatuor  apud  Ezechielem  animalibus. — Theodoret,  '^pfirmtici  r^s 
^po^VTilas  Tou  hiou  lil^iKiii'K. — Jekome,  Explanaliones  in  Ezech.,  lib.  XI  V. — Origen,  Homilig 
XXVIII  in  propliettis  Jerem.  et  Ezech. — Gregory  the  Great,  Homilix  in  Ezech.  proph. 

3.  Later,  embracing  Bomish,  Befonned,  Lutheran. — Ruab.vnus  Maurus,  Commentary  in 
his  Opera,  Cologne  edit.  1627,  fol. — Rupert  von  Dehtz,  in  his  Commeutarius  de  operibus 
sanclx  Iriuitatis,  and  on  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  sub  titulo:  De  gloria  et  honure  Jilii  hominis, 
Cologne  edit,  of  his  works. — C.  Sanctius,  In  Ezech.  et  Dan.,  1612,  1619. — Maldonatus, 
Comment,  in  priec.  .i.  scr.  libr.  V.  T.,  Paris  1643,  fol. — CoRKELIUS  A  Lapide,  Comment,  in 
(imnes,  scr.  s.  libr.,  last  edit.,  Venice  1730. — Calmet,  Comment.,  lit.  sur  tons  les  liures  de 
I'ancien  et  da  nouv.  Test.,  Latin  by  Mansi,  Wiirzburg  1792,  Part  X. — HiER.  Pradus, 
Comment,  in  Ezech.,  and  Villalpandus,  In  Ezech.  expl.  et  app.  urb.,  etc.,  Rome  1696-1604. — 
Die  Propheten  Ezechiel  und  Daniel  als  Fortsetzung  des  V,  BEENTANO'scAen.  A.  T.  von.  Deresep- 
Frankf.  a  M.  1810. 

Calvin,  Prielectiuves  in  Ezech.  proph.  viginta  capita  priora,  Amsterdam  edit.;  see  Collective 
Works,  1667,  in  the  4th  volume. — LuDOV.  LaVATEB,  Homilix  feu  commentarii  in  libr.  v.  pmphetiam 
Ezech.,  Zurich  1571  (Preface  by  Beza  to  Coligny). — Oecolampadius,  Comment,  in  Ezech., 
Basle  1543,  fol. — Conr.  Pellicanus,  Comment  in  libr.  V.  et  N.  Test.,  Zurich  1532  sqq.,  4th 
volume. — John  Piscator,  Analysis,  .scholia,  el  oh.iervationes  in  onmes  V.  et  N.  T.  libr.,  Herboru 
1605  sqq. — Piscator's  Biblework,  4,  Herborn  1603,  Part  4. — Polanus,  Comment,  in  Ezech., 
Basle  1607. — Tossani's  Bible,  Minden  1716,  fol. — The  Critici  Sacri,  torn,  iv.,  pars  1,  in  which 
we  have :  Sebastian  Munster,  Franciscus  Vatablls,  Seb.\stian  Castalio,  Isidorus  Clarius, 
JoH.  Drusius,  Hugo  Grotius,  and  Ludovici  Capelli  excerpta  ex  Villalpando  ad  cap.  40-42  et 
46  Ezechielis. — Poole,  Synopsis  criticorum,  vol.  iii. — CocCElus  in  his  Opera  omnia,  vol.  iii. — ■ 
Venema,  LectUmes  academ.  ad  Ezech.  usque  ad  cap.  21. — Clericus,  In  prophetas,  etc., 
Amsterdam  1731,  fol. — Henry,  Exposition  of  the  Old  and  New  T. — W.  Newcome,  An  Attempt 
towards  a?i  Improved  Version,  a  Metrical  Arrangement,  and  an  Explanation  on  the  Prophet 
Ezekiel,  Dublin  1788. — Greenhill,  Exposition  of  the  Prophecy  of  Ezekiel. 

Luther,  Auslegung  etlicher  Kapitel  des  Ezechiel  und  Daniel. — Victor  Strigel,  Ezechiel pr 
ad  Ifebr.,  sqq.,  Leipsic  1697. — Nik.  Selneccer,  Auslegung  Ezechiels  lutein,  und  deutsch. — Luc. 
Osianiter,  Biblia   Lai.,  etc.,  Tiibingen  1688,  fol. — Abr.  Calovius,  Biblia  illustr.  q.  etiam 


80  EZEKIEL. 


txliihmt  (/  i-cimnt  nnnot.  H.  Grntii,  Frankf.  1072,  fol. — Joach.  Lange,  Prnphetischex  Licht  una 
Recht,  Halle  1732.— J.  H.  Michaelis  in  his  Hebrew  Bible  with  Annotations. —  Die  TUbiiiger 
Bihel.  ed.  Pkaff,  1729,  fol. — Siimmarien  (so-called  Wurtemberg),  oiler  gruniiliche  Ansteg.  S. 
3  Aufi.,  fol.,  Leipzig  1721. — JoH.  Fn.  Stakck,  Commtnt.  in  proph.  Ezech.,  Frankfort  1731. 
— JoH.  Gf.(irg  Starke,  Synopsis,  etc..  Part  5,  Leipzig  1747. — Joh.  David  Michaelis,  Ueb.  cles 
A.  T.  mil  Anmerkungen  fiir  Ungdehrle.  The  10th  part,  which  contains  Ezekiel  and  Daniel, 
Gbttingen  1781. — Teller,  Das  englische  Bibelwerk. — Moldenhauer,  Uehers.  und  Erkl.  d.  h. 
BB  d.  A.  T,  Quedlinburg  1744.— Hezel,  Die  Bibel  mil  Anm.,  Leingo  1780.— J.  Ch.  F. 
Schulze,  Scholia  in  V.  T.  (G.  L.  Bauer),  Nurnberg  1783-97. — Dathe,  Proph.  majores,  ed. 
2,  Halle  1785. — Vollborth,  Ezechiel  iibers.  mil  Anm.,  Gottingen  17 87 .— Berltburger  Bibel, 
3  Theil,  1730. 

4.  More  recent. — J.  G.  Eichhorn,  Die  hebr.  Propheten,  1  Band,  Gbttingen  1816. — 
DiNTER,  SchulUhrer-Bibel,  4  Theil,  Neustadt  1828. — RosESMijLLER,  Scholia  in  Ezech.,  ed.  2, 
I82G,  2  Parts,  and  the  same  in  comp.  red.,  1833. — Maurer,  Comm.  gram.  crit.  in  V.  T.,  Part 
2d,  Leipsic  1836. — Umbreit,  Prakt.  Comm.  iiber  d.  Proph.  Ezech.,  Hamburg  1843. — 
Havernick,  Comm.  iibcr  den  Proph.  Ezech.,  Erlangen  1843. — Richter,  Erkl.  Haiishibd,  in  the 
4th  vol.  p.  523  sqq.,  Barmen  1837.— V.  Geklach  (Schmieder),  Bibelwerk,  4  Bd.  1  Abth. — 
Heisi  und  Hoff.maxn",  Die  4  gro.<!sen  Proph.  aus  den  Schriften  der  Beformaturen,  Stuttgart 
1839.— EwALD,  Die  Propheten  des  A.  B.  im  2  Theil,  2  Ausg..  Gbttingen  1868.— Hitzig,  Der 
Proph.  Ezech.  erkl,  Leipzig  1847.— Bunsen,  Die  Bibel,  2  Theil,  p.  599  sqq.,  Leipzig  1860. 
— DiEDRTCH,  Der  Proph.  Jerem.  und  Ezech.  kurz  erkl,  Neu-Ruppin  1863. — Kliefoth,  Das 
S'lch  Ezechiel".  2  Abtheilungen,  1864. — Hengstenberg,  Die  Weissagtwgen  des  Proph.  Ezech., 
1  Thl.  1867,  2  Theil  1868. — C.  Fr.  Keil,  Bibl  Komment.  iiber  den  Propheten  Ezech.,  Leipzig 
1808. — B.  Neteler,  Die  Gliederiwg  des  Buches  Ezechielsff.,  Miinster  1870. 

For  Specialties. — P.  Tischinger,  Singidaria  Ezechielis,  Schwabach  1743. — Bottcher, 
Proben  altt.  Schrifterkl,  Leipzig  1833,  p.  218  sqq.  iiber  Kap.  40  sqq.— W.  Neumann,  Die 
Wasser  des  Lebens,  Ezech.  47,  Berlin  1849. — Reenke,  Die  mess.  Weiss,  Giessen  1859. — 
Hesgstenberg,  History  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  etc.  [Clark's  Trans.,  Edinburgh  1871-72.] — 
Hoffmann,  Das  gelohte  Land  in  den  Zeiten  des  getheilten  Reiches  bis  zur  babijhm.  Gefangenschaft, 
Basel  1871.     (Written  from  a  fresh  point  of  view,  an  attractive  lecture.) 


APPENDIX. 

[Only  two  distinct  works  on  the  Prophecies  of  Ezekiel  have  of  late  years  been  issued  from 
the  British  press:  one  by  Patrick  Fairbairn,  D.D.,  the  editor  of  the  present  translation,  in 
the  Lauge  series,  published  by  the  Messrs.  Clark  of  Edinburgh,  first  edition  in  1851,  third 
edition  in  1863  ;  and  another  by  the  late  Dr.  E.  Henderson  in  1855,  Hamilton,  Adams,  &  Co., 
LondcE  The  latter  work  consists  only  of  219  pages,  of  which  considorably  more  than  :1m 
haii  is  occupied  by  the  text. — P.  F.] 


THE   PROPHET   EZERIEL. 


A.  FIRST   PRINCIPAL   PART.— Ch.  i.-xxiv. 

THE    PROPHECY    OP    JUDGMENT. 


I.    THE  DIVINE  MISSION  OF  EZEKIEL.— Ch.  i.-iii.  11. 

1.   The  Vision  of  Gloet  (Ch.  i.). 

It  has  been  customary,  as  at  Isa.  vi.  and  Jer.  i.,  so  also  here,  to  read  Ezekiel's  caU  to  be  a 
prophet  as  if  it  were  his  ordination  or  consecration  to  office.  But  even  in  the  case  of  Isa.  vi., 
where  the  official  activity  of  the  prophet  does  not  certainly  first  begin,  but  where  we  find 
ourselves  already  in  the  midst  of  his  labours,  one  has  been  compelled  for  this  reason  to 
individualize  and  to  define  more  exactly  ;  and  instead  of  making  it  a  call  to  the  prophetic  ojfice 
in  general,  has  made  it  a  call  to  a  special  mission.  This  necessity,  which  is  occasioned  there 
by  the  position  of  the  Cth  chapter,  would  not  indeed  be  present  here;  for  the  history  of 
Ezelciel's  call  would  be  found  exactly  in  the  right,  or  at  least  in  an  unexceptionable  place,  namely, 
at  the  commencement  of  his  official  activity.  It  would  be  just  as  iu  the  case  of  Jeremiah 
(ch.  i.  4  sqq.),  only  not  in  equally  simple  circumstances,  so  far  as  the  vision  is  concerned. 
But  as  regards  Jeremiah'. t  case,  the  historical  call  at  a  definite  period  of  his  life  is  from  the  first 
the  element  that  falls  into  the  background  ;  what  above  all  is  prominent,  is  the  divine  consecra- 
tion and  appointment  of  Jeremiah  as  a  prophet  even  be/ore  hiji  appearance  and  birth  in  time. 
It  is  a  thoroughly  ideal  history  the  history  of  the  call  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  and  7wt  to  be 
compared  icith  what  Ezekiel  relates  to  us  in  these  chapters  (i.-iii.).  If  then  we  keep  by  that 
which  lies  before  us,  is  it  anywhere  a  call  to  the  prophetic  office  that  is  spok-en  o/f  If  we  bring 
closely  together  the  detailed  vision  of  Ezek.  i.,  and  the  more  compressed,  briefer  one  of  Isa. 
vi.  1^,  then  also  Ezek.  ii.  3  sqq.  contains  merely  the  mission  of  Ezekiel,  which  is  represented 
as  a  divine  one,  just  as  Isa.  vi.  8  sqq.  contains  that  of  Isaiah.  It  is  this,  and  by  no  means  to 
tell  us  how  Ezekiel  was  called  to  be  a  prophet,  that  is  the  essential  element  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  our  book.  So  much  does  the  idea  of  the  prophetic  mission  from  God  dominate  the 
whole,  that  neither  does  the  real  incongruity  of  how  a  sinner  among  sinners  is  permitted  to 
be  the  seer  of  the  holy  God  (comp.  Isa.  vi.  6  sqq.-),  nor  the  seeming  incongruity  of  how  a  man 
who  is  not  eloquent,  and  too  young,  is  sent  as  a  prophet  (comp.  Jer.  i.  6  sqq.),  come  to 
a  solution,  but  Ezekiel  has  simply  to  open  his  mouth  and  to  eat  what  is  given  him  by  God 
(ch.  ii.  »  sqq.).  The  question,  therefore,  is  not,  how  he  becomes  qualified  for  the  office  of  a 
prophet, — thus  Isaiah,  if  such  a  view  is  held  in  his  case,  in  the  relation  alleged,  but  more 
correctly  perhaps  for  his  special  commission,  is  qualified  by  the  removal  of  sin  (Isa.  vi. 
t;  sqq.);  or  Jeremiah,  by  means  of  the  touch  of  Jehovah's  hand  (Jer.  i.  9)  ; — the  question 
rather  turns  on  this  point  simply,  in  what  capacity  Ezekiel  will  have  to  discharge  his  prophetic 
office,  to  execute  his  mission.  The  distinction  between  the  call  in  general  and  a  mission  in 
particular  might  admit  of  being  expressed  as  that  between  something  more  subjective  and 
what  is  more  objective,  in  some  such  way  as  this  :  that,  in  the  call,  the  prophet  as  subject  stands 
in  the  foreground ;  in  the  mission,  the  objective  matter  of  fact  preponderates,  in  which  and 
through  which  the  prophet  has  to  develope  his  activity,  which  is  Ezekiel's  case.  For  the  more 
general  call,  of  course  in  its  individual  character  in  the  case  of  each,  one  might  have  to  confine 
himself  in  the  case  of  Ezekiel  as  well  as  of  Isaiah  to  their  names  (§  1),  while  Jeremiah's  niime 

a 


J2  EZEKIEL. 


seoins  rather  to  express  his  mission.  The  divine  leriitimation  of  the  mission  of  Ezekiel  is  tha 
primary  meaning  of  ch.  i.-iii.  On  the  whole,  it  approximates  too  much  the  peculiar  nature 
of  the  prophetic  office  to  the  priestly  and  the  kingly,  when  we  speak  in  this  way  of  the  con- 
secration of  a  prophet.  The  mission  of  a  prophet  is  at  all  events  in  actual  fact  equivalent 
to  his  consecration  to  the  prophetic  office. 

CHAPTER  I. 

1  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  thirtieth  year,  in  the  fourth  month,  on  the  fifth  day 
of  the  month,  as  I  was  in  the  midst  of  the  captivity,  by  the  river  Chebar,  that 

2  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  I  saw  visions  of  God.  On  the  fifth  of  the  month 
— it   was   the  fifth   year  [from  the  time]   of  the   carrying  away   captive   of  king 

3  Jehoiachin — The  word  of  Jehovah  came  in  reality  unto  Ezekiel  the  priest,  the 
son  of  Buzi,  in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans  by  the  river  Chebar ;  and  the  hand  of 

4  Jehovah  came  upon  liim  there.  And  I  saw,  and,  behold,  a  stormy  wind  came 
out  of  the  north,  a  great  cloud,  and  fire  flashing  into  itself,  and  brightness  round 
about  it  [the  cloud],  and  out  of  the  midst  of  it  [the  Are]  as  the  look  of  the  brightness 

5  of  gold,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire.  And  out  of  the  midst  thereof  [iftheflre] 
appeared  the  likeness  of  four  living  creatures.     And  this  was  their  appearance : 

6  they  had  the  likeness  of  a  man.     And  every  one  had  four  faces,  and  every  one 

7  of  them  four  wings.  And  their  feet  were  straight  feet ;  and  the  sole  of  their 
feet  was  like  the  sole  of  a  calf's  foot ;  and  sparkling  like  the  look  of  bright  brass. 

8  And  they  had  the  hands  of  a  man  under  their  wings  on  their  four  sides ;  and 

9  they  four  had  their  faces  and  their  wings.  Joined  one  to  another  were  their 
wings  ;  they  turned  not  when  they  went ;  they  went  every  one  straight  forward. 

10  As  for  the  likeness  of  their  faces,  they  four  had  the  face  of  a  man,  and  the  face 
of  a  lion  on  the  right  side  :  and  they  four  had  the  face  of  an  ox  on  the  left  side ; 

1 1  and  they  four  had  the  face  of  an  eagle.  And  their  faces  and  their  wings  were 
separated  above ;  in  every  one  two  were  joined,  and  two  covering  their  bodies. 

1 2  And  they  went  every  one  straight  forward :  whither  the  spirit  was  to  go,  they 

13  went;  they  turned  not  when  they  went.  As  for  the  likeness  of  the  living 
creatures,  their  appearance  was  like  kindled,  burning  coals  of  fire,  like  the 
appearance  of  torches:  this  [the  are]  was  going  round  between  the  living  creatures; 

14  and  the  fire  had  brightness,  and  out  of  the  fire  went  forth  lightning.  And  the 
living  creatures  ran  and  returned  as  the  appearance  of  a  flash  of  lightning. 

15  And  I  saw  the  living  creatures,  and,  behold,  one  wheel  was  upon  the  earth 

16  bitside  the  living  creatures,  for  its  four  faces.  The  appearance  of  the  wheels 
and  their  make  was  like  unto  the  look  of  the  precious  stone  of  Tartessus :  and 
thpy  four  had  one  likeness ;  and  their  appearance  and  their  make  was  as  it  were 

17  a  wheel  in  the  midst  of  a  wheel.     When  they  went,  they  went  upon  their  four 

1 8  sides  :  they  turned  not  when  they  went.  As  for  their  felloes,  there  was  a  high- 
ness about  them,  and  fearfulness  was  about  them ;  and  their  felloes  were  full 

19  of  eyes  round  about  them  four.  And  when  the  living  creatures  went,  the  wheels 
went  beside  them  ;    and  when  the  living  creatures  were  lifted   up  from  the 

20  earth,  the  wheels  were  lifted  up.     Whithersoever  the  spirit  was  to  go,  they 

[the  living  creatures]    went,  thither    WaS   also    the    spirit   to   go    [in  the  wheels]  ;    and    the 

wheels  were  lifted  up  beside  them  :  for  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature  was  in 

21  the  wheels.  When  those  went,  they  also  went;  and  when  those  stood,  the.se 
also  stood ;  and  when  those  were  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  the  wheels  were  lifted 

22  up  beside  them :  for  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature  was  in  the  wheels.  And  a 
likeness  was  over  the  heads  of  the  living  creature  [ver.  20] — an  expanse,  like  unto 

23  the  look  of  the  terrible  crystal,  stretched  out  over  their  heads  above.  And 
under  the  expanse  were  their  wings  straight,  the  one  toward  the  other  :  to  every 

24  one  two  which  covered,  to  every  one  two  which  covered  their  bodies.  And  I 
heard  the  noise  of  their  wings,  like  the  noise  of  many  waters,  as  the  voice  of  the 
Almighty,  to  wit,  in  their  going,  the  noise  of  tumult,  as  the  noise  of  an  host : 

.25  when  they  stood,  they  let  down  their  wings.  And  there  came  a  voice  from 
above  the  expanse  which  was  over  their  head:  when  they  stood,  they  let  down 


CHAP.  I.  1-3.  3£ 

26  their  wings.  And  above  the  expanse  that  was  over  their  head  was  there  as  the 
appearance  of  a  sapphire  stone,  the  likeness  of  a  throne :  and  upon  the  likeness 

27  of  the  throne  the  likeness  as  the  appearance  of  a  man  above  upon  it.  And  I  saw 
as  the  look  of  the  brightness  of  gold,  as  the  appearance  of  fire,  a  house  round 
about  it ;  from  the  appearance  of  his  loins  and  upwards,  and  from  the  appearance 
of  his  loins  and  downwards,  I  saw  as  it  were  the  appearance  of  fire,  and  bright- 

28  ness  round  about  Him.  As  the  appearance  of  the  bow  that  will  be  in  the  cloud 
on  the  day  of  heavy  rain,  so  was  the  appearance  of  the  brightness  round  about. 
This  icas  the  appearance  of  tlie  likeness  of  tlie  glory  of  Jehovah.  And  I  saw,  and  fell 
upon  my  face,  and.  heard  the  voice  of  one  that  spake. 

Ver.  2.  Sept-;    .    .  .   •n^  «»;i;^*«Aa'«flW  ItnetKUfJL —  . 

Ver.  3.  .  .  .  it'  ius  x^-P  ""P""-     (*y-.  Arab.,  and  some  MSS. :  '7j?.) 

Ver.  4.  .  .  .  rrvp  £|sf  v.>TTOf   .      .  w;  6px<n;  nktarpw  ,  .  .   *.  ^tyycs  if  scvrm.      Vulg. :  ignis  invol7eD8  .  .  . 

Ver.  5.  .  .  .  w;  iuaiaiuM  .  .  .  ^Atatv — animalium. 

Ver  6.  Other  readings:  QHO,  PO;  HOni),  p^,  Tl^ph- 

Ver.  7.  .  .   .  *.  TTipit-rai  ol  fr«3l,-  auTa»»,   «    a^ivdtipif  aif  i  i^iffTpet^TOn  •j^obXxoft  «•  Uo^^ati  eeJ  wnpuytf  gtvrmr^-et  SClntUlan 

quasi  aspectas  aeris  cundentis.  ^  . 

Ver.  9.  £vo^»aj  trip*  Tti;  iripcK.     K.  rx  Tpoaorret  etCrotr  «uk  (Titf-T/se^wTo  it  rai  fixii^ii»  mlix  (anoth.  read. :   Dn3?3)- 

Ver.  10.  Anotli.  read.:  |ny31N^- 

VcT.  11.   K.  Btl  TTipuyn  otoraiy  ixTlTx.fMveu  a.vat9i¥  — 

Ver.  12.  Anoth.  read.:  DDD^S- 

Ver.  13.   K.  U  fj,ia-M  rai*  Z^v*  ipsivii  ai;  ottBpctxw  .  .  .  Kccfjtiretian  mffrpi^ofjuvatf  kva,  fUff'or  ran  ^mmt  .  .  ,   (BDOth,  read.: 

Ver.  14.   .  .  .  wff  t'tioi  rev  0(^IK. 

Ver.  16.  OtliiT  readmits:  nSIDI  ;    P^CVOV  wantine  in  Sept.;  JD'HIDV 

Ver.  17.  An.>th.  read.;  biTWI- 

Ver.  18.   .  .  .  aiil  et  »VT9t  ut/Toin  .  .  .  x.  liw  airet,  «    ci  vmroi — 

Ver.  20.  Oi  «>  ti>  >)  .iji>,i  i«ii  t«  rtiv/xa  rm  triputrdtu  (flS??  'nOC  13?'  "^  wanting  in  some  MSS.  The  Greek 
and  Syrlac  translators  and  the  Targ.  (?)  omit  n377  niin). 

Ver.  22.  Sept.,  Vulg  ,  Syr,  Chald.,  Arab,  read  nVriH. 

Ver.  23.  ...  Oct  VTtpvytc  m/rait  'txrtTxiu4*xi,  itTtpvcrafjUveu  irtpiK  Ttj  irtfiat,  ixcLTTm  ive  ffvit^tvyfuixit — (  ntj*  CK?1 
j^2P|p   '20  ^''^  wan'ing  in  some  MSS..  Vulg  ,  Sept.,  and  Arab.) 

Ver.  24.   .  .  .  b^KTO;  T6k/.ev,  on  f>ni^*  ixxiw  .  .  .  ^wv?)  Tou  Xe>«i  is  fann  r9pt/J^9\fi( . 

Ver.  25.  tn'SJD  'in  D1DV3  »■■«  "'""'ing  in  some  MSS.,  in  Sept.?,  Syr,  and  Arab. 

Ver.  27.  .  .  .  *;  opxnv  trvpes  sfffc-di*  at^rew  xuxkar — 


EXEGETICAL  KEMAKKS. 

Vers.  1-3  a  preface,  which  contains  irilro- 
ductory  matter  in  general — specially  to  the  risiov 
tohich  immediately  follows,  what  is  most  neces- 
sary respecting  the  time,  person,  place,  and 
subject-matter  on  hand.  This  latter,  the  subject- 
matter,  is  "visions  of  God"  in  the  plural,  which 
are  separated  by  means  of  the  expression:  "and 
I  saw,  and,  behold"  (vers.  4,  15),  properly  into 
two  visions  only,  vers.  4-14,  and  15-2S  ;  but  it 
will  commend  itself  to  treat  vers.  22-28  as  a  sepa- 
rate conclusion  completing  both  visions. 

Vers.  1-3. — Pre/cue,  Introductory. 

Ver.  1.  "And  it  came  to  pass. " — The  imperf. 
with  1  coDseeut. ,  as  usual  without  Dagesh  forte, 
indicating  a  continuation,  an  advance,  connection 
with  something  going  before,  begins,  as  often 
elsewhere,  so  also  here  the  book  of  Ezekiel. 
.Since  there  is  no  real  connection,  as  in  the  case 
of  Exodus,  Ezra,  a  connection  in  thought  is  to  be 
assumed,  as  in  the  case  of  Ruth,  Esther.  The 
chronology,  still  more  the  inner  relationship 
vcomp.  the  Introduction,  §§  2,  3,  4),  suggests  a 
>onncction  with  Jeremiah.  Hengsteuberg,  while 
he  lays  stress  upon  the  similar  commencements, 
by  which  Joshua  is  connected  with  the  Penta- 
teuch, the  book  of  Judges  with  Joshua,  the  books 
of  Samuel  and  also  Ruth  with  the  book  of 
Judges,  understands,  besides  a  special  connection 


of  Ezekiel  with  Jeremiah  (whose  letter  (Jer.  xxi.K.), 
directed  shortly  before  to  the  exiles,  formed  aa 
it  were  the  programme  lor  the  labours  of  our 
prophet),  in  general  (as  in  the  case  of  the  book  of 
Esther)  Ike  incorporation  (represented  by  nuch  a 
commencement)  «»  a  chain  of  sacred  books,  a  con- 
nection with  a  preceding  sacied  literature.  In 
a  more  definite  way  Athanasius  brought  int: 
connection  with  this  the  passage  in  Josephus 
(Antiq.  X.) — comp.  lutrod.  §  5 — aud  made  out 
that  the  one  book  of  Ezekiel,  with  which  the 
present  one  is  he7-e  cwinected  by  means  of  i,  had 
gone  amissing  through  the  negligence  of  the 
Jews.  Pjadus  cites  Augustine  (on  Ps.  iv. )  and 
Gregory  the  Great  in  support  of  a  view  according 
to  which  this  i  is  intended  to  connect  the  outward 
word  of  the  prophet  with  what  he  had  heard 
inwardly,  with  the  inward  vision  (Corn,  a 
Lapide  :  "What  he  had  formerly  seen  in  his 
spirit  or  heard  from  God  he  connects  by  means  of 
'  and '  with  something  else  which  he  saw  and 
heard  thereafter,  and  which  he  now  relates "). 
Very  many  expositors  have  been  quite  content 
with  a  pleonastic  Hebrew  idiom,  and  with  chang- 
ing the  sense  of  the  future  into  that  of  the 
preterite.  (According  to  Keil,  appealing  to 
Ewald  (Ausf.  Lehrb.  §  231,  b),  it  is  merely 
"something  annexed  to  a  circle  of  what  is  finished 
— a  circle  already  mentioned,  or  assumed  as 
known.") — In  the  thirtieth  year,  etc.  Where  tin 
divine  legitimation  of  Ezekiel   for  his  labo'US 


SI 


EZEKIEL. 


jbout  to  be  described,  and  at  the  same  time  for 
his  literary  labours — this  book  of  his — is  to  be 
shown,  ami  where  accordingly  the  prophet  speaks 
of  himself  in  the  first  person,  going  on  im- 
mediately to  say:  "as  I,"  so  that  'JNl  in  such 
close  juxtaposition  with  njC  D'CPK'S  looks  like 

the  usual  phrase  DJB'  D'tJ^C  p,  there  it  ought 
to  appear  as  simple  as  it  is  natural  to  think,  with 
Origen  and  Gregory,  of  the  thirtieth  year  of 
Ezekiel's  life.  There  was  no  necessity  whatever 
for  Heugstenberg  (comp.  Introd.  §  3)  to  urge  the 
signiticauce  "as  respects  the  man  of  priestly 
family."  The  appointment  of  the  tliirtieth  year 
in  Num.  iv. ,  with  a  view  to  "the  carrying  of  the 
sanctuary  during  the  journey  througli  the  wilder- 
ness— a  work  requiring  the  full  vigour  of  man- 
hood, "  cannot  in  actual  fact  be  applied  to  Ezekiel ; 
and  we  must  then  in  a  figurative  way  compare 
his  prophetic  labours  in  exile,  especially  his 
preaihing  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
circumstance  that  through  Ezekiel's  exercise  of 
the  prophetic  office  the  Lord  became  to  the  exiles 
as  a  sanctuary  in  the  captivity  (eh.  xi.  16),  witli 
that  carrying  of  the  tabernacle  during  the  time 
of  the  wilderness.  For  "theological  exposition," 
of  course,  "the  entrauce  on  ofiioe  of  the  Baptist 
and  of  Christ  after  completing  tlieir  thirtieth 
year"  may  be  kept  in  view.  The  indefiniteness  of 
the  statement  of  time,  "in  the  thirtieth  year,"  is 
not  greater  than  the  indefiniteness  with  respect 
tothe  person;  "as  I."  As  the  latter  indefiniteness 
is  removed  in  ver.  3  by  the  mention  of  the  name, 
etc.,  so  (according  to  Kliefoth,  and  also  Keil)  the 
corresponding  addition  :  in  the  fourth  month,  on 
the  jij'th  day,  by  the  repetition  in  ver.  2  of  the 
fifth  of  the  month,  viz.  the  fifth  day  of  the  fore- 
mentioned  fourth  month,  is  brought  into  con- 
nection witli  the  objectivity  of  the  "fifth  year 
from  the  canning  away  captive  of  king  Jeho- 
iachin, "  and  in  this  way  relieved  of  all  want  of 
clearness,  while  at  the  same  time  expressly 
separated  from  the  date :  "  in  the  thirtieth  year,  ' 
just  as  this  latter  itself  is  so  much  the  more 
evidently  left  to  its  simplest,  natural  accepta- 
tion of  the  thirtieth  year  of  the  prophet's  life. 
If  then  ver.  2  afterwards  supplies  the  period 
according  to  wliich  Ezekiel  adjusts  his  first,  sub- 
jective date,  the  supposition  of  another  so-called 
"publicly  cuiTent  era"  is  superfluous,  apart  from 
the  fact,  that  no  such  era  has  hitherto  been 
pointed  out.  Recourse  has  been  had  (1)  to  a 
Jeimsh  era,  and  (2)  to  a  Babylonian  one.  (1.) 
Thus  Hitzig  adheres  to  the  opinion  of  many 
Jewish  expositors,  that  the  reference  is  to  the 
thirtieth  year /rom  a  jubilee^  (comp.  on  ch.  xl.  1), 
but  combats  what  is  yet  so  necessary,  the  more 
exact  definition,  e.g.,  of  Raschi,  that  in  this  way 
the  reckoning  is  from  the  eighteenth  year  of  king 
Josiah,  important  on  account  of  the  finding  of 
the  book  of  the  law,  etc.  (2  Kings  xxii.  sqq.  ; 
2  Chron.  xxxiv.  sqq.);  while  Havernick  declares 
this  reckoning  (already  that  of  the  Chaldee 
Paraphrast,  Jerome,  Grotius,  and  also  Ideler) 
"the  only  tenable  one,"  as  also  that  which  is 
"alone  suited  to  the  context;"  "that  with  the 
'.aat  period  of  prosperity  there  stands  contrasted 

1  The  Jews  reckon  the  jubilee  year  from  the  fourteenth 
fear  after  ttie  taking  posxesston  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and 
place  the  dealruction  of  Jerusalem  in  the  thiity-jsixth  year 
3f  the  Jubilee:  so  that  the  fifth  year  of  Jehoiacbia's  cap- 
tMty  as  tbe  tblrtletta  of  the  Jubilee. 


the  last  period  of  misfortune  (under  Jehoiachin): 
the  numbers  are  prophetically  significant  state- 
ments, pointing  to  the  weighty  circumstance  of 
the  prophet's  making  his  appearance  in  a  memor- 
able, fatal  time."  We  must  therefore  assume  a 
' '  priestly  "  mode  of  reckoning.  Calvin  lays  stress 
upon  the  Greek  analogy  of  Olympiads,  as  well  as 
the  Roman  one  of  reckoning  according  to  con- 
sulates, and  in  favour  of  the  jubilee  under  Josiah 
brings  forward  the  peculiarly  solemn  passnver- 
feast  at  that  time.  (2.)  For  accepting  a  Babv- 
lonian  era  one  might  urge  the  sojourn  of  Ezeki"! 
in  Babylon,  especially  his  peculiar  attention  to 
chronology,  which  dates  from  this  seat  of  astro" 
nomical  science.  In  this  case  the  fifth  yeot  of 
the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin  lia-s  been  reckoned  as 
the  year  B.C.  595,  and  the  thirtieth  year  from 
that  as  the  year  B.C.  625,  when  Nabopolassar 
ascended  the  Chaldean  throne ;  and  either  the 
eighteenth  year  of  Josiah  has  been  taken  as  con- 
temporaneous therewith,  or  the  era  of  Nabo- 
polassar merely  has  been  clung  to  (e.g.  by 
Scaliger,  Perizonius).  But  the  reckoning  does 
not  agree ;  according  to  Bunsen,  at  least,  the  fifth 
year  of  the  captivity  of  Jehoiachin  would  be  the 
year  B.C.  593.  Perizonius  wished  therefore  to  be 
at  liberty  to  read  in  Ezekiel  the  thirty-second 
instead  of  the  thirtieth  year.  J.  D.  Michaelis 
helps  liimself  by  making  the  reckoning  start  not 
from  Nabopolassar's  ascending  the  throne,  but 
from  the  conquest  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon  by 
him.  Comp.  besides  in  Hitzig. — The  fourth 
month,  since  the  first  (Nisan)  coincides  for  tlie 
most  part  with  our  March,  corresponds  to  our  June, 
or,  according  to  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Hitzig,  Bun- 
sen,  to  July  nearly.  The  (probably  Babylonian) 
name  of  it  would  be  Tammuz  ;  but  the  prophet 
follows  still  the  custom  of  antiquity,  which,  with 
only  some  exceptions,  did  not  give  names  to  the 
separate  months,  but  merely  numbered  them. — 

nisun-lina  'JNV     As   the  Ume  is  indicated  by 

"in  the  thirtieth  year,"  so  also  next  the  place  is 
indicated  in  a  personal  way ;  as  I  was,  etc.  That 
the  clause  might  by  itself  mean,  cum  essem  in 
medio  captivorum,  is  beyond  a  doubt ;  but  that 
the  LXX.  in  this  case  translate  more  correctly 
than  the  Vulgate  is  not  less  undoubtedly  clear 
from  ch.  iii.  11,  15.  Hitzig's  solution  (favoured 
by  K-lief ,  Keil) ;  "in  the  district  (region)  of  their 
(the  exiles')  dwelling-places  (settlements),"  is 
superfluous  ;  more  accurate  is  his  remark  ;  "and 
besides  he  himself  was  a  captive."  Rightly 
Ewald  ;  in  the  midst  of  the  captivity.  The  his- 
torical dates  in  the  prophetic  books  have  a  certain 
designedness,  something  symbolic  about  them, — 
are  at  all  events  not  simply  historical  notices  ; 
they  are  intended  to  be  understood  in  the  light 
of  the  idea,  exactly  as  that  was  to  be  realized  in 
the  case  in  hand,  and  hence  characteristically  as 
regards  the  prophet  in  question.  In  the  midst  of 
the  misery  the  prophet  was  to  behold  the  glory  oj 
Ood  for  his  people  (comp.  Introd.  §  5).  Calvin 
on  this  occasion  enters  into  a  polemic  against  the 
notion  of  the  Jews,  as  if  the  hand  of  God  were 
shortened  towards  the  holy  land,  etc.  Ezekiel 
was,  according  to  ch.  iii.  11,  15,  alone  by  the 
river,  and  did  not  go,  till  he  had  had  the  vision, 
among  the  multitudes  of  his  countrymen  who 
dwelt  or  happened  to  be  ii'carest  him. — By  the 
liver  Cbebar,  comp.  Introd.  §  4  (Calvin  attaches 
I  indeed  no  importuice  to  it,  but  be  mentions  the 


CHAP.  I.  1,  2. 


sd 


opinion  of  those  who  regard  the  rivers  as  places 
consecrated  tor  revelations,  inasmuch  as  they  give 
prominence  to  their  symbolical  character  ["the 
lighter   element    of   water,"    while    "the    earth 
appears  heavier"],  or  inasmuch  as  others  think 
of  the  "cleansing"  power  of  water  and  the  like. 
A  kind  of  spiritual  reference  to  Ps.  cxxxvii.   1 
Calvin    looks  .upon   as    forced.)      Hengstenberg 
compares  Dan.  viii.  2,  x.  4;  Ezekiel  is  "removed 
to  the  Chebar,  because  there  he  is  far  from  the 
bus'le  of  men,  and  allured  to  great  thoughts  by 
the   rushing   of  the   water."'      And   then   it  is 
alleged  he  was  "there  i^nly  in  vision,"  as  is  clear 
from  ch.  iii.  12,   It!     .\8  if,  forsooth,  the  Spirit 
could  not  have  carried  h;m  to  and  from  the  actual 
river!     Then  we  must  understand  "in  the  midst 
of  the  captivity"  likewise  as  being  in  vision.     In 
Daniel  it  is  expressly  said  at  ch.  viii.  2  to  be  in 
vision,  and  at  ch.   x.  4  as  well  as  here  it  is  to 
be  conceived  of  as  not  being  so.     At  Ezek.  viii. 
3,  xi.  24,  the  definition  as  to  its  being  in  vision 
is  expressly  added.     (Some  have  also  formed  to 
themselves  a  conception  of  the  sojourn   by  the 
water  after  the  analogy  of  the  Romish  Ghetto,  as 
Martial  .says  instead  of  Jew  transtiberinus. ) — The 
personal  reference  is  kept  up  still  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  mibject  in  hand,  of  what  took  place ; 
the  heavens  were  opened,  and  I  saw — ;  so  much 
is  the  divine  authurizalion  of  Ezekiel  the  leading 
thought.     The  opening  of  the  heavens  refers,  as 
respects  the  form,  as  regards  the  character  of  the 
vision,  to  this  vision  which  follows.     There  is  in 
this  respect  nothing  more  general  intended  by  it 
(John   i.    52),   as    Keil  seems  to  hint.      Comp., 
however,  Matt.  iii.  16  ;  Mark  i.  10 ;  Luke  iii.  21  ; 
Acts  vii.  56,  x.  10,  11;  Rev.  iv.  1,  .\ix.  11.     As 
regards  what  is  essential  in  all  ways  and  forms, 
Calvin  will  be  right  in  maintaining,  tliat  "God 
opens  His  heavens,  not  that  in  reality  they  are 
cleft  asunder,  but  inasmuch  as,  after  the  removal 
of  all  hindrances.  He  enables  the  eyes  of  believers 
to  penetrate  to  His  heavenly  glory."     As  Jerome 
has  already  said  :  fide  credentis  intellige,  eo  quod 
ccelestia   sint    illi    reserata    mysteria.       (Grotius 
makes  the  heavens  to  be  rent  open  by  repeated 
flashes  of  lightning. )     "He  who  says  this,  testifies 
that  what  he  has  seen  he  has  not  seen  as  some- 
thing which  has  come  out  of  the  earth  or  existed 
first  on  the  earth,  but  that  it  has  descended  from 
heaven,  and  consequently  been  visions  of  God " 
(CoccEius).       If    the    opening    of    the    heavens 
depicts  the  manner  of  the  thing,  how  it  happened, 
then  the  expression,  -visiona  of  God  (ch.  xl.   2), 
specifies  the  thing  jV.sv'// under  discussion,  and  that 
first  of  all  in  accordance  with  wliat  follows,  where 
the  next  thing  is  vmon.     The  genitive  relation 
cannot  be  rendered  by :   sublime  visions,  or  the 
like  (as  Calvin  already  rejects  as  frigid  the  inter- 
pretation :  visiones  prsestantissinias,  quia  divinum 
vocatur   in   scriptura  quidquid   excellit),    but   it 
might  perhaps,  in  accordance  also  with  linguistic 
usage  elsewhere,   pass   as  equivalent  to  :    divine 
visions,  i.e.  in  the  manner  of  Isa.  vi.,   1  Kings 
xxii.  19,  2  Kings  vi.  17,  etc.   (Hitzig:  heavenly 
visions).      Quia   ex   cnelo  demonstratas,   ideoque 
divinas  et  a  Deo  ostensas  (CoccElus).     As  genitive 
of  the  subject  (auctoris)  it  might  be  interpreted 
in  accordance  with    Num.    xxiv.    4,   16,   either : 
visions  which  God   (as   well   as   they)  sees,   or  : 

1  Com.  a  Lap.  ingeniously  compares  the  gentle  mnrmur- 
Ing  of  the  waters  to  the  effect  of  music  upon  Elisha  (2  Kings 
II.  IS). 


visions  which  God  gives  to  see  (which  proceeil 
from  God) ;  which  would  eoriespond  with  tlie  aire 
of  the  following  vision,  that  of  legitimating 
Ezekiel's  call  as  a  divine  one.  "The  divine 
visions  stand  opposed  to  the  visions  of  one's  own 
heart,  the  empty  fancies  of  false  prophets,  Jer. 
xxiii.  25,  26"  (Hengstenbekg).  "Otherwise  it 
would  have  been  incredible,  that  e  prophet  should 
have  arisen  out  of  Chaldea.  Nazaretli  even  (John 
i.  47)  was  still  situated  in  the  promised  land. 
Thus  the  divine  call  needed  to  be  confirmed  as 
such  in  a  special  way"  (Calv.).  As  genitive  of 
the  object  the  meaning  would  be,  visions  which 
liave  reference  to  God,  have  Him  as  their  object ; 
which  suits  the  contents  of  the  vision  as  expressed 
at  ver.  2S.     Here:  visions  of  God;  in  Jer.  i.  1 ; 

words  of  Jeremiah. — nsiSI  is  the  complete  form 

without  apocope,  as  after  the  1  consecut.  not 
seldom  in  the  first  person  and  in  the  later  books. 
Ver.  2  is  occupied  with  a  reference  to  the  dates. 
It  was  the  fifth  year  from  the  carrying  away 
captive  of  king  Jehoiachin,  and  it  is  meant  of  the 
"objective  common  era"  (Hengstenbekg),'  just 
as  also  in  the  sequel  of  this  notice  (ver.  3),  which 
is  better  inserted  immediately  than  later.  E  zekiel 
— a  thing  which  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  tlie 
book  (ch.  xxiv.  24!) — speaks  of  himself  in  the 
.  third  person.  Witliout  verses  2,  3,  with  ver.  1 
simply  pushed  forward  to  ver.  4,  we  would  have 
the  impression  that  a  private  document,  a  leal 
of  the  prophet's  journal,  lay  before  us.  The  ex- 
plicit statement  of  ver.  2  was  the  more  necessary, 
where  already  in  ver.  1  the  fifth  of  the  fourth 
month  was  to  be  explained  with  reference  to  this 
fixed  period,  the  mo.st  important  of  course  for  the 
immediate  hearers  of  the  prophet,  and  therefore 
easily  intelligible  for  them,  and  also  retained  by 
the  prophet  throughout,  but  for  others  not  equally 
clear.  That  vers.  2,  3  "interrupt"  (Ewald)  tlie 
connection  cannot  be  alleged ;  we  shall  find  the 
opposite. — n^i3  if  "^r.  1  is  essentially  the  same  as 
nhi  in  ver.  2,  the  distinction  to  be  made  being 

perhaps  this,  that  the  former  refers  more  to  the 
condition,  the  latter  to  the  action. — As  to  the 
historical  fact,  see  2  Kings  xxiv.  6  sqq.,  2  Chron. 
xx.xvL    9    sqq. — M'l''    "^  here,    in   2    Kings,    2 

Chron.    ra^inV    is   called   in   Jer.    xxii.    24,    28 

in'33.  in  ct-  xxiv.  1  of  the  same  hook  !|n^33\  "nd 

in  ch.  xxvii.  20  n'3D''.— Kliefoth,  on  the  basis  ol 

the  detailed  exposition  in  Havernick,  gives  pro- 
minence as  regards  this  period,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  the  unpleasant  impression  of  the  first  circular 
letter  (Jer.  xxix.)  to  the  exiles,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  to  the  inflaming  of  their  minds  by  the  later 
prophetic  announcement  in  Jer.  li.  59  sqq. 
Comp.  in  the  remainder  of  the  Introd.  §  5. 
"  That  it  was  already  the  fifth  year,  is  held  up  as 
a  reproach  to  the  stiflneckedness  of  the  Jews " 
(Calt.).  The  appearance  of  Ezekiel  took  place 
in  the  most  hopeful  period  of  the  reign  of  Zede- 
kiah,  when  falsfe  propliecy  was  making  its  voice 
heard  at  home  and  abroad.  To  all  this  seemi.ng 
and  fancied  glory,  opposed  as  it  was  to  the  divine 
word  of  the  true  prophets,  Ezekiel's  vision  of  glory 
formed  the  divine  antithesis. 

>  Namely,  the  exile,  for  which  reason  he  Aon^.  not  reckol 
according  to  the  year  of  the  leign  of  Zedekiah. 


16 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.  3.  n^n  n^Hi  inf.  absol. ,  in  solemnly  rhetori- 
cal fashion  emphasizing  the  divine  attestation  of 
the  prophet:  really,  expressly,  quite  certainly. 
Tlie  full  unquestionable  reality  of  the  transaction 
is  to  be  indicated. — Though  ver.  1  spoke  of  the 
person,  time,  place,  subject-matter,  all  the 
elements  of  the  introduction,  yet  veT.  2  reverted 
to  the  time  ;  and  so  ver.  3  speaks  an';w  first  of  all 
of  the  subject-matter  as  '"  "131,  which  came  to 
Ezekiel,  by  which  expression  this  same  subject- 
matter,  linking  itself  on  to  ver.  1  (there,  "visions 
of  God;"  here,  "the  word  of  Jehovah"),  is  now 
designated  according  to  its  intrinsic,  its  essential 
character  as  the  product  of  the  Spirit  (1  Thess. 
ii.  13).  It  is  at  the  same  time  the  exact  announce- 
ment of  what  follows,  and  the  introduction  thereto ; 
for  at  ver.  28  there  is  a  transition  from  the  "  I 
saw"  to  the  "1  heard  the  voice  of  one  that  spake," 
and  this  latter  is  shown  from  ch.  ii.  4  to  be  "  the 
Lord  Jehovah. " — As  to  the  name  of  the  prophet 
and  that  of  his  father,  as  well  as  the  prifstly  rank 
of  both,  with  which  the  personal  description  is 
completed,  comp.  Introd.  §§  1,  3.  For  the  pur- 
pose in  a  quite  objective  way  of  making  more 
prominent  his  divine  legitimation,  Ezekiel  speaks 
of  himself  as  of  a  third  person.     (Like  the  LXX. , 

the  Syriac  and  Arabic  versions  presuppose  'py, 

the  reading  of  several  Codd.)  Humility  also,  in 
a  case  where  he  had  been  deemed  worthy  of  such 
a  revelation  (comp.  the  similar  mode  of  expression 
in  2  Cor.  xii.  2  sqq. ),  recommended  his  speaking 
in  the  third  person. — The  renewed  mention  of 
the  place  is  not  a  mere  repetition  of  the  words  : 
by  the  river  Chebar,  but  a  more  exact  definition 
alike  of  this  river,  and  especially  of  the  phrase ; 
"in  the  midst  of  the  captivity,"  both  being 
defined'by  mB'3  }nX3, — in  thesense, however,  of 
land  of  the  Chaldeans  =  land  of  the  enemy,  to 
which  at  the  close  of  the  verse  QB'  again  points 
back,  emphaticaUy,  as  Calvin  remarks.  This 
locality  was  only  too  significant  a  corrective  of 
presumption  on  the  one  hand,  as  of  despair  on  the 
other,  or  rather  of  ileshly  narrow-mindedness  in 
general.  —If  then,  finally,  the  subject-matter  is 
again  brought  into  prominence,  and  that  as 
res))ects  its  producing  cause,  viz.  that  the  hand 
of  Jehovah  came  upon  him,  this  certainly  is  not 
said  without  reference  to  the  statement:  "and  I 
fell  upon  my  face,"  in  ver.  28,  and  might  indeed 
have  preceded  the  words  ;  the  word  of  Jehovah 
came  in  reality  (Hitzig)  ;  but  the  immediately 
following  subject-matter  (ver.  4)  demanded  this 
or  some  such  transition  at  the  close  of  the  verse. 
Thus  verses  2,  3  complete  the  section.  The 
formula  of  transition  used  is  one  that  occurs  again 
(Introd.  §  7),  ch.  iii.  22,  xxxvii.  1,  xl.  1.  Comp. 
2  Kings  iii.  15.  The  expression  the  hand  of 
Jehovah  always  means  a  divine  manifestation  of 
power,  but  in  the  sense  of  action,  consequently 
with  will  and  intention,  by  means  of  which  self- 
will  and  refusal  on  the  part  of  man  are  laid  in  the 
dust,  and  the  man  is  prepared  for  the  divine 
purpose.  For  whatever  may  be  the  natural  basis 
subjectively  (intellectually,  morally,  and  spiritu- 
ally), as  well  as  objectively  (as  respects  the  nexus 
in  the  history  of  the  time  or  of  the  individual), 
ths  prophetic  word  as  God's  word,  as  visions  of 
Goil,  is  neither  a  product  of  one's  own  effort  and 
exertion,  reflection  and  investigation,  nor  a  result 
if  mere  human  instractiou.     It  is  not  gifts,  not 


study  that  makes  the  prophet,  just  as  also  we  d 
not  meet  with  inclination  as  a  prophetic  tactoi 
but  constraint  must  be  put  upon  them, — tin 
prophets  needed  to  be  overpowered.  Thus  some- 
thing lies  in  the  '"  T  V")JJ.  Comp.  Jer.  xx.  7. 
If  this  appears  in  a  still  stronger  form  where  in- 
stead of  'nfil,  e.g.  at  ch.  viiL  1,  we  have  "Jam, 
ch.  xi.  5  certainly  explains  S'  1*  by  '"  mt  ;  it  is 

the  power  of  tlie  Spirit.  "He  has  thus  expressed 
the  energy  of  the  divine  Spirit"  (Theuuuuet). 
Hence  the  prophetic  preparation  in  consequence  of 
this  is  rightly  given  by  Oehler  in  the  first  place 
as  a  divine  knowledge  (comp.  Jer.  xxiii.  18  with 
Amos  iii.  7),  to  which  there  cannot  be  wanting 
as  a  second  element  the  sanctifying  as  well  as 
strengthening  elficacy  (Ps.  1.  16  sqq.  ;  Mic.  iii. 
8).  J.  Fr.  Starck  quotes;  iiupulsus  inopinatus, 
illuminatio  extraordinaria,  spiritus  prophetise 
vehemens,  afSatus  Spiritus  Sancti  singularis. 
"  Thus  he  saw  what  other  men  did  not  see,  then 
he  recollected  all  that  he  had  seen  and  heard,  and 
understood  the  meaning  of  the  Lord  and  did  His 
commandment."  Cocc.  (On  old  pictures  of  the 
prophets,  as  well  as  in  the  frescoes  of  the  church 
at  Schwarz-Rheindorf,  a  hand  is  painted,  which  is 
stretched  from  heaven. ) 

Vers.  4-28.  — Ezekiel' s  Vision  of  the  Glory  of 
Jehovah. 

Isaac  Casaubon,  in  his  once  far-famed  Exerdta- 
tiones,  xvi.  de  reb.  sacr.  el  eccl.  adv.  Baronium 
(Geneva  1655),  asserts:  "in  the  whole  of  the  Old 
Testament  there  is  nothing  moi'e  obscure  than  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  the  book  of  Ezekiel. " 
Under  the  same  impression  Calvin  declares,  that 
' '  he  acknowledges  that  he  does  not  understand 
this  vision."  Jerome  had  pronounced  that  "in 
its  interpretation  all  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews 
are  dumb,  giving  as  their  reason  that  it  transcends 
man's  capacity,  et  de  hoc  et  de  cedifcatione  templi, 
quod  in  ultimo  hujus  prophetce  scribitur,  aliquid 
velle  conari."  The  Jewish  designation  for  the 
following  vision  is  n23nD>  "chariot"  or  "team 

of  four,"  in  accordance  with  the  four  living 
creatures  and  the  four  wheels.  Haveunick  :  "It 
formed  the  basis  and  the  point  of  support  for  the 
later  mystic  theology  in  its  endless  gnostic  specu- 
lations about  the  divine  essence  and  the  higher 
spirit-world. "  As  their  natural  theology  is  called 
among  the  Jews  n'!J'X13>  so  the  mystic  is  called 

aSllO-      One  is  not  to  read  before  reaching  his 

thirtieth  year  either  the  beginning  of  Genesis,  or 
the  Song  of  Songs,  or  the  beginning  and  end  of 
the  book  of  Ezekiel;  such  is  the  admonition  of 
Jewish  tradition.  Comp.  ZuNZ,  Die  gotles- 
dienstl.  Vortr.  d.  Juden,  p.  162  sqq.  (the  most 
important  work  of  more  recent  times  in  this 
department). 

Umbreit,  while  he  denies  him  the  poetic  gift, 
ascribes  to  Ezekiel  "in  the  rarest  degree  the 
ability  which  is  characteristic  of  the  painter,  of 
making  visible  to  the  eye  what  he  has  seen." 
But  even  the  celebrated  picture  of  Raphael  in  t  «e 
Pitti  Gallei-y  at  Florence  may  pass  as  a  criticism 
of  this  assertion.  There  there  is  more  than  one 
feature  quite  passed  over :  what  is  sepa  rate 
appears  grouped  together ;  what  is  united,  o;  'iie 


CHAP.  I.  4-28. 


87 


other  hand,  appears  divided.  To  the  artistic 
conception  of  the  greatest  painter  the  vision  of 
Ezekiel  presented  itself  with  difficulty.  'We  shall 
be  compelled  to  assert  even  more  positively,  that 
with  all  the  "exactitude  of  delineation,  and  with 
the  plastic  art  in  the  giving  of  details  "  (Umbreit), 
an  obscurity  remains  over  the  whole,  even  merely 
as  respects  the  setting  it  before  the  eye,  an  invisi- 
bilit;/,  which  is  not  certainly  to  be  ascribed  to 
"overcrowding,"  but  which  lies  in  the  subject- 
matter,  the  object  of  the  vision,  which  results 
from  the  thing  it.self.  The  representation  of 
Ezekiel  wrestles  with  its  subject,  as  the  amplifica- 
tion, the  repetition  and  recurrence  again  to  what 
has  been  said,  shows.  It  must  indeed  be  the  case, 
according  to  Exod.  xxxiii.,  that  (vers.  22,  23) 
only  the  "back  parts"  of  the  glory  of  God  are 
capable  of  being  seen  by  m:in  here  upon  earth. 
Comp.  1  John  iii.  2.  Certainly,  if  Ezekiel, 
because  he  had  been  carried  out  of  the  body,  were 
to  have  seen  the  "face"  of  the  glory  of  God, 
his  after-remembrance  in  the  body  of  what  he 
had  seen  would  not  have  been  capable  of  being 
expressed.  Comp.  2  Cor.  xii.  4,  3.  The  "un- 
approachable light,"  in  which  God  dwells  (1  Tim. 
vi.  16),  remains  from  the  time  of  the  Sinaitic 
■  keynote  theophany  onwards  for  the  whole  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Exod.  xix.  9,  16,  20,  21  (Deut. 
iv.  11,  V.  19);  Lev.  xvi.  2;  1  Kings  viii.  12;  Ps. 
xcvii.  2  (xviii.  12). 

We  may  quote  the  remark  of  Umbreit,  that 
Ezekiel  ' '  repeats  more  frequently  than  any  other 
prophet  the  statement :  the  word  of  Jehovah  was 
thus  made  known  to  me,  as  if  he  had  felt  the 
word  like  a  burden,  and  was  unable  to  reproduce 
it.as  such  in  a  very  worthy  manner ;  it  is  only  to 
set  down  its  symbol  that  he  feels  himself  called 
in  his  inmost  being."  There  is  also  to  be  found 
in  Ezekiel  as  compared  with  the  older  prophets  a 
greater  complication  in  the  symbolism,  in  which 
the  following  vision  especially  is  expressed  in  its 
plastic  art.     Comp.  Introd.  §  7. 

Inasmuch  as  it  is  vision,  and  consequently  the 
divine  element  is  represented  visibly  in  pictures, 
these  pictures  have  a  divine  import,  are  symbols, 
so  that  there  belongs  to  them  at  the  same  time  a 
concealing,  relatively  veiling  character,  especially 
as  regards  the  people.  The  word  of  God  must 
accordingly  come  in  addition  to  the  vision  of  God, 
in  order  to  explain  it  for  the  prophet  and  the 
people.  Comp.  the  distinction  between  irrxirltcs 
and  BfjroKctXu'^u;  xupUv,  2  Cor.  xii.  1. 

But  it  is  not  so  much  a  peaceful  picture  which 
presents  itself  to  our  prophet,  as  rather  a  phenome- 
non of  a  very  excited  character  inwardly  as  well 
as  outwardly  ;  a  circuuistance  which  must  not 
remain  unnoticed  in  the  interpretation.  The 
storm  brings  great  clouds  therefore.  A  strong 
brisk  fire,  which  spreads  its  brightness  round 
about,  forms  the  interior  of  the  cloud  brought  by 
the  storm.  Such  is  the  first,  outermost  part  of 
the  vision,  its  porch  as  it  were,  which  the  prophet 
first  of  all  enters  (ver.  4).  On  a  nearer  view 
there  arc  formed  out  of  the  intensive  fire  of  the 
cloud  as  it  were  four  "living  creatures,"  which 
have  at  first  sight  the  appearance  of  a  man,  and 
are  therefore  to  be  carried  back  in  thought  to  this 
in  general,  whatever  else  in  detail  more  exact 
description  perceives  in  them.  And  so  the  four- 
fold group  of  the  creatures  is  individualized  in  a 
fourfoUlness  of  each  of  them :  man,  linn,  ox, 
eagle.      In  spite  of  such  fourfoldness,  which  is 


perhaps  also  clear  from  other  circumstances  (thuf 
they  have  wings,  and  at  the  same  time  the  foot- 
soles  of  a  calf,  and  yet  the  hands  of  a  man.  comr^. 
at  ver.  7),  prominence  is  given  expressly  to  a 
mutuality  of  relation,  the  unity  of  a  whole,  vers.  6. 
12,  15,  20,  21,  22  (vers.  5-14).  Then,  further,  at 
the  direction  out  of  the  north  (ver.  4)  h.TS  given 
the  tendency  of  the  vision  in  its  immediate 
historical  reference,  so  the  wheels  also  bring  the 
whole  into  connection  with  the  earth.  Tlie  more 
expressive  connecting  link  will  be  the  number 
four,  the  symbolic  number  (passing  over  from  the 
living  creatures  to  the  wheels)  of  the  cosmical 
relations,  in  which  God  reveals  Himself.  (Bahk, 
Symbolism  of  the  Mosaic  Culttis,  i.  p.  341.) 
The  gloi-y  of  Jehovah  from  heaven  manifests  itself 
with  this  second  part  of  the  vision  as  a  glorifying 
of  Jehovah  upon  earth,  inasmuch  as  "the  spiiit 
of  the  living  creature  "  unites  in  the  closest  way 
wheels  and  creatures  (vers.  15-21).  Lastly,  tha 
holy  of  holies  of  the  vision  is  opened  with  the 
vault  as  of  heaven  over  the  heads  of  the  chajah. 
The  living  creatures,  into  union  with  which  the 
wheels  are  taken  up  by  means  of  the  "  spirit, "  are 
by  means  of  the  "voice,"  which  comes  from  above 
the  vault,  and  that  while  they  are  at  rest,  united 
to  Him  who  is  enthroned  there,  who  looked  like 
a  man.  From  Him  ultimately  everything  pro- 
ceeds, just  as  to  Him  ultimately  everything  tends. 
As  in  the  holy  of  holies  of  the  tabernacle  and  of 
the  temple,  the  vision  culminates  in  the  enthron- 
ing of  Jehovah  in  His  glory.  Hence,  too,  it  cannot 
be  passed  over  without  remark,  that  in  this  very 
excited  phenomenon  a  thrice-repeated  adt^ance 
makes  itself  known.     The  first  time  the  fire-cloud 

B'Nn  7]W)D  ^DC'nn  PV3  (ver.    4).      The  second 

time    the   fire  picture   of  the  chajoth  t'N"vrU2 

D'l'B^n  nK"1D3  nilVi  (vers.   13,  7),   with  the 

height  and  dreadfulness  and  t;"{;nn  py3  of  the 

wheels    (vers.    IS,    16).       The    third    time  ;    the 

misn  mpn  pya  v''p'\,  and  the  throne  nsioa 

TSD  ps,  *nd  the  fire-bright  appearance  of  the 

Glorious  One  thereon,  the  description  of  which, 
however,  at  last  terminates  significantly  in  :  "As 
the  appearance  of  the  bow,"  etc.  Fire,  bright- 
ness, light, — this  remains  the  common  feature  all 
three  times;  it  forms  consequently  the  funda- 
mental characteristic  of  the  vision  as  respects  its 
interpretation,  in  which,  however,  the  meaning  of 
the  closing  rainbow  in  the  cloud  must  not  be 
left  out. 

Let  us  now  attempt  to  get  at  the  meaning  of 
the  vision.  Although  the  separate  sjiribols  must 
be  left  over  to  the  exegesis,  yet  the  symbolism  as 
a  whole  must  be  understood  beforehand,  according 
to  which  the  import  of  the  vision,  especially  in 
comparison  and  connection  with  other  similar 
visions  of  the  Old  Testament,  will  come  to  light. 
Ezekiel  himself  leaves  ns  in  no  doubt  as  to  the 
meaning  of  his  vision,  for  he  says  expressly  at 
the   close :    '"  ni33  niDI    HS-IO   Kin.      It   is 

therefore  Jehovah's  glory  that  presented  itself  tc 
him,  and  presents  itself  to  us  in  the  vision.  In 
so  far  as  this  can  be  distinguished  more  in  iti 
personal  relation  to  Himself,  and  on  the  othei 
side  more  in  its  active  manifestatit  n  and  execu- 
tion of  His  will,  as  Jehovah's  glo^  y  and  as  Hij 


3K 


EZEKIEL. 


glorification,  the  NIH  of  ch.  i.  28  may,  by  a 
giiinci-  .It  ch.  X.  4,  19,  be  Diore  precisely  explained 
by  Keil  (following  Hitzig),  but  for  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  vision  in  ch.  i.  it  is  not  advisable. 
As  to  the  idea  ni33  for  "glory,"  comp.  on  ch. 
i.  28.     Although  the  1133  of  God  stands  for  the 

appearance,  hence  for  what  is  manifest  (Introd. 
§  iO),  yet  tiiejigaradve  representatum  of  the  same 
must  not  be  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  for  the 
essential  idea.  Gesenius  says  incorrectly  in  his 
Pocket  Dictionary;  "The  Hebrew  conceives  (?) 
of  it  as  a  clear  sliining  fire,  from  which  tire  issues, 
and  which  is  usually  enveloped  in  smoke ; "  for 
the  Hebrew  conceives  of  it  rather  (comp.  Ges. 
himself)  as  "weight,  dignity,  gravitas."  To  the 
divine  essence  there  belongs  a  corresponding 
sovereign  dignity  and  sovereign  power, — a  glory 
(Herrlichkeit  from  "hehr"),  as  well  as  a  dominion 
(Herrsc haft  horn  " Herr").  The  two  things  con- 
ceived of  as  one  idea,  and  not  merely  in  antithesis 
to  the  world,  but  in  the  world  as  the  light  and  the 

life  of  the  world,  is  the  •\\23  of  God — t/te  signifi- 
cance of  God  for  the  world.  The  heavens  declare 
the  glory  of  God  (Ps.  xix.  1),  and  the  whole  earth 
is  full  of  His  glory  (Isa.  vi.  3).  Without  it 
there  is  nothing  but  "power  and  matter" 
(Biichner),  and  our  view  of  the  world  is  an 
atomistic  one.  Although  the  manifest  aim  of 
creation  has  been  turned  by  reason  of  sin  into  the 
goal,  yet  Ps.  xcvii.  6  says  and  prophesies:  "The 
heavens  declare  His  righteousness,  and  all  nations 
see  His  glory ; "  and  in  Num.  xiv.  21  Jehovah  swears 
by  His  life,  that  the  glory  of  Jehovah  shall  fill 
the  whole  earth.  If  with  this  far-reaching  look 
at  the  world's  goal,  and  on  the  broad  foundation 
of  the  divine  aim  as  regards  the  world  ("Jeho- 
vah" is  certainly  everywhere  "Elohiui"),  Ezekiel's 
vision  of  Jehovah's  glory  shapes  itself  first  of  all 
•ind  predominantly  as  the  righteousness  of  the 
Holy  One,  who  will  execute  the  judgment  upon 
Jerusalem,  and  thus  also  upon  that  portion  of 
Israel  not  yet  in  banishment  by  the  Chebar,  such 
a  thing  is  eiisily  understood  as  being  necessary  for 
that  historical  period,  alike  from  the  situation  of 
affairs  and  as  regards  the  persons.  And  this  it  is 
that  is  symbolized  by  the  iiTe-cloud  in  particular, 
as  well  as  in  general  by  the  &re-style,  in  which 
the  whole  is  kept.  Nevertheless  there  comes 
forth  as  the  kernel  of  the  fire-cloud  the  fire-picture 
of  the  four  chajoth,  whose  meaning  is  as  little 
reached  when  one  goes  back  and  gives  them  a 
Judaistio  interpretation  as  the  cherubim  in  the 
tabernacle  or  in  the  temple,  as  when  one  chris- 
tianizes them  by  anticipation,  as  Kliefoth  does, 
as  the  "universality  of  the  economy  of  salvation 
founded  by  Christ  when  He  appeared,  in  contrast 
with  the  particularism  and  territorialism  of  the 
previous  economy  of  salvation."  It  might  rather 
be  nearer  the  mark  to  adopt  a  third  view  which 
would  keep  fast  hold  of  the  glory  of  God  as  the 
original  aim  of  the  creation  of  heaven  and  earth 
IS  well  as  the  ultimate  goal  of  the  history  of  the 
world ;  in  connection  with  which  the  idea  of  life, 
80  frequent  with  Ezekiel,  pervading  as  it  does  the 
whole  book,  must  not  be  overlooked  (ch.  xviii. 
23;  xxxiii.  11;  the  whole  of  ch.  xxxvii. ;  ch. 
X7iu.  9,  13,  17,  19,  21,  24,  28,  32;  ch.  xxxiii.  12, 
13,  15,  16;  iii.  18,  21;  xvi.  6;  xx.  11,  13,  21, 
26;  ilvii.  9;  xiii.  18,  19,  22;  vii.  13;  v.  11;  xiv. 
18,  18,  20;  ivu.  16,  19;  xviu.  3;  xx.  3,  31,  33; 


xxxiii.  11,  27;  xxxiv.  8;  xxxv.  11  :  cor  p.  xxvL 
20  ;  xx.xii.  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  32).  For  :is  God's 
glory  has  its  side  for  Him,  according  to  which  it 
is  the  self-representation  of  His  life  in  a  majesty 
invisible  for  man,  so,  on  the  otlier  side,  heaven 
and  earth  and  the  world  of  creatures  mirror  forth 
the  divine  life  in  a  visible  glory  of  God,  inasmuch 
as  through  them  God's  peculiar  nature  and  power 
come  to  he  seen  in  a  manifoldness  and  fulness  of 
life.  Tills  is  His  "fame,"  His  "honour,"  which 
become  known  from  creation  conformably  to  its 
original  design,  according  to  which  the  investiga- 
tion of  nature  was  meant  to  be,  as  Prof  Fichte 
says,  "  an  uninterrupted  worshij),  a  rational  and 
intelligent  glorification  of  that  uncreated  wisdom 
which  manifests  itself  in  nature."  And  in  like 
manner  (according  to  Beck),  "all  the  threads  of 
life,  which  the  divine  faithfulness  in  revelation 
preserves  within  the  circle  of  sinful  mankind  from 
the  beginning  onwards,  and  eveimore  strengthens 
and  perfects  in  a  part  of  the  same,  converge  at 
the  end  in  a  central  manifestation  of  life:  i  l^un 
ifxiifiiSn,  1  John  i.  2.  The  revelation  of  life  in 
a(-tual  fact  breaks  the  death-power  of  sin,  2  Tim. 
i.  10;  life  is  the  substance  of  salvation"  (Lehr- 
wissenschaft,  i.  p.  448) ;  and  this  /i/'e-development 
of  salvation  exercises,  on  the  one  hand,  a  jireser*-- 
ing,  renewing,  and  perfecting  influence  on  the 
still  remaining  life-power  of  the  world,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  a  relaxing,  judging,  and  annihi- 
lating influence  on  the  death-power  of  sin,  works 
creatively,  so  that  man  and  the  earthly  system 
come  forth  as  a  new  creation  in  eternal  and  un- 
changeable life  from  the  catastrophe  of  conflict 
and  judgment.  As  arising  from  such  a  connec- 
tion of  the  life  and  glory  of  God,  must  the  spiritual 
symbolism  of  the  chajoth  also  be  understood  in 
Ezekiel.  The  retrospective  reference  to  tlie  cheru- 
bim  of  the  ark  has  certainly  its  truth,  but  not  till 
ch.  X.  (comp.  at  ch.  ix.  3  the  explanation  with 
respect  to  the  cherubs  in  general),  where  Ezekiel 
also  (ver.  20)  expressly  brings  them  forward ;  and 
even  there  (vers.  15,  17,  20)  they  are  called,  as 
here  and  at  ch.  iii.  13,  "chajoth"  or  "chajah." 
Their  symbolic  character  is  necessarily  clear  even 
from  the  symbolic  connection  in  which  they 
appear.  The  prophet  saw  also  merely  a  "like- 
ness "  of  four  living  creatures,  consequently  what 
looked  like  four  living  creatures.  To  their  sym- 
bolic character  corresponds  also  their  designation  ; 
the  biblical  ideas  of  life  and  death  have  a  symbolic 
colouring.  But,  in  particular,  support  is  entirely 
wanting  in  Holy  Scripture  for  conceiving  of  these 
"living  creatures,"  as  Keil  would  have  us,  as 
"  beings  who  of  all  the  creatures  of  heaven  and 
earth  possess  and  exhibit  life  in  the  fullest  sensi! 
of  the  word,  and  who  on  this  very  account  of  all 
spiritual  beings  stand  the  nearest  to  the  God  of 
the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  who  lives  from  eternity  to 
eternity,  and  surround  His  throne  on  every  side." 
What  would  thus  be  aflirmed  of  "  creatures, "  is 
applicable  properly  to  the  Son  alone  (John  i.  4); 
and  how  would  such  "  representatives  and  bearers 
of  the  eternal  blessed  life  "  harmonize  even  with 
the  uniquely  prominent  position  of  man  made  ip 
the  image  of  God  in  the  Bible  !  In  opposition  to 
actual  individual  beings  of  such  a  kind,  in  01  po- 
sition to  "  angelic  beings  of  a  higher  order,"  tnere 
speaks  too  evidently  their  fourfold  fornl,  whose 
meaning,  as  already  settled  by  the  Rabbins,  is  this, 
that  the  vital  power  according  to  four  types  (ot 
man  above  all  and  in  general  because  of  his  UJ'e 


CHAP.  I.  4-28. 


38 


being  in  highest  potency,  because  of  his  spirit  and 
its  eternal  destiny), — coiiip.  Bahr,  ■Symb.  i.  p.  342 
sqq., — is  to  find  an  expression,  is  to  be  repre- 
seifted  in  a  fulness  of  the  highest  possible  signi- 
ficance. From  the  reproach  of  being  "abstract 
ideas  or  ideal  forms  of  the  imagination,"  which 
would  thus  be  "represented  as  living  beings," 
the  purely  symbolic  view  is  released  by  this  cir- 
cumstance, that  certainly  the  four  types  are  taken 
from  real  life,  only  the  manner  of  their  applica- 
tion and  their  juxtaposition  being  ideal.  There 
can  be  no  question  of  abstraction,  where  rather 
the  individual  element  is  specially  realized  by 
means  of  the  idea  of  tlie  whole,  viz.  life.  Heng- 
stcnberg  ["The  Cherubim"  at  the  close  of  his 
"Ezekiel,"  Clark's  Trans.],  who  in  Bahr's  inter- 
pretation emphasizes  not  so  much  the  "ideal 
creature"  as  "the  living  creation,"  limits  it, 
however,  to  the  earth,  holding  that  it  must  be 
viewed  altogether  apart  from  the  heavenly  crea- 
ture. Passages,  however,  such  as  Gen.  ii.  7, 
ix.  16,  which  he  cites,  leave  sufficient  room  for 
the  idea  of  the  lining  creature  in  yeneral,  since, 
according  to  Gen.  ii.  7,  there  by  no  means  belongs 
to  the  living  creature  "a  double  element,  the 
earthly  material  and  the  quickening  breatli  of 
God  ;"  but  these  two  constitute  merely  the  earthly 
man,  and  he  rather  becomes  "a  living  soul" 
from  the  fact  that  God  "breathed  into  his  nostrils 
the  breath  of  life,"  just  as  Gen.  ix.  16  also  limits 
"every  living  creature"  by  means  of  the  words 
"among  all  ilesh  that  is  upon  the  earth,"  the 
thing  spoken  of  being  life  upon  earth.  Theodoret, 
however,  may  be  right,  that  the  angels  likewise 
are  living  creatures,  and  that  the  ndation  of 
mortality  is  the  distinction  between  their  life 
and  that  of  man.  The  contrast  with  death  is 
not  less  justified  than  that  "with  what  is  life- 
less," and  the  expression  the  "living"  God 
scarcely  allows  the  idea  of  the  living  creature  to 
be  confined  to  man  and  beasts.  Neither  does 
"the  number  four  in  itself"  point  exclusively  to 
the  earth  ;  comp.  Bahr  in  the  work  quoted,  i. 
p.  156  sqq.  Only  the  composition  of  the  number 
four,  consisting  as  it  does  of  man,  lion,  ox,  and 
eagle,  has,  according  to  the  ingenious  exposition 
of  Hengstenberg,  much  of  an  earthly  appearance. 
That  o.ic  and  calf  alternate  in  ch.  i.  7  (Rev.  iv.  7), 
does  indeed  make  tlie  representation  of  the  (tame) 
cattle  by  means  of  the  ox  and  that  of  the  wild 
animals  by  means  of  the  lion  very  probable. 
But  the  flying  of  the  eagle  would  certainly  be 
sufficiently  represented  by  two  wings,  while  the 
four  wings  expressly  mentioned  (ch.  i.  6)  point 
beyond  this  requisite,  and  in  their  parallel  (ver.  8) 
with  the  hands  of  a  man — which  give  prominence 
to  the  human  element— allow  us  on  their  side  to 
conjecture  something  superterrestrial  beyond  man 
and  beast,  as  Keil  has  rightly  remarked.  Wlien 
Hengstenberg  makes  use  of  the  cherubs  of  the 
tabernacle  and  in  Solomon's  temple  for  his  expo- 
sition, one  does  not  easily  understand  how  the 
furnishing  of  their  human  form  with  wings  is  to 
spring  from  this  cause,  that  the  class  of  birds 
"in  the  history  of  creation  opens  the  series  of 
living  creatures,  just  as  man  closes  it ; "  for  in 
Gen.  i.  20  the  aquatic  animals  still  take  the  pre- 
cedence, and  in  fact  the  large  ones  (ver.  21), 
which  play  such  a  part  in  Holy  Scripture.  Just 
as  little  can  "the  bird"  take  "the  last  place," 
as  being  also  that  which  is  relatively  "lower," 
which  IS  contradicted,  as  has  been  said,  by  the 


four  wings.  There  is  to  be  noticed  ii_  ver.  li 
(23)  the  parallel  to  Isa.  vi.  2  (comp.  ch.  iii.  12). 
Perhaps,  also,  when  speaking  of   "the  noise  of 

tlieir  wings  "(ver.  24),  the  comparison  njniD  ?ip3 

(after  Gen.  xxxii.  2,  3)  is  worthy  of  notice.  The 
cherubs  in  Solomon's  temple  (and  also  on  the 
stands  of  tlie  basins,'  1  Kings  vii.  29)  represented 
not  life  upon  earth,  according  to  its  two  extremi- 
ties, but  the  terrestrial  and  stiperterrestrial  life 
of  creation.  Thus  only  do  the  "lions  and  oxen  " 
before  us  gain  their  significance :  wild  animals 
and  cattle,  the  strictly  animal  world  as  con- 
trasted with  the  earthly  and  heavenly  spiritual 
world  in  their  combination  in  the  winged  human 
figure.  Otherwise  they  would  not  be  necessary 
representations,  inasmuch  as  they  were  certainly 
already  represented  by  means  of  the  irrational 
bird.  With  the  "palm  trees"  and  "Howers" 
(1  Kings  vi.  29;  Ezek.  xli.  18,  19,  25),  the  sir/ni- 
ficanl  vegetable  world,  too,  was  added  to  the 
earthly  creation ;  while,  in  the  following  vision, 
storm,  clouds,  fire,  light  (ver.  4)  set  before  our 
eyes  almost  literally  passages  like  Ps.  civ.  :  "0 
Lord,  my  God,  Thou  art  very  great.  Thou 
clothest  "Thyself  with  splendour  and  glory, 
wrapping  Thyself  round  with  light  as  a  gar- 
ment,— who  maketh  clouds  His  chariot,  walketh 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  making  His  messen- 
gers winds.  His  servants  flaming  fire,"  Ps.  1.  : 
"  Our  God  shall  come,  etc.  Fire  devoureth  before 
Him,  and  roiuid  about  Him  it  is  very  tempestu- 
ous ;  He  calleth  the  heavens  from  above,  and  the 
earth,  to  judge  His  people, — and  the  heavens 
declare  His  righteousness."  Ps.  xviii.  :  "  He 
bowed  the  heavens  and  came  down,  and  cloudy 
darkness  was  under  His  feet,  and  He  rode  upon 
the  cherub,  and  did  fly,  and  was  poised  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind,  made  darkness  His  covering, 
etc.  At  the  brightness  that  was  before  Him 
His  clouds  passed  away,  hail  and  coals  of  fire." 
Although  it  will  have  to  be  conceded  to  Heng- 
stenberg, that  the  earthly  reference  of  the  life  of 
creation  preponderates  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel, 
quite  similarly  as  on  the  other  side  the  human 
type  preponderates,  yet  the  whole  continues  to 
have  an  undeniabl;/  sitperterreatrial  character. 
The  fire-cloud  with  the  four  living  creatures 
appears  to  the  prophet  (comp.  ver.  1)  out  of  the 
opened  heavens,  and  it  is  only  the  wheals  (ver.  15 
sqq.)  that  intentionally  set  down  the  heavenly 
phenomenon  as  being  at  the  same  time  something 
earthly.  It  is  meant  to  be  the  human-earthly 
creation  in  the  fulness  of  its  vital  ponder,  as 
appearing  from  the  background  of  the  heaven- 
stirred,  and  also  spiriMike  elemental  powers  (air, 
fire),  and  still  more  (comp.  Rev.  iv.  8,  9;  v.  8, 
14;  six.  4)  a.s  offering  itself  continually  after  the 
manner  of  the  heavenly  messengers  and  servants 
in  obedience  and  voluntary  surrender  (<J,-  i»  oipxtS 
XXI  iiri  T»5  y^s,  Matt.  vi.  10),  inunceasing  activity 
of  service  to  His  honour,  and  thus  continually 
glorifying  Him  (ver.  19  sqq.).  This  we  may 
suppose  to  be  the  most  intrinsically  heavenly 
element  in  the  vision.  It  is  certainly  the  case 
with  the  spectacle  at  the  revelation  on  Sinai, 
which,  moreover,  unmistakably  fum  ishes  the  key- 
note here,  that  the  law  was  given  in  fire  auii 
cloud,  but  not  less  through  the  mediation  oi 
aijgels  (Deut.  xxxiii.  2;  Heb.  ii.  2;  Acts  vi;. 
'  To  which  Vitringa  (Obterv,  >.  Iv.  I)  traces  back  the 
vision  of  EiftkiftL 


10 


EZEKIEL. 


63,  38  ;  Gal.  iii.  19).  Hengstenberg  speaks 
strikingly  of  ch.  i.  as  "the  great  panorama  of 
the  universe  ; "  and  there,  certainly,  the  reference 
ii.dicated  could  not  be  wanting.  If  the  "spirit " 
(Tor.  12)  determines  the  first  rital  operation  of 
the  chajoth,  their  motion,  and  if  (vers.  20,  21) 
it  is  also  the  determining  element  for  the  motion 
of  the  wheels,  then  the  (as  one  may  express  it) 
more  spiritual  motion  of  the  whole,  but  especially 
of  the  chajoth,  viz.  "the  noise  of  their  wings" 
(ver.  24),  is  determined  negatively,  i.e.  is  brought 
to  silence,  to  rest,  by  the  voice  from  above  (ver. 
25)  ;  so  that  with  this  voice  from  the  throne,  and 
therefore  with  Him  who  is  upon  it  (ver.  26  sqq.), 
each  and  all  are  united,  and  express  themselves 
as  well  as  move  as  He  pleases  (ver.  24),  or  rest 
according  to  His  intimation.  In  this  way  the 
God  of  hosts,  whom  Hengstenberg  only  co-or- 
dinates with  Him  who  is  enthroned  upon  the 
chajoth,  is  rather  at  the  same  time  declared  to  be 
this  latter,  or  the  chajoth  seem  in  such  manner 
to  be  embraced  in  the  idea  of  the  heavenly  hosts. 
To  see  in  the  wheels,  then,  "the  powers  of 
nature,"  is  certainly  not  so  natural  as  to  abide  by 
the  view  of  Hitzig,  who  appeals  in  support  of  it 
to  Dan.  vii.  9.  Keil  also  must  after  all  admit 
the  idea  of  a  throne-cAario*.  A  throne  which  is 
to  move  upon  the  earth  can  hardly  be  conceived 
of  \vithont  wheels.  It  is  not  so  much,  however, 
"to  show  the  possibility  and  the  ease  with  which 
the  throne  moves  to  all  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world,"  as  ratlier  to  express  the  motio/t  in  the 
most  living  manner  and  expressly  for  tlie  earth. 
specially  in  the  first  place  with  a  view  to  Jeru- 
salem, corresponding  to  the  historical  circum- 
stances ;  it  is  for  this  reason  that  we  have  to  do 
with  wheels.  The  eyes  in  the  wheels  are  parallel 
with  the  faces  in  the  chajoth,  and  both  are  to  be 
understood    in    connection    with    the    "  spirit " 

(nn),  *nd  perhaps  also  not  without  reference  to 

"the  noise  of  the  wings"  (2  Chron.  xvi.  9). 
The  sovereignty  of  Him  who  rules  in  heaven, 
whom  all  serve  as  to  Him  all  live,  as  it  is  ready 
from  heaven  to  manifest  itself  livingly  upon  earth, 
is  represented  at  the  close  as  being  the  sovereignty 
"as  of  a  man,"  which,  when  we  take  into  account 
the  rainbow  of  ver.  28  (notwithstanding  the  pre- 
ponderating judicial  character  of  the  whole), 
allows  of  the  coming  forth  full  of  promise---(W  the 
ultimate  goal,  as  the  victory  of  righteousness — of 
the  kindness  and  love  of  God  toward  man  (Tit. 
iii.  4),  in  grace  and  mercy  toward  Israel,  and  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world,  so  that  the  vision 
would  have  its  fulfilment  in  Christ  (comp.  John 
xii.  41  with  Isa.  vL ),  Rev.  iv. 

After  this  interpretation  of  the  symbolism  of 
the  vision  as  a  whole,  its  meaning  for  the  pro- 
phetic mission  of  Ezekiel  (comp.  the  introductory 
remarks  to  ch.  i.-iii. )  must  be  clear  thus  far, 
that  above  all  the  prophet  will  have  to  announce 
judgment,  not  merely  in  the  first  place  upon 
Jerusalem,  but  farther  upon  the  heathen  also. 
To  this  the  _/Jre-characteristic  points,  which 
remains  with  the  vision  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  behind  which  whatever  promise  of  mercy  is 
in  it  steps  into  the  background  for  the  time,  so 
that  the  prophet /oW*  down  under  the  impre.ssion 
received  (ver.  28).  For  a  so-called  "consecration 
oj  a  prophet,"  this  certainly  would  be  too  special 
in  its  tenor.  For  this  one  would  be  under  the 
necessity  of  extracting,  and  that  at  the  same  time 


under  a  misapprehension  "of  the  dependence  ol 
our  theophany  on  that  manifestation  of  God  at 
Sinai, "  as  KeU  does,  "  in  a  more  general  way  the 
symbols  of  that  righteousness,  holiness,  and  grace 
which  God  manifests  in  the  upholding,  govern- 
ing, and  perfecting  of  His  kingdom."  On  the 
other  hand,  by  means  of  the  fire-character  of 
judgment,  which  expressed  its  special  tendency, 
this  ^•ision  was  an  introduction  of  Ezekiel  forth- 
with into  his  sphere  of  labour.  Nothing  else  had 
the  prophet  at  first  to  testify  to  the  exiles,  for 
their  obstinacy  with  all  its  ungodly  hopes  was 
still  founded  on  the  apparent  continuance  of 
Jerusalem.  The  more  such  high  ecstasy — a 
throwing  inwards  or  spiritualizing,  which  has 
its  sphere  on  the  boundary'  of  corporeal  life  (ver. 
28),  as  Oehler  brings  out  prominently — along 
with  the  mission  of  Ezekiel  attested  his  call  as  a 
prophet,  the  less  need  was  there  of  an  official 
consecration  for  him ;  his  mission  under  such  a 
vision  was  so  in  the  highest  degree,  or  at  least 
made  a  call,  calling,  consecration  to  the  prophetic 
office  be  presupposed  in  a  decided  manner  in  his 
case,  as  the  Talmudists,  even  in  reference  to  ri'D 

n'n  in  ver.  3  (in  the  interest  certainly  of  the 

prophecy,  as  they  assert,  being  attached  to  the 
ark),  show  therefrom,  that  Ezekiel  was  already 
before  a  prophet  in  the  holy  land.  The  vision 
does  not  by  any  means  consecrate  him  as  a 
prophet,  but  it  certainly  does  transfer  him  to 
those  banished  to  Tel-Abib  (ch.  iii.  12  sqq.):  it 
thus  realises  itself  as  a  mission.  And  pervading 
as  it  does  the  whole  book,  it  likewise  stamps  and 
illustrates  the  prophetic  activity  of  Ezekiel,  ch. 
iii.  23,  viii.  4,  xliii.  2.  The  vision  is,  however, 
not  merely  as  regards  its  fire-character,  a  pro- 
gramme for  our  prophet,  but  its  much  7no)'e 
essential  contents  informed  him  that  he  would 
have  to  represent  the  glory  of  Jehovah.  Judg- 
ment in  the  first  place,  from  the  very  beginning, 
however,  not  without  mercy,  but  rather  a  glori- 
fication of  the  lining  God  in  His  people  to  be 
accomplished  in  a  glory  of  vital  power,  on  the 
basis  of  creation,  and  thus  from  the  outset  with  a 
view  to  the  whole  earth.'  The  meaning  of  the 
chajoth  in  the  vision,  whence  their  designation 
(purposely  not  called  cherubim  in  ch.  i. ),  and 
their  so-varied  form,  and  the  accompaniment  of 
spirit-moved  wheels  full  of  eyes  are  explained, 
cannot  be  settled  by  pointing  to  the  Lord's  dwell- 
ing among  His  people  in  the  holy  of  holies  of 
the  temple,  nor  explained  by  the  "cecumenical 
character  of  the  new  economy  of  salvation,  for 
the  setting  up  of  which  the  Lord  shall  appear 
upon  earth  "  (which  is  said  to  be  represented  in 
the  fourfold  figure  of  the  cherubs  and  wheels) ; 
nor  even  can  it  be  expressed  characteristically 
enough  with  Keil  in  this  way,  that  "the  moving 
of  the  throne  to  all  quarters  of  the  world  is  made 
conspicuous,  not  merely  in  order  to  indicate  the 
spread  of  the  kingdom  of  God  over  the  whole 
earth,  but  in  order  to  reveal  the  Lord  and  King, 
whose  power  stretches  over  the  whole  world,"  etc. 
(p.  28).  The  prophecy  of  glory  is  the  charac- 
teristic of  Ezekiel,  whereby  he  stands  distinguished 
from  all  prophets.  With  its  destination  for  the 
exile, — this  too  must  be  added  in  reference  to  the 
meaning  of  the  following  vision  for  the  prophetic 
mission  of  Ezekiel, — harmonizes  the  making  God 

1  A<.  the  same  time,  perhaps  vith  the  bint  of  a  creatioD  ix 
the  future,  a  creative  renewal. 


CHAP.  I.  4-28. 


«1 


prominent,  on  the  ground  of  the  manifold  fulness 
of  life  in  His  creation,  a^  Himself  the  Living  One 
in  ruling,  reigning,  as  well  as  all-filling  unique- 
ness of  life  and  glory.  And  so  He  must  break 
forth  in  judgment  on  Jerusalem,  where  He  is 
degraded  to  a  lifeless,  powerless,  and  therefore  no 
longer  believed  in  idol,  side  by  side  with  other 
false  gods.  And  as  such  He  must  manifest  Him- 
self to  the  heathen  world,  into  whose  power  His 
people  hare  been  alreaily,  will  be  completely, 
given.  The  living  God,  and  as  such  glorious,  has, 
however,  no  jileasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked, 
of  him  that  dieth,  as  Ezekiel  repeatedly  testifies 
to  the  exiles  ;  rather  is  the  quickening  of  Israel 
to  new  life  (ch.  xxxvii.),  the  stream  of  life  (ch. 
xlvii. ),  His  significant  promise.  As  /  live,  why 
will  ye  die,  0  house  of  Israel  ?  may  be  pronounced 
in  this  connection  to  be  the  prophetic  voice  of 
Ezekiel  in  the  exile. 

If  we  compare  other  similar  visions  in  the  Old 
Testament,  in  order  to  throw  more  light  on  the 
ch,iracteristic  of  Ezekiel's,  the  Talmudists  have 
identified  that  of  Isaiah  in  ch.  vi.  with  that  of 
Ezekiel,  the  only  difference  being  as  if  a  towns- 
man and  a  countryman  were  to  behold  a  king. 
But  apart  from  the  circumstance  (introductory 
remarks  to  ch.  i.-iii. ),  that  in  the  case  of  Isaiah 
it  is  after  the  self-legitimation  in  actual  fact  by 
means   of   the   preceding   discourses,    which   are 

designated  as  ]i|n  (^'h.  i.  1),  Dm  IC'K  "Min  (ch. 

ii.  1),  and  which  thus  presuppose  his  consecra- 
tion as  a  prophet,  and  not  till  ch.  vi.  that  the 
divine  confirmation  and  introduction  of  the 
judicial  mission  of  the  prophet  is  related,  so 
characteristically  winding  up  what  goes  before  as 
well  as  introducing  what  follows,  while  in  the 
case  of  Ezekiel  the  vision  opens  his  book  ;  the 
theme  with  Isaiah  is  the  thrice-/fo/_j/  One  over 
against  the  sm  which  has  become  ripe  for  the 
judgment  of  hardening,  whereas,  on  the  other 
hand,  Ezekiel  sees  the  glori/  of  Jehovah  in  the 
midst  of  the  mistry  of  the  exile.  For  Him  who 
visibly  appears  as  above  the  world,  there  is  some- 
thing becoming  in  the  "holy,  holy,  holy"  (comp. 
on  the  other  hand,  Ezek.  iii.  12),  in  holiness  He 
manifests  Himself  in  the  heavens;  and  the  cir- 
cumstance that  His  glory  fills  the  whole  earth 
(ver.  3),  shows  how  His  intramundane  manifesta- 
tion (Introd.  §  10),  in  accordance  with  His 
heavenly  holiness,  must  take  shape  in  righteous- 
ness upon  the  earth.  In  accordance  therewith, 
in  accordance  with  the  character  of  holiness 
belonging  to  Isaiah's  vision,  it  is  also  seraphim 
that  hover  around  the  throne,  that  call  one  to 
another  the  "holy,"  etc.,  and  one  of  whom  must 
hallow  the  prophet,  who  declares  himself  per- 
sonally, and  as  a  member  of  the  community, 
unclean.  How  different  what  is  said  in  Ezekiel 
as  to  the  c/iajoth!  And,  accordingly,  Ezekiel 
becomes  like  a  dead  man,  whereas  Isaiah  became 
conscious  to  liimself  of  being  a  sinner.  As 
regards  the  visions  of  the  Mosaic  period,  which 
are  likewise  appearances  in  glorj',  Exod.  xxiv.  17 
resembles  the  vision  of  Ezekiel  in  its  pervading 
fire-character,  and  ver.  10  of  the  same  chapter 
resembles  the  closing  picture  in  Ezek.  i.  26  ;  but 
in  Moses'  vision  (Exod.  xxxiii.,  xxxiv. )  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  is  spoken  of  as  "all  His  goodness" 

('21tO  ?3-     Comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  19  with  xxxiii.  22, 

23),  with  which  corresponds  also  th«  revelation 


in  word  (ch.  xxxiii.  19,  xxxiv.  6,  7)  in  its  mail: 
import.  The  preponderance  of  revelation  in  worn 
and  of  the  fulness  of  God's  love  is  in  this  case  the 
distinguishing  element  on  the  one  hand  from 
Ezekiel's  vision,  and  on  the  other  fi'ora  that  of 
Isaiah.  Lastly,  the  rision  of  Daniel  in  ch.  vii. 
is  closely  related  to  that  of  Isaiah  by  means  of 
the  fulness  of  majesty  of  the  divine  hotinejis  in 
ver.  9,  just  as  it  in  so  far  coincides  with  Ezekiel's, 
when  at  ver.  12  mention  is  made  of  "respite  of 
life  for  a  season  and  time,"  while  to  the  Son  of 
man  in  vei-.  1 4  is  given  an  ' '  everlasting  dominion. " 
The  four  beasts  out  of  the  sea  (ver.  3)  present 
themselves,  on  the  contrary,  as  the  antithesis  to 
the  four  chajoth.  (Comp.  in  the  New  Testament, 
besides  Rev.  at  the  passage  already  quoted,  Matt, 
xvii.  5;  2  Pet.  i.  17.) 

The  different  interpretations  of  the  following 
vision,  from  the  multitude  of  persons  and  views, 
and  because  many  of  the  differences  are  in  matters 
of  subordinate  importance,  can  be  brought  for- 
ward in  passing  survey  merely.  Vitringa  (in  the 
work  already  quoted,  iv.  ch.  ii.  2)  makes  Abar- 
banel  divide  the  interpretation  of  the  Jewish 
teacliei-s  into  three  classes:  (1.)  The  traditional 
interpretation  of  the  aneie7it  school,  viz.  angels, 
in  which  mention  is  made  of  the  four  classes  of 
the  heavenly  hosts,  as  leaders  of  which  Michael, 
Gabriel,  Uriel,  Raphael  are  named,  and  the 
wheels  also,  by  comparison  with  Dan.  vii.  10, 
are  held  to  be  spiritual  beings  of  higher  or  lower 
rank  than  the  chajoth.  (2.)  The  philosophidng 
interpretation  e.g.  of  Maimonides,  who  brought 
in  the  Aristotelian  physics.  (3.)  The  historical 
interpretation  (Kimchi),  viz.  of  the  four  world- 
monarchies,  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome, 
which  are  said  to  be  meant  by  the  wheels,  while 
the  chajoth  are  the  heavenly  spirits  of  these  king- 
doms. The  Christian  expositors  held  fast  in 
general  the  idea  of  Divine  Providence,  as  it  mani- 
fests itself  either  in  nature  or  in  the  kingdom  of 
grace.  The  former  is,  for  example,  the  opinion 
of  Calvin  even,  of  a  Lapide,  of  Bochart :  the 
chajoth  are  to  them  heavenly  spirits,  the  wheels, 
the  great  movements  in  the  world  and  the  church 
in  accordance  with  God's  decrees.  The  inter- 
pretation of  the  kingdom  of  grace  more  specially 
is  the  almost  universal  one  in  the  ancient  Church, 
according  to  which  the  chajoth  are  the  four  evan- 
gelists. LuTHEK :  "The  vision  of  Ezekiel  is 
nothing  else  but  a  revelation  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  here  upon  earth  in  all  the  four  quarters 
of  the  whole  world."  So  also  Osiander,  Couceius. 
If  not  the  evangelists,  then  the  apostles  or  certain 
things  predicated  of  Christ  (Arnii.  :  Incarnation, 
Sacrifice,  Resurrection,  Ascension)  are  dragged  in. 
The  wheels,  according  to  sor.je,  are  meant  to  sym- 
bolize the  Cluirch,  and  that  in  her  apostles, 
prophets,  evangelists,  and  pastors  ;  while,  accord- 
ing to  others,  the  chajoth  represent  the  living 
Church  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  wheels 
the  holj'  angels.  (Origen  found  the  four  luimap 
passions  represented.  Some  also  have  wished  to 
find  the  four  ensigns  of  the  camp  of  Israel  therein. 
According  to  others,  Nebuchadnezzar  himself; 
the  king  as  a  man,  flew  like  an  eagle,  imposed 
the  3'oke  of  an  ox,  and  became  cruel  like  th« 
lion  !  and  more  of  the  like  sort.  Comp.  Jerome. ) 
The  cesthetico-theologizing  interpretation  of  Um- 
breit  is  as  follows:  "The  life-creating  Spirit 
brings  the  Almighty,  but  He  is  not  in  the  stor.u, 
nor  in  the  clond, — it  is  only  His  chariot- throne,  — 


1-2 


EZEKIEL. 


nor  m  the  fire — that  is  only  the  power  of  the  j 
natural  life  ;  —but  neither  is  He  the  light,  not  I 
even  the  gleam  (eye)  of  the  metal  in  its  look  of 
preatest  splendour  is  the  eye  of  God.  Even  the 
four  living  creatures,  the  old  well-known  Mosaic 
pictures  of  the  cherubim  over  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  are  not  Himself,  but  the  natural  life  of 
the  creatures  in  its  endlessly  divided  multiplicity 
and  unity,  as  well  as  in  its  restlessly  moving 
power,  reaching  in  the  likeness  of  man  tlie 
phenomenon  of  highest  beauty.  The  destination 
of  the  four  living  creatures  is  shown  by  the 
wheels,  the  elements,  which  the  free,  formative 
principle  of  the  divine  Spirit  appropriates  to 
itself  in  the  creation  of  the  creatures  ;  we  see 
into  the  soul  of  nature.  The  third  part  of  the 
vision  lifts  us  up  to  heaven  :  My  thoughts  are 
not  your  thoughts,  etc.  (Isa.  Iv.  S,  9).  The 
firmament,  even  with  its  crystal  splendour,  does 
not  give  us  the  likeness  of  God.  It  is  the  fourth 
part  of  the  prophetic  vision  that  first  lets  us  see 
the  glory  of  the  Eternal  King ;  we  sink  down 
with  the  prophet  before  this  spectacle,  but  man 
bears  God's  image,  and  the  Word  was  made  flesh, 
full  of  grace  and  truth,  surrounded  with  the  light 
of  the  rainbow  of  grace." 

Vers.  4-14. — The  Fire-Cloud  (ver.  4)  and  the  Fire- 
Picture  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures  (vers. 
5-14). 

The  Fire-Cloud,  ver.  4.  That  which  is  set  in 
motion  in  what  presents  itself  to  the  prophet  in 
vision  (and  I  saw),  and  must  rouse  his  attention 
as  well  as  ours  (and,  behold),  is  described  in  the 
outset  by  means  of  the  moving  cause,  viz. 
niJID  mi,  which,  by  reason  of  the  repeatedly 
emphasized  nil  in  what  follows,  is  by  no  means 

=  mVD  (Isa.   xxix.   6).     nil,  in  place  of  nil, 

is  properly  "a  drawing  together,"  in  manifold 
applications,  but  always  with  the  idea  of  life  in 
the  background,  figuratively  or  in  actual  fact, 
which  cannot  be  without  significance  for  the 
ab'eady  mentioned  fundamental  idea  of  the  vision 
as  a  keynote, — a  keynote  which  we  have  pointed 
out  in  Ezekiel  generally.  We  might  almost 
translate  :  spirit  of  storm.  (Umbreit  :  "  The 
storm  announces  the  approach  of  the  life-pro- 
ducing Spirit,  who  moved  creatively  upon  the 
waters,  poured  His  breath  into  the  creatures,  and 
who  ever  renews  the  face  of  the  earth"  (Ps. 
civ.  30).  But  comp.  Jer.  x.xiii.  19.  Swiftly  and 
violently,  irresistibly  devastating  !  Maldon.*- 
TUS  :  "Such  were  the  Chaldeans,  and  harsh  be- 
sides, cruel,  heartless,  unfeeling  people. ")  mjJD, 
of  the  violent  impulse,  the  dashing,  roaring 
along  ;  in  Jon.  i.  11  "IJJD,  of  the  raging  \'iolence 
of  the  sea  when  rouseil  by  the  storm.  (And  I  saw, 
viz.  visions  of  God ;  and,  behold,  this  was  specially 
the  vision  which  I  saw. )  J1QVn"|D — the  article, 
because  of  this  quarter  of  tlie  heavens  being  uni- 
versally known  and  standing  alone,  and  perhaps 
also  because  to  his  circle  ol  hearers  and  readers 
under  the  existing  historical  circumstances  the 
quarter  could  not  be  a  matter  of  question,  but 
was  determined  by  these.  At  all  events,  although 
•iSV  fro™  ^  ^'^'■b  "to  hold  back,"  "to  conceal," 

"to  hide"  (piSV,  Ezek.  vii.  22),  might  be  con- 
jectured to  be  something  mysterious,  yet  "  the 


idea  of  the  hill  of  the  gods  "  is  not  rendered  pre 
bable  by  anything  here  ;  and  Hitzig  is  under  th" 
necessity  of  paving  the  way  for  it  in  our  passage 
by  saying  :  "As  the  course  of  the  s\m  makes  the 
south  appear  inclined  downwards,  the  north,  it  i^ 
conjectured  (!!),  lies  higher,  rises  up  to  heaven 
with  its  high  mountain  chains,  Lebanon,  Cauc;v.«"s, 
etc."  A  "sacred  quarter  of  the  heavens  in  the 
north"  (Ewald)  is  not  to  be  seen  in  the  Bible. 
Nor  are  we  necessitated  to  think  of  the  north,  as 
the  land  of  gold  of  many  of  the  nations  of  antiquity, 

by  the  mere  comparison  PDE>nn  py3  ;  and  Zech. 

vi.  1  sqq.  (Herder,  Umbreit)  belongs  still  less 
to  this  category,  since  in  that  passage  there  is 
just  as  much  mention  of  south  as  of  north,  and 
the  abode  of  God  is  in  some  quite  different  place  ; 
comp.  ver.  5  with  ver.  1.  Rather  is  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  what  is  concealed  justified  by  the 
darkness  which  appeals  to  the  senses,  alike  by 
reason  of  the  beclouding  of  the  northern  heavens. 
in  contrast  with  the  south,  which  is  richer  in 
light  and  poorer  in  rain,  and  also  in  respect  ot 
distance,  of  remoteness.  This  natural  view  of  the 
north  is,  as  is  well  known,  the  common  one  with 
the  poets  ;  but  the  mediating  idea  of  darkness  is 
also  here,  where  a  "great  cloud"  stands  next  at 
least  for  the  outer  part  of  tlie  symbol,  without 
our  being  compelled  on  that  account  to  think  of 
the  dark  holy  of  holies  with  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant and  the  cherubim,  and  that  in  a  .similar 
way  the  theophany  presents  itself  here  to  our 
prophet ;  but  perhaps  for  the  meaning,  the  inner 
sense,  we  may,  with  Kliefoth,  compare  ch.  viii. 
1  sqq.,  X.  19,  xi.  23,  xliii.  2,  as  showing  that 
God  comes  from  the  north  when  He  comes  to 
judgment,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  He  comes 
from  the  east  for  salvation  and  grace  ;  only  we 
must  not  overlook  as  the  ultimate  reason  for  this 
the  historical  situation  of  Israel,  as  well  as  of  the 
prophet  and  the  vision,  and  consequently  it  is  to 
be  explained  with  BuNSEN  :  "an  allusion  to  the 
Chaldeans  comimg  from  the  north  againut  Jeru- 
salem, Jer.  i.  14  ;  comp.  Ezek.  xxvi.  7."  And 
therefore  the  prophet  does  not  need  to  have  been 
transported  in  spirit  to  Jerusalem  (Haveknick), 
"  into  the  temple,  where  one  naturally  experts 
the  priest,"  for  the  prophets,  as  Havernick  even 
does  not  deny,  assign  to-  the  north  the  Assyrians 
and  Babylonians,  that  is,  "the  region  pregnant 
with  destiny"  (HENOSTENBERfi)  ;,  from  Syria 
usually  the  inroad  of  the  Asiatic  world-powers 
was  made,  because  the  east  side  of  the  holy  land 
was  protected  by  means  of  the  gi-eat  trackless 
Arabia  Deserta.  We  shall  also  certainly  have 
to  take  into  account  the  relation  of  Ezekiel  to 
Jeremiah  (comp.  Introd.  §  4),  and  along  with 
that  the  parallel  of  the  seething  pot,  Jer.  i.  13. 
iv.  6,  vi.  1.  ("Against  the  north  was  the 
coalition  of  Jer.  .xxvii.,  Ezek.  xxv.  sqq.  directed, 
which  gave  occasion  for  Ezekiel  making  his  ap- 
pearance. Tlie  storm  from  the  north  drives  all 
the  sanguine  hopes  which  were  founded  on  this 
coalition  like  withered  leaves  before  it. " — Heng- 
STENBERC.)  The  moving  cause  manifests  its 
working  by  means  of  the  phenomenon  of  a  great 
cloud  (Hitzig  :  "a  thunder  cloud  ;"  the  chariot 
of  God  afterwards  appearing  more  prominently), 
with  its  far-leaching  and  compact  bulk  covering 
the  heavens  ;  but  not  so  much  a  cloud  of  a  veiling 
character,  as  a  cloud  to  serve  as  a  visible  sign  of 
the  impending  judgment,  Nah.  i.  3  ;  Joel  ii.  2  ; 


CHAP.  I.  4. 


Ps.  xcvii.  2,  xviii.  10  sqq.  Grotius  :  "The 
i^reat  host  of  the  Chaldeans,  Jer.  iv.  13  ;  corap. 
also  Ezek.  xxxviii.  9. " — We  are  not,  with  a  Lapide, 
to  think  of  rain,  hail,  and  still  less  of  the  arrows 
of  the  Chaldeans.  The  divine  judicial  character 
of  the  cloud  is  indicated  by  the  well-known 
irii-taphor  oi  fire  (Dent.  iv.   24,  xxxii.  22),  here 

nnp^na  t.••^5— Exod.    ix.   24   (the  parallel   with 

Ei<ypt  is  not  unimportant) :  catching  itself  mutually 
(Hithp.),  i.e.  not  merely;  formed  into  a  ball,  a 
lump  of  fire,  but  at  the  same  time  flashing  through 
and  through  itself,  the  Ha.shes  seizing  one  another, 
and  as  it  were  kindling  themselves  on  one  another. 
(PoL.A-N'US  :  "The  fire  which  consumed  the  city 
was  in  itself,  its  own  sins."  J.  Fr.  St.\rck  thinks 
of  the  camp-fire,  and  even  of  the  sacred  fire  which 
the  Chaldeans  carried  before  them  ! )  This  fire  in 
the  cloud,  because  uncea-iingly,  "livingly, "'  as 
Ewald  expresses  it,  "moving  hither  and  thither 
in  it,"  is  the  abiding  characteristic  kernel  of  the 
cloud.  Comp.  ver.  13  sqq.  Hence,  also,  bright- 
ness round  about  it.      i|;  refers  to  ijy,  because 

U'X.  although  not  without  exception,  is  as  a  rule 
feminine.  The  cloud  is  the  subject  at  present 
under  di.scussion  ;  and  as  its  size  determines  the 
form,  so  the  fire  determines  its  substance,  which, 
while  it  makes  the  cloud  a  fire-cloud,  imparts  to 
it  also  brightness  round  about.  But  with  this 
"brightness  round  about  it,"  the  light,  and  con- 
sequently the  well-founded  hope  of  love,  grace, 
mercy,  comes  to  its  rights  over  the  alarm-pro- 
ducing fire,  cloud,  and  storm.  The  illusions  of 
the  transgressors  and  of  a  dead  faith  must  not 
be  destroyed  to  the  injury  of  the  believers.  It  is 
not  yet  indeed  the  "cheerful"  brightness,  as  in 
ver.  28,  for  it  proceeds  immediately  from  the  fire, 
but  this  fire  is  an  abiding,  essential  one  ;  and  the 
sun  pierces  through  the  stormy  element  of  his 
immediate  mode  of  manifestation,  and  in  its 
deepest  ground  the  light  is  God,   who  is  love. 

Hitzig  and   Hengstenberg  also   refer  ^p   to   the 

whole.  Why  ?  Storm  and  brightness  do  not 
tally  ;  the  fire  has  brightness  of  itselt  (ver.  13) ; 
thus,  in  fact,  the  cloud  only  remains.  According 
to  Hengstenberg,  we  have  certainly  to  think  of  a 
brightness  contrasted  with  the  fire(!).  The  older 
expositors  keep  firmly  and  exclusively  by  the 
terrible  majesty  and  glory  of  the  presence  of  God. 
In  quite  an  opposite  direction,  U.mbrkit  :  "The 
light  which  pours  forth  the  joy  of  existence  on 
every  side  ;  for  in  the  brightness  of  light  life 
steps  forth  from  its  dark  fire-gi-ound  into  mani- 
fpstatinn,  and  unfolds  itself  in  its  immeasurable 
fiilness ;  God  said  at  first  :  Let  there  be  light. " 
nsino.  35  B'sn""]inD  afterwards  shows,  refers  to 
ex.  which  is  thereby  at  the  same  time  proved  to 
be  feminine.  But— i^no  is  not  a  mere  resump- 
tion of  nSIDD-  which,  especially  as  the  latter 
occurs  -again  in  ver.  5,  would  certainly  he  too 
pleonastic.  The  contents  of  the  cloud,  hy  way  of 
preparation  for  what  follows,  present  themselves 
to  the  seer  in  .such  a  form  that  he  uses  the  com- 
parison as  to  the  effect  of  the  internal  fire  upon 

him — PDK'nn  j'JJS-     {"  To  look  like — because  the 

'  "A  shifting  motion,  a  glowlnK  life,"  btit  not  "the 
pi:ruie  of  tlie  co-opei-atine  powers  of  creative  life,  shining 
in  the  gold  of  the  earth,  burning  in  the  colours,  and  boiling 
io  tbe  blood,"  as  Urabreit  raves. 


matter  in  hand  is  not  realities,  but  only  the  im- 
perfect fonns    of    realities." — Heng.stenbeug.) 

^Dr'nn  only  here,   ^ot;'n   in  ver.    27,    nrtSKTin 

in  viii.  2  with  n  paragogic,  a  word  whicli  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  i-omment,  jierhaps 
formed  by  Ezekiel  himself  (Introd.  §  7).  [Accord- 
ing to  Bochart  (Hieroz.  iii.),  it  is  to  be  looked 
upon  as   a  conipoimd  of  jj'n  =  Aramaic  {;'n3  = 

ni'TIJ,  "brass,"  and  a  Chaldaic  word  (question- 
able, however)  K770,  "gold;"  while,  according tc 
Gesenius,  with  more  certainty  (?)  it  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  =  ^^jp  ricnj  in  ver.    7  (Hitzig:    thii 

is  the  Hebrew  translation  of  the  word),  and  a  com- 
pound of  t^'nj  with  3  thrown  off"  and  the  syllable 

^D  "  smooth  "  =  "  shining  ; "   and   thus   in   the 

former  case  it  would  mean  "gold-brass,"  in  the 
latter,  "  shining  brass. "  Havernick  and  Maurer 
have  recourse  to  the  Syriac,  in  order  to  get  in  this 
way  "a  metallic  product  wrought  in  the  fire,  and 
therefore  (?)  emitting  sparks,"  which  does  not 
at  all  suit  the  context  here.  E.  Meier  holds 
it    to    be    a    (perhaps    dialectic)    expansion    ot 

Dna :  i>DB'n  =  boTyn  =  isona,    "  pure,    solid 

gold."  Fiirst,  in  the  Concordance,  explains  it  as 
from   DU'n,   like   an3,    "brightness,"   with   the 

termination  al  affixed:   "bright  metal;"    Keil, 

according  to  the  analogy  of  PDig  and  ma,  as 

from  Dtl'n,  "probably  to  glow,  with  p  affixed; 
glowing  brass."     That  QB'n  "probably"  means 

"  to  glow,"  is  a  statement  that  goes  for  nothing, 
and  just  as  unproved  is  the  derivation  of  the 
meaning    "to  be   bright,"  from   QflSi  although 

the  interchange  of  ^  and  n,  ^iii  of  n  *nd  3, 
would  have  nothing  surprising  in  it,  for  the  root 
Dn3,  which  occurs  as  a  verb  only  once  in  the 
Niphal  in  Jer.  ii.  22,  might  there  perhaps  mean  : 
to  be  engraved,  much  the  same  as  :  to  be  recorded, 
were  not  this  meaning  generalized,  as  Hupfeld 
(on  Ps.  xvi.  1)  convincingly  shows,  from  the 
more  correct  one  :  to  be  soiled,  stained,  whicl' 
is  also  proved  b}'  the  old  translations,  and  which, 
besides,  suits  best  the  antithesis  in  Jer.  ii.,  and  il 
it  did  not  need  to  support  itself  on  the  similaritj' 
of  the  fundamental  idea  of  Qfij  and  303  (to 
write).     Because  nn3  is  gold,  to  assume  for  QnS. 

and  thus  for  DU'n,  a  meaning  :  to  be  bright,  or  : 
to  be  red-hot,  is  mere  arbitrariness,  inasmuch  as. 
if  the  fundamental  meaning  :  to  conceal,  to  keep 
safe  as  a  jewel  or  secret,  is  incapable  of  proof 
from  the  Arabic,  a  meaning  synonymous  to  the 
Hebrew  and  Aramaic  one  (to  be  soiled),  viz.  to 
be  dark-coloured,  lies  before  us  in  Arabic,  just  as 
it  alone  corresponds  to  the  usual  designation  of 
gold  in  all  languages  as  the  yellow,  the  dark 
metal,  in  contrast  with  the  white  silver.  Besides, 
Dn3  properly  signifies :  to  hold  back,  which  is 
traced  back  to  a  fundamental  idea  like  :  to  divide, 
to  separate,  so  that  nnr,  "gold,"  might  perhaps 

mean  what  is  separated,  as  being  what  is  purified, 
pure,  held  back.  For  QK'n  Meier  seeks  to  point 
as  a  kindred  meaning  to  the  fundamental  idea  , 
to  be  firm,  strong  (hence  in  Arabic :  to  be  fat. 


a 


EZEKIEL. 


thick,  aud  hard),  so  tliat  PDt'n  might  originally 
have  designated ;  what  is  hard,  firm,  hence : 
brass,  solid  metal  in  general,  while  it  would  then 
have  been  transferred  more  definitely  to  a  pecu- 
liarly briglit  brass.]  To  an  impression  of  peculiar 
brightness  the  context  of  our  passage  points  with 
indisputable  necessity  ;  nor  must  tbis  brightness 
be  conceiveil  of  apart  from  the  fire,  since  it  pro- 
ceeds out  of  the  midst  of  it,  and  -n  [>J?3  has  the 
more  exact  definition  ^iir\  "[ino  side  by  side 
with  it.  The  question  may,  however,  be  asked, 
whether  what  is  glaringly  bright  and  destructive 
is  to  be  indicated  thereby,  or  not  rather  a  glo/'y 
of  look  that  is  full  of  life,  which  is  favoured  not 
merely  by  the  immediately  appearing  kernel  of 
tire  and  the  picture  of  the  "chajoth,"  but  also 
by  the  ingenious  remark  of  Keil,  that  in  all  the 

three  passages  ■!Dt^'^  has  its  reference  to  Him 
who  is  enthroned  above.  We  shall  thus  be  com- 
pelled to  abide  by  the  view  hinted  at  above  on 
the  "brightness  round  about  it,"  inasmuch  as  in 
the  whole  vision  the  "brightness"  appears  not 
indeed  separated  from  the  fire,  but  yet  distinct 
from  it,  although  not  contrasted  with  it.  [The 
Syriac  translator  has  simply  omitted  the  difficult 
word  in  question  here,  but  at  ver.  27  and  ch. 
viii.  2  he  has  given  a  conjectural  interpretation  : 
"divine  look."  The  Chaldee  Paraphrase  keeps 
it  .as  it  stands.  The  Sept.  and  Vulg.  translate  it 
by  riXsxTpov,  electrum,  which  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  "amber"  {sucimuu).  Neither  can 
tlie  name  be  given  to  this  latter  from  >jXi«7-«o», 
nor  (as  Buttmann,  Mijthologiis  u.,  will  have  it) 
can  the  converse  be  the  case,  for  the  colour  of 
amber  is  of  too  mild  a  brightness  for  it,  the  com- 
parison of  the  same  with  the  precious  metals  may 
rest  on  much  else,  and  the  meaning  :  amber,  leads 
to  a  derivation  from  iXkhv,  Vx^nr^av,  VXxT^av  (the 
drawer,  draw-stone),  while  HXixTfo^  is  derived  from 
iXiKTuf  (the  beaming  sun,  HXis;,  Empedocles  so 
named  the  element  of  fire),  or  at  least  a  more  fiery 
brightness  than  that  of  amber  was  the  synonym. 
The  brightness  of  amber  does  not  certainly  corre- 
spond sufficiently  to  the  comparison  in  our  verse, 
where  a  metal,  not  precious  stones  of  any  kind,  is 
thought  of ;  nor  does  the  transparency  of  its 
brightness  suffice  here.  Now  the  SiXiKTpn,  every- 
where mentioned  along  with  gold  and  silver,  was, 
according  to  the  testimonies  of  the  ancients  (see 
Pape,  Greek  Lexifon),  a  natural  metallic  mixture 
of  three  or  four  parts  of  gold  .and  one  part  of 
silver,  which  was  also  artificially  prepared. 
(Aacording  to  Oken,  the  "  electrum "  of  the 
Mountain  of  Serpents  in  Siberia  is  gold,  with  an 
alloy  of  36  per  cent,  of  silver.)  Hitzig,  Bleek 
(  Varies,  iiher  die  Apokah/pse),  and  others  mention 
the  peculiar  ^xXKoXlfiatoy  (Rev.  i.  15,  ii.  18), 
which  is  said  to  be  compounded   of  the  Greek 

X^Xkc!   and   the    Hebrew   pp   (=  white-shining 

brass),  hut  which  might  also  mean  "brass  from 
Lebanon"  (KnuAiiD,  Pesciiito,  Ethiopic  Vers.). 

The  Talmudists  explain  PDB'n  as  from  {»>n, 
"quickness,"  and  po,  "rest"  (or  "speaking" 
and  "silence").  It  passed  also  for  the  name  of 
ai;  angel  with  the  Rabbins,  and  in  fact  for  that 
of  Ezekiel's  teacher.     (See  Leigh,  Crit.  .S'.  p.  174.) 

It  has  even  been  read  backwards  ;  nB13?,  and 
anderstood  oi  the  Messiah  (Calov.  Bib.  III.},  who 


united  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  Himscll 
(Maldonatus,  Pradus).  J.  F.  Starck  compares 
also  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  (Exod.  iii.  2), 
specially  for  the  exiles  !]     Usage  always  employs 

py  only  of  things,  never  of  persons.      "As  the 

look  of  chasmal"  means,  moreover,  not  merely  : 
as  the  aspect  thereof,  as  it  looks,  but  this  as  well  : 
as  it,  so  to  speak,  looks,  looks  on  us.  In  the 
most  poetic  way,  tjmbreit,  at  all  events,  under- 
stands -n  pjJD  :  "the  eye  of  metal,  as  the  same 
concentrates  itself  when  melting  in  a  look  of  the 
greatest  brightness  (the  so-called  silver  look!); 
perhaps    it   was   a    technical   expression   of    the 

smelters,  possibly  compounded  of  {ji'nj  and  xfe  - 

fulness  of  brass,  when  the  brass  appears  in  the 
fulness  of  its  brightness."  J.  D.  Michaelis  trans- 
lates :  "  a  great  cloud,  under  which  the  lightnings 
flashed  through  one  another,  and  gilded  its  edge 
by  the  reflection  (an  aurora  round  about  it),  but 
in  the  middle  it  looked  like  glowing  metal  in  the 
midst  of  the  fire." 

Tlie  Fire-Picture  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures 

(vers.  5-14). 

Ver.  5.  Not  only  what  the  prophet  sees,  hut 
even  his  seeing  itself  is  something  progressive. 
It  is  by  no  means  as  if  Ezekiel  had  first  sketched 
the  outlines,  and  were  now  depicting  the  interior 
also,  for  he  has  reproduced  for  us  in  ver.  4  alike 
inside  and  outside  what  was  first  seen,  but  his 
seeing  itself  grows  more  penetrating,  and  what 
looked  upon  him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire 
(hence  the  repetition  riDlDDl).  like  chasmal  look- 
ing out  of  the  fire,  shapes  itself  in  the  progressive 
advance  of  the  vision  to  "niDT.  Derived  as  it  is 
from  HOT,  and  cognate  with  the  S.anscrit  soma 
(similis),  niDT  is  not  so  much  :  form,  as  :  like- 
ness, similitude,  a  substantival  "  like  as, "  and  is 
used  of  what  is  living,  but  also  of  wdiat  is  without 
life  (ver.  26).  — With  respect  to  the  four  nVH 
(not  "beasts,"  as  Luther  makes  them,  following 
the  Vnlg. ),  see  what  is  said  in  the  introductory 
remarks  to  vers.  4-28.  (According  to  Hofmann, 
Ezekiel  was  in  thisway"to  become  aware  that 
what  he  saw  was  not  a  thing,  but  a  life.  The 
intention  was  to  represent  to  the  jirophet  what 
there  is  about  the  presence  of  Jehovah  :  the  judg- 
ment on  His  unholy  people  announced  itself 
therein.  Creature  life,  into  which  the  unbroken 
fulness  of  the  being  of  God  pours  itself,  in  order 
therein  to  become  a  manifoldncss  of  power,  serves 
the  eternal  God  tor  the  purpose  of  making  Him- 
self present  to  His  world.")  Formerly  :  the  judg- 
ment of  God  rushing  on,  now  :  how  not  merely 
the  power  of  the  Chaldeans,  against  which  one 
hoped  at  Jerusalem  to  accomplish  everything 
with  human  leagues  (Introd.  §  4,  2)  and  one's 
own  prudence,  but  the  whole  creation  in  tlie  entire, 
universe,  heaven  and  earth,  is  ready  to  'execute 
this  judgment  of  the  tiring  God!  This  threaten- 
ing character  the  vision  obtained  from  its  con- 
nection with  ver.  4,  and  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  chajoth  came  forth  out  of  the  firr 
(Hencsteneehg).  But  in  this  way,  at  the  same 
time,   its  symbolical  character  is  manifest :   life 

out  of  fire  ! — HKID  (ver.  1)  is  "vision,"  what  is 
seen  (|ifn) ;  HK'lD :  how  it  is  seen,  hence:  "ap- 


CHAP.  I.  6,  7 


4& 


pear&ncc."  As  to  the  plural  fomi  jn'SIO  liere 
anil  in  ver.  13,  and  with  Dn'L"l'D  ^'^  ^^■'-  ^^> 
'jomp.  Ewald,  Ausf.  Lehrb.  §  256  ;  Geseniiis, 
Gram.  §  91.  9. — What  first  struck  the  prophet 
as  being  prominent  in  the  vision,  was  "the  like- 
ness  of  a   man."      (nirh  '^^'ith   the   full   tone.) 

Likeness  to  man,  where  God  has  made  man  like 
God,  is  just  the  fulness  of  the  times,  Gal.  iv.  4  ; 
Phil.  ii.  7,  8.  The  angels  also  assume  the  ways 
of  man  ;  for  man  is  a  microcosm.  ' '  All  forms 
of  the  creature  reach  in  his  person  a  phenomenon 
of  the  highest  beauty  "  (Umbueit).  At  all  events, 
man  stands  among  the  living  creatures  of  the 
earthly  world  in  the  first,  as  in  the  highest  place. 
In  this  way,  first  of  all,  the  impression  in  general 
is  stated,  as  Ezekiel  received  it  from  the  four 
chajoth.  What  special  feature  in  tliem  produced 
this  impression  in  his  case,  will  become  clear  in 
the  further  progress  of  his  description.  And  just 
because  it  will  be  expressly  stated,  a  limit  is 
drawn  against  arbitrariness  in  the  application  of 
man's  corporeal  form  as  a  rule. 

Ver.  6.  Just  .as,  on  the  one  band,  man,  i.e. 
(inwardly  considered)  what  is  spiritual,  what  has 
spiritual  life,  characterizes  the  vision,  so,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  a  more  outward  respect  it  is  sig- 
nificantly defined  by  its/ourfuld  character.  Not 
only  are  there  "four  c/iajoth"  in  all  (ver.  5),  but 
"four  faces"  (ver.  10)  are  found  "in  each,  and 
four  wings"  (vers.  8,  9,  11,  23  ;  conip.  ch.  x.  8) 
likewise  "in  each  of  them."  If  the  number  3, 
as  the  desiguation  of  the  true,  highest,  most  per- 
fect being,  is  the  utimber  of  God,  then  must  the 
number  4  represent  the  conditional,  dependent 
being,  which  has  proceeded  from  the  true  being, 
and  be  the  number  of  the  world,  as  the  sum  of 
all  created  things.  Time  and  space,  the  two 
most  general  forms  of  the  universe,  bear  the 
number   4   in   themselves,    etc.      (According   to 

Biihr,  comp.  Symb.  i.  p.  156  sqq.) — Qn?  mascu- 
line form,  which  Hengstenberg  here,  as  in  what 
follows,  explains  from  the  masculine  name 
cherubim  stauding  in  the  background,  which, 
however,  here  lies  as  yet  too  far  off.  The  more 
probable   supposition,   as  a  Lapide   has   already 

shown,   is  the  collective  mx  masc,  this  being 

the  impression  in  general  of  the  chajoth.  As 
happens  so  frequently  in  looking  at  the  sense, 
the  reference  to  the  grammatical  form  is  let  go — 

D<jg  and  also  the  dual  D"SJ3  stand  as  plurals. 

Some  have  incoiTectly  translated  D'JS :  form, 
guise,  so  that  each  had  only  one,  and  that  a 
human  face  and  head,  but  had  besides  a  fourfold 
figure,  or  expression  of  countenance,  or  head- 
ornament.  No  less  incorrectly,  some  have  assigned 
to  every  face  4  wings,  and  thus  to  each  of  the 
4  chajoth  16,  which  would  give  a  sum  total  of 
64  wings.  The  Chaldee  paraphrast  imderstands 
just  as  many  faces,  and  256  wings  in  all. 

Ver.  7.  Now  that  we  have  passed  from  the 
faces  to  the  wings,  in  going  downwards  their 
legs  (masc.  suff. )  come  into  consideration,  not 
merely  in  the  sense  of  the  lower  part  only,  the 
foot   proper,   which   is   distinguished   as  ~\  nj. 

DH'^JII    is    either    conceived    of    distributively 

(HitziG)  :  and  each  of  their  legs  was  flltJ''  ^J"l, 


without  bending  inwards  of  the  knee,  rising 
straight  up  (comp.  ver.  23),  or  the  dual  is  to  be 
understood  thus  :  as  respects  their  2  legs,  't  was 
(generically,  without  reference  to  the  number,  sc 
Keil)  a  leg  standing  erect.  -itJ"  is,  what  is  firm, 
"does  not  need  to  bend,  to  turn  "  (Ewald), 
without  joints  (Maimonides),  without  I'ront  ami 
back,  smooth  and  symmetrical  (Philippson)  : 
with  which  also  the  calf's  foot  agrees.  Thus 
there  is  nothing  of  likeness  to  man  in  this  con- 
nection, except  the  upright  carriage  in  general, 
which  results  therefrom,  but  is  not  made  pro- 
minent here.  On  the  contrary,  for  the  sole  of 
the  foot,  even  in  special  contrast  to  what  is 
human,  the  comparison  is  taken  from  the  beast, 
from  the  calf,  i.e.  the  foot  proper  stood  firmly, 

symmetrically    rounded    off   (^jjy),    while    the 

human  foot  is  e-xtended  lengthwise.  (Hitzig 
makes  the  circumstance  that  "they  present  in  no 
direction  a  decided  front,"  as  also  the  "want  of 
distinction"  in  the  legs,  parallel  with  the  chajoth 
"facing  towards  the  four  quarters  of  heaven." 
Similarly  Havernick  before  him:  "These  feet 
fulfil  the  object  of  being  able  to  move  in  all 
directions,  without  turning  round  (ver.  9);  they 
symbolize  the  idea  of  freedom  of  motion."  Tlie 
human  element  of  the  vision,  which  iu  general  is 
prominent,  will  be  strengthened,  next  to  the 
upright  carriage,  by  the  legs  also  being  two  in 
number,  which  is  not  indeed  stated,  but  is 
certainly  to  be  understood.  This  human  element 
is  represented,  because  of  the  bestial  elemeut  as 
well  as  in  spite  of  it,  by  the  masc.  suffix.  As  the 
the  lion  also — which,  according  to  Biihr,  is  to 
come  into  consideration  because  of  his  strength, 
power,  and  fearful  character — is  not  mentioned  in 
the  detail,  the  substitution  of  the  Oidf  for  the  bull 
(ver.  10)  may  possibly  here  set  the  latter  also 
aside,  so  far  as  regards  the  power  of  generation 
just  as  Hengstenberg  takes  into  consideration 
"only  the  representation  of  cattle,  to  ward  ofl'all 
heterogeneous  ideas."  "Although  each  has  a 
lion's  face,  yet  none  has  a  lion's  feet  or  claws  for 
tearing  in  pieces,  nor  those  of  the  eagle,  not  even 
the  foot  of  a  man." — Cocc. ) — D'Si'JI  niiisc.  is 
meant,  according  to  Hitzig,  also  to  refer  to  the 
cherubini,  yet  Hengstenberg  (because  of  Rev. 
i.  15)  admits  that  "the  reference,  in  point  of 
fact,  is  specially  to  the  feet,"  and  as  Geseniur 

maintains  that  pjT  is  masc,  although  "rarely,' 

the  explanation  of  Keil  is  at  all  events  more  pro- 
bable :  and  the  legs  sparkled,  etc.  Heiigsten- 
berg's  limitation  to  the  "sole  of  the  foot ;"  "they 
were  (there,  on  the  sole  of  the  foot)  sparkling," 
is  not  forced,  although  it  would  apply  to  the  legs 
also,  Philipp.son:  shining  like  a  brazen  hoof. 
(Ewald  takes  D'SSJ  ''s  "feathers,"  as  already  the 
Sept.,  which  omits  what  is  said  of  the  sole  of  the 
foot,  but  instead  makes  the  feet  "feathered.") 
— riBTlJ.    braas,    is   also   in    Dan.    x.    6    masc.  ; 

Gesenius  :    x'^*'''  copper.      ^^p,   Gesenius  : 

shining ;  Bochart  :  polished,  btirnished ;  Heng- 
stenberg (with  a  reference  to  Rev.  i.  15),  "pro- 
perly :  light  [in  weight] ;  but  because  what  is 
light  [in  colour]  is  represented  as  lighter  [in 
weight]  than  what  is  dark,  just  as  what  is  sharp 
is  represented  as  lighter  than  what  is  blunt, 
equivalent  to  :  glowing,  light  brass. "  Hitzie 
grants  the  possibility  of  a  derivation  of  "light 


i6 


EZEKIEL. 


in  colour]  from  "to  be  light"  [in  weight],  but 
asserts  that  ppp  is  manifestly  a  substantive  in  tlie 
genitive,  possibly  from  npp  (to  burn),  meaning 
the  red-hot  or  smelting  furnace,   akin  to   ^<^j;, 

a  crucible.  "The  sending  forth  of  sparks  refers 
to  the  special  mission  in  liand,  which  is  one  of 
wrath"  (Hengstenbekg).  But  the  comparison 
ivith  the  effect  of  liijJtt  brass  attributes  to  them 
(Havernick),  at  the  same  time,  something  glori- 
ous, according  to  Umbreit,  "imperishable  fresh- 
ness." (!) — If  the  faces  in  general  serve  to  express 
■  the  quality  in  view,  then,  from  the  fact  of  there 
being  four  of  them,  this  quality  is  expressly  shown 
to  have  its  sphere  in  the  world;  and  the  four 
wings  in  general  portray  the  prompt,  rapid  dex- 
terity towards  the  respective  sides.  (Umbreit  : 
"The  living  motion  and  the  unceasing  vibration 
of  creaturely  existence.")  In  addition,  there  is 
the  firmness,  the  steadiness  of  the  carriage,  the 
sure  and  certain  tread  (jSas/*  thI',).  Umbreit  ; 
"The  forcibly-pressed  sole  of  the  ox."  A  mere 
symbol  of  fitness  for  service,  viz.  as  regards  God, 
although  of  "  any  kind  of  rendering  of  service  (as 
messengers  or  ambassadors  of  God)  for  men " 
nothing  is  said  (Hiv.).  It  is  the  creation  glori- 
fying the  living  God  in  its  ever  ready  power  and 
fulness  of  life. 

Ver.  8.    For  n*1  the  Qeri  reads  n^V     Heng- 

stenberg,  on  the  other  hand,  upholds  (comp.  ch. 
X.  8)  the  singular  n<,  either:  "his  man's  hand," 
or:  "his  hand,  that  of  a  man,"  because  of  the 
ideal  comprehension  of  the  quaternity  in  the 
unity  of  the  cherub.  Hitzig  likewise  conjectures 
the  singular;  the  suffix,  according  to  him,  pre- 
supposes (ch.  X.  3,  iii.  21)  the  genitive  QHS. 
Ewald  accepts  the  Qeri:  "and  man's  hands,"  as 
also  Keil,  who  declares  1  to  be  an  old  mistake  of  the 
transcriber  for  •>.  Hav. ,  Maurer,  and  before  them 
Kimchi,  explain  the  concise  form  of  the  Kethibh 
by   understanding  an   ellipse,   punctuating  y^i), 

and  taking  the  suffix  distributively,  thus :  and 
his  (each  one  of  the  four's)  hands  were  hands  of  a 
man  (mx  i'\^).  Keil:  "Tlie  wings  sat  accord- 
ingly on  the  shoulders,  from  which  the  hands 
proceeded."  Hence  four  wings,  and  are  there 
not  also  four  hands?  and  this  also  because  of  the 
four  sides  ?  The  designation  as  man's  hands 
determines  nothing  as  to  their  number.  Comp. 
on  ver.  9.  Umbreit:  "By  means  of  the  man's 
hands  the  mention  of  the  bestial  appearance  is 
meant  to  be  weakened."  With  the  "hands"  the 
description  wiU  ascend  to  the  "faces  ;"  for  just 
as  on  occasion  of  the  hands,  the  "wings,"  as  we 
saw,  were  very  suitably  mentioned  "on  their  four 
sides,"  so,  because  the  "four  sides"  are  formed 
by  means  of  the  four  faces  on  each  of  the  chajoth, 
mention  may  be  made  of  the  "faces"  as  well  as 
(if  the  "wings;"  and  they  four  had  their  faces 
and  their  wings  (y^i,  as  is  known,  from  y3ix, 
"four,"  signifies  the  fourth  part,  or  here:  one 
side  of  four  (ver.  17).  The  emphasizing  of  the 
number  four  down  to  the  minutest  detail  is  to 
be  noted).  Hav.  connects  the  la.st  words  with 
7ers.  9  and  10:  "and  as  regards  their  faces  and 
their  wings  in  the  four,  their  wings  were,"  etc. 
Similarly  Ewald.  It  cannot  be  objected  to  this, 
that  here  tlie  topic  is  no  longer  the  faces;  even  in 


ver.  9  the  contrary  is  the  case,  but  still  more  sc 
in  ver.  10. 

Ver.  9.  But  the  wings  which  come  into  con- 
sideration here  (comp.  ver.  11)  reach  still  highei 
than  the  faces  ;  a  more  exact  description,  there- 
fore, which  (as  in  ver.  6)  likewise  proceeds  froir 
above  downwards,  will  liave  to  begin  with  these 
wings.  There  is  a  going  down  (ver.  7),  and  -a 
going  up  (ver.  8),  and  a  going  down  again  (ver. 
11),  just  as  the  eye  is  accustomed  to  do  in  such 
an  act  of  looking.  The  joining  is  (with  Kliefoth, 
Keil)  to  be  conceived  of  in  this  way  :  that  the 
right  upper  wing  of  the  chajoth  was  joined  to 
the  left  upper  wing  of  its  neiglibour  at  tlie  tiji. 
Henostenberg  :  "This  pair  of  wings  is  stretcheil 
upwards,  so  that  the  one  wing  stands  over  against 
the  other,  and  is  in  so  far  (!)  joined  to  it."  One 
does  not  see  how  this  can  still  be  called  a  joining. 
The  connection  of  the  joining  of  the  wings  with 
the  going  straight  forward,  which  Hitzig  holds 
to  be  impossible,  is  pointed  out  by  Ewald  in  the 
words:  "The  wings  of  all  so  firmly  interlaced 
with  one  another,  that  all  moved  straight  forward 
with  wonderful  coherence."  Comp.  for  tlie  join- 
ing of  the  wings,  vers.  II  and  23,  also  Exod. 
XXV.    20,    1    Kings    vi.    27,    for   the    expression 

nnins-^s  nc's  irnan,  Exod.  xxvi.  3.— !i3D' 

(Niph.  of  33D)  shows  that  it  is  meant  to  be  a 

joining  of  all  together,  not  a  joining  of  the  wings 
of  each  separate  chajoth-forai  just  for  itself.     That 

they  needed  not  to  turn  jn3^2  (fem.  suff. ),  when 
they  went  (vers.  12,  17),  is  of  course  at  once  in- 
telligible from  the  joining  of  their  wings,  but  is 
expressed  still  more  strongly  (and  for  this  reason 
the  face   of   each    is    spoken   of)    by   means   of 

VOS  "I3J/  7N  K"S,  '■^-  in  whatever  direction  they 
went  they  always  followed  their  face.  Similarly 
with  ^j;  in  Exod.  xxv.  37. — The  change  in  the 
gender  of  the  suffixes  in  this  way  in  one  and  the 
same  line,  makes  one  almost  think  that  the  diver- 
sity of  the  life  of  creation  in  this  respect  is  to  be 
characterized  in  the  chajoth. 

Ver.  10.  Now  comes  the  detailed  description 
of  the  four  faces.  First,  the  face  of  a  man, 
which,  as  being  turned  toward  the  propliet,  hail 
determined  his  impression  of  the  vision  as  a 
whole  (ver.  5).  Maimonides  understood  it  even 
of  the  other  three  also,  and  distinguished  in  these 
only  an  expression  corresponding  to  the  animals 
named.  Just  as  the  man's  face  in  front  is  put 
without  this  detiuitiou,  so  similarly  the  eagle's 
face  also  is  not  defined  more  exactly  as  being  the 

one  behind.  The  definition  jny3"1X^  at  the  close 
applies  to  the  man's  face  also,  and  besides,  this 
latter  is  immediately  preceded  by  the  general 
DD'OD.  Hengst.  claims  for  it  the  east  side,  as 
being  the  principal  side,  for  the  lion  on  the  right 
the  south,  for  the  ox  on  the  left  the  uortli.  'The 
position  of  the  e;igle  behind  shows  (as  against 
Hengst.)  a  background  pointing  higlier  up. 
Comp.  the  introductory  remarks  to  vers.  4-28 
The  right  and  left  of  the  description  may  be  fixed 
either  with  res]iect  to  the  man's  face,  or  to  the 
quarter  of  the  heavens  (poi,  south  side,  just  as 

i'lNDl!'.   north),   or  to  the  prophet.      As  to  the 

meaning  of  the  faces, — the  jiart  of  the  body  which, 
as  may  be  understood,  is  capable  of  expressing 


CHAP.  I.  ll-lo. 


47 


moi '.  than  auy  other  what  is  characteristic,  and 
that  in  the  way  that  is  most  spirited,  most  in 
accordance  witli  the  idea  in  view, — see  the  intro- 
ductory remarks  to  vers.  4-2S.  Bahr  ;  The  ox 
(bull),  the  symbol  of  the  generative,  creative 
power  of  God  ;  the  lion,  the  symbol  of  the  royal 
majesty  of  the  Sovereign  and  Judge  ;  the  eagle, 
the  symbol  of  the  divine  omnipresence  and  omni- 
science ;  man,  the  symbol  of  the  absolute  spiri- 
tuality of  God,  of  the  divine  wisdom.  Grotius  ; 
Man  denoting  the  goodness,  the  lion  the  wrath 
(punitive  justice)  of  God,  the  eagle  His  swiftness 
to  do  good,  the  ox  His  slowness  to  wrath. 
BocHART  :  The  ox  the  emblem  of  constancy  and 
firmness ;  man,  of  humanity,  gentleness,  and 
(fiXxiSfi^Tisi ;  the  lion,  of  generosity  and  strength  ; 
the  eagle,  of  vigoxu-,  and  of  the  sublimity  of  a 
heavenly  nature.  De  Wette:  The  strength, 
power,  wisdom  of  God,  and  His  nearness.  Um- 
BREIT  ;  The  reason,  sovereignty,  creative  power, 
and  omnipresence  of  God.  (What  becomes  of  the 
veto  of  the  second  commandment !  ?) 

Ver.  11.  The  description,  which  might  now 
have  done  with  the  "  faces,"  nevertheless  repeats 
them  (remaining,  as  they  certainly  do,  the  prin- 
cipal subject), — at  ver.  8  in  moving  upwards,  now 
in  coming  down  to  the  lower  parts — along  with 
thewinga:  Qn'QOai  DH^JDI,  which  Hav.,  Klief., 
Keil  rightly  refuse  to  translate  :  "and  (these  are) 
their  faces;  and  their  wings  were"  (Hengst. ), 
since  the  clause  belongs  rather  to  what  follows, 
as  already  Ewald  has  taken  it,  inasmuch  as  the 
faces  also  were  separated  (the  root-meaning  of 
Tig, — "spread  out,"  because  of  the  reference  to 

the   nearer  Dn^a33l)    "from    above"  {rh]}a:>0, 

which  likewise  gives  greater  prominence  to  this 
reference),  i.e.  were  not  (a  la  Janus)  on  the  same 
head,  but  on  four  heads,  or  rather  necks. 
Ew.\r.D  :  "  Both  faces  and  wings  not  hanging 
down  loosely,  but  stretched  upwards."  In  this 
way  an  act  of  worship  is  depicted  in  the  hemls, 
just  .as  a  soarinfj  i.s  intended  to  be  expressed  by 
means  of  the  wings. — With  the  reference  to  the 
wings,  by  means  of  which  the  description  goes 
downwards,  there  is  a  return  to  what  has  already 
been  said  (ver.  9),  but  it  is  conceived  of  more 
definitely,  and  joined  with  new  matter.  Every 
one  (not  of  the  four  chajoth,  but  of  what  is  spoken 
of  in  ver.  10.  viz.  the  four  faces,  inasmuch  as 
the  description  gives  what  the  prophet  saw,  who, 
standing  before  each  of  the  four  faces,  always 
beheld  two  wings,  alike  on  the  right  and  on  the 
left,  joined  to  oue  another)  had  two  joined,  viz. 

wings  :  t^'N  ni"l3in,  either  belonging  to  {J"{<^, 
or  as  Keil :  {}"X,  ^.n  abbreviation  for  the  -px  ntJ'N 
found  in  ver.  9.  The  meaning  is  clear,  according 
to  ver.  9.  Since,  then,  the  joining  is  expressed 
only  as  regards  the  four  pairs  of  wings  (in  all) 
above,  which  together  represent  a  square,  the 
pairs  of  wings  lower  dowu  are  to  be  conceived  of 
without  such  connection,  each  with  its  neighbour, 
which  would  also  have  no  object.  With  these 
pairs  of  wings  the  chajoth  covered  their  bodies. 
n>lj,   properly  belly,  denotes  the  body  in  this 

respect.  As  this  is  covered,  the  conjecture 
readily  suggests  itself,  that  it  is  conceived  of 
neither  as  feathered  nor  as  covered  with  hair, 
hence  not  like  an  animal,  but  likewise  after  the 
similitude  of  a  man.     Bunsen  :  "which  served 


for  covering  the  body,  and  are  to  be  conceived  ol 
as  before  and  behind."  UsiBREiT:  "in  ordei 
to  show  their  holy  fear  and  reverence."  Comj'. 
Isa.  vi.  2,  where,  however,  this  [»e  videant'\  seernt 
to  be  expressed  by  the  covering  of  their  faces 
while  the  covering  of  the  feet  there,  corresponding 
to  the  covering  of  the  bodies  here  [«e  vidtantur], 
symbolizes  the  profound  distante  of  the  creature. 

Ver.  12.  The  lower  part  being  now  iiuite 
reached,  taking  up  what  has  beeu  said  in  ver.  9, 
their  going,  their  movement  is  described,  but 
along  with  the  mention  of  the  moving  principle.. 
Ver.  4  (comp.  there)  n"lJ?D  nil,  here  nilH.  which 
in  any  case  does  not  denote  the  wind.  Hnz.  : 
the  instinct,  which  does  not  suit  the  human 
element  of  the  chajoth  ;  but  also  not :  the  will 
or  the  like  (Umbreit  ;  "  most  unrestricted 
freedom"),  since  it  is  exactly  such  a  movement 
that  is  meant  to  be  set  aside  throughout  the 
whole  context.  The  spirit  is  conceived  of  mani- 
festly according  to  its  divine  reference  and  power 
of  influencing,  although  not  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
or  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Comp.  vers.  20,  21. 
(Hengst.  :  "The  life-breath  of  God,  who  dwells 
in  the  creature,  and  leads  it  according  to  the 
laws  which  He  prescribes  for  it,  to  the  end.s 
which  He  sets  for  it. — Num.  xvi.  22.")  .ill 
quarters  of  the  world  are  facing  them,  whether 
they  go  backward  or  forward,  to  the  right  or  to 
the  left.  The  facility  of  movement  given  in  this 
way  is — by  means  of  the  fastening  of  the  wings 
outwardly,  by  means  of  "the  spirit "  (absolutely!, 
i.e.  "the  spirit  of  the  living  creature"  (vers. 
20,  21)  inwardly — united  to  the  whole. 

Ver.  13.  The  completed  description  of  the 
chajoth,  going  back  to  ver.  5,  merely  adds  what 
coiTesponds  to  the  riDiriD  of  ^''^i'.  5  :  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  fire,  their  appearance  was  first  of 

all  in  themselves:  like  kindled  cottls  (from  pnj, 

to  kindle)  of  fire,  burning.  Is  it  primarily  as 
depicting  the  lightning  of  the  kindled  wrath  oi 
God  (following  Ps.  xviii.  8)  ?  or  is  it  to  be  re- 
ferred specially  to  the  eyes  of  the  chajoth  ? 
(Grot.  :  "after  God's  long  patience,  eager  for  ven- 
geance. ") — nnV3  cannot  easily  be  referred  with 
Bimsen  to  nVfl-  The  accumulation  of  synony- 
mous expressions  is  still  more  unmistakable  thau 
the  gradation  of  the  same  remarked  by  Hiiv.  ;  it 
is  rather  like  a  movement  from  the  beginning  of 
the  fire  to  its  rising  up  like  flames,   and  to  its 

breaking  forth  in  lightning  (Gen.  xv.  17).     n<sp 

(Xn/iTi'Si!,  lampas,  lamp)  is  that  whicli  sends  up 
light  in  motion,  that  which  sends  forth  flame 
quickly,  flickeringly  toward  us ;  hence  what  al- 
ready resembles  lightning.  {j'}{  may,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  fiery  element  of  all  these  com- 
parisons, and  where  the  chajoth  themselves  come 
forth  from  the  fire,  be  looked  upon  as  that  to 
which  K'n  refers.  So  Keil,  Ewald.  It  can 
neither  refer  to  niOl,  hy  reason  of  the  meaning, 
nor  to  nSID  (masc),  for  a  linguistic  reason. 
Hengst.  coiTectly  remarks  that  the  fire  appear? 
separated  from  the  living  creatures  (ver.  i).  It 
forms  the  power  that  gives  the  keynote,  just  as 
the  spirit  is  the  moving  principle.  And  alonj: 
with  this   the  brightness  is  emphasized,  as  in 

ver.  4  also.  Comp.  there.— B>x^  and  B'Sri'iO' 
confirm  the  reference  of  x'n  given  abonp.     jna, 


18 


KZEKIEL. 


from  to  break  through,  to  break  forth  :  light- 
ning, denoting  the  threatening  effect  outwards. 
(Hofm.  compares  Gen.  iii.  24.) 

Ver.  14.  Next  we  have  the  appearance  of  the 
movement  of  the  chajoth.  3itjn  jijiyi,  infin. 
absol.  for  the  finite  verb,  here  with  the  noun- 
subject  (Gesen.  Heb.  Gram.  p.  215,  Bagster's 
edit.).  A  mere  indication  of  what  they  did,  not 
a  ' '  short  description  "  as  well  (Ew. ).  KISl,  from 
XXn  =  J*^"),  according  to  Hav.  :  an  Aramaistic 
form.     Their  yn^,  however,  was  no  3D3i   their 

return  (i.e.  going  back)  no  turning.  Comp.  on 
vers.  9,  12. — pf3  only  here,  in  sound  like  p"i3 

in  ver.  11,  akin  in  meaning  also,  but  not  identical 
with  it,  Hav.,  Hengst.  :  "spark-fire;"  Klief., 
Keil  :  denoting  the  zigzag  of  lightning.  It  is 
perhaps  meant  to  be  an  individualizing  of  the 
lightning. 

Vers.  15-21. — The  Wonderful  Wheels  upon  the 
Earth. 

Vers.  4-14,  which  contain  the  first  vision  vi\iic\i 
Ezekiel  saw,  hang  directly  suspended  between 
heaven  and  earth  ;  there  is  need  of  connection 
aUke  with  what  is  above  and  with  what  is  below. 
The  fire-cloud,  as  regards  the  spirit  of  the  storm 
which  impels  it,  and  out  of  its  midst  the  fire- 
picture  of  the  chajoth,  as  regards  the  principle 
which  moves  them,  are  certainly  governed  from 
a  higher  region,  and  are  no  less  certainly  destined 
for  the  earth.  It  is,  in  the  first  place,  this  latter 
destination  which  is  furnished  by  vers.  15-21. 

Ver.  15  introduces  the  seco^ul  vision  in  a  way 
siraUar  to  that  in  which  ver.  4  introduces  the 
fiist.  But  the  fact  that  it  is  said  :  and  I  saw  the 
living  creatures,  and,  behold,  a  wheel,  brings 
into  immediate  prominence  the  connection,  which 
what  follows  will  have  to  bring  out  in  detail  and 
to  give  the  reason  for.  The  wheel  shows  itself 
j»nN3,  which  is  not  to  be  thought  of,  with  KUe- 
foth,  in  the  case  of  the  chajoth  also,  for  these, 
forming  as  they  certainly  do  the  kernel  of  the 
cloud,  are  to  be  conceived  of  rather  as  being  above 
the  earth.  There  is  thus  for  the  second  vision, 
in  its  look  towards  the  earth  (and  the  historical 
scene  of  events),  a  repetition  of  the  idea,  which 
was  symbolized  at  the  close  by  tlie  movement  of 
the  chajoth.  The  simplest,  most  natural  sym- 
bolism of  this  idea,  i.e.  in  reference  to  earthly 
affairs,  is  the  wheel,  appearing  as  it  does  as  mere 
motion,  which  only  waits  for  the  moment  (comp. 
ch.  X.  13,  2).  This  is,  as  regards  the  idea,'  the 
connection  of  the  in  no  OTse  "  disturbing  " 
nvnn  with  mix ;  and  in  accordance  with  this 
linking  together  of  the  second  and  primaiily 
earthly  vision  with  the  first,  that  connection  is 

also  localized  by  means  of  "n  yiH,  not  =  "  neigh- 
bourhood" (Hitzig),  but:  beside. — As  one  wheel 
is  spoken  of,  so  also  the  chajoth  in  the  vision  are 
conceived  of  together  as  a  unity ;  hence  the  sin- 
gular suffix  V3B-  So  already  the  Syriac.  Nor 
are  sixteen  wheels  meant  to  be  indicated,  with 
reference  to  each  of  the  four  faces  of  each  of  the 
four  chajotli,  but  four  wheels  (ver.  16,  ch.  x.  9), 
corresponding  to  the  four/rcm<  sides,  the  human 

'  Hav.:  -'^n  intenaiflcatlon  of  the  thought  of  the  poirer 
a^  fulnc£f  of  Hfe  by  means  of  the  wheels,  where  the  form 
maBt  give  wuy  eutirely  to  the  eBsence,  to  the  Idea. 


faces  of  the  chajoth.  Each  being  always  between 
two  faces  of  the  separate  chajoth  on  the  right  aud 
on  the  left,  the  four  wheels  formed  an  outei 
square  round  the  four  chajoth.  First  of  aU 
Ezekiel  had  to  say,  although  in  general  merely, 
where,  in  what  position  as  regards  the  cliajotli  he 
saw  the  wheels  ;  the  relative  position  of  "  wheel " 
and  chajoth  took  the  precedence,  not  "the  na- 
ture of  an  individual  wheel," — which  would  be 
the  case,  according  to  Hav.,  Maurer,  Klief,  il 
Vja  w-ere  to  be  refcn-ed  to  |31S5  :  "according  to 
its  fourfold  face,"  equivalent  to  :  "  with  fourfold 
face," — for  then  we  should  have  here  already  tlie 
wheel  within  a  wheel  specially  mentioned,  which 
comes  after  in  ver.  16.  As  to  the  meaning  of  the 
wheels,  comp.  the  introductory  remarks  to  vers. 
4-28.  How  little  in  this  connection  the  basin- 
stands  of  1  Kings  vii.  come  into  consideration, 
Klief.  on  Hav.  and  Keil  has  pointed  out  exliaus- 
tively  (i.  p.  91).  To  refer  to  "heathen  works  of 
art  of  Babylon,"  as  Hav.  does,  explains  nothing, 
whUe  the  conception  of  a  throne-chariot  rolling 
along  over  the  earth  gives  a  vivid  unity  to  what 
goes  before  and  what  follows.  It  is  to  misunder- 
stand the  characteristic  of  these  visions,  this  pre- 
dominance of  the  ideas  over  everything,  when  one 
brings  as  an  objection  to  such  a  conception  partly 
the  j;<pT  of  ver.  22,  partly  the  chariot  not  being 

u.imed.  Hengst.  indicates  very  correctly  the 
"impression  as  a  whole"  as  being  that  of  "a 
kind  of  vehicle,  in  which  the  Lord  took  the  place 
of  the  charioteer,  the  living  creature  the  place 
of  the  chariot,  the  wheels  lowermost,  as  usual 
in  a  chariot."  Ziillig,  in  his  pamphlet  The 
Cherubim -Chariot  (Heidelb.  1832),  fears  that 
"  these  wheels,  standing  there  detached,  might 
perhaps  also  some  day  roll  away  by  themselves, 
and  leave  the  throne  standing,"  and  therefore 
adopts  the  supposition,  referring  to  1  Kings  vii. 
(like  Vitringa  before  him),  of  a  connection  with 
the  wheels,  in  opposition  to  which  Umbreit : 
"  the  prophet  was  in  spirit  for  the  spirit,  but  not 
for  the  eye. " 

Ver.  16.  The  general  is  followed  by  the  special. 
— Make,  not :  the  material  of  which,  but :  the 
way  in  which  they  were  made,  added  to  the 
appearance,  because  we  are  dealing  here  not  with 
what  is  living — rV3>  comp.  on  ver.  4. — tJ'''Bnni 
"the  chrysolite,  which  with  the  ancients  un- 
doubtedly had  a  yellow  colour"  (Babe,  10.  9). 
"Probably  of  clear  fire"  (Hitzig).  Perhaps 
from  Tartessus,  a  Phoenician  possession  in  Spain 
(similarly  TSiX,  ioT  gold  of  Ophir).    But  whether 

is  it  so  named  because  from  thence,  or  on  account 
of  its  solidity  ?     The  probable  root,  cnn  (not 

CtSn),   means,  according  to  the  Arabic  :  to  be 

hard,  solid  (comp.  ppi  npn) ;  the  word  formed 

by  doubling  the  third  radical,  as  so  frequently, 
means  a  fortified  place,  fortress.  Spain  is,  how- 
ever, rich  in  precious  stones.  It  is  said  to  be  the 
modern  topaz  (gold-topaz),  which  commonly  has 
small  four-sided  columns,  whose  surfaces  are  agair. 
divided  into  two,  and  which  also  appears  bluish 
and  quite  white ;  according  to  Hengst.  the  jasper, 
which,  however,  has  mostly  a  beautiful  red,  and 
also  a  brown  and  green  colour.  The  chrysolite 
is  pistachio-green,  beautifully  transparent  and 
shining.     That  they  four  had  one  Ukeneai,  i,e 


CHAP.  I.  17-28. 


19 


tlat  the  wheel  apparently  alike  was  found  with 
all  the  four  ohajotli,  explains  the  plural  of  the 
wheels  as  being  four,  but  also  how  the  same  could 
before  be  conceived  of  as  one,  when  a  general 

statement  was  made. — [nV3"IS<?  ™^y  '^s"  be  re- 
ferred to  niDT ;  Keil  :  "All  four  had  one  sort 
of  shape."  Comp.  ver.  8.  Appearance  and 
make  are  repeated,  as  it  is  the  latter  especially 
that  now  comes  to  be  spoken  of  :  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  expressing  superfluously  a  second  time 
tlie  likeness  of  the  wheels,  as  Ewald  (and  before 
him  Sanctius) :  "the  one  and  the  other  of  the 
foresaid  four,"  or  as  Umbreit  :  "coinciding  as 
well  in  their  relation,"  but  as  Bunsen  and  the 
most :  "  each  one  consisted  of  two  wheels,  which 
intersected  each  other  at  right  angles  ;"  "  double 
wheels,  the  one  set  into  the  other"  (Hengst.). 
Crucifomi !    Such  a  construction  had  the  effect — 

(Ver.  17)  That  they  could  go  in  all  four  direc- 
tions (Grotius  :  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  into 
all  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  Isa.  xliii.  5,  6) 
without  tuntimj.  Comp.  vers.  8,  9,  12.  The 
fem.  sutf.  lets  the  reference  to  the  chajoth  peep 
through  here  also,  so  that  the  wheels,  as  already 
from  the  commencement  in  ver.  15,  are  conceived 
of  throughout  along  with  the  chajoth,  and  as 
determined  by  them.  Hence  first  00373,  ^d<1 
at  the  end  |n3?3.  It  is  certainly  to  be  noticed 
that  in  the  description  of  the  chajoth  the  masc. 
gend.  has  its  turn,  and  with  the  wheels  the  fem. 
gend.  As  in  the  former  case  the  human  element 
predominates,  so  in  the  latter  the  connection  with 
the  chajoth  ;  and  this  the  more  necessarily,  as 
the  wheels  are  here  described  by  themselves. 

Ver.  18  concludes  this  description  in  parallel 

terms  with  the  chajoth  of  the  vision.     n3il1  in'3J1 

alliteratively  :  "height,"  in  the  sense  of  sub- 
limity, first  of  all  characterized  the  rings  of  the 
wheels.  What  the  wings  were  in  the  chajoth, 
that  the  n3il  was  in  the  wheels  ;  as  in  the  former 

fire  and  the  like,  so  in  the  latter  fearfulness; 
lastly,  to  the  faces  of  the  chajoth  coiTesponded 
the  eyes  ronnd  about,  where  we  are  to  think  of 
the  nails  glancing  like  eyes.     (Instead  of  tn'SJ 

we    have    now    Qn3J-      Ewald    for   the    latter : 

spokes?  1  Kings  vii.  33.  J.  D.  Mich.,  according 
to    anotlier    punctuation  :    "  could   see,    for  the 

felloes  of  the  four  wheels  were  quite  full  of  eyes. ") 
The  face  has  its  life  plastically  in  the  eye.  Hiv. : 
"tlie  most  beautiful  evidence  of  the  power  of 
life."  With  the  fearfulness  (Keil)  the  being 
full  of  eyes  has  as  little  to  do  as  it  has  with 
intelligence  and  wisdom  (Ha v.),  or  with  the 
circumstance  that  "  on  the  power  of  nature 
everywhere  the  stamp  of  reason  is  impressed " 
(Hengst.).  But  perhaps  we  have  in  this  way 
represented  to  us — visible,  of  course,  it  could 
not  be  made — the  idea  of  the  "spirit,"  how  it 
moved  the  living  creatures  ;  as  will  also  be  im- 
mediately ex]>lained  in  detail. 

Ver.  19.  Mc^ntion  was  already  made  in  ver.  17 
of  the  movement  of  the  wheels  by  themselves, 
although  not  without  relation  to  the  chajoth, 
jomp.  there  ;  now  their  relation  to  the  chajoth 
is  spoken  of  in  detail.  U.mereit  :  "  The  wheels 
stand  beside  the  living  creatures,  but  when  the 
latter  move,  the  former  must  of  themselves  follow 


the  impulse." — Ver.   20:  pj;,  not  "weakei,"  '» 

^X  (Hav.);  but  the  ^yo  going  before  has  an  lU 

fiuence,  as  being  the  last  mentioned  and  mcst 
significant   direction,   and   it   is   therefore  agai; 

adopted.     The  LXX.   have,   instead  of  Sy,  read 

2)J,   "cloud-darkness"! — m"in   is   the   spirit  ol 

ver.  12,  as  it  is  also  expressly  called  ;  but  the 
cliajoth  are  gathered  up  in  the  unity  of  the  sin- 
gular n»n  :  n<nn  nn.  Ver.  21,  comp.  ver.  2^ 
where  certainly  it  cannot  be  taken  otherwise. 
Hence  neither  :  the  living  spirit  (or  wind),  nor : 
breath  of  life,  living  soul,  nor :  spirit  of  life, 
principle  of  life,  nor  even :  the  spirit  of  the  living 
creatures.  The  repetition  of  the  description  not 
only  depicts  to  us  the  simultaneous  movement, 
but  lays  emphasis  on  this  simultaneousness,  and 
quite  peculiarly  on  the  circumstance,  that  the 
simultaneous  movement  is  based  on  there  being 
one  spirit  (<3)  ;  whither  the  spirit  of  the  chajoth 
went,  just  thither  went  the  spirit  in  the  wheels, 
which  was  identically  the  same.  Bunsen  encloses 
in  brackets  as  a  gloss  the  words  :  thither  was  the 
spirit  to  go.  Hengst.  :  "if  the  spirit  impelled 
to  go  thither,  then  the  wheels  were  Wted  up," 
etc.  Klief.  :  "  whither  the  wind  stood  to  go, 
thither  they  went  (having  the  wind  forgoing,  i.e.) 
under  the  wind,  driven  by  the  wind."(!) — At 
ver.  21,  in  connection  with  the  repetition  of  the 
simultaneousness  of  the  movement  of  chajoth  and 
wheels,  and  as  an  important  preparation  for  vers. 
24,  25,  the  new  element  of  rest  is  added  ;  it  wa-s 
hitherto,  of  coui'se,  only  motion. 

Vers.  22-28.  — y/te  Heavenly  Enthroned  One. 

After  vers.  15-21  have  connected  the  first  vision 
with  what  is  below,  with  the  earth,  the  whole 
vision  of  glory  is  now  (vers.  22-28)  eompleted  in 
this  second  vision  by  connecting  it  with  what  is 
above,  and  thus  receives  a  heavenly  conclusion. 
"  Now  comes  the  culminating  point  of  the  theo- 
phany  "  (HXv.).  Ver.  22  :  It  was  not  heaven,  it 
was  only  something  like  it  ;  and  this  is  strongly 
emphasized  ;  hence  niDll  (comp.  on  ver.  4)  put 
first.  But  not  as  Hengst.  :  "  the  likeness  of  a 
vault,"  in  a  genitive  relation  ;  the  latter  is 
an  explanatory  apposition  (Keil). — J?'p"i,  an 
expanse,  without  the  article;  J.  D.  Mien.  :  "a 
floor ! "  (from  j;p-|,  to  push,  to  stamp,  to  beat 
flat,  to  extend,  to  stretch),  from  Gen.  i.  onwards 
a  technical  term  for  the  firmament  dividing  wL.it 
is  above  from  what  is  below,  but  which,  as  the 
atmosphere  of  the  earth,  remains  in  the  back- 
ground. In  this  way  the  transition  to  th'  heavenly 
enthroned  One  is  indiccUed.  Comp.  en.  x.  1. — 
n<nn,  comp.  on  ch.  i.  15,  20.  pya,  conip.  on 
ch.  i.  4. — Klljn  mpn  :  the  article,  because  of 
mp  being  universally  known  (from  nip,  "to 
make  smooth  "),  from  its  likeness  to  ice :  the 
crystal.  The  pellucid  transparency  is  the  point 
of  the  comparison  (Exod.  xxiv.  10  ;  Rev.  iv.  6). 
The  dazzling  clearness  and  purity  is  the  occasion 
of  the  epithet  fearful.  ("The  crystal  is  desig- 
nated as  fearful,  because  it  excites  awe  by  its 
splendour,  in  which  that  of  the  Creator  Is  re- 
flected. Fearfulness  had  also  already,  ver.  IS, 
been  attributed  to  the  wheels.     There  the  tola- 


jO 


EZEKIEL. 


jiarijou  is  with  tlie  chrysolite,  here  with  the 
3r'"stal."  Hv-'ust/?  Keil  also  remarks  that  it 
WAS  not  the  vault  of  ht-aveu  that  was  over  the 
Leads  of  the  chajoth, — it  neither  stretched  over 
them,  nor  did  it  even  sink  down  over  them,  but 
that  it  was  merely  a  covering  like  it,  looking 
fearful  as  the  crystal,  that  appeared  ;  Ewald  : 
"no  ordinary  chariot- frame  "  (comp.  ver.  11). 
( ' '  Stretched  out,  a  standing  expression  for  the 
relation  of  lieaven  to  earth,  Isa.  xl.  22,  xlii.  5, 
xliv.  24  ;  Jer.  x.  12.  We  have  here  a  mere  over, 
not  that  the  heads  supported  it ;  they  are  not  at  all 
immediately  under  the  vault,  for  the  wings  pro- 
ject above  them  [vers.  19,  23]."  Hengst.) — 
Ver.    23.    Kow  yipin,   viz.   the  forementioned. 

Under  it  were  the  wings  of  the  chajoth  straight 
(comp.  on  ver.  7),  raised  aloft,  standing  erect. 
The  legs  down,  the  wings  up,  a  firm,  imposing 
attitude. — Siuce,  according  to  vers.  9  and  11,  one 
wing  was  joined  to  the  other  wing,  the  four 
chajoth  may  be  taken  together  in  pairs  for  the 
representation,  but  not  that  every  two  wings 
downwards  (Kliefoth),  analogous  to  the  con- 
nection above,  likewise  covered  each  other  as 
neighbours ;  but  the  representation  is  rather  an 
intentional  and  impressive  repetition,  in  order, 
as  a  preparation  for  what  follows,  to  portray 
solf-mnly  the  covering  of  the  bodies  (comp.  on 
ver.  11).  According  to  Hengst.  the  representa- 
tion is  meant  to  express  merely  :  ei'ery  separate 
cherub,  so  that  without  it  the  sense  might  be, 
that  only  one  ("one  had  two  which  covered 
him ")  had  two  wings  covering  his  body.  (?) 
More  correctly  Keil :  nOH?  corresponds  to  t^"^<^, 
analogously  to  the  Qn?  nns?  "f  ver.  6.  Ewald 
supplies  after  the  first  njn?  (quoting  Isa.  vi.  2), 
DH'JS-     Id  opposition  to  this,  Hengst.  rightly 

remarks  :  "  The  tips  of  the  wings  (of  the  pair  of 
wings  serving  for  flight)  reach  along  to  the  vault. 
For  support  they  are  not  adapted,  and  particularly 
for  this  reason,  that  the  wings  (ver.  24)  make  a 
loud  noise,  and  are  therefore  in  free  motion  ;  and 
further,  because  upon  occasion  they  are  let  down. 
The  wheels  also  do  not  support  the  chariot.  The 
local  proximity  seems  only  to  indicate  the  con- 
nection between  the  several  provinces  of  creation, 
is  meant  to  represent  the  creation  as  a  united 
whole." 

Ver.  24.  Not  less  vividly  than  the  covering  of 
the  under  part  is  the  movement  in  the  upper 

part  (hence  D*S33"rilp)  depicted,  and  that  as  a 
loud,  powerful  one  (comp.  ver.  14).  "Hitherto 
the  prophet  was  describing  only  what  he  saw, 
now  also  what  he  heard "  (J.  H.  Michaelis). 
The  quickening  influence  of  the  "spirit"  gets 
here  as  its  expression  the  noise  (voice),  ch.  x.  5. 
Do  they  show  in  this  way  a  "longing  to  fulfil 
their  mission,  and  that  consequently  the  time  of 
this  fulfilment  draws  near"  (Hengst.)?  Calvin 
makes  the  command  in  this  voice  bring  about 
the  movement  of  the  wheels  corresponding  to  the 
living  creatures.  The  comparison  is  a  threefold 
one :  (1)  as  the  noise  (voice)  of  many  waters, 
eh.  xliii.  2  (Kcv.  xiv.  2,  xix.  6) ;  Isa.  xvii.  12,  13 ; 
(2)  as  the  voice  of  the  Almighty,  which  may 
mean  the  thunder,  as  also  every  other  simijar 
manifestation  of  God  (Kev.  xiv.   2,  xix.   6  ;   Ps. 

Tiix.  3  sqq.) ;  (3)  noise  (voice)  of  tumult  (n^DH, 


of  the  sound  which  is  produced  witl  lips  bronghl 
together  and  closed,  "to  hum  ;"  a  lull,  confused 
noise,  Jer.  xi.  16),  as  the  noise  (voice)  of  an 
host.  (Arbitrarily  and  strangely,  J.  D.  JMichaelis. 
"as  the  rushing  of  a  waterfall,  as  a  thunder  of 
the  Most  High,  their  words,  as  the  voice  of  a 
whole  army;"  and  in  connection  therewith  he 
remarks  ;  "just  such  a  representation,  as  when 
in  Homer  Mars  cries  [only  in  Hebrew  it  is  no 
god,  but  merely  a  team  of  the  thunder-cliariot  ol 
God],  and  so  cries  as  if  10,000  men  cried  at  once. 
1  do  not  look  upon  Ezekiel  in  other  respects  as  a 
beautiful  writer,  but  every  one  certainly  must 
find  the  picture  here  beautiful,  and  still  more  so 
with  the  distinction  between  God,  of  whom  it  is 
somewhat  unworthy,  and  the  draught  beast  be- 
fore His  thunder-chariot.")      The  "voice"  (the 

sounding  pip),  however,  which  Ezekiel  hears  in 
this  way,  accompanied  the  movement  of  the 
chajoth,  with  which  also  that  joining  of  the 
wings  in  ver.  9  took  place  ;  for  when  they  rested 
(ver.  21)  they  let  down  their  wings  (I'icl). 

Ver.  25.  This  remark  with  respect  to  the  rest- 
ing of  the  chajoth  enables  us  to  form  a  conjecture 
as  to  what  detei-mines  their  resting  ;  for  as  re- 
gards their  motion  the  already  repeatedly  nu-n- 
tioned  "spirit"  might  suffice.  The  "noise  of 
their  wings"  also,  especially  where  it  was  repre- 
sented as  "like  the  voice  of  the  Almighty," 
admonishes  us  to  listen  higher,  as  indeed  the 
"expanse"  (vers.  22,  23)  even  must  direct  our 
looks  upward.  "And  there  came  a  voice,"  etc. 
(J.  D.  5liCH.  :  "Above  the  floor  which  was  over 
their  heads  it  thundered.")  In  this  way  our  con- 
jecture is  verified,  what  we  had  to  expect  as  fol- 
lowing up  what  goes  before  is  realized.  There  is 
no  statement  here  as  to  the  quarter  from  which 
the  loud  sound  came  which  was  heard  during  the 
motion  of  the  wings,  as  Keil  maintains.  It  is  a 
"voice"  also  which  comes,  but  the  circum.stance 
that  "it  came"  ("n'1)  depicts  something  makinij 
its  appearance  suddenly,  so  that  the  vision  up  to 
the  last  brings  before  us  an  occurrence  ot  an 
exceedingly  stirring  character  (comp.  introd.  re- 
marks to  vers.  4-28). — In  their  standing  (now- 
equivalent  to ;  when  they  stood,  when  their 
motion  ceased  at  the  voice)  they  let  down  their 
wings  (which  were  of  course  raised  when  they 
walked  or  rose  up  from  the  earth,  ver.  19  sqq.), 
which  is  repeated  verbatim  from  ver.  24,  not, 
however,  "in  order  to  round  oflT  this  subject" 
(Keil),  but  in  order  now  at  the  same  time  to 
explain  it  to  us  as  respects  its  cause.  ("A  voice 
issues  from  above  the  vault,  which  yet  for  a  time 
puts  a  restraint  on  the  impetuosity  of  the  instru- 
ments of  the  divine  wrath. "  Hengst.)  Although 
in  what  follows  we  are  to  reach  a  goal  hitherto 
aimed  at,  mention  may  well  be  made  here  even 
of  grace  charging  the  judgment  in  general  to  stand 
still. — The  kiting  down  of  the  upper  wings  cor- 
responds to  their  covering  themselves  with  the 
lower  wings.  As  the  latter  represents  in  general 
reverential  distance,  and  that  of  the  creature 
when  in  motion,  so  the  former  represents  in  par- 
ticular their  most  submissive  silence,  tlieir  deep 
reverential  rest  before  the  only  living  God,  as 
soon  as  His  voice  is  hean  ,  Ps.  Ixxvi.  9,  xlvi. 
7,  11.  (Umbk.  :  "Is  this  /lot,  in  short,  an  allu- 
sion to  the  death  of  the  creature  ?  It  is  the  voic« 
of  Him  who  kills  and  makes  alive.") 

Ver.  26.  7j;DD1,  t'l^  strongest  expression  for 


CHAP.  I.  27,  28. 


51 


»bove;  "the  huihcst  Object  in  tlie  vision" 
(Hengst.)   is    meant    to   be   expressed. — "I'SD, 

from  l3Di  to  make  smooth,  shining,  that  wliich 

gives  forth  liijht.  "  It  cannot  be  decided  whether 
the  ancients  gave  this  name  to  a  sky-bUie,  or 
dark  blue,  or  violet  stone  "  (Bahr).  Hesgst.  : 
**on  account  of  the  heaven-like  colour,  Exod. 
xxiv.  10,  where  the  whiteness  or  bright  histre  of 
the  sapphire  stauds  in  connection  with  the  purity 
of  the  heavens,  and  denotes  the  infinite  eminence 
of  God's  dominion  over  the  earth  with  its  im- 
potence, sin,  unrighteousness."  HlTzio  ;  "The 
sapphire  of  the  ancients  is  our  lajm  lazuli,  as  in 
Exod.  xxiv.  10  an  opaque  stone,  and  on  account 
of  the  light  blue  colour  of  the  heavens,  a  blue 
one."  (J.  D.  Mich.  :  "  The  throne  had  thus  the 
colour  of  the  pure  heaven  which  is  above  tlie 
clouds  ;  beneath  it  all  that  is  gloomy,  or  tire  and 
lightning,  the  throne  itself  bright  and  pure, 
heaven -like  blue.")  The  sapphire  is  perfectly 
transparent ;  at  all  events,  it  is  on  account  of  itji 
bright  lustre  tliat  it  is  taken  as  a  comparison. 
The  beautiful  blue  colour  is  merely  incidental. 
But  it  is  more  worthy  of  notice  how  Ezekiel, 
where  the  Most  High  is  in  question,  as  already 
at  vers.  22,  24,  so  especially  here,  repeats  and 
emphasizes  in  the  strongest  way  the  merely  ana- 
logical, purely  emblematic  character  of  his  repre- 
sentation ;   3,  niDT  three  times,  and  yet  again 

3.     As  in  the   case  of  the   chajoth    what    first 

made  its  appearance  was  "the  likeness  of  a  man  " 
(ver.  5),  so  here  it  is  said,  the  likenees  as  the 
appearance  of  a  man  (Dan.  vii.  13).  Comp.  on 
ver.  5.  The  human  element  is  thus  up  to  the 
end,  just  as  on  the  other  hand  the  fiery  ele- 
ment is  throughout,  characteristic  of  the  vision. 
(Comp.  introd.  remarks  to  vers.  4-28.) 

fer.   27.    j^nsi,   as   in  ver.    15  and  ver.    4  ; 

parallel  to  yoCNV  ver.  24. — ^iDBTI  I'W,  comp. 
on  ver.  4. — There  is  thus  also  a  retrospective  re- 
ference to  the  fire-cloud,  viz.  by  means  of  what 
formed  the  climax  of  its  impression.  But  farther, 
the  "chasmal-look"  effects  the  transition  from 
the  human  element  of  Him  who  sits  upon  t)ie 
throne  to  the  other  side  of  His  appearance,  in 
order,  finally,  however,  in  a  manner  corresponding 
to  the  first  human  impression,  to  bring  about  tlie 
conclusion  at  the  culminating  point  of  the  whole. 
The  intermediate  term  betwixt  "as  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man  "  and  as  the  appearance  of  fire, 
etc.,  is  thus  the  bright  lustre  of  the  chasmal,  as 
was  brought  out  on  ver.  4  ;  and  brightness  also 
will,  as  we  shall  see,  form  the  medium  of  iransi- 

tion  at  the  close.     y2D  nP"n'3.  belonging  most 

naturally  to  B^X"ns<1D3  =  8B  the  appearance  of 

file,  of  a  house  round  about  it,  i.e.  of  a  fire 
which  takes  the  shape  of  a  house  enclosing 
round  ;  Hitzig  :  "which  has  an  enclosure  round  ;" 
Hengst.  :  "  a  hou.se  round  about  it,  i.e.  which  is 
enclosed  round,  in  order  to  indicate  the  extent  of 
its  burning."  Perhaps  also  it  is  meant  in  this 
way  to  depict  a  fire  that  is  hemmed  in.     To  refer 

TV  to  KD3  niOT.  in  ver.  26,  lies  too  far  ofT,  and 
give.T  no  sense  ;  and  there  is  just  as  little  in  favour 

of  tiansliiting  n^TlU  by  :   "within  the  same," 

for  which   certainly   the  expression   is   p  71*30- 


We  have  to  go  back  in  thought  to  the  fire-cloua 
in  ver.  4.  (Ewald  makes  out  of  n'S  something 
white,   clear,  |"3  [?]. )      In  this  way  nier.  :."in  i« 

made  generally  of  the  brightness  of  light  and  the 
form  of  fire,  i.e.  of  two  difi'erent  things. — There 
follows  the  application  to  Him  wlio  sits  upon  the 
throne,  alike  in  an  upward  and  in  a  downward 
direction.  1  is  explicative.  The  loins  conit  int« 
consideration,  because  He  sits.  As,  then,  from 
the  appearance  of  these,  looking  downwards,  the 
prophet  says :  I  saw  as  the  appearance  of  fiie. 
there  must  remain  self-evideutly  ^and  ch.  viii.  2  _ 
puts  it  beyond  doubt)  for  the  upwards  the  bright-  ' 
ness  of  light,  which  is  not  expressly  added  foi 
this  reason,  because  it  is  understood  of  itself  after 
the  separation  and  application  of  the  fire,  because, 
farther,  "as  the  look  of  chasmal"  had  been  the 
first  tiling  which  was  spoken  of  before  mention  of 
the  "as  the  appearance  of  fire,"  and  because  the 
"brightness"  is  mentioned  in  a  way  thoroughly 

sufficient  in  ver.  28.  'p  refers,  without  doubt, 
expressly  to  Him  who  sits  upon  the  throne ;  comp. 
on  the  other  hand,  on  ver.  4,  from  which  the 
words  are  borrowed.  The  brightness  must  accord- 
ingly be  understood  as  being  above,  round  the 
upper  part  of  the  body.  On  the  other  hand 
J.  D.  Mich.  :  "  Like  glowing  metal  inwardly, 
encircled  round  and  round  witli  fire,  so  the  upper 
part  of  the  body  ;  the  lower  part  of  the  body  like 
tire,  which  produced  a  reflection  round  itself,  and 
the  reflection  looked  like  a  rainbow. " 

Ver.  28.  The  bow  is  that  in  the  cloud,  hence, 
as  is  also  indicated  still  more  definitely,  the  rain- 
boiv,  whose  meaning  is  fixed  from  Gen.  i.x.  13  sqq. 
onwards.  We  might  almost  describe  the  sub- 
stance of  the  whole  vision  jihysically  as  a  thunder- 
storm, which  m^ts  away  in  a  rainbow,  in  which 
case  the  significance  of  this  latter  natuial  pheno- 
menon in  Holy  Scripture  throughout  might  be 
the  thought  in  view.  Thus  simple,  after  all,  is 
the  tout  ensemble,  with  all  its  complication  in 
detail.  But  perhaps  the  mention  of  the  cloud 
refers  back  likewise  to  ver.  4,  just  as  the  manifold 
retrospective  references  to  the  commencement  of 
the  vision  are  characteristic  of  its  rounded  close. 
The  fire-eloud  is  changed,  by  means  of  the  sun- 
like brightness  round  about  Him  who  sits  upon 
the  throne,  into  a  bearer  of  the  bow  of  peace 
and  of  the  covenant,  the  token  of  grace  after 
and  (springing)  out  of  judgment.  In  this  way 
the  gospel  and  Clirist  break  through,  as  in  a 
grammatico- historical  way  exegesis  even  may 
expound  the  letter  (Eev.  Iv.  3,  x.  1).  "From 
the  north  the  vision  appears  to  Ezekiel,  but  in 
the  rainbow  it  vanishes  from  him ;  for  he  is  to 
prophesy  of  judgment  and  ruin  first,  but  of  grace 
and  everlasting  salvation  afterwards"  (Kmf.foth). 
This  harmony  of  the  vision,  as  it  appears  in  the 
tout  ensetnblc,  and  in  the  detail,  and  entirely  con- 
firmed as  it  is  by  the  remainder  of  the  Book  of 
Ezekiel,  is  obliterated,  if  the  rainbow  is  to  signify 
nothing  but  "royal  dignity,"  or  is  to  come  into 
consideration  as  the  "most  beautiful  picture," 
i.e.  on  account  of  the  beauty  of  its  colours,  to 
which,  however,  accordir.g  to  Hitzig,  there  is  no 
second  reference.  J.  D.  Mich,  asserts  that  the 
reflection,  like  a  rainbow,  is  drawn  from  the 
smelting-furnaces  of  the  precious  metal,  that 
when  silver  is  smelted,  there  shows  itself,  at  the 
moment  of  tl  e  separation  of  the  vitrified  dross, 


52 


EZEKIEL. 


lead,  or  the  like,  over  the  pure,  glowing  metal 
something  re^emblJng  a  rainbow  (the  silver-gleam, 
conip.  Umbr.  on  ver.  4).  But  Hav.  also  passes 
liy  the  main  thing,  when  he  limits  the  human 
I'orm,  celebrating  as  it  does  its  heavenly  mani- 
festation in  brightness  generally,  aud  such  a 
brightness  as  this,  to  a  divine  condescension  for 
the  prophet  merely. — Keil,  Klief.,  Hengst,  Hit- 
zig,  and  others,  because  of  ch.  x.  4.  19,  confine 
Sin  to  the  appearance  of  Him  who  sits  upon  the 
throne,  including  the  veil  of  Ught,  but  "exclud- 
ing the  throne  and  cherubim."  Comp.  introd. 
remarks  to  vers.  4-28,  where  already  it  is  brought 
out,  that  the  application  which  is  made  of  our 
\'ision  in  ch.  x.  must  not  be  permitted  to  influence 
the  interpretation  of  the  much  more  general  con- 
tents of  ch.  i.  This  only  may  be  said  :  The  vision 
of  glory  in  ver.  26  sqq.  likewise  points  to  His 
Deity  itself,  which  still  infinitely  transcends  all 
His  glory  in  the  creature  and  its  impending  glori- 
fication upon  earth  (pp.  39,  40).  Hence  also 
"ni3D  niDl-  "  Strictly  speaking,  the  prophet 
conceives  of  the  Ss^a  -roy  xupiov  as  in  itself  so  sub- 
lime that  it  cannot  be  described ;  it  is  a  reflec- 
tion, which  only  suggests  the  reality"  (Hiv. ). 
1133  (see  as  to  the  meaning  p.  40),  linguistically 
from   133    (133),   to   be    "  drawing   together," 

"drawing  down,"  "heavy."  This  fundamental 
idea  is  in  itself  one  derived  frr.m  the  senses,  and 
even  where,  by  transference  to  human  relations,  it 
becomes  a  metaphysical  one,  something  abstract, 
like  gravis,  yravitax,  pondun,  liupi;  (corap.  2 
Cor.  iv.  17,  Piifi  So|>:,-),  and  means  intellectual 
weight,  importance,  significance,  it  rests  on  real 
power,  as  money-power  (riches),  or  high  position, 
etc.,  without  1133  on  this  account  being=^riches 
or  rc'"alty  ;  rather  does  it  continue  to  be  the 
weight  which  one  is  able  to  put  ip  the  scale  on  the 
t/ruund  of  suth  power.  If  in  consequence  of  this 
a  tiimbus  gathers  round  the  possessor  of  the  power, 
because  power  adorns  itself  as  readily  as  it  is  wont 
to  be  adorned  through  recognition  and  service  on 
the  part  of  others,  it  is  natural  that,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  expressing  the  weight  of  him  who  is 
])owerful,  and  in  order  to  represent,  to  give  visi- 
bility to  this  power,  the  idea  of  brightness,  splen- 
dour, greatness,  dignity,  respect,  renown  may 
enter,  without  1133  itself  having  this  meaning 
radically.  Thus  it  is  used  nxr  'iix'"  of  God's 
showing  forth  of  His  power,  of  His  manifestation 
and  presence  (the  "Shechinah,"  according  to 
Jewish  termiuologj'),  where  the  thought  of  the 
principal  sphere  of  His  manifestation,  viz.  the 
bright  heavens,  also  exerts  its  influence ;  but  the 
'"  1133  is.  according  to  the  fundamental  idea  of 
the  word  :  the  power  of  life  belonging  to  God, 
in  light  that  is  invisible  for  man,  except  in  that 
reflected  splendour  which  adorns  the  creatures, 
man  pre-eminently,  but  also  the  whole  creation 
of  God  in  general :  God's  sovereignty  in  glory,  as 
it  belongs  to  Him  alone. — nXlSI,  comp.  on  ver. 
1.  The  close  of  the  vision.  At  the  same  time 
we  have  set  before  us  the  impression  which  it 
produced  in  the  prophet's  case,  its  immediate, 
fii-st  result.  Heng.st.  :  "  He  falls  down  before  the 
majesty  of  God  in  His  wrath."  Hav.:  "Although 
Jehovah  did  not  sufi'er  to  be  wanting  tokens  of 
His  grace  and  love,  yet  he  could  not  bear  to  look 
upon  His  glory."  Hitzig:  "  H&is  thrown  down 
in  a  state  of  unconsciousness. "     Keil:  "Having 


fallen  to  the  ground  before  the  terrible  revelation 
of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  under  a  feeling  of  his  owi 
impotence  and  sinfulness."  (Luke  v.  8.)  ["In 
the  first  place :  because  of  the  extraordinary  \-ision, 
and  from  astonishment  thereat.  Secondly :  from 
fear  and  humility  ;  for  if  the  seraphim  veil  theii 
face  before  God,  how  should  not  mortal  man 
fall  to  the  earth  when  he  sees  the  glor\-  of  God? 
Thirdly:  in  adoration  of  God"  (a  L.Kfiui.).]  It 
is  an  overpowering  impression,  hence  the  power 
of  God  shown  in  the  '■>■<  ni33  (comp.  on  the  other 
hand  Isa.  vi.  5),  quite  corresponding  to  the  funda- 
mental idea.  Ch.  iii.  23,  xliii.  3;  Dan.  viii.  17, 
18,  X.  7  sqq.  ;  comp.  especially  ilatt.  xvii.  6 
(Acts  ix.  7,  8);  Rev.  i.  17. — 5;oE'X1,  now  some- 
thing else  than  in  ver.  24;  but  the  "voice"  was 
that  of  ver.  25.  In  this  way  a  transition  is  made 
to  what  follows.  "He  says,  however:  of  ona 
that  spake,  and  not  of  God,  because,  lying  upon 
his  face,  he  could  not  see  and  recognise  the 
speaker.  Acts  ix.  4  sqq.  "  (a  Lapide).  As  is 
clear  otherwise  from  the  context,  the  falling  down 
and  hearing,  like  all  that  has  preceded,  are  to  be 
conceived  of  within  the  sphere  of  the  vision. 

Additional  Note  o.n  Ch.  i.  4-28. 

[To  gather  up  now  the  leading  features  and 
symbolic  purport  of  this  wonderlul  vision,  we 
can  easUy  perceive  that  the  gioundwork  of  it  was 
derived  from  the  patterns  of  divine  things  in  the 
most  holy  place  in  the  temple ;  yet  very  consider- 
ably modified  and  changed,  to  adapt  it  to  the  pre- 
sent occasion.  Here  also  there  is  the  throne  of 
the  divine  Majesty,  but  not  wearing  the  humble 
and  attractive  form  of  the  mercy-seat ;  more  like 
Sinai,  with  its  electric  clouds,  and  pealing  sounds, 
and  bursting  effusions  of  living  flame.  Here,  too, 
are  the  composite  forms  alrout  the  throne — the 
cherubim  with  outstretched  wings  touching  each 
other ;  but  instead  of  the  two  cherubic  figures  of 
the  temple,  four,  each  with  four  hands,  four  wings, 
four  faces,  looking  in  so  many  directions,  doubt- 
less with  respect  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth 
toward  which  the  divine  power  and  glory  was 
going  to  manifest  itself.  These  four  are  here 
further  represented  as  peculiarly  lii>ing  creatures, 
full  of  life  and  motion,  and  not  only  with  wings 
for  flight,  but  wheels  also  of  gigantic  size  beside 
them,  revolving  with  lightning  speed,  and  all 
resplendent  with  the  most  intense  brightness. 
The  general  correspondence  between  what  Ezekiel 
thus  saw  in  the  visions  of  God  and  what  was  to 
be  found  in  the  temple,  indicated  that  it  was 
the  same  God  who  dwelt  between  the  cherubim 
in  the  temple,  and  who  now  appeared  to  His  ser- 
vant on  the  banks  of  the  <_'hebar  ;  while  the 
differences  bespoke  certain  manifestations  of  the 
divine  character  to  be  now  at  hand,  such  as  re- 
quired to  be  less  prominently  displayed  in  His 
ordinary  procedure. 

1.  That  He  appeared  specially  and  peculiarly 
as  the  God  of  holiness ;  this,  first  of  all,  was  in- 
timated by  the  presence  of  the  cherubim.  For 
here,  as  in  the  temple,  the  employment  of  these 
composite  forms  pointed  back  to  their  original 
destination  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  keep  the 
way  to  the  tree  of  life,  from  which  man  had  been 
debarred  on  account  of  sin  :  ideal  creatures,  as 
the  region  of  pure  and  blessed  life  they  occupied, 
had  now  become  to  men  an  ideal  territory.  Yet 
still  they  were  creatures,  not  of  angelic,   but  o. 


CHAP.  I.  4-28. 


SS 


human  mould ;  they  bore  the  predominant  like- 
neis  of  man,  with  tlie  likenesses  superadded  of 
th?  three  highest  orders  of  the  inferior  creation 
(the  lion,  the  ox,  the  eagle).  "  It  is  an  ideal 
combination  ;  no  such  composite  creature  as  the 
cherub  e.xists  in  the  actual  world,  and  we  can 
think  of  no  reason  why  the  singular  combination 
it  presents  of  animal  forms  should  have  been  set 
upon  that  of  man  as  the  trunk  or  centre  of  the 
whole,  unless  it  were  to  exhibit  the  higher  ele- 
ments of  humanity  in  some  kind  of  organic  con- 
nection mth  certain  distinctive  properties  of  the 
inferior  creation.  The  nature  of  man  is  im- 
mensely the  highest  upon  earth,  and  towers 
loftily  above  all  the  rest,  by  powers  peculiar  to 
itself.  And  yet  we  can  easily  conceive  how  this 
very  nature  of  man  might  be  greatly  raised  and 
ennobled,  by  having  superadded  to  its  own  in- 
herent qualities,  those  of  which  the  other  animal 
forms  here  mentioned  stand  as  the  appropriate 
types." — "These  composite  fonns  are  here  called 

ni'n,  for  which  the  Septuagint,  and  John  in  the 

Apocalypse,  use  the  synonymous  term  J«a,  living 
ones.  The  frequency  with  which  this  name  is 
used  of  the  cherubim  is  lenmrkable.  In  Ezekiel 
and  the  Apocalypse  together  it  occurs  nearly 
thirty  times,  and  may  consequently  be  regarded 
as  peculiarly  expressive  of  the  symbolical  mean- 
ing of  the  cherubim.  It  presents  them  to  our 
view  as  exhibiting  the  property  of  life  in  its 
highest  state  of  power  and  activity ;  as  forms  of 
creaturely  existence,  altogether  instinct  with  life. 
And  the  idea  thus  conveyed  by  the  name  is  fur- 
ther substantiated  by  one  or  two  traits  associated 
with  them  in  Ezekiel  and  the  Apocalypse.  Such, 
especially,  is  the  very  singular  multiplicity  of 
eyes  attached  to  them,  appearing  primarily  in 
the  mystic  wheels  that  regulated  their  move- 
ments, and  at  a  later  stage  (ch.  x.  12),  in  the 
cherubic  forms  themselves.  For  the  eye  is  the 
symbol  of  intelligent  life,  the  living  spirit's  most 
peculiar  organ  and  index  ;  and  to  represent  the 
chembira  as  so  strangely  replenished  with  eyes, 
could  only  be  intended  to  make  them  known 
AS  wholly  inspirited.  Hence,  in  ver.  20,  '  the 
spirit  of  the  living  creatures '  is  said  to  have 
been  in  the  wheels  ;  where  the  eye  was,  there 
also  was  the  intelligent,  thinking,  directive  spirit 
of  life.  Another  and  quite  similar  trait  is  the 
quick  and  restless  activity  ascribed  to  them  by 
Ezekiel,  who  represents  them  as  '  running  and 
returning '  with  lightning  speed,  and  then  by 
John,  when  he  describes  them  as  'resting  not 
day  and  night.'  Incessant  motion  is  one  of  the 
most  obvious  symptoms  of  a  plenitude  of  life. 
We  instinctively  associate  the  property  of  life  even 
with  the  inanimate  things  that  exhibit  motion — 
such  as  fountains  and  running  streams,  which  are 
called  living  in  contradistinction  to  stagnant  pools, 
that  seem  comparatively  dead.  So  that  creatures 
which  appeared  to  be  all  eyes,  all  motion,  are,  in 
plain  terms,  those  in  which  the  powers  and  pro- 
perties of  life  are  quite  peculiarly  displayed  ;  but 
life,  it  must  be  remembered,  most  nearly  and  essen- 
tially connected  with  God — life  as  it  is  or  shall 
be  held  by  those  who  dwell  in  His  immediate 
presence,  and  form,  in  a  manner,  the  very  enclo- 
snre  and  covering  of  His  throne — pre-eminently, 
therefore,  holy  and  spiritual  life."' 

■  Tlie  Typology  of  Scripture,  3d  edit  vol.  I.  pp.  259-248, 
vhere  the  whole  subject  of  the  chembim  is  ftllly  Investigated. 


2.  But  this  idea  of  holy  and  spiritual  life,  at 
connected  with  the  presence  and  glory  of  God, 
was  greatly  strengthened  in  the  vision  by  the 
fervid  appearance,  as  of  metallic  brightness  and 
flashes  of  liquid  flame,  which  shone  from  and 
around  all  the  parts  and  figures  of  the  vision.  It 
denoted  the  intense  and  holy  severity  in  God's 
working,  which  was  either  to  accomplish  in  the 
objects  of  it  the  highest  good,  or  to  produce 
the  greatest  evU.  Precisely  similar  in  meaning, 
though  somewhat  differing  in  form,  was  the  re- 
presentation in  Isaiah's  vision  (ch.  vi. ),  where, 
instead  of  the  usual  name  cherubim,  that  of 
seraphim  is  applied  to  the  symbolical  attendants 
of  God — the  burning  ones,  as  the  word  properly 
signifies — burning  forms  of  holy  fire,  the  emblems 
of  God's  purifying  and  destroying  righteousness. 
Hence  their  cry  one  to  another  was,  "Holy,  holy, 
holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of  hosts."  And  in  token 
of  the  twofold  working  of  this  Imliness,  it  was  by 
the  application  of  a  burning  coal  to  his  lips  that 
the  prophet,  as  the  representative  of  the  elect  por- 
tion of  the  people,  was  hallowed  for  God's  service, 
while  in  the  message  that  follow.s,  the  ungodly 
mass  are  declared  to  be  for  burning  (as  the  word 
literally  is  in  ver.  13).  The  same  element  that 
refined  and  purified  the  one  for  God's  service,  was 
to  manifest  itself  in  the  destruction  of  the  other. 
And  it  is  this  also  that  is  symbolically  tanght 
here  by  the  dazzling  light,  the  glowing  embers, 
and  fiery  coruscations,  with  which  all  was  en- 
veloped and  emblazoned.  It  made  known  God's 
purpose  to  put  forth  the  severer  attributes  of  His 
character,  and  to  purify  His  Church  by  "the 
spirit  of  judgment  and  by  the  spirit  of  burning." 

3.  Even  these  fieiy  appearances,  however,  in 
the  cherubim  and  the  other  objects  of  the  vision, 
did  not  sufficiently  express  what  was  here  meant 
to  be  conveyed ;  and,  therefore,  to  make  out  the 
idea  more  completely,  wheels  of  vast  proportions 
were  added  to  the  cherubim.  The  prophet  would 
thus  render  palpable  to  our  view  the  gigantic  and 
terrible  energy  which  was  going  to  characterize 
the  manifestations  of  the  God  of  Israel.  A  spirit 
of  awful  and  resistless  might  was  now  to  appear 
in  His  dealings  ;  not  proceeding,  however,  by  a 
blind  impulse,  but  in  all  its  movements  guided 
by  a  clear-sighted  and  unerring  sagacity.  How 
striking  a  representation  did  such  a  spirit  find  for 
itself  in  the  resohite  agency  and  stern  utterances 
of  Ezekiel !  In  this  respect  he  comes  nearest  of 
all  the  later  prophets  to  Elijah. 

4.  Finally,  above  the  chentbim  of  glory  and 
their  wonderful  wheel -work  was  seen,  first,  the 
crystal  firmament,  and  then,  above  the  firma- 
ment, the  throne  of  God,  on  which  He  Himself 
sat  in  human  form — a  form,  as  here  displayed, 
beaming  with  the  splendour  of  heavenly  fire,  but, 
at  the  same  time,  bearing  the  engaging  aspect  of 
a  man,  and  surrounded  with  the  attractive  and 
pleasing  halo  of  the  rainbow.  In  this  shone  forth 
the  mingled  majesty  and  kindness  of  God — the 
overawing  authority  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
gracious  sympathy  and  regard  on  the  other,  which 
were  to  distinguish  His  agency  as  now  to  be  ptit 
forth  for  the  reproof  of  sin  among  the  covenant- 
people,  and  the  establishment  of  truth  and  right 
eousness.  The  terror  which  the  manifestation  wis 
fitted  to  inspire,  w.as  terror  only  to  the  guilty, 
while,  for  the  penitent  and  believing,  there  wai 
to  be  the  brightest  display  of  covenant  love  and 
faithfulness.     Espeoislly  was  this  indicated  bj 


M 


EZEKIEL 


the  crowning  appearance  of  the  rainbow,  whic)i, 
from  being  the  token  of  God's  covenant  with 
Xoali,  in  respect  to  tlie  I'uture  preservation  of 
the  earth,  was  like  the  lianging  out  from  the 
chrone  of  the  Eternal  of  a  tiag  of  peace,  giving 
assurance  to  all,  that  the  purpose  of  Heaven  was 
to  preserve  rather  than  to  destroy,  and  to  fulfil 
that  which  was  promised  in  the  covenant.  Even 
if  the  divine  work  now  to  be  carried  forward  in 
the  spiritual  world  should  require,  as  in  the 
natural  world  of  old,  a  deluge  of  wrath  for  its 
successful  accomplisliment,  still  the  faithfulness 
and  love  of  God  would  be  sure  to  the  chililren  of 
promise,  and  would  only  shine  forth  the  more 
brightly  at  last,  in  consequence  of  the  tribulations 
which  might  be  needed  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
ultimate  good. 

Such,  then,  was  the  form  and  import  of  this 
remarkable  vision.  There  was  nothing  about  it 
accidental  or  capricious ;  all  was  wisely  adjusted 
and  arranged,  so  as  to  convey  beforehand  suitable 
impressions  of  that  work  of  God  to  which  Ezekiel 
was  now  called  to  devote  himself.  It  was  sub- 
stantially an  exhibition,  by  means  of  emblematical 
appearances  and  actions,  of  the  same  views  of  the 
divine  character  and  government,  which  were 
to  be  unfolded  in  the  successive  communications 
made  hy  Ezekiel  to  the  covenant-people.  By  a 
significant  representation,  the  Lord  gathered  into 
one  magnificent  vision  the  substance  of  what  was 
to  occupy  the  prophetic  agency  of  His  servant,  as 
in  later  times  was  done  by  our  Lord  to  the  evan- 
gelist John,  in  the  opening  vision  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse.—Faikbairn's  Ezekiel,  pp.  30-34.— W.  F.] 

DOCTRINAL. 

1.  Thus  God  provides  a  helper  for  His  servant 
Jeremiah,  in  a  sphere  where  the  latter,  for  far  more 
than  thirty  years,  has  called  without  ceasing,  with 
small  result.  But  it  was  no  small  relief,  that 
Jeremiah  at  Jerusalem  heard  the  Holy  Spirit 
assenting  to  and  coinciding  with  him  from 
the  exile.  Thus  the  truth  was  confirmed  by  the 
mouth  of  two  witnesses  (after  Calvin).  "  Let 
every  one,  therefore,  do  what  belongs  to  his  office, 
and  God  will  doubtless  raise  up  others,  if  it  is 
necessary,  to  help  us.  Thus  he  associated  with 
Joseph,  who  took  Christ  from  the  cross,  Nico- 
demus. "     (Litdw.  Lavater.) 

•2..  "As  Ezekiel  here,  at  thirty  years  of  age,  sees 
tlie  heavens  opened  by  a  river,  so  Jesus,  accord- 
ing to  Matt.  iii.  16;  comp.  with  Luke  iii.  21" 
(Hengst.).  "As  a  type  of  Christ,  who  at  thirty 
years  of  age  came  for  baptism.  .  .  .  The  piiests 
entered  on  their  office  at  the  same  age ;  John  the 
Baptist  began  at  thirty  years  of  age  the  preaching 
of  repentance  "  (Jerome).  Comp.  however,  In- 
trod.  §  3,  and  the  exeg.  remarks  on  ver.  1. 

3.  Herein  is  shown  the  inestimable  goodness  of 
God,  in  tliat  He  raised  up  the  prophet  for  Himself 
as  it  were  out  of  hell ;  for  Babylon  was  like  the 
deepest  abyss,  and  from  thence  must  the  voice 
of  the  retribution,  as  well  as  of  the  grace  of  God, 
sound  forth.  Thus  the  light  breaks  forth  from 
the  blackest  darkness,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
the  shame  of  the  Jews,  who  had  despised  the 
voice  of  so  many  prophets  (after  Calvin).  "God 
calls  the  land  of  Canaan  His  own  land;  in  that 
land  He  had  a  house  ami  people,  to  whem  He 
had  given  it  as  an  inheritance.  And  now,  when 
He  bogan  to  lead  the  people  forth  from   it,   He 


yet  did  not  forsake  them,  but  went  as  it  were 
with  them  into  the  exile,  and  gave  them,  even 
in  the  mid.st  of  the  heathen  in  an  unclean  land, 
prophets  who,  like  Daniel  and  Ezekiel,  saw  the 
greatest  things, — a  thing  which  has  no  lunger 
happened  to  the  Jews  scattered  over  the  earth 
after  the  last  destruction  of  the  temijle  ;  for 
prophecy  departed  from  tliem.  But  Christ's  dis- 
ciples preached  the  gospel :  which  they,  however, 
despised,  and.  in  this  way,  turned  the  Spirit  ol 
God  out  of  the  synagogue.  Where  Goci  is,  thert 
is  vision,  i.e.  revelation  by  means  of  His  word, 
there  He  dwells,  where  His  word  is  loved  an  . 
believed;  there  is  the  sani  tuary  (eh.  xi.  Itj), 
wdiich  the  time  approaching  was  to  show,  when 
He  would  march  along  in  the  wilderness  (Ps. 
Ixviii.  7),  i.e.  would  have  His  kingdom  among 
the  heatlien  in  the  whole  world  "  (Cucc. ). 

4.  "  Although  a  thousand  heavens  were  to 
open,  what  piercing  look  would  reach  as  far  aa 
the  glory  of  God  ?  How  small  the  sun  appears, 
and  yet  it  is  so  much  greater  than  the  earth ! 
And  then  the  rest  of  the  stars !  And  so,  when 
He  opens  the  heavens,  God  must,  at  the  same 
time,  give  His  servants  new  eyes.  The  eyes  of 
Stephen,  therefore,  were  doubtless  eidightened 
with  unusual  power,  so  that  he  could  penetrate 
in  vision  beyond  what  mere  man  was  able  to  do ; 
and  so  also,  at  the  baptism  of  Christ,  John  the 
Baptist  was  raised  above  the  clouds"  (Calvin). 

5.  He  says  at  ver.  3  that  Goil's  word  came  to 
him ;  and  thus  God  alone  is  to  be  heard,  and  the 
prophets  for  no  other  reason  than  this,  that  they 
cause  us  to  hear  God's  word.  Every  doctor  of 
the  Church  must  first  be  a  scholar,  every  teacher 
first  a  hearer.  God  must  retain  His  rights  as  the 
only  Guide  and  Teacher.  The  prophets,  where 
they  demand  audience  of  us,  demand  it  only  for 
God's  word  (after  Calvin).  "The  prophet  is  to 
be  distinguished  essentially  from  the  later  scribes 
and  disciples  of  the  Kabbins.  In  his  case  it  is 
not  said ;  it  stands  written,  or :  such  and  such  a 
master  speaks,  but:  thus  hath  Jehovah  spoken, 
or :  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  and  the 
like.  The  true  prophets  are  '  taught '  not  of  a 
human  master,  but  of  Jehovah  (Isa.  1.  4) " 
(Oeuler). 

6.  This  order:  visions  oiGoAJirst  (ver.  1),  and 
then  Jehovah's  word,  has  its  significance  for  bib- 
lical prophecy.  Comp.  Ezek.  xiii.  2  sqq.,  where 
the  false  prophets  prophesy  without  having  seen. 
The  prophet  is  certainly  one  who  gives  expression 
to  something  wdiich  he  has  seen,  just  as  Oehler 
correctly  defines  internal  vision  as  being  the  psy- 
chical form  of  prophecy ;  hence  also  the  designa- 
tion "seer"   (nth  poetic,  more  solemn  than  the 


usual    nsS)!    *ii'i  the    circumstance   that 
the   "word  ";  comp. 


Isaiah  (ch.  ii.   1)   "sees' 
Amos  i.  1 ;  Hab.  j.  1,  ii.  1. 

7.  The  section,  vers.  1-3,  is  meant  to  contain 
"an  exact  description  of  the  state  of  jtrophetic 
in.spiration  or  ecstasy"  (Hav.)  in  its  threef'.dd 
operation  with  a  single  cause.  The  four  pa.'ti- 
culars :  "the  heavens  were  opened,"  "1  saw 
visions  of  God,"  "the  word  of  Jehovah  came 
unto  Ezekiel,"  "the  hand  of  Jehovah  came  upon 
him  there,"  may,  in  the  first  place,  indicate:  the 
two  first  the  plastic  part  of  the  vision  in  ch.  i.. 
the  two  latter  the  phon?tic  part  of  it,  viz.  what 
follows  in  ch.  ii.  and  iii.     Then,  as  regards  the 


CHAP.  I.  4-28. 


state  of  Ezekiel,  we  may  admit  a  gradation  in 
them,  if  we  aiiniit  that  they  are  suceessive.  Tlie 
subjectivity  of  the  man  is  recognized  even  as  re- 
gards its  locality ;  how  much  more  as  regards  its 
mental,  moral,  spiritual  individuality,  and  its 
determination  by  tlie  history  of  the  time  and  of 
the  individual.  What,  however,  predominates  is 
the  objective,  the  divine.  The  e</o  of  the  prophet 
neither  throws  itself  out  upon  the  external  world 
around,  nor  in  upon  itself;  it  is,  from  its  usual 
activity  being  at  rest,  in  a  certain  measure,  car- 
ried away  from  itself  as  well  as  from  the  whole 
world,  but  by  this  means  collected  in  an  un- 
usually receptive  way  for  a  higher  order  of  things, 
for  Goil  and  divine  influence.  This  is  the  essen- 
tial element  of  the  'Urmiri;  (Acts  x.  10,  xi.  5, 
xxii.  17),  a  being  in  the  spirit,  a  being  carried 
away  from  the  earth,  and  rapt  up  into  heaven. 
The  contrast  is  the  y'iyiiria.i  i»  Ui/t*  (Acts  xii.  11), 
the  ii-  nu  utai  (1  Cor.  xiv.  14);  comp.  Tholuck, 
Vie  Propheten  und  i/ire  Weuiswjuniji'n^  p.  53 
sipp,  Hengst.,  Christology,  2d  edit.  iii.  [Clark's 
Trans.],  Oehler,  llerzoy's  Encyd.  xvii.  p.  627 
sqij.,  Lance,  P/tiloxop.  Dugmatik,  p.  447. 

S.  With  a  correct  feeling, — one  might  say,  with 
Christian  intelligence, — the  section,  Ezek.  i.,  is 
the  ha]>htorah  of  the  first  Jewish  day  of  Pentecost, 
on  which  besides  ch.  iii.  12  is  read  (comp.  J.  F. 
ScHKODER,  Satzunyen  und  Gebriiuche  des  (aim. 
rabb.  Judenth.  pp.  224,  214  sqq. ). 

9.  The /re-c/o!(rf  was  characteristic.  At  Exod. 
xiii.  21,  22  Jehovah  introduces  Himself  to  His 
people  for  their  entire  guidance  to  Canaan  by 
means  of  a  cloud,  in  which  by  night  there  was 
lire.  This  cloud  formed,  in  the  Red  Sea,  the 
wall  of  separation  between  Israel  and  Egypt,  for 
Judgment  and  ruin  to  the  latter  (Exod.  xiv.). 
Over  the  tabernacle  (E.xod.  xl.  34  sqq.)  it  sig- 
nified the  divine  presence  (E'X"^^<^t^^,  Num.  ix. 

15) ;  in  it  appears  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  tliat 
in  very  im]iortant,  solemn  crises  of  the  journey 
through  the  wilderness  (comp.  Exod.  xvi.  10 ; 
Num.  xiv.  10,  xvi.  19,  xvii.  7,  and  other  passages). 
The  fire  of  this  cloud  had  already  flashed  upon 
Moses  out  of  that  thorn  bush  on  occasion  of  his 
mission  to  Israel  (Exod.  iii.);  it  was  thoroughly 
known  to  the  people  from  Sinai  onwards  (Exod. 
xix. ).  Thus  there  could  scarcely  be  anything 
more  familiar  to  the  pious  consciousness  of  the 
people.  But  it  was  not  the  cloud  which  had 
again  filled  the  house  of  the  Eternal  in  the  time 
of  Solomon  (1  Kings  viii. ),  nor  was  it  even  the 
fire  (2  Chron.  vii.) ;  i.e.  it  must  have  had  a  ditle- 
reiit  meaning,  when  a  fire-cloud  came  from  the 
north,  and  when  it  appeared  in  the  land  of  Baby- 
lon. The  fire  in  it  is  also  quite  manifest ;  that 
which  envelopes  it,  and  at  the  same  time  stands 
over  against  the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun  in  the 
wilderness,  is  absent  from  it.  (Comp.  on  the  other 
hand,  Isa.  iv.  5  sqq.,  Ix.  1.) 

10.  Hengst.  draws  attention  to  Ezekiel's  oppo- 
sition "to  the  vicious  realism  wliich  will  know 
nothing  of  the  distinction  between  the  thouglit 
and  its  vesture."  "Appearance,"  "likeness," 
"appearance  of  the  likeness,"  and  the  like,  are 
peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  "for  the  purpose  of  guard- 
ing against  that  vicious  realism,  which  professes, 
indeed,  to  represent  the  intepests  of  the  faith 
against  a  'false  spiritualism,'  but  which  is,  in 
truth,  nothing  else  but  weakness  in  the  exposi- 
tion of  Scriptm'e. " 


11.  "Man,  in  his  ideality,  the  centre  of  life, 
which  conditions  all  the  other  forms.  Th' 
highest  form  of  animal  life  ;  the  suttering  and 
bleeding  life-form,  the  .sacrificial  animal,  th" 
bullock  ;  the  ruling  life-form,  exhibiting  itseil 
in  royal  freedom,  the  lion  ;  tile  life-form  whicii 
soars  above  the  earth,  free  from  toil,  engaged  in 
vision,  the  eagle.  Above  these  three  culminating 
points  of  the  animal  world,  man,  the  intellectual 
life-form,  which  reproduces  all  those  preliminarj 
grades  in  a  higher  unity,  but  is  always  the  oia 
along  with  the  other,  when  he  corresponds  with 
his  destination  :  the  tragic  sacrificial  animal,  the 
fighting,  conquering  lion,  the  contemplative  eagle, 
basking  in  the  liglit — all  this  is  one  spirit ;  and 
just  in  this  unity  he  is  man.  Every  animal- form 
with  Ezekiel  is  an  ethical  symbol.  Everything 
living  belongs  to  the  spirit,  falls  to  it,  and  is 
oti'ered  up  to  it :  this  is  signified  by  the  bullock. 
Everything  living  enjoys,  contends,  and  over- 
comes, because  it  represents  the  spirit  :  this  is 
expressed  by  the  lion.  Everything  living  lulls 
itself  in  a  state  of  dreamy  intoxication  in  the 
sunlight  of  the  spirit :  this  is  rejireseuted  by  the 
eagle.  But  everything  liring  culminates  in  man : 
the  inspiration  of  sutfering,  the  inspiration  of 
action,  and  the  inspiration  of  contemjilation ; 
man  is  the  image  of  God  as  regards  his  destiny. 
But  Christ  is  the  perfect,  the  glorified  man,  the 
God-man.  Now,  as  man  expands  his  fulness  in 
the  world,  so  does  the  God-man  in  the  gospel, 
the  element  of  the  world's  glorification  ;  and  aa 
the  riches  of  man  branch  out  in  the  world,  so  do 
those  of  Christ  in  the  Gospels.  It  was  a  far- 
reaching  thought,  when  Irenajus  referred  the 
peculiarity  of  the  four  Gospels  to  the  four  animal- 
forms  of  Ezekiel "  (Lange). 

12.  If,  in  accordance  with  the  representation 
given  in  the  introductory  remarks  to  ch.  i.  4-28, 
Ezekiel's  vision  of  glory,  with  its  universality 
preceding  tlie  particular  liistorical  application  in 
ch.  x.,  symbolizes  the  human  and  earthly  life  of 
creation, — in  its  peculiarity  as  well  with  reppect 
to  its  general  place  in  the  cosmos, — in  like  fulness 
of  power  as  of  unity  and  all-sidedness  of  move- 
ment (ver.  19  sqq.), — as  a  life  not  only  of 
heavenly  origin,  i.e.  from  the  beginning  divinely- 
established  (ver.  4),  but  also  completely  dejjen- 
dent  on  heaven  (ver.  22  sqq.),  and  after  the 
manner  of  the  heavenly  spirits,  hence  angel-like, 
always  ready  for  service, — for  purposes  of  judg- 
ment, but  also  of  mercy : — then  there  lies  therein 
every  possibility  of  a  passing  over  from  the  sphere 
of  the  merely  natural  in  creation  to  what  belongs 
to  the  history  of  the  world  in  the  preparatory  re- 
velation of  God's  glory  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  as 
well  as  in  its  fulfilment  and  completion  in  Christ 
among  mankind.  On  the  basis  of  this  truth,  the 
various  interpretations  of  the  vision  in  ch.  i. 
admit  of  being  harmonized. 

13.  "All  things  were,"  according  to  Col.  i.  16, 
"created  by  Him  and  for  Him,"  i.e.  Him  "who 
is  the  image  (likeness)  of  the  invisible  God,  the 
first-born  before  all  creation "  (ver.  15).  Now, 
the  vision  of  Ezekiel  culminates  in  a  "  likeness 
(image)  as  the  appearance  of  a  man  "  on  a  throm 
(ver.  26),  and  this  occupant  of  a  throne  is  uona 
other  than  Jehovah,  and  so  the  "  likeness  as  thr 
appearance  of  a  man  "  must  be  the  "image  of  tlie 
invisible  God,"  according  to  Col.  i.  As  the  life 
of  creation,  in  accordance  with  its  origin,  appears 
at  its  highest  point  in  man,   whom   God  hai 


36 


EZEKIEL. 


created  in  His  owu  image,  after  His  own  like- 
ness, and  therefore  tlieie  is  the  "likeness  of  a 
man "  in  the  four  living  creatu'es  (ver.  5)  :  so 
much  more  in  accordance  with  its  goal,  as  regards 
the  destiny  of  its  life  and  the  goal  of  its  develop- 
ment, everything  which  exists  in  anj'  stage  of  life 
up  to  the  highest  of  the  invisible  world  culminates 
in  the  Son  of  man,  who  is  the  essential  image  of 
God,  so  that  whoever  sees  Him  sees  God ;  hence 
the  "  likeness  as  the  appearance  of  a  man  "  upon 
the  throne.  The  culmination  of  the  vision  of 
Ezekicl  is  thus  the  culmination  of  the  whole 
creation  in  the  Son  of  man,  who  is  the  Son  of 
God  ;  and  in  this  way  there  lies  expressed  in  the 
sphere  of  creation  the  very  same  thing  which  will 
also  come  to  be  expressed  for  the  recovery  from 
the  fall  and  from  the  misdevelopment  in  man- 
kind, for  the  redemption,  so  that  grace  already 
lies  before  us  in  nature  archetypally.  This  is  the 
grand  all-embracing  universalism  of  ch.  i.  The 
consecration  alike  of  Israel  and  of  mankind  to 
God  is  the  Christian  provision,  viz.  that  which  is 
accomplished  in  Christ ;  is  the  glorifying  of  Christ 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  (John  xvi.  14),  i.e.  the  revela- 
tion of  the  power  and  dignity,  the  significance 
(1133,  ^er.  28)  which  Christ  has  as  the  redection 
«if  the  Father's  glory,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
revelation  in  power  and  splendour  of  His  victory 
over  sin  and  death. 

14.  The  glory  ol  God,  as  the  effulgent  almighti- 
ness  of  divine  life,  must  certainly  show  itself 
"  in  the  warding  off  and  annihilation  of  death, 
of  transitoriness  and  of  corruption,"  for  which 
Nitzsch  points  away  to  "the  glorification  of 
Christ  and  of  Christians  in  the  resurrection  (John 
xvii.  22  ;  Kom.  vi.  4,  viii.  11,  30;  1  Pet.  iv.  14)." 

15.  According  to  the  interpretation  in  John 
xii.  41  of  Isa.  vi.,  it  may  be  said  also  in  reference 
to  Ezek.  i.,  that  "the  name  of  Jesus"  is  "the 
secret  of  Jehovah's  name  become  manifest " 
(Delitzsch).  The  divine  glory  (1)  is  symbolized 
in  the  Old  Covenant,  and  that  partly  in  outwardly 
visible  phenomena,  e.g.  the  cloud-guide,  the  signs 
on  Sinai,  partly  in  such  ornaments  connected 
with  divine  worship  as  the  cherubim  above  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  in  the  most  hoi}-  place  of  the 
tabernacle  and  the  temple  ;  and  (2)  it  is  personified 
with  full  powers  in  the  manifold  angelophanies, 
from  which  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  of  the  Pre- 
sence, of  the  Covenant,  is  separated  in  important 
respects  ;  (3)  just  as  in  like  manner  in  the  Old 
Testament  representation  of  wisdom  there  begins, 
especially  in  what  the  prophets  see  in  vision,  a 
hypostatizing  of  the  glory  of  God,  which  is  already, 
in  a  manner  full  of  promise,  hinting  at  the  in- 
carnation of  the  Word  i^iycs),  in  whom  the  ab- 
stract principle  of  wisdom  and  the  spiritually 
living  element  in  the  expression  of  revelation  are 
combined  in  one.  (Comp.  Lange  on  John  i.) 
"In  Christ  the  Shechinah  has  appeared  in  full 
realization."  "The  Logos,  when  on  the  way  to 
become  man,  is  one  with  the  ii^x  of  the  Father. " 
This  means  more  exactly,  according  to  Heb.  i.  3  : 
He  reflects  the  rays  of  the  divine  5o|« :  He  is  its 
refulgence  and  efltulgence,  in  the  same  way  as  the 
sunlight  is  related  to  the  sun. 

16.  We  have  given  prominence  at  ver.  28  to 
the  ovcrjMJWering  element  in  the  effect  of  the 
vision  upon  Ezekiel,  and  also  (/)  emphasized  the 
predominance  of  the  divine  factor  m  the  state  of 
our  prophet.  We  shall  have  occasion  to  complete 
what  bas  be«u  said  in  ch.  ii.     But  here  even,  as 


Hengst.  has  brought  out  fully  (Ge.fch.  D'd.  p.  141), 
the  distinction  between  a  prophet  like  Ezekiel 
and  a  Balaam,  a  Saul  and  the  like,  is  to  be  main- 
tained. "  Inspiration  assumed  a  character  so 
violent,  casting  soul  and  body  to  the  ground, 
only  where  it  found  beforehand  an  imperfect 
state."  The  more  it  can  be  taken  for  granted 
that  "  the  ordinary  consciousness  is  penetrated 
by  the  Spirit,"  the  more  "does  the  Spirit  in  the 
case  of  His  extraordinary  manifestations  come 
into  His  own."  We  would  otherwise  have  to 
expect  the  falling  down  of  Ezekiel  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  chapter  (comp.  Num.  xxiv.  4). 
At  the  close  of  the  vision  it  is  not  explained  from 
the  divine  power  of  the  Spirit  qualifying  the  seer 
beforehand  for  seeing,  but  from  what  is  seen  in 
its  own  significance,  its  own  importance,  espe- 
cially over  against  human  sinfulness.  It  is  an 
embodied  Kurie  eleison. 

HOMILF.TIC   HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  The  important  "  and  "  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture :  (1)  the  catena  of  prophets  and  men  of 
God  ;  (2)  the  coincidence  of  times  and  occur- 
rences ;  (3)  the  nexus  of  the  divine  leadings  of 
Israel  and  of  mankind. — "Pious  people  do  not 
live  thoughtlessly,  like  the  ungodly,  but  mark 
closely  days,  months,  and  years  in  which  special 
grace  was  shovm  them  by  God"  (J.  G.  Stahke).^ 
"  With  enemies  even  the  pious  find  an  asylum  ; 
Joseph  with  the  Egyptians,  David  with  the 
Philistines,  Ezekiel  with  the  Chaldeans.  Who- 
ever has  God  for  his  friend,  remains  alive  among 
the  lions,  keeps  a  whole  skin  in  the  fiery  furnace, 
and  will  be  quite  safe  among  whatever  enemies 
he  may  be"  (J.  F.  Starcke). — "As  Ezekiel  is  in 
the  midst  of  them,  one  might  say  that  in  general 
judgments  the  pious  also  are  taken  along  with 
others,  and  have  to  endure  the  like  sufferings,  as 
if  there  were  no  difference  between  the  one  and 
the  other  (Mai.  iii.  18)  ;  but  God  preserves  them 
in  the  midst  of  the  flames  ;  where  the  ungodly 
perish,  the  pious  are  kept  safe  ;  where  it  goes  ill 
with  the  former,  it  goes  well  with  the  latter  ;  and 
even  if  the  body  should  be  laid  hold  of,  yet  not 
the  soul,  which  is  bound  up  in  the  bundle  of  the 
living"  (Stck.). — For  intercourse  with  God,  lonely 
retired  places  are  the  most  suitable  ;  here  the 
ricer,  there  the  wilderness  (Hos.  ii.  14,  16),  else- 
where the  closet.  Matt.  vi.  6  (after  Stck.).  —  "If 
the  heavens  are  opened  to  us  in  baptism,  be  on 
thy  guard,  that  they  be  not  shut  to  thee  because 
of  thy  sins  !  The  pious  man,  when  he  dies,  will 
find  the  heavens  opened  ;  the  ungodly  will  find 
hell  open"  (Stck.). — "'Visions  of  God':  for  Satan 
also  has  visions,  by  means  of  which  he  bewitches 
unbelievers"  (L.  Lavater). — "We  are  not,  how- 
ever, on  this  account  to  expect  and  demand  from 
God  divine  visions,  when  we  have  Mosi-s  and  the 
prophets  (Luke  xvi.).  It  is  certainly  not  impos- 
sible for  God  to  unveil  to  us  the  future,  and  to 
reveal  His  will  by  means  of  vision."^ ;  but  under 
the  New  Covenant  He  has  not  promised  such 
things"  (Stck.). — "The  Lord  stooped  to  him, 
and  his  spirit  was  caught  up  to  see  God " 
(Schmieder). — "  Those  -whom  God  calls  to  the 
office  of  teaching  and  preaching.  He  furnishes 
also  with  necessary  gifts.     Luke  xxi.  16"  (0.). 

Ver.  2.  "The  lie  has  a  bad  memory;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  truth  remains  true  to  itself" 
(Stck.).— /eAoi«c7nn'«  list  of  sins  stand*  recordrd 


CHAP.  I.  4-8. 


67 


ehortly  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  9.  Moreover,  he  was 
not  so  much  taken  prisoner ;  it  was  rather  that 
he  gave  himself  up  as  a  prisoner,  ver.  12.  Ver.  3  ; 
' '  Ezekiel  does  not  bring  forward  his  dreams  or 
imaginations,  but  according  to  2  Pet.  i.  21, 
God  s  revelation  "  (L.  L.iV. ). — To  the  servants  of 
God  the  word  of  God  is  entrusted  for  those  who 
«re  to  hear  them.  How  could  they  otherwise 
raise  such  a  claim  to  be  heard  in  all  the  situations 
of  life  !  ?  Woe  to  the  unfaithful  stewards  I  Woe 
to  the  disobedient  hearers  ! — What  a  reto  against 
all  pride,  self-will,  and  obstinacy,  ought  the  ser- 
vants of  the  word  ;o  liave  in  that  very  word, 
whose  servants  merely  and  not  masters  they  are  ! 
(Ps.  cxv.  1. ) — "The  son  of  Buzi,  i.e.  contempt, 
is  Ezekiel,  i.e.  God's  strength  ;  in  other  words, 
the  man  whom  the  world  contemns,  that  very 
one  God  strengthens"  (a  Lapide). — "Humility 
adorns  every  one,  but  most  of  all  the  teacher, 
John  i.  27  "  (St.). — The  guidance  of  a  servant  of 
God  among  men  consists  of  two  parts  :  (1)  God's 
word;  (2)  God's  hand. — The  goodness  of  God 
shown  in  the  leading  of  His  servants  :  (1)  He 
compensates  them  richly  for  what  they  were  ob- 
liged to  sacrifice  (Ezekiel  for  his  hereditary  priest- 
hood, by  means  of  the  prophetic  office  derived 
from  the  Spirit)  ;  (2)  His  power  is  mighty  in 
their  misery  (Ezekiel's  home  in  God  while  in  a 
state  of  exile  from  his  native  land,  his  divine 
freedom  while  led  captive  by  man)  ;  (3)  He  fills 
their  solitude  with  the  glorious  knowledge  of 
Himself;  {i)  the  heavens  are  opened  to  them 
above  the  earth,  so  that  they  see  God  instead 
of  men. 

Ver.  4  sqq.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  (1)  present 
in  nature,  (2)  proclaimed  in  the  word,  (3)  experi- 
enced in  faith.  — Ver.  4  :  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
Jehovah  do  not  exclude  one  another  ;  the  former 
is  merely  the  servant,  and  the  latter  tlie  Master. 
The  king  of  Babylon  must  perform  what  he  has 
been  sent  to  by  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth 
(Deut.  xxxii.  30). — "With  the  one  word  Storm! 
the  prophet  places  himself  in  rugged  opposition 
to  the  false  prophets,  who  with  one  mouth  pro- 
claimed serene  tranquillity  (Matt.  viii.  26)" 
(Hengst.). — The  storm  which  makes  a  clearance 
among  the  imaginations  of  the  ilesh  is  God's 
judgments,  alike  upon  individuals  and  upon 
whole  nations.  —  "The  ungodly  are  like  the 
storm,  but  God's  storm  outstorins  them  "  (Stck.  ). 
— "  Out  of  the  north,  not  towards  the  north. 
The  judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God  " 
(H.). — "  If  they  have  become  like  the  Egyptians 
in  their  practices,  they  need  not  wonder  if  an 
Egyptian  fate  also  befalls  them.  They  have  not, 
in  fact,  wished  it  otherwise"  (H.). — "The  cloud 
of  sins  draws  toward  it  the  cloud  of  punishments" 
(Stck.). — "Behold,  the  Judge  standeth  before 
the  door  !"  Jas.  v.  9. — "Fire  consumed  Sodom  ; 
fire  consumed  the  tent  with  the  rebels  in  Israel ; 
everlasting  fire  is  sure  to  the  ungodly"  (Stck.). 
— "  From  this  flows  of  itself  the  exhortation  to 
repentance,  in  order  that  the  sun  may  appear 
after  the  cloud"  (H.). — "The  contrast  of  the 
false  prophets  and  of  the  true  is  not  that  of  sal- 
Tation  and  judgment,  but  that  of  salvation 
without  punishment  and  without  repentance, 
and  of  salvation  which  after  judgment  falls  to 
tte  lot  of  the  penitent  people, — of  mere  gospel, 
crying.  Peace,  pea le,  when  there  is  no  peace, 
and  of  the  law  and  the  gospel,  each  in  its  own 
time.     A  prophet  who  proclaimed  only  punish- 


ment would  be  no  less  a  false  prophet  than  one 
who  holds  out  in  prospect  nothing  but  peace. 
Law  and  gospel,  each  in  its  entire  fulness, — this 
is  even  to  the  present  day  the  characteristic 
mark  of  the  true  servants  of  God  "  (H.). — "  Qua 
putatur  poena,  medicina  est"  (Jerome).  —  "As 
fiery  rays  shoot  forth  from  the  thick  clouds,  so 
in  the  midst  of  His  judgments  God  causes  a  ray 
of  His  mercy  to  be  seen  "  (St.). — "The  brightness 
gleams  only  out  of  the  far  distance.  But  Exod. 
xxxiv.  y  must  stand  before  our  eyes,  if  the  sufl'er- 
iug  called  forth  by  sin  is  to  bring  forth  the 
healthful  fruit  of  righteousness  "  (H.). 

Ver.  5  sqq.  "  He  who  appears  for  judgment  is 
the  Almighty,  whom  everything  living  serves 
(just  as  everything  can  also  be  quickened  into 
life  for  His  purposes,  the  wheels  !)  ;  who  is  there 
that  can  pluck  out  of  His  hand  ?"  (after  H.).^ — 
The  four  living  creatures,  four  living  pictures  of 
suitable  instruments  for  God  :  (1)  from  the  fire, 
i.e.  zeal  for  God,  all  their  acting  as  well  as  speak- 
ing must  proceed  ;  (2)  they  have,  a.  to  confront 
the  whole  world  ;  b.  nevertheless,  they  may  rise 
with  confidence  above  the  whole  world  on  wings 
of  prayer  and  meditation  ;  (3)  at  the  same  time, 
a.  they  stand  firm,  sure,  and  stedfast,  wliile 
everything  around  them  reels  to  and  fro  ;  b.  and 
their  walk  shines  in  the  darkness  of  this  world 
in  a  worthy,  pure,  divine  manner. — The  nuin- 
ber  four  in  Ezekiel  in  its  significance  for  the 
mission  and  the  missionary  call  of  the  Church  of 
God. 

Ver.  5.  "  Preachers  have  the  likeness  of  a  man, 
inasmuch  as  they  imitate  Christ  in  work,  grace, 
suffering,  and  glory.  They  stamp  in  this  way 
the  Crucified  One  in  the  hearts  of  their  hearers, 
1  Cor.  i.  23,  ii.  2  "  (Gregory).— Ver.  6  :  "  Simi- 
larly a  believing  soul  also  wishes  for  itself  icings 
in  His  service,  and  four,  yea,  a  thousand  tongues, 
wherewith  to  praise  Him"  (Beul.  B. ). — Ver.  7: 
"  Like  pillars,  honest  servants  of  God  and  true 
believers  ought  to  stand  straight  and  erect  in  tlie 
house  of  God,  and  not  suffer  themselves  to  be 
bent  after  the  will  of  men,  nor  to  be  corru))ted 
through  their  own  lusts,  so  as  to  get  crooked 
feet"  (Berl.  B. ). — The  world  ought  to  be  per- 
mitted to  look  at  our/ee<  also,  and  to  praise  our 
Father  in  heaven.  Matt.  v.  16. — "  We  are  in  the 
world,  but  we  ought  not  to  be  of  the  world," 
John  xvii.  16.  —  "It  is  the  fire  of  the  divine 
Spirit  that  is  meant,  or  love  in  our  conduct,  as 
it  shines  or  becomes  manifest  to  men's  con- 
sciences" (Cocc). 

Ver.  8.  "Hands  and  wings  are  together,  just 
as  we  should  not  fail  in  carrying  out  our  pious 
thoughts  also"  (after  Scbiver).  —  "The  hands 
covered  with  the  wings  ought  to  teach  thee 
humility  ;  as  Jerome  says  :  Conceal  thy  hands 
where  God  has  helped  thee,  and  say.  The  Lord 
has  done  it;  His  name  be  praised  I  but  not  thy 
industry,  tliy  wisdom,  thy  labour,  thy  care,  and 
the  like"  (Stck.).  —  "Wherever  and  to  whatever 
God  calls  thee,  have  not  merely  thy  hands  ready, 
but  also  thy  heart  ;  let  that  say  :  Thy  will,  0 
God,  I  gladly  do  !  and  thy  mouth  also  for  praise, 
and  thy  ear  also,  to  hear  and  to  hearken  "  (Stck.  ). 
— "The  hand  under  the  wing;  see  the  hidden 
manner  of  acting  of  the  Most  High"(L.  Lav.). — 
"  The  power  of  work  under  the  wing  of  contem- 
plation, Martha  under  Mary"  (Gregory). — Ver. 
9  :  "  United  power  is  stronger.  With  laings  united 
iu  prayer,  and  stretched  out  for  unwearied  labour, 


58 


EZEKIEL. 


we  may  hope  for  good  success  in  all  things  " 
(SrcK.). — "  Through  harmony,  even  small  things 
gi'ow,  whUe  the  gieatest  even  fade  away  through 
discord.  Where  there  is  one  heart  and  07ie  soul, 
there  is  God  Himself  and  His  blessing,  Ps.cxxxiii.  ; 
Acts  iv.  32"(Stck.  ). — The  work  is  common  ;  let 
the  labour  be  the  same  ;  else  the  one  pulls  down 
what  the  other  builds  up. — Straight  forward,  a 
glorious  matter  also  with  servants  of  C4od  :  (1)  The 
man  who  turns  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God 
(Luke  ix.  62),  since  whatever  can  stop  or  un- 
necessarily hinder,  even  though  it  cannot  cause 
us  to  deviate,  is  behind  ;  (2)  that  to  which  God 
sends  and  has  called  us,  lies  wholly  and  always 
before  us,  and  the  way  is  narrow.  Towards  this 
let  the  eagle's  wing,  the  lion's  courage,  the  ox's 
strength,  the  man's  spirit,  strive  with  all  their 
powers!  (Phil.  iii.  14.) — Ver.  11:  "The  wings 
portray  the  faith  which  lifts  us  up  to  Christ ;  anil 
therewith  we  also  cover  all  our  own  worthiness, 
wisdom,  strength,  righteousness ;  for  he  who  is 
righteous  by  faith  is  so  as  being  an  unrighteous 
and  condemned  man"  (Cocc). — "So  also  the 
Saviour  sent  forth  the  disciples  two  by  two  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  concord  and  humility " 
(B.  B.). 

Ver.  12  sqq.  "The  creature  in  itself  cannot 
and  ought  not  to  be  the  object  of  love,  of  trust, 
and  of  fear"  (H.). — As  the  Spirit  impels  those 
who  serve  God,  so  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God  has 
the  sway  over  them,  and  the  outcome  is  pure  life 
and  motion. — Ver.  13  :  Of  Basil  it  is  said  that 
his  speech  was  thunder,  his  life  lightning. — 
Ver.  14  :  "The  pious  soul  never  has  rest ;  it  has 
always  something  to  contend  with.  Believers 
strive  vehemently  after  what  is  heavenly,  and 
return  to  God,  while  they  ascribe  all  the  honour 
of  their  works  to  Him "  (Geegorv). — "  The 
Church  is  continually  in  motion  in  the  world. 
She  has  no  fixed  place,  like  Israel  in  Canaan  ; 
and  wherever  she  is,  she  will  move  forward.  If 
she  is  resisted,  so  much  the  more  powerfully  she 
breaks  through  the  opposition.  Wherever  she 
comes,  she  subdues  men  to  herself;  and  if  she  is 
driven  out,  she  returns  with  power"  (Cocc). 

Livinij  creatures  and  wheels  !  A  glimpse  into 
the  divine  government  upon  earth.  (1)  There  all 
is  life, — even  what  is  in  itself  without  life  becomes 
life, — while  in  the  case  of  man  everything  tends 
to* death  and  becomes  death.  (2)  'There  we  see 
incessant  movement  in  work,  directed  towards 
every  quarter  of  the  world,  and  to  God's  goal  as 
its  aim,  while  the  world  passes  away  with  its  lust 
as  well  as  with  its  works  in  judgment. 

Ver.  15  sqq.  "  The  word  of  God  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  wheel  (1)  because  of  its  circuit 
through  the  world  ;  (2)  because  of  its  unity  in 
all  quarters  of  the  world  ;  (3)  because  of  the 
Spirit  who  works  along  with  the  word  ;  (4)  be- 
cause of  the  glorious  perfections  of  the  word  " 
(Stck. ). — Ver.  16  :  "In  the  gospel  thou  findest 
the  brightness  of  eternal  truth,  the  light  of 
heavenly  doctrines,  in  manifold  play  of  colours" 
(Stck.).  —  "There  is,  however,  but  one  word,  one 
gospel,  alike  in  the  Old  and  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment :  the  same  in  paradise,  the  same  on  David's 
harp,  the  same  in  the  prophets  and  the  apostles, 
and  in  the  work  and  word  of  Christ  Himself, 
Acts  XV  11  '"  (Stck.). — As  wheel  in  wheel,  so  the 
New  in  th;  Old  Testament  ("  Novum  in  V.  latet, 
Vetus  in  N.  patet."    Augtistine). 

Ver.   IS.    Starck  compares  the  height  of  the 


word  of  God  (Rom.  xi.  33),  and  the  fearfulnest 
of  its  earnestness  against  the  ungodly  ;  then, 
farther,  let  one  perceive  therein  the  eye  of  divine 
Providence,  the  gospel  which  is  all  eye  and  light, 
etc. — "These  are  Me  ej/e-s  which  watch  over  the 
Church"  (A  Lapide). — On  the  other  baud,  the 
world  pictures  to  itself  its  good  fortune  as  blind, 
in  fact,  its  love  also,  and  even  its  righteousness. 
— "  But  look  thou  what  thou  doest,  tliou  who 
wouldst  gladly  be  hidilen  from  God,  for  He  has 
very  many  eyes  in  His  invisible  instruments, 
which  thou  seest  not,  while  they  see  thee  well " 
(B.  B.). — Ver.  19:  "  This  is  no  chariot  which  rolls 
along  with  its  wheels  on  the  earth  meiely,  and 
these  are  no  animals  which  crawl  along  the  earth 
merely  ;  their  instinct  is  upwards,  and  thither 
they  point  our  way"  (B.  B.). 

Vers.  20,  21.  "Pious  teachers  and  preachers 
are  governed  and  impelled  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
0  happy  Churches,  which  have  such  teachers ! 
Acts  xviii.  5"  (St.). — "The  divine  care  also 
accompanies  godly  men  everywhere,  and  follows 
them  step  by  step  in  all  their  undertakings  ;  it 
moves  and  governs  them,  and  does  not  leave  them 
for  an  instant.  Therefore  also  they  do  not  move 
except  under  the  impulse  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
which  they  give  heed.  They  are  ordered  and  re- 
gulated in  all  things  according  to  the  will  of 
God"  (B.  B.).— Ver.  21:  "That  the  course  of 
the  gospel  is  sometimes  arrested  for  a  season, 
arises  from  the  decree  of  God"  (0.). 

Veh  22.  "The  heaven  or  the  heavens,  in  con- 
trast with  the  poor  earth  standing  in  the  singular, 
in  the  Old  Testament  is  throughout  the  most 
illustrious  proof  of  God's  gre.atness  (Ps.  xix.); 
aud  the  God  of  heaven  is  frequently  called,  in 
order  to  denote  His  omnipotence,  the  God  of 
hosts,  of  the  powers  of  heaven"  (H.). — "The 
heaven  is  everywhere  above  us,  in  order  that  we 
may  seek  what  is  above,  since  as  yet  we  have  not 
full  possession"  (Stck.). — "The  terrible  crystal 
reminds  us  that  nothing  unclean  enters  the  new 
Jerusalem"  (Stck.). — "The  throne  of  grace  is 
founded  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  Ps. 
Ixxxix.  14,  xcvii.  2,  of  which  this  crystal  foun- 
dation may  be  an  emblem"  (B.  B.). — Ver.  23  : 
"Faith  unites  the  Church  militant  to  the  Church 
triumphant,  and  to  the  throne  of  God  "  (Cocc). — 
"The  natural  man,  full  of  self-love  and  self-com- 
placency, has  neither  wings  for  flying  nor  fo> 
covering  himself,  and  is  on  that  very  account, 
with  all  liis  imagined  riches,  miserable  and  poor, 
naked  and  bare"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  24:  "Like  the 
noise  of  tlte  wings  is  the  uproar  which  God's  word 
occasions.  So  was  it  in  the  time  of  the  apostles  " 
(Stck.). — "  By  which  some  understand  the  prayer 
and  the  ardour  of  spirit  in  the  Church  militant, 
— movements,  however,  which  in  the  world  also 
awaken  a  noise  and  alarm"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  25: 
"The  voice  in  heaven  is  the  voice  and  authority 
of  the  King,  of  Christ,  by  which  He  holds  tha 
nations  in  allegiance,  so  that  they  dare  not  in- 
opportunely disturb  His  Church,  Song  viii.  4 " 
(Cocc). — Ver.  26:  "He  sat  upon  the  throne; 
for  the  Lord  and  Judge  of  all  is  of  tranquil  mind, 
— is  not,  like  men,  disturbed  by  passions.  Above 
all.  He  who  moves  all,  Himself  unmoved  "  (B.  B.). 
—Ver.  27  :  "As  in  2  Thess.  i.  8,  9,  Christ  is  re- 
vealed in  fire  against  the  despisers  of  the  gospel, 
so  the  fire  here  is  directed  against  the  despisers 
of  the  law"  (H.). — Ver.  28  :  "However  severe 
God's  judgments  are,  yet  He  does  not  forget  Hif 


CHAP.  II.  1-in.  11. 


59 


ccreiiant. " — "After  the  storm  tlie  sun  shines, 
after  tilt'  rain  follows  the  rainbow,  after  the  cross 
the  rest,  after  the  tears  the  joy.  Such  is  the 
vicissitude  in  this  world;  constant  felicity  is  re- 
served for  the  world  to  come"  (Stck. ). — Without 
judgment  no  grace. — "This  was  at  the  same 
time  a  foreshadowing  of  the  glorious  appearing 
of  Christ  in  tlie  tiesh  with  His  kingdom,  1  Tim. 
iii.  16  "(B.  B. ). — The  glorious  throne-chariot  of 
Jehovah  :  (1)  its  nature  :  cloud,  living  creatures, 
wheels,  throne  ;  (2)  its  meaning  :  in  the  kingdom 
ot  nature,  for  the  kingdom  of  gi-ace  ;  (3)  its  object : 
judgment  and  salvation. — "  How  glorious  is  the 
fatherland  of  the  childien  of  God !  Little  hare 
tlie  prophets  seen  of  it  in  vision  ;  but  we  are  to 


'have  it  all  face  to  face"  (after  Richter). — Just 
when  Israel's  glory  was  about  to  disajipear  nndei 
Babylon,  then  Jehovah  reveals  His  glory  in 
Babylon. — "Let  us  learn,  if  we  w'ish  to  be  apt 
hearers  of  the  divine  word,  to  put  no  trust  in  oui 
own  powers,  but  humbly  submitting  ourselves  to 
God.  to  hang  on  His  lips,  and  to  look  to  Him  " 
(L.  Lav.). — "  In  the  sinner  there  is  no  ability  tc 
stand  before  God  and  before  His  light  and  glory, 
unless  he  is  enabled  to  do  so  by  the  Spirit  ol 
God  "  (Cocc). — So  also  the  gloi-ij  of  Jesus  Chris! 
which  appeared  to  Paul,  when  in  fulness  of  love 
the  question  was  put  to  him  :  Why  persecutest 
thou  me  ?  threw-  him  to  the  ground.  Yes ;  it  is 
grace  that  does  it  most  of  all. 


2.  The  Divine  Comsiission  to  the  Prophet  (Ch.  ii.  1-ni.  11). 

Ch.  II.  1.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  stand  upon  thy  feet,  and  I  will  speak 

2  with  thee.     And  the  spirit  entered  into  me  as  He  spake  unto  me,  and  set  me 

3  upon  my  feet,  and  I  heard  Him  that  spake  unto  me.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Son 
of  man,  I  send  thee  to  the  sons  of  Israel,  to  heathens,  the  rebels,  who  rebelled 
against  me.     They  and  their  fathers  have  been  revolters  from  me  down  to  this 

4  very  day.  And  the  sons!  stiff  of  face  and  hard  of  heart  are  they,  I  do  send  thee 
unto  them  [ver.  s];  and  thou  sayest  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

5  And  they,  whether  they  hear  or  whether  they  forbear, — for  they  are  a  house  ot 

6  rebelliousness, — know  then  that  a  prophet  was  in  their  midst.  And  thou,  son  ol 
man,  thou  art  not  to  be  afraid  of  them,  neither  of  their  words  art  thou  to  be 
afraid;  for  [although]  prickles  and  thorns  are  with  thee,  and  thou  art  dweUing 
among  scorpions,  of  their  words  thou  art  not  to  be  afraid,  and  at  their  face  thou 

7  art  not  to  be  terrified,  for  they  are  a  house  of  rebelliou.sness.  And  thou  speakest 
my  words  unto  them,  whether  they  hear  or  whether  they  forliear;  for  tliej-  are 

8  rebelliousness.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  hear  what  I  say  unto  thee:  Thou  must 
not  be  rebelliousness,  like  the  house  of  rebelliousness.     Open  thy  mouth,  and  eat 

9  what  I  give  unto  thee.     And  I  saw,  and  behold,  an  hand  sent  [stretched]  unto  me; 
10  and  behold,  in  it  a  book-roll.     And  He  spread  it  out  before  me;  and  it  was 

written  within  and  without,  and  on  it  were  written  lamentations,  and  groaning, 
and  woe. 
Ch.  III.  1.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  that  which  thou  shalt  find  eat;  eat 

2  this  roll,  and  go,  speak  unto  the  house  of  Israel.     And  I  opened  my  mouth,  and 

3  He  caused  me  to  eat  this  roll.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  thy  belly 
shalt  thou  cause  to  eat,  and  thy  bowels  shalt  thou  fill  with  this  roll  which  I  give 

4  thee.  And  I  did  eat;  and  it  became  in  my  mouth  as  honey  for  sweetness.  And 
He  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  go,  get  thee  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  and  thou 

5  speakest  in  my  words  unto  them.     For  not  to  a  people  obscure  of  lip  and  difficult 

6  of  tongue  art  thou  sent, — to  the  house  of  Israel.  Not  to  many  nations  obscure 
of  lip  and  difficult  of  tongue,  whose  words  thou  canst  not  hear  [undeistandcst  nm], — 

7  although  I  have  not  sent  thee  to  them,  they  would  hearken  unto  thee.  Yet  the 
house  of  Israel,  they  will  not  be  willing  to  hearken  unto  thee,  for  they  are  not 
willing  to  hearken  unto  me ;  for  all  the  house  of  Israel,  hard  of  forehead  and  stifl 

8  of  heart  are  they.     Behold,  I  have  made  thy  face  hard  against  their  face,  and  thy 

9  forehead  hard  against  their  forehead.  As  an  adamant  harder  than  stone  have  I 
made  thy  forehead:  thou  shalt  not  fear  them,  and  thou  shalt  not  be  terrified  at 

1 0  their  face,  for  they  are  a  house  of  rebelliousness.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Son  ol 
man,  all  my  words  that  I  shall  speak  unto  thee,  receive  in  thine  heart  and  hear 

11  in  thine  ears.  And  go,  get  thee  to  the  captivity,  to  the  children  of  thy  jieopla, 
and  thou  speakest  unto  them,  and  sayest  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Ik>I!3 
Jehovah,  whether  they  hear  or  whether  they  forbear. 

Ch.  iL  Ver.    2.  Sept. :  ...  it'  »^  rttw/jM  x.  ct.n\a^u  im  x.  i^yttptu  fju  x.  irTnn   fu — 
Ver.    8.  .  .  .   T,  i'lxn  T.  ^\ffe.  rwji  ^ecpe^irixfiautnTai  iMt  otTitH — 
Ver.    6   .  ,  .  ^  wnfriBat^itt  iivri — 


fiC 


EZEKIEL. 


Ch,   ii.  Ver.    6.  ,  ,  ,  f^it  ixerrriS  otfTO  Tpovittvu  nlrtn,  Zieri  xttpotrrpriretjfftv  X.  iTmr-Fyttratrctt  («i  rl  xvxAfc— 
Ver.    7.  Anoth.  read. :  'HD  n'3  (Sepr.,  Syr.,  Arab.,  Chald.:  DJ?)- 
Ver.  10.   .  .   .  ytypttpcfjuva.  ij*  rat  oiriffStr  x.  rcc  ifjivpcffBin — 

Cfc.  iii.  Ver.    1.  .  .  .  avSpwov,  xetra^cfyt  T.  xtt^et^iix  .  .  ,  vloti'lffp.     (Anotb.  read.;  ''33,  Vulg.,  Syi.,  ^ab.) 
Ver.    2.  K.  iinvoiit^. 

Ver.    3.  ...  TO  iTTo^jjx,  j-cu  ^etyiTuA  X.  n  xoikix.  .  .  .  Tr,;  Si5tf/wy»)f  us  «...  fuXi  yXvxetZo*. 
Ver.    5.  .   .  .  ^x6v^tiXoy  X.  .  .  .  ffv  e§«Tao'TiAA*i  T/>of  t.  «Ix. 

Ver.    6.  .  .  .  otXKoyKOKrroui  eZiit  ffTi^oLpous  ttj  yXva-rf)  curxi  .  .  .  «.  £i  !r/)«  TOiowTowf   .  .  .   ri/Tfli  ccv  ciVi)xwr«*  m 
Ver.    7.  .  .   .  ^iAoy£ixoj  £jV»v  X. — 

Ver.     9.  K.  icrcci,  hi^tTtorss  xpterxicTipov  jtirpats  .  .  .  fjttiil  xrtvStls  tL^c — 
Ver.  10.  .  .  .  oui  XlXaXvxx  fUTtc  rev — 
Ver.  11.  .  .   .   ietv  aox  ivSa/irit. 


EXEGETICAL  BEMARKR. 

In  accordance  with  the  character  of  the  vision 
of  ch.  i.  as  discussed  at  p.  31,  the  installation  of 
EkfJciel  to  his  sphere  of  labour  must  now  take 
place,  the  vision  must  be  realised  as  a  mission 
(first  of  all  in  words).  But  before  the  mission 
comes  to  be  expressed  in  words  (it  is  said,  tirst  of 
all,  merely,  ver.  1,  and  I  will  speak  with  thee), 
the  prophet  is  restored,  so  to  speak,  physically, 
i.e.  as  regards  mind  aud  body,  to  the  status  quo. 

Vers.  1,  2. — The  Divine  Raising  up  of  Ezekiel 
in  order  to  the  Divine  Commission. 

Ver.  1.  And  He  spake.  The  "  voice  of  one 
that  spake "  (ch.  i.  28,  conip.  ver.  25)  must  be 
that  of  Him  who  sits  upon  the  throne  (ver.  26). — 
mX"p,  ™""  "/  men.  By  this  expression  Ezekiel 
is  immediately  contrasted  with  Him  who  is  speak- 
ing to  him ;  for  of  Him  it  is  said  at  ch.  i.  26 : 
"  tlie  likeness  as  the  appeurance  of  a  man." 
Jehovah  merely  appeared  "as  a  man,"  Ezekiel 
is  a  son  of  man.  (Cocc.  certainly  ^  mi  frater, 
Ps.  xxii.  22;  Heb.  ii.  11,  12. )  Hence  the  view 
that  this  form  of  address  is  meant  to  distinguish 
him  from  the  angels — apart  from  such  a  concep- 
tion of  the  chajoth  in  ch.  i. — says  too  little.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  would  increase  the  distinction 
so  as  to  produce  a  conflict  with  the  raising  up  of 
the  prophet  which  follows,  if  a  humbling  of  him 
were  meant  to  be  signified  by  this  expression 
(Raschi), — in  order  that  he  may  not  after  such 
visions  exalt  himself  as  being  only  a  man  (2  Cor. 
xii.  7).  It  is  perhaps  meant  to  be  said  at  the 
commencement, — but  even  more  for  those  who 
have  to  hear  him  than  for  Ezekiel  himself;  and 
on  this  account  it  becomes  a  stereotyped  (Haver.  : 
more  than  80  times)  form  of  address  to  the  pro- 
l)het, — that  he  would  not  to  be  able  to  give  such 
revelations  from  himself  (comp.  Introd.  §  7). 
But  this  man  of  men  is  called :  one  whom  God 
strengthens  (comp.  Introd.  §  1).  His  legitima- 
tion for  the  Churcli  lies  as  much  in  the  one  as  in 
the  other;  in  other  words,  in  both  together  (1 
Cor.  XV.  10).  The  expression  son  of  man  is 
meant  to  say  to  Israel;  "Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah." — As  regards  the  divine  raising  up  of 
Ezekiel  which  is  intended,  his  falling  down  comes, 
first  of  all,  to  be  considered :  stand  upon  thy  feet. 
This  human  element,  which  has  come  to  be  ex- 
pressed, is  established  by  the  form  of  address  on 
the  part  of  Jehovah  ;  yet  without  the  design  of 
humbling  the  prophet  (e.g.  as  the  Jews  say,  be- 
cause driven  out  of  Jerusalem,  like  Adam  out  of 
Eden !),  rather  with  compassionate  cnndescen- 
eion  (ob  fiXaytpu^lxr — PoLANUs),  a  divine  ecce 
homo.  Then,  farther,  it  corresponds  with  the 
Btereotyping  of  this  form  of  address  to  Ezekiel, 
and  also  with  an  exaltation  of  him,  as  respects 
hii  prophetic  mission,  when  it  is  remenjbered  in 


connection  therewith  that  the  vision  of  eh.  i., 
with  all  its  direct  and  special  applicability  t* 
Israel  of  that  time,  had  a  general  human  charac- 
ter, and  a  horizon  embracing  the  whole  world ; 
the  likeness  of  a  man  predominated  in  the  chajoth, 
the  likeness  as  the  appearance  of  a  man  was  the 
description  of  Him  who  sat  on  the  throne,  the 
number  four  had  the  sway  numerically  over  the 
whole.  With  this  distinction  from  ch.  ix.,  x.,  the 
mission  of  Ezekiel  takes  place,  who  at  the  same 
time  is  addressed  as  "son  of  man,"  as  prophet 
not  merely  of  Israel,  but  of  mankind  generally. 
[RosENM. :  pro  simplici  mx  homo.      Havern.  : 

a  standing  humiliation,  corresponding  with  the 
time  of  the  exile,  and  the  strong,  powerful  nature 
of  Ezekiel,  and  at  the  same  time,  a  lesson  for  his 
hearers  to  look  quite  away  from  man.  Hengst.  ; 
the  form  of  address  admits  what  lies  before  the 
eyes  in  looking  at  the  frivolous  objections  of  the 
multitude.  Hitzig:  a  self-reflection  of  the  pro- 
phet as  to  the  distance  between  God  and  him. 
Klief.  :  because  God  speaks  with  him  as  man  to 
man,  as  a  man  talks  with  his  friend.  Keil  :  the 
weakness  and  frailty  of  man,  in  contrast  with 
God,  which  appears  the  more  prominent  in  the 
case  of  Ezekiel,  through  the  preponderance  of 
vision,  for  the  people  as  for  him  a  sign  of  the 
power  of  God  in  weakness,  who  can  raise  Israel 
even  up  again,  miserable  as  she  is  among  the 
heathen.  Umbr.  :  "  The  call  of  giace  out  of  the 
mouth  of  Him  who  by  the  sight  of  His  glory 
has  cast  man  to  the  ground  in  the  consciousness 
of  his  sin."] — Ezekiel  is  to  rise  to  his  feet  (comp. 
Dan.  viii.  18;  Matt.  xvii.  7;  Actsxxvi.  16  ;  E.xod. 
xxxiii.  21),  primarily,  a  corporeal  lifting  up  of 
the  prophet,  in  order,  however,  that  God  may 
talk  xoith  him.     ■;]nN.  the  accusative  particle  niS 

for  the  prep.  nN  (Ew.,  Lehrb.  §  264 ;  Ges.  §  101). 
Comp.  ch.  iii.  22,  24,  27. 

Ver.  2.  For  the  divine  summon*'  the  divine 
preparation  is  not  wanting,  impoixant  for  all 
coming  time  (ch.  iii.  24 ;  comp.  Rev.  i.  17). 
nn,  coming  in  this  way,  by  means  of  God's  word, 

is  not  "the  consciousness,  the  thinking  power' 
of  the  prophet,  his  "animal  spirits"  (Hitzig), 
comp.  on  ch.  i.  28  ;  for  the  spirit  comes  into  him, 
does  not  so  much  return  to  him  (how  would  he 
have  been  able,  ch.  i.  28,  in  a  state  of  uncon- 
sciousness, to  hear  one  speaking?) ;  but  also  not 
the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  purpose  of  inspii-ation, 
but :  the  spirit  who  was  ajso  in  the  chajoth  and 
in  the  wheels,  ch.  i.  (Henostenberg)  ;  just  aa 
the  context  makes  us  think  of  that  first.  God 
gives  him  the  .spirit  to  set  him  on  his  feet,  but 
also  to  catch  His  words  ;  on  account  of  the  latter, 
this  divine  quickening  is  at  the  same  time  ex- 
pressed as  a  coming  of  the  "spirit"  into  him, 
it  is  a  quickening  of  mind  aud  body  coniointly 


CHAP.  II.  3-7. 


CI 


which  brings  about  the  transition  from  the  revela- 
tion in  vision  (riKIO)  '"  >he  revelation  by  word. 
(Havers.  :  the  Spirit  of  God,  partly  as  power 
that  overmasters,  seizes  him,  partly  as  that  vic- 
torious, divine  power — in  himself — of  genuine 
coui-age  and  noble  alac  "ity  in  his  calling  ?)  An 
interesting  parallel  in  1  Kings  x.  5.  — ")31D    (ch. 

xliii.   6)  =  -|arinD  partic.    Hithp.  ;  in  eh.  i.   28, 

1310  partic.   Piel.     Raschi  :   "  The  Shcchinah 

talked  within  itself  in  its  glory."     In  that  case, 

'^K=:o/"me.    ns  ^itli  tli^  participle=Him  who 

(EwALD,  Lehr.  p.  569  sqq.). 


Ver.  3-iii.  11. — The  Divine  Commission  to  the 
Prophet. 

Vers.  3-7.  What  Opposition  he  has  to  encounter 
from  his  Hearers,  as  well  as  the  Divine  Consola- 
tion thereanent. 

\'er.  3.  And  He  spake  unto  me — is  continually 
repeated  anew,  characteristically,  indicating  the 
momentary  character  of  the  divine  communica- 
tions.— The  mission  is  portrayed  after  the  manner 
of  the  address.  'J2.  for  which  the  LXX.  have  read 
n'3.  The  sons  (children)  of  Israel  in  general  are 
brought  down  to  the  level  of  Q'lj  (which  expression 
is  not  used  for  the  tribes  and  families,  nor  does 
it,  as  HiTZiG,  Klief.,  mean  merely  isolated  por- 
tions of  the  people), — 'ij  (from  ni3),  that  which 

is  brought  together,  like  iVys,-,  that  which  hangs 
together  by  means  of  ih;,  custom,  in  distinction 
from  Xxis — (comp.  Hos.  i.  8)  which  is  farther  ex- 
plained by:  the  rebels,  and  may  be  illustrated 
by  comparison  with  Ps.  ii.  1.  The  article  em- 
phasizes them  as  such  in  a  decided  way,  and  the 
clause :  which  rebelled  against  me,  impressively 
repeats  what  is  applicable  to  them.  (Henost.  : 
They  are  described  first  according  to  what  they 
ought  to  have  been,  sons  of  him  who  wrestled 
and  prevailed  in  faith  with  God  and  man ;  then 
according  to  what  they  really  are,  a  microcosm, 
as  it  were,  of  the  whole  heathen  world,  whose  re- 
ligion and  morals  were  reflected  in  them  ;  the 
plural  goes  even  beyond  Isa.  i.  4.  Polanus  refers 
it  to  Judah  and  Israel. )  How  general  the  state- 
lueuts  are  is  shown  by  what  follows:  they  and 
their  fathers— (Jer.  iii.  25).  The  echo  makes 
itself  heard  still  in  the  speech  of  Stephen,  Acts 
vii.  51-53. — Dvy.  a  Pentateuelial  word. 

Ver.  4.  But  since  it  is  the  sons  to  whom  the 
divine  mission  directs  the  prophet,  they  are  put 
forward,  as  it  were  pointed  out  with  the  finger, 
but  by  no  means  as  "children  of  God,"  as  Havern. 
will  have  it.  Stiff  is  something  thoroughly  bad 
(Isa.  xlviii.  4);  it  isothenvise  with  Lard(Heb.  xiii. 
y),  which  may  at  all  events  be  determined  by  cir- 
stances  (comp.  eh.  iii.  8,  9).  Here  the  face  deter- 
mines the  character  of  the  heart,  and  of  its  hard- 
ness as  one  that  is  evil.  This  evil  hardness  of 
the  heart  explains  the  before-mentioned  faithless- 
ness "down  to  this  very  day."  The  stiffness  of 
the  face  excludes  alike  the  emotion  of  shame  and 
the  tears  of  repentance. — Thee  (thus  to  those  who 

are  3p-ipfn,  one  of  the  ^X"'ptn),  to  the  hard- 
hearted one  who  is  hard  (firm)  in  God,  comp. 
Ezekiel's  name,  Introd.  §  1  (ch.  iii.  8,  9).— Thus 


saith  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  here  we  are  by  nc! 
means,  with  J.  H.  Michaelis,  to  add  in  thought ; 
etc.  Just  this  short  statement,  without  any  addi- 
tion, is  of  indescribable  majesty  as  opposed  to 
the  rebels ;  in  connection  with  it,  Virgil's  quos  ego 
may  suggest  itself  to  us.  [Sept.  :  iiltn;  xvfits 
Vulg. :  Domimis  deus.  Philipps.  :  the  Lord, 
the  Eternal.  Other  Jewish  translators  :  God  the 
Lord.]  It  is  a  short  form  of  Exod.  xx.  2. — Be- 
cause 'jhx.  according  to  which  niil'  is  usually 
punctuated,  immediately  precedes,  nin '  g<;ts  the 
points   of    D'n^K.— Ver.   5.  And  they  strongly 

emphasizes  those  who  have  been  mentioned.  To 
supply  out  of  ver.  7  :  and  speak  my  words  unto 
them,  or  the  like  (Hexgst.  ),  is  not  necessary, 
is  even  unsuitable,  inasmuch  as  "thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah"  precedes  (comp.  ch.  iii.  11), 
and  also  confuses  the  meaning  of  the  sentence, 
which  finds  its  apodosis  after  the  expressively  re- 
sumed non  in  1ST1 :  they  know  then,  or :  "tl>ey 
know,  however, "  etc.  Nevertheless,  n'n  preserves 
the  meaning  of  was  (not :  is),  although,  as  both 
cases  are  supposed  :  "hearing"  and  "forbearing," 
i.e.  neglecting  to  hear,  'ljn<l  non  ought  not  to 
be  so  much  as :  they  will  then  learn  by  experience, 
viz.  by  the  fulfilment  of  the  threatenings,  which 
could"  certainly  be  applicable  to  the  latter  case 
only.  Here  the  matter  in  hand  is  not  yet  so 
much  hearing  and  being  converted,  or  not,  as  is 
the  case  afterwards  in  ch.  iii.  17  sqq.,  but  only 
the  mjere  giving  ear  in  general,  or  the  refusing  even 
that;  and  thus,  even  whether  the  prophet  finds 
hearers  or  not,  his  "thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah" 
is  a  fact ;  they  know  by  means  of  this  testimony, 
which  sounded  among  them,  although  they  may 
hear  nothing  farther,  that  a  prophet  has  been 
among  them.  God  has  by  this  given  sufiicient 
testimony  to  Himself  (John  xv.  22).  Thus  the 
DSrDK  makes  the  very  least  supposition  which 
can  be  made,  and  gives  the  reason  for  this  lowest 
supposition,  hearing  as  well  as  forbearing  to  hear, 
by  means  of  the  clause :  for  a  house,  etc.,  and 

hence  also  yy^rC  w'ith  full  accentuation.  —  For 
X*33»  comp.  Lange's  Comment,  on  Deuteronomy, 
Duct.  Reflect,  on  ch.  xiii. 

Ver.  6.  But  whatever  opposition  the  prophet 
may  have  to  encounter  as  regards  those  to 
whom  he  is  sent,  in  reference  to  his  own  person 
(hence  the  subjective  negation  px' — so  runs  now 
the  divine  consolation — he  has  nothing  to  fear  ( Jer. 
i  8,  17  ;  Matt.  x.  26,  28),  either  from  themselves 
or  from  their  words,  which  with  men  usually  look 
worse  than  themselves,  and  frequently  also  are 
woi-se,  since  one  pulls  down  another  by  such 
means  :  slander  behind  backs  creates  prejudice, 
and  renders  abortive  the  labours  of  the  preacher. 
"Thou  art  not  to  be  afraid"  impressively  re- 
peated, thus:  no,  not  at  aU.  D'3"1D.  only  here,  is 
taken  by  some  Uterally,  as  an  adjective  (Gesen.)  : 
rebellious ;  by  some  figuratively,  as  a  substantive 
(Meier):  strajrgling  briars,  or  something  hard, 
that  injures  :  prickles,  possibly  also  something 
for  beating  :    a   whip,    scourge.     Keil :   stinging 

nettles,  thorns.    ti^D,  here  like  ji^D>  ch.  xxviii.  24. 

Elsewhere  also  a  figurative  and  non-figurative  ex- 
pression are  combined  (Ps.  xxvii.  1). — '3,  accord- 
ing to  Keil:  if,  but  better:  although.     It  give* 


62 


EZEKIEL. 


the  reason  for  the  charge. — TIDIX  's  explained  by 

wliiil  follows  as  bein<5  the  with  of  association 
(ch.  iii.  15;  Deut.  viii.  15;  1  Kings  xii.  11,  14). 
A  gradation  :  briars,  thorns,  scorpions !  nnn 
Niplial :  to  be  broken,  to  pass  away,  to  despair  (ch. 
iii.  9). — Face,  because  it  is  stiff  (ver.  4).— House 
(ver.  5),  here  again  with  special  reference  to  his 
"dwelling."  Ver.  7:  ch.  iii.  4;  ii.  5.  ^-^o  at 
the  close,  but  with  heightened  meaning,  as  it 
were  the  incarnation  of  it.     Cli.  xliv.  6. 

Ver.  8-iii.  11.  What  Opposition  he  might  have  to 
encounter  in  himself,  mid  tlie  Divine  Strengthen- 
ing against  it. 

Ver.  8.  Hitherto  it  was  the  commission  as  such, 
viz.  a  divine  one,  now  it  is  the  same  commission 
as  resjiects  what  it  will  contain  'l^H  nS-  Inas- 
much as  Ezekiel  belongs  to  t/mt  house,  iijj  (as 
hitherto  always  in  pause-form)  is  attributed  to  him 
also.  It  has  been  understood  as  an  adjective,  or 
elliptically  (supply  {^'X,  ■^'er-   ':    'B'JS)-     C'onip. 

Jonah ;  Exod.  iv.  13  ;  Jer.  i.  6.  The  divine 
commission  is  symbolized  by  means  of  the 
following  demand,  with  whicli  eveiy  objection 
is  cut  olf.  (Illustrating,  at  the  same  time,  the 
form  of  expression  in  John  vi. )  With  appetite, 
hunger,  we  have  here  nothing  to  do. — Ver.  9: 
nxiSI,  comp.  ch.  i.  1 :  consequently  in  vision. 
\2.  because  T"  is  of  the  common  gender ;  others 
make  the  sufhx  neuter,  alleging  that  T<  is  always 
feminine. — TlbjO'  written  after  the  manner  of  the 
Pentateuch  on  the  skin  of  an  animal,  Ps.  xl.  7 ; 
lleb.  X.  7  (Rev.  X.  2).  J.  D.  Michaelis  makes 
the  remark  here  :  such  a  book  rolled  about  a 
rounded  piece  of  wood  looks  not  unlike  a  baker's 
roll  (I). — Ver.  10.  God  spreads  out  this  roll  before 
him,  so  that  he  can  ascertain  what  follows,  the 
contents  of  the  divine  commission,  can  become 
acquainted  with  his  mission.  It  was  a  so-called 
opisthograph  (LuciAN  ;  Vit.  Auct.  ix.),  Pliny, 
Ep.  49.  Written  over  inside,  and  on  the  back 
(comp.  Rev.  v.  1),  not  merely,  as  usual,  the 
inside  alone ;  within  and  without,  indicating  a 
writing  of  gmat  size,  whose  fulness  of  contents  is 
also  clear  at  onot:  to  every  one,  by  which  writing 
we  are  to  understand  tlie  book  of  our  prophet, 
whose  cliaracter,  as  will  immediately  appear,  is 
to  be  specified  as  n^p  (wailing,  mourning,  lamen- 
tation, xix.  1),  njn  (from  tlie  low  sound),  and  'n 
(according  to  Geskn.,  for  ipiJ  ;  Evi'. :  a  sound  of 

wai]ing=>in).  Comp.  therewith,  Exod.  xxxi.  18; 
Zech.  v.  1 ;  Jer.  xxxvi.  IS  ;  Dan.  v.  25. 

Ch.  iii.  1.  What  he  finds  before  him  (ch.  ii. 
8,  9) ;  he  would  certainly  not  seek  it  for  himself 
After  the  acceptance  without  objection  (symbol- 
ized by  the  eating),  the  speaking  to  the  house  of 

Israel  is  to  take  place  :  -|2T  "]?1,  i<"'v5;ra'5, 
without  1  between  them,  one  idea.  Only  what 
God  imparts  to  him  he  is  to  preach,  and  that 
immediately :  and  therefore  nothing  of  his  own, 
and  no  delay  in  accordance  with  liis  own  judg- 
ment (2  Tim.  iv.  2).  The  objectivity  and  sove- 
reignty of  the  divine  word  are  strongly  emphasized. 
Comp.  Deut.  xviii.  18  ;  Jer.'  i.  9  (Matt.  x.  20).— 
Ver.  2.  A  symbolical  transaction,  and  also  taking 
place  in  vision  (Deut.  viii.  3  ;  Ps.  cxix.  130,  131). 
— Ver.  S  An  intensification  of  the  thought  to 
the  highest  degree,  so  that  the  prophet  is  not 


merely  to  be  willing  to  aci-ept  (to  "eat",  but 
what  he  has  accepted  is  to  be  his  food,  on  which 
he  lives,  and  that  which  fills  his  inner  man, 
which  determines  liis  activity  outwardly.  Comp. 
Ps.   xl.   8  ;  John  iv.   31-34  (1  Tim.   iv.  6  ;  Luke 

vi.  45).  Double  accusative— nP3X1,  ^^'tii  em- 
phasis (Gesen.  Gramm.  %  126),  neut.  :  as  respects 
sweetness,  as  sweet  as  honey.  A  frequent  com- 
parison as  applied  to  the  fear  of  God,  His  word 
and  the  like  (comp.  Jer.  xv.  16).  The  bitter 
element  (Rev.  x.  9,  10)  is  perhaps  presupposed  in 
what  he  saw  written  on  the  roll  (ch.  ii.  10  ; 
comp.  Rom.  ix.  2).  In  this  way  the  bitter  ele- 
ment would  come  first,  and  so  much  the  greater 
an  act  of  obedience  would  the  prophet's  eating 
appear.  And  so  Klief  might  legitimately  em- 
pliasize  the  sweet  after-taste,  and  also  ])oint  to 
this,  that  Ezekiel,  after  and  during  all  the  misery 
which  he  has  to  announce,  will  liave  also  some- 
thing sweet  in  his  mouth  in  saying  it,  or  even 
in  merely  knowing  it  respecting  Israel.  Com]) 
Introd.  §  5  ;  comp.  however,  ver.  14  also. 

Ver.  4.  S<3""1p;  comp.  the  imperative  in  vers. 
1,  11.  A  more  expressive  repetition  of  the  com- 
mand in  the  mission.  Hence  the  sweet  taste 
which  the  prophet  experienced  in  ver.  3  sym- 
bolizes, first  of  all,  his  alacrity;  thus  the  divine 
preparation,  the  strengthening  experienced  in  re- 
spect of  that  which  would  possibly  ott'er  resistance 
in  himself ;  so  that  there  may  be  a  retrospective 
reference  to  the  main  hindrance,  namely,  that 
which  lay  with  Israel  (ch.  ii.  3-7). — Ver.  5.  It 
seems  like  a  relief  that  Ezekiel  is  not  sent  to 
"V2V'  ^^'li'ch  certainly  stands  for  those  speaking 
a  language  foreign  to  a  Jew  (comp.  Isa.  xxxiii.  19), 
as  is  also  explained  in  so  many  words  in  ver.  6, 
and  which,  in  parallelism  here  with  heavy  tongue, 
will  mean  not  so  much  "deep"  of  sound,  as 
rather,  in  accordance  with  the  cognate  idea  of 
deep,  viz.  obscure  as  regards  the  iiiterpret^tion, — 
is  there  a  reference  to  the  widely-opened  lips  of  the 
stammering  tongue  ?    The  pilural,  because  of  the 

collective  QV-  S"  already  Calvin.— ni^C  nns, 
standing  in  the  middle,  refers  alike  to  the  positive 
and  to  the  negative  part  of  the  sentence  ;  we  may 
supply  :  but. — The  house  of  Israel  is  the  prophet's 
oum  house  (ver.  11),  in  whose  case,  therefore,  lip 
and  tongue  have  not  the  stamp  of  strangeness  for 
him. — Ver.  6.  This  more  general  thought  in  ver. 
5  receives  in  ver.  6  a  peculiar  colouring,  inasmuch 
as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  many  nations  are  maile 
prominent  by  the  side  of  Israel, — Ezekiel's  sphere 
of  labour  is  small  and  contracted  in  comparison, — 
and  inasmuch  as,  on  the  other  hand,  stress  is 
laid  upon  the  circumstance  ;  "  ivhose  words  (if 
they  had  to  speak  to  thee)  thou  wouldst  nnf  under- 
stand " — thus  the  hindrance  iis  regards  tlieir  lip 
and  tongue  would  lie  with  the  prophet.  But  in 
the  latter  respect,  it  is  rather  that  he  has  to  speak 
("and  speakest  in  my  words,"  vers.  4,  IV),  and 
not  so  much  to  hear.  The  subject  in  hand  is  the 
power  of  comprehension  which  the  propliet  is  to 
meet  with.  Now,  this  is  a  contrast  which  lies 
in  thought  between  the  lines.  But  another  con- 
nected therewith  (just  as  it  is  hiuted  by  the  con- 
trast drawn  between  Israel  and  the  heathen,  t< 
whom  Israel  was  compared  above  in  ch.  ii.  3)  ia 

expressed  in  so  many  words  :  Dn'?K  N?  DX, 
where  -^  ri'31  in  '''e''-  7  is  to  be  understood  at 
the  principal  clause,  and  "ncn  a.s  in  parenthesis, 


CHAP.  III.  8-11. 


so  tliat  the  sense  is  :  Ezekiel  is  sent  not  to  those 
whom  he  ought  to  understanil,  and  cannot  under- 
stand, but  to  Israel,  who  ought  to  hear  him,  and 
will  not  hearken  to  him.  Those  to  whom  God 
does  not  send  him  would  throw  no  hindrance  in 
his  way  ;  although  he  might  not  be  able  to  under- 
stand them,  they  would  Aearien  unto  him — ]JT2Z' 

with  ^x,  contrasted  indeed  with  the  inability  to 

understand  on  his  part,  as  well  as,  of  course,  on 
their  part  also  ;  but  only  the  former  reference 
comes  to  be  considered  when  the  question  is  as 
to  the  right  accomplishment  of  his  task,  that  of 
speaking  God's  words  ;  it  does  not  indeed  signify 
"assent"  (Hengst. ),  but  a  givinq  heed,  and 
therefore  what  presupposes  interest  at  least,  if  not 
desire,  and  what  might  possibly  lead  to  more, 
perhaps,  as  Kimchi  remarks  :  they  would  seek 
after  an  interpreter  of  thy  words.  But  although 
the  prophet  is  sent  not  to  such,  but  rather  to 
Israel,  yet  (ver.  7)  the  house  of  Israel  does  not 
manifest  even  the  interest  which  heathens  would 
show,  for  they  will  not  even  pay  any  attention  to 
Ezekiel,  not  to  speak  of  becoming  obedient  to  his 
words.  The  relief  is  thus  only  seeming.  Comp. 
Matt,  xxiii.  37.  [Similar  and  different  explana- 
tions :  For  the  most  part  S^-PS  is  understood 
as  a  formula  of  swearing,  or  as  an  asseveration 
(verily),  and  the  sentence  hypothetically  (if  1 
sent  thee) ;  comp.  on  the  other  hand  Hitzig,  KeU. 
For  X^"DX,  E"'-  reads  S^i'DX  instead  of  xp,  just 
as  a  Lap.  does,  instead  of  x^5  !  The  old  transla- 
tions omit  X?  without  hesitation,  while  the 
Majsoretes,  on  the  other  hand,  mark  the  verse 
because  of  its  threefold  {<?•  HiTzio,  Keil  : 
Ni>"DS  =  "l'ut,"  referring  DH'^S  and  non  to 
Israel,  and  y'^a  IJJOC"  =  they  are  able,  ought 
to  understand  thee.  The  latter  expression,  how- 
ever, does  not  mean  the  same  thing  as  "to 
hearken  to  any  one."  Cocc.  :  If  I  had  not  sent 
thee  to  them  (Israel),  those  others  (the  lieathen) 
would  hearken  to  thee.  The  words  have  also 
been  understood  intenogatively  :  if  1  had  not 
sent  thee  to  them,  would  not  those  others  hearken 
to  thee  ?]  The  meaning  we  have  given  harmonizes 
with  the  history  of  Naaman  the  Syrian,  of  the 
book  of  Jonah,  of  the  woman  of  Can.aan,  of  the 
heathen  centurion  (Matt.  viii. ).  Comp.  also 
Matt.  xi.  21  sqq.,  xii.  41. — Not  unto  thee,  be- 
cause not  nnto  me  :  what  a  strengthening  of 
Ezekiel !  That  must  have  changed  his  wrath 
into  the  sorrow  of  lo%'e,  eh.  xx.  8  ;  comp.  Matt. 

X.  24,  25  ;  John  xv.   20. — ri'3"73  considered  as 

a  whole,  so  that  the  exceptions  do  not  come  into 
consideration.  The  wicked  hardness  of  the  heart 
(comp.  on  ch.  ii.  4)  is  here  attributed  to  the  fore- 
head, because  it  finds  expression  there  ;  that  the 
stiffness  of  the  "  heart "  is  here  expressed,  proves 
the  correctness  of  the  explanation  given  on  ch. 
ii.  4  of  the  hardness  as  applied  to  the  heart  (Isa. 
xlviii.  4  ;  Jer.  iii.  3  ;  Exod.  xxxii.  9 ;  Matt. 
six.  8). 

Ver.  8.  The  divine  strengthening  of  Ezekiel, 
now  quite  clearly  expressed,  while  his  labours 
have  become  more  difficult,  and  not,  as  it  ap- 
peared, more  easy,  offers  itself  as  the  explanation 
of  his  name  (comp.  on  ch.  ii.  4).     It  is  also  not 


without  design  tliat  the  word  used  in  reference 
to  him  is  not  "stiff,"  but  hard,  which  we  tiiiJ 
repeatedly.  A  divine  confronting.  Comi>.  Jer. 
i.  18,  XV.  20.— Ver.  9.  The  thought  is  still  furthei 
intensified  by  means  of  the  comparison.     Tot? 

(from  "lOt^,  to  holdfast;  hence  :  to  keep)  means 

something  hard  ;  hence  a  thorn  ;  here  the  hardest 
of  precious  stones.  Harrier  than  stone,  a  jiro 
verbial  expression  of  the  diamond.  Bochart, 
comparing  the  I'liifis,  emery,  understands  a  sub- 
stance for  grinding  and  polishing.  Comp.  also 
P.  Cassel  on  "Schemir."  According  to  the 
Jewish  Hagada  and  Turkish  legend  ;  a  wonderftil 
worm,  whose  blood  is  said  to  have  cut  through 
the  stones  without  noise  at  the  building  of  Solo- 
mon's temple.     "{<7,  the  admonition  sounds  like 

a  prohibition  and  promise  in  one.  Comp.  ch. 
ii.  6,  5. — Ver.  10.  "The  conclusion  and  return  to 
the  prophet  himself,  in  view  of  the  possible  re- 
sisting element  in  him  (ch.  ii.  8  sqq. ).  An  allu- 
sion at  the  same  time  to  the  symbolic  transaction 
in  ver.  1  sqq. — All  the  words,  but  those  which 
God  will  first  speak  to  him. — The  heart  first,  be- 
cause otherwise  the  ears  are  of  little  use  (Acts 
xvi.  14). — Ver.  11  (ver.  15).  Comp.  ver.  4.  The 
"house  of  Israel"  there  is  the  "golah"  (cap- 
tivity) here,  as  a  community,  a  society,  which 
lies  nearer  to  the  prophet,  because  of  its  being 
his  own  people.    Thy,  not :  My  (Exod.  xxxii.  7), 

ch.   xxxiii.  2,  12,   17.     As  often  ^3'^  and  itDK 

together,  the  words  to  be  spoken  following  the 
latter  (ch.  ii.  4).  At  the  same  time,  a  setting 
forth  clearly  of  the  position  that  he  has  to  speak. 
Comp.  ch.  iu  5,  7,  iii.  27. 

DOCTRINAL. 

1.  "  A  deeper  meaning  lies  in  this  awakening 
word.  First,  the  creature  falls  down  in  silence 
before  the  infinitude  of  the  Creator  ;  this  is  humi- 
lity, the  basis  and  root  of  all  religious  conduct. 
But  he  whom  the  Creator  has  permitted  to  come 
but  little  short  of  being  himself  God,  whom  He 
has  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  (Ps.  viii.  5), 
is  not  to  remain  lying  in  half-conscious,  silent 
adoration  ;  he  is  to  rise  to  his  feet,  that  he  may 
hear  the  word  of  God.  But  certainly  he  cannot 
set  himself  upon  his  feet ;  the  Spirit  must  raise 
him  up  as  a  spirit,  if  he  is  to  understand  what 
God  says.  Lo,  this  is  the  holy  pi,ychology  of 
Holy  Scripture,  this  is  the  freedom  of  tlje  liighest 
thinking  about  God,  which  comes  through  God 
and  from  God"  (Umbreit). 

2.  The  overmastering  divine  factor  in  the 
prophets  does  not,  however,  suffer  them  to  appear 
by  any  means  unconscious.  Ezekiel  falling  down 
upon  the  earth,  becomes,  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
divine  revelation,  and  under  the  impression  of 
it,  thoroughly  conscious  of  what  is  earthly  and 
human  in  his  own  self  as  contrasted  with  it  [i.e. 
the  revelation].  If  this  self  of  the  prophet  stands 
in  a  receptive  attitude  in  that  part  of  the  revela- 
tion made  to  him  which  is  pure  vision,  yet  plastic 
fancy  gives  symbolic  form  to  the  expression,  so 
as  to  be  understood  by  men,  in  similitudes  drawn 
from  the  earthly  world,  and  memory  is  able  tc 
reproduce  for  us  what  has  been  seen.  But  still 
farther,  where,  as  iu  ch.  ii. ,  wh»t  has  been  in- 
wardly received  and  experienced  is  expressed  U 


^54 


EZEKIEL. 


words  as  idea  and  thought,  Ezekiel  must  first  rise 
to  his  feet,  and  become  capable  in  spirit  of  under- 
stamiing  the  divine  commission.  Besides,  a  vast 
elevation  of  the  mere  natural  life  is  the  unmis- 
takable characteristic  of  our  section ;  comp.  ch. 
ii.  5,  6,  iii.  8,  9. 

3.  John  also,  although  he  had  lain  on  the 
Lord's  breast,  at  sight  of  Him  (Rev.  i.)  fell  at 
His  feet  as  one  dead.  And  by  this  as  a  standard, 
that  very  great  familiarity  which  proclaims  itself 
in  so  many  prayers  of  far  lesser  saints  ought  to 
learn  to  measure  and  to  moderate  itself.  There 
is,  however,  in  our  prayers  more  fancy  and  sham 
feeling  than  real  intercourse  with  the  Lord. 

4.  "An  image  of  the  new  birth.  When  God 
bids  us  rise  from  the  death  in  which  we  are  lying 
(Eph.  ii.  1,  5,  V.  14),  He  at  the  same  time  im- 
parts to  us  His  Spirit,  who  quickens  us  and  raises 
us  up.  Similarly  is  it  with  our  strengthening  in 
all  that  is  good.  We  are  to  do  our  duty ;  and  He 
brings  it  about  that  we  are  able  to  do  it,  Phil, 
ii.  13"  (Cocc). 

5.  "God  does  not  cast  down  His  own  in  order 
to  leave  them  lying  on  the  ground ;  but  He  lifts 
them  up  immediately  afterwards.  In  believers, 
in  other  words,  the  haughtiness  of  the  flesh  is  in 
this  way  corrected.  If,  therefore,  we  often  see 
the  ungodly  terrified  at  the  voice  of  God,  yet  they 
are  not,  like  believers,  after  the  humiliation,  told 
to  be  of  good  courage,"  etc.  (Calv.) 

6.  "It  was  only  when  the  Spirit  was  added 
that  some  effect  was  produced  by  the  voice  of 
God.  God  works,  indeed,  effectually  by  means  of 
His  word ;  but  the  effectiveness  is  not  bound  up 
with  the  sound,  but  proceeds  from  the  secret  im- 
pulse of  the  Spirit.  The  working  of  the  Spirit  is 
here  connected  with  the  word  of  God,  yet  in  such 
a  way,  that  we  may  see  how  the  external  word  is  of 
no  consequence  unless  it  is  animated  by  the  power 
of  the  Spirit.  But  when  God  speaks,  He  at  the 
same  time  adds  the  effectual  working  of  His 
Spirit"  (Calv.). 

7.  "  Signs  without  the  word  are  in  vain.  What 
fruit  would  there  have  been  if  the  prophet  had 
merely  seen  the  vision,  but  no  word  of  God  had 
followed  it  ?  And  this  may  be  applied  to  the 
sacraments  also,  if  they  were  mere  signs  before 
our  eyes  ;  it  is  the  word  of  God  only  that  makes 
the  sacraments  in  some  measure  living,  just  as  is 
the  case  with  the  visions  "  (Calv.). 

8.  By  means  of  the  repeated  "IDX'1  tlie  divine 

revelation  in  word  is  identified  with  the  revela- 
tion of  glorv  in  ch.  i.,  which  was  to  appear  as  the 
".Shechinah"  in  the  Messiah,  according  to  the 
Targums  falling  back  upon  the  older  tradition. 
One  of  th«  steps  towards  the  Logos  in  John  i. 

9.  "  In  Jehovah  and  His  covenant-relation  to 
Israel  lies  the  necessity  of  His  revelation  ;  His 
testimony,  the  tidings  from  Him,  viust  be  heard 
in  the  midst  of  Israel.  Thus  Jehovah  Himself 
wills  not  merely  the  conversion,  but  also  the 
hardening  of  the  people  (Isa.  vi.  9  sqq. ),  in  so 
far  as,  first  of  all.  He  merely  wills  the  preaching 
of  Himself.  Hence,  if  on  the  one  hand  the  pro- 
phetic preaching  must  be  traced  back  strictly  to 
tlie  will  of  God,  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  an  out- 
come and  transcript  of  it,  not  less  is  this  the  case 
a.s  regards  its  effects  ;  the  hearing  and  not  hearing 
of  the  same  is  likewise  God's  wUl,  since  otherwise 
He  would  be  under  the  necessity  of  withholding 
His  word  itself"  (Hay.). 


10.  The  symbolical  procedure  with  the  book- 
roll  belongs  manifestly  to  the  rision,  is  of  the 
nature  of  vision,  however  much,  as  narrated,  it 
resembles  an  e.xternal  occurrence.  Bordering, 
according  to  Tholuck,  on  "  the  rhetorical  domain 
of  metaphor,"  the  representation  teaches,  at  all 
events,  how  cautiously  the  exposition  of  Ezekiel 
will  have  to  proceed  in  this  respect. 

11.  Umbreit  remarks  on  ch.  iii.  1  sqq.  :  "  Here 
we  have  the  right  expression  for  enabling  us  to 
form  a  judgment  and  estimate  of  true  inspiration. 
The  divine  does  not  remain  as  a  stiange  element 
in  the  man  ;  it  becomes  his  own  feeling  thoroughly, 
penetrates  him  entirely,  just  as  food  becomes  a 
part  of  his  bodily  frame."  "And  the  written 
book  of  the  seer,"  he  says  in  conclusion,  "bears 
quite  the  stamp  of  something  thoroughly  pervaded 
alike  hy  the  divine  and  human. " 

12.  A  parallel  to  the  symbolical  transaction  in 
Ezekiel,  of  which  Havernick  remarks  that  it  "is 
the  reality  of  an  inner  state,  of  the  highest  spiri- 
tual excitement,  of  the  true  and  higher  entering 
into  the  divine  will,"  is  presented  by  the  second 
book  of  Esdras,  xiv.  38  sqq.  Comp.  the  ditier- 
ence  of  this  "dead,  apocryphal  imitation,"  by 
means  of  which  the  thought  of  pure,  divine  in- 
spiration is  meant  to  be  expressed. 

13.  The  unintelligibility  of  the  language  of  the 
heathen  world  for  the  prophet  is  to  be  taken  in  a 
purely  formal  sense ;  for  as  respects  the  material 
element,  the  substance,  the  manner  of  the  think- 
ing, and  not  of  the  mere  speaking,  there  is  nothing 
at  all  said.  For  the  prophet  this  inner  side  of 
the  heathen  languages  would,  it  is  true,  present 
equal  difficulty,  if  not  even  more,  than  that  outer 
one.  But  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  willingness  of 
the  heathen  in  spite  of  both,  their  pricking  up 
their  ears  in  order  to  understand,  which  was 
wanting  in  Israel.  And  therefore,  what  hinders 
the  understanding  lies  in  the  case  of  the  heathen 
merely  in  the  language ;  in  the  case  of  Israel,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  this  very  circumstance.  That 
the  language  of  Israel  was  the  holy  language  in 
which  God  had  spoken  from  the  beginning  to 
them,  must  as  regards  the  import  also  have 
lightened  the  labours  of  Ezekiel,  and  conse- 
quently have  produced  a  relief  in  this  respect, 
where,  in  the  case  of  the  heathen,  the  language 
brought  with  it  an  additional  difficulty.  It  is 
sometimes  easier  to  exert  an  influence  upon  men 
of  the  world  than  upon  men  who  are  familiar 
with  the  "language  of  Canaan"  (Isa.  xix.  18) 
from  childhood  up.  Just  because  Israel  at  once 
understood  what  the  topic  was  in  Ezekiel's  mouth 
( "  he  spake,  of  course,  merely  what  Moses  and  the 
other  prophets  had  spoken,"  Cocc),  their  disgust 
and  repugnance  towards  God's  word  as  soon  M 
possible  turned  aside  out  of  his  way.  The  alle- 
viation through  the  disposition  of  heart  on  the 
part  of  the  heathen  became  in  this  case  the  re- 
verse through  the  disposition  of  heart  on  the  part 
of  Israel. 

14.  "The  distinction  which  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans made  between  their  language  and  that  of 
the  barbarians,  reduces  itself  to  (hat  of  culture. 
It  is  otherwise  with  the  distinction  between  thu 
language  of  Israel  and  that  of  the  heathen  nations. 
Israel's  language  is  formed  by  means  of  God's 
word,  while  the  languages  of  the  heathen  nations 
were  formed  from  purely  human  developments" 
(Klif.f.  ). 

15.  There  is  thus  in  Ezekiel  the  same  hopefoj 


CHAP.  II.  1-8. 


6: 


(although,  in  reference  to  Israel,  mournful)  out- 
look into  the  heathen  world,  which  iu  the  Old 
Covenant  alreatiy  announces  the  days  of  the  New. 
"  It  follows  from  the  stress  laid  on  the  recep- 
tivity of  the  heathen,  that  salvation  will  yet  at 
some  future  time  be  offered  to  them  in  an  effectual 
way"  (Hiiv.). 

HOMItETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  The  name  Son  of  man  belongs  above 
all  to  Him  who  did  not  fall  to  the  giound  before 
the  vision  of  the  divine  glory,  but  descended  from 
the  midst  of  the  enjoyment  of  this  glory  to  our 
earth. — Ezekiel  and  Christ,  type  and  antitype. — 
Daniel  also  is  so  addressed  (ch.  viii.  17) ;  and  if 
Ezekiel  saw  God  as  a  man,  Daniel  saw  the  Lord 
of  an  everlasting  dominion  as  a  son  of  man  (ch. 
vii. ).  Thus  they  bore  upon  them  the  stamp  of 
the  future,  of  the  fulness  of  the  times. — "  I  know 
thy  weakness,  that  thou  art  a  man,  and  canst 
not  bear  the  splendour  of  the  divine  majesty  " 
(B.  B. ).  —  "Although  preachers  are  compared  to 
angels,  yet  they  continue  men,  and  ought  to  keep 
thi.s  always  in  mind  "  (Stck.). — "  Even  the  most 
pious  and  most  gifted  teachei-s  are  subject  to 
human  infirmities,  Gal.  ii.  11  "  (St.). — "  Because 
teachers  are  men,  hearers  ought  also  to  learn  to 
bear  patiently  with  their  infimiities,  2  Cor. 
xii.  13  "  (St.). — "  We  ought  not  to  remain  lying 
on  the  ground,  either  in  sin,  or  from  laziness  of 
the  flesh,  or  with  slavish  fear,  when  God  calls 
us"  (Stck.). — "So  long  as  man  still  lies  on  the 
ground,  God  cannot  use  liim  for  His  service" 
(St.). 

Ver.  2.  "Let  visions  be  ever  so  great,  yet  they 
are  not  so  useful  as  the  word"  (B.  B. ). — God's 
glory  is  not  meant  to  kill,  but  rather  to  make 
alive. — "It  is  the  Lord  Himself,  who  fills  His 
children  with  dismay,  that  also  comforts  them 
again,  Hos.  vi.  1"  ^0.). — "The  world  smiles,  in 
order  to  rage  ;  flatters,  in  order  to  deceive ;  aUures, 
in  order  to  kill ;  lifts  up,  iu  order  to  bring  low  " 
(Cypkian). — "A  herald  of  God  ought  to  stand 
high  above  the  world,  with  his  spirit  in  heaven  " 
(A  L. ). — "The  man  whom  God  sends,  He  also 
qualifies  for  it,  and  furnishes  with  the  necessary 
powers,  giving  him  also  His  Spirit,  as  is  ever 
still  the  experience  of  the  servants  of  God " 
(Stck.). — The  real  prophetic  anointing:  "the 
spirit  came  into  me." — To  whomsoever  God  gives 
an  office.  He  gives  underetanding  also.  The  fact 
that  so  many  void  of  understanding  are  in  office, 
may  easily  arise  from  this  circumstance,  that 
they  have  their  office  from  men.  For  it  is  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  not  the  clerical  band,  that 
makes  the  prophet. —  "If  God's  Spirit  does  not 
uphold,  teach,  guide,  rule,  strengthen,  keep  us, 
we  are  nothing"  (Stck. ). — There  is  a  difference 
'n-tween  our  setting  oureelves  on  our  feet,  and 
God's  Spirit  setting  us  on  our  feet.  The  feet 
indeed  remain  our  own,  but  the  way  along  which 
they  ran  is,  like  the  power  by  which  they  are 
»ble  to  do  so,  God's,  and  the  steps  are  also  sure 
steps. —  "0  that  we  were  .at  all  times  disposed  to 
hear  Him  who  speaks  to  us!"  (Stck.)  —  Vers. 
1,  2.  At  the  installation  of  a  preacher  in  his 
oflice  :  (1)  What  the  congregation  ought  to  con- 
sider :  tliat  the  preacher  is  only  a  man,  but  one 
whom  God  sets  on  his  feet  by  His  Spirit ;  (2) 
What  the  preacher  ought  to  consider ;  all  this, 
as  well  a,s  in  particular  that  God  wishes  to  speak 


with  him,  and  that  he  also  ought  to  have  boeB 
a  hearer  ere  he  comes  before  his  in  arers. 

Ver.  3.  "When  God  demands  obedience  from 
us,  He  does  not  always  promise  a  happy  issue  ci 
our  labour ;  but  we  ought  to  allow  ourselves  to  bfl 
satisfied  with  His  command,  even  if  our  laboui 
should  appear  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  men  ;  out 
labour  is  nevertheless  well-pleasing  before  God  " 
(Calvin). — "Hence  the  true  prophet  does  not  go 
of  his  own  accord,  just  as  he  does  not  force  him- 
self upon  the  people,  and  does  not  come  to  seek 
honour  and  good  days  with  them"  (Stck.). — 
"So  God  stretches  out  His  hand  to  sinners" 
(St.). — "Even  at  worldly  courts  ambassadors  of 
princes  are  a  token  of  friendship"  (Stck.).— 
Every  sinner  is  a  rebel  against  God.  —  It  is  a 
noticeable  feature  of  the  Jews  of  the  present  day 
in  general,  that  they  make  heathens  of  them- 
selves, and  also  take  part  in  revolution  against 
Church  and  State. — The  apple  does  not  fall  far 
from  the  tree. — There  is  also  a  hereditary  sin  of 
nations :  e.g.  French  vanity,  German  cosmopoli- 
tanism (want  of  a  fixed  centre,  Zer/alirenheit), 
English  selfishness  (egoism). 

Ver.  4.  "Through  the  habit  of  sit  ling  the 
countenance  becomes  stifl',  just  as  the  heart  be- 
comes hard  in  sinning  "  (Stck.).—'"  And  yet  the 
countenance  is  the  noblest,  as  the  heart  is  tlie 
best  part  of  man,  Prov.  xxiii.  26;  Matt.  xv.  19" 
(Stck.).  — "Judas  Iscariot,  e.g.,  had  a  stiff  coun- 
tenance :  his  question  Matt.  xxvi.  25,  his  kiss " 
(L. ). — "Thus  saith  the  Lord"  is  the  watchword 
of  God  against  all  opposition  of  men,  the  right 
war-ciy. — Ver.  5.  "  Ezekiel  may,  of  course,  havH 
thought  with  himself  as  Moses  did,  Exod.  iv.  1  " 
(St.). — Preachers  ought  not  to  look  to,  to  reckon 
upon  hearers,  but  to  listen  to  the  Lord  alone. — 
To  preach  God's  word  compensates  even  in  the 
case  of  empty  churches. — A  full  church,  therefore, 
is  not  always  a  testimony  for  the  preacher,  2 
Tim.  iv.  3. — "It  serves,  at  all  events,  as  a  testi- 
mony, although  no  other  result  is  attained  by  the 
preaching"  (L.). — Ver.  6.  Fear  is  a  word  which 
does  not  belong  to  any  vocation  of  a  preacher ; 
but  as  little  also  does  man-pleasing,  which  is 
often  merely  a  form  of  fear. — "The  comparison 
with  thorns  has  reference  in  general  to  their 
unfruitfulness,  in  particular  to  their  tendency  to 
wound,  to  injure,  their  being  interlaced  together, 
their  seeming  bloom,  their  ultimate  burning.  As 
regards  the  expression  scorpions,  we  are  to  think 
of  the  poison,  the  secret  sting,  the  cunning.  And 
what  a  wilderness  must  the  house  of  Israel  be! 
Ezekiel  does  not  go  to  strayed  sheep,  but  dwells 
with  scorpions"  (Stck.). — "In  none  of  the  pro- 
phetic books  is  the  rigorous  spirit  of  Moses  more 
perceptible  than  in  the  case  of  Ezekiel "  (Kocs). 
Because  God  knows  our  fear,  therefore  He  speaks 
so  repeatedly  against  it. —  Ver.  7.  Rebelliousness 
may  well  grieve  the  seri-aut  of  God,  may  even  rouse 
him  to  anger,  but  ought  never  to  degrade  him  to 
the  level  of  a  dumb  dog. — Spiritual  dignitaries 
are  those  who  carry  the  word  of  God  high  above 
themselves,  even  when  it  meets  with  nothing  but 
contradiction. — "And  fathers  of  families  also  are 
to  be  like  preachers  "  (L. ). 

Ver.  8.  The  enemies  of  a  preacher  are  not  what 
is  worst  for  him ;  his  friends  are  often  worse  than 
his  worst  enemies,  and  his  worst  enemy  of  all  by 
far  may  be  his  own  self.  Therefore,  know  thy- 
self.—  "  Preachers  ought  to  be  patterns,  not  imita- 
tors and  followers  of  the  flock"  (St.).— "What  an 

E 


66 


EZEKIEL. 


influence  the  surroundings  of  a  preacher  have  upon 
him !  And  Ezekiel  belonged  to  the  same  people  " 
(L.).— Many  astrange  thing  happens  to  one  when 
iie  is  with  God.  On  the  other  hand,  the  demand  : 
"Open  thy  mouth,  and  eat,"  is  what  we  should 
naturally  expect ;  for  what  does  not  man  eat,  and 
how  many  useless  books  are  devoured  with  the 
greatest  eagerness! — "  By  the  mere  looking  at 
food  no  one  gets  his  hunger  satisfied,  but  it  must 
be  taken  and  eateu  :  and  so  also  the  mere  hearing 
and  reading  of  the  word  of  God  does  not  save, 
but  it  nmst  be  appropriated,  and  afterwards  lived 
upon  "  (St.  ). — Ver.  9.  "The  word  of  God  is  very 
tender  and  delicate, — a  sweet  and  deep  invita- 
tion "  (B.  B.).— "The  hand  which  presents  the 
Scripture,  is  the  same  which  also  presents  to  be- 
lievers the  crown,  2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8"  (Stck.). — 
Ver.  10.  "  Such  unfolding  takes  place  with 
prayer  on  the  part  of  believers,  Eph.  i. ;  Ps.  cxix. 
18  (with  burning  heart,  Luke  xxiv.  32;  just  as 
in  the  future  with  praise  and  jubilant  acclama- 
tion, Rev.  V.  9),  with  searching  (John  v.  39 ; 
Matt.  vii.  8),  and  not  without  manifold  tempta- 
tions" (Fes.sf.l).— "This  book-roll  may  also  be 
applied  to  the  bad  conscience  of  the  sinner,  as 
well  as  to  the  condition  of  a  soul  under  assault 
from  outward  oppression,  likewise  to  the  book  of 
the  law,  to  the  misery  of  the  damned,  as  well  as 
used  in  the  sense  of  a  reward-book  for  the  un- 
godly," etc.  (Stck.)— So  man  finds  in  his  life  first 
the  lamentations  over  the  vanity  of  all  things, 
then  there  wakes  up  the  sighing  over  himself, 
and  the  last  is  the  woe  of  dying. 

Ver.  8  -  ch.  iii.  3.  The  wonderful  food  of 
Ezekiel  in  general  (Matt.  iv.  4)  and  in  particular 
(John  iv.  34). — It  served  him:  for  protection,  for 
instruction,  for  strengthening,  for  quickening. 

Ch.  iii.  1.  "  Ezekiel  is  no  prophet  of  his  own 
heart.  Instead  of  murmuring  against  the  poor 
instrument  who  has  received  so  weighty  a  com- 
mission, let  them  repent"  (H.). — "Comede  et 
pasce,  saturare  et  eructa,  accipe  et  sparge,  con- 
ibrtare  et  labora  "  (Jer.  ). — "  A  teacher  must  have 
the  word  of  God  not  merely  on  his  lips  and  in 
his  mouth,  but  in  his  heart,  and  converted  into 
nourishment  and  strength"  (St.). — "The  maxim  : 
'  Eat  what  is  set  before  you '  (Luke  x.  8),  applies 
also  to  the  divine  revelation.  The  position  of  a 
chooser,  which,  instead  of  the  motto,  '  what  I 
find,'  puts  'what  I  like,'  belongs  to  what  is  evil" 
(H.).  —  "Without  having  eaten  this  roll,  no  one 
ought  to  go  and  preach"  (B.  B.).  —  As  against 
resistance  from  without  we  are  comforted ;  as 
against  opposition  from  within,  from  ourselves, 
we  are  strengthened.  In  the  first  case  there  is 
suffering,  in  the  second  it  may  come  to  sin. — 
Ver.  2.  "The  word  of  God  is  the  right  food  of 
Bouls"  (St.). — Ver.  3.  "By  our  taste  our  life  is 
determined  "  (Plato). — "  'The  sweet  taste  means 
Ezekiel's  approbation  of  God's  judgment  and 
commands"  (Calv.).  —  "It  is  infinitely  sweet 
md  lovely  to  be  the  organ  and  spokesman  of  the 


Most  High"  (H.). — "In  the  case  of  th>se  whs 
eagerly  hear  the  word  of  God,  it  goes  into  theii 
heart,  and  as  it  were  into  their  bowels ;  it  become! 
a  treasure  within  them,  out  of  which  they  bring 
forth,  in  overtiowing  abundance,  necessary  and 
wholesome  instruction  for  others"  (B.  B.,  St.). — 
"Even  a  difficult  office  ought  to  be  undert.-iken 
and  discharged  with  joy ;  for  God  can  sweetes 
even  what  is  bitter  in  it"  (St.). — "Even  the 
most  painful  divine  truths  have  for  the  spi- 
ritually-minded man  a  gladdening  and  quick- 
ening side"  (H.).  — "It  is  in  general  the  quiet 
secret  of  all  who  suffer  in  true  faith,  that  in 
their  inmost  being  wormwood  turns  to  honey " 
(Umbr.  ). 

Ver.  4  sqq.  "It  was  not  yet  the  time  of  the 
heathen ;  it  was  still  Israel's  time,  to  whom  also 
the  Lord  HimseK  would  come,  whose  forerunners 
the  prophets  were"  (Coco.). — Ver.  7.  Foreliead 
and  heart  in  their  psychological  con'espondence. 
— Where  there  is  the  fear  of  God  in  the  heart, 
shame  still  sits  upon  the  forehead. — Ver.  8.  "For 
hard  people  hard  ministers  also  are  suitable, 
Prov.  XX.  30"  (W.).  For  the  rough  block  a 
rough  wedge.  —  "God  gives  His  prophet  merely 
a  firm  countenance  and  forehead,  but  not  a  haril 
heart.  In  order  to  encounter  a  hard  heart,  a 
firm  forehead  indeed  is  necessary,  but  never  a 
hard  heart.  The  heart  is  to  be  full  of  love,  and 
from  love  the  firm  forehead  even  is  to  be  gained  " 
(A  L.). — Vers.  8,  9.  "He  who  has  to  contend 
with  the  popular  spirit  is  lost,  unless  he  has  a 
firm  hold  of  Omnipotence.  He  who  has  not  God 
decidedly  with  him,  must  come  to  terms  with  the 
majority  "  (H.). — "  Firm  preachers  of  this  stamp 
were  Nathan  ugainst  David,  Elijah,  John  the  Bap- 
tist, Stephen"  (a  L.).  Comp.  Matt.  xvi.  18. 
Nevertheless,  the  diamond  does  not  occur  either 
in  Exod.  xxviii.  17  sqq.  or  in  Rev.  xxi.  19  sqq. 
Christ  will  rather  be  a  magnet,  John  xii.  32. — 
"God  imparts  to  such  a  strength  which  far  sur- 
passes the  strength  of  the  learned.  For  God 
never  yields  to  man.  Not  that  the  spirit  referred 
to  is  a  stiff-necked  spirit,  but  God  gives  them 
words  so  powerful  and  mighty,  that  no  one  can 
gainsay  them,  Luke  xxi.  15  "  (B.  B.). — "  This  is 
that  '  holy  to  the  Lord'  which  shone  forth  on  the 
forehead  of  the  high  priest,  just  as, it  belongs  to 
all  the  servants  of  God  "  (Stck.). — "  Carnal  men 
stumble  thereat,  all  who  wish  to  be  flattered  or 
spared ;  for  what  is  to  the  one  class  a  stone  for 
buQding,  is  to  the  other  a  stone  of  offence " 
(B.  B.). — Ver.  10.  "Whoever  is  to  kear,  must 
have  confidence  in  him  who  speaks,  ana  longing 
to  hear,  in  order  that  he  may  lend  his  ear  to  the 
word.  The  heart,  above  everj'thing,  must  be 
present,  else  the  man  does  not  hear.  Acts  xvi.  14" 
(Coco.). — Ver.  11.  "The  fact,  that  it  is  his  own 
people  to  whom  he  had  to  go,  at  the  same  time 
laid  Ezekiel  under  a  solemn  obligation  "  (Stck.). 
— "  We  must  first  hear,  then  we  are  to  speak  " 
(Coco.). 


II.  THE  FIRST  EXECUTION  OF  THE  DIVINE  COMMISSION.— Ch.  iii.  12-vii.  27. 
1.  The  Installation  and  Instructions  (Ch.  in.  12-27). 

12  And  the  spirit  lifted  me  up,  and  I  heard  behind  me  a  sound  of  a  great 

13  tumultuous  noise :  Praised  be  the  glory  of  Jehovah  from  His  place.  And 
[i  heard]  the  Doise  of  the  wings  of  the  living  creatures  striking  one  upon  another, 
and  the  noise  of  the  wheels  beside  them,  and  the  sound  of  a  great  tumnltuouf 


CHAP.  III.  12-27.  67 


14  noise.     And  the  spirit  lifted  me  up,  and  took  me,  and  I  went  bitterly,  in  the 

15  heat  of  my  spirit,  and  [ijut]  the  hand  of  Jehovah  was  strong  upon  me.  And  1 
came  to  the  captivity  at   I'el-abib,  who  dwelt  by  the  river  Chebar,  and  where 

16  they  were  sitting,  there  I  also  sat  stunned  [«arr]  in  their  midst  seven  days.  And 
it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  seven  days,  that  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto 

17  me,  saying,   Son  of  man,  I  have  given  thie  as  a  watchman  to  the  house  of  Israel; 

18  and  thou  hearest  a  word  at  my  mouth,  and  thou  warnest  them  from  me.  If  I 
say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die;  and  thou  warnest  him  not.  and 
speakest  not  to  warn  the  wicked  from  his  wicked  way,  to  save  his  life, — he,  the 
wicked,  shall  die  in  [because  of]  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine 

19  hand.  But  if  thou  dost  warn  the  wicked,  and  he  doth  not  turn  from  his 
wickedness  and  from  his  wicked  way,  he  shall  die  in   [because  of]  his    iniquity ; 

20  but  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul.  And  if  the  righteous  doth  turn  from  his 
righteousness,  and  commit  iniquity,  and  I  give  a  stumbling-block  before  him, 
he  shall  die,  for  thou  didst  not  warn  him ;  in  his  sin  he  shall  die,  and  his 
righteousness  which  he  hath  done  shall  not  be  remembered;  but  his  blood  will 

21  I  require  at  thine  hand.  But  if  thou  dost  warn  him  as  a  righteous  man,  not  to 
sin  as  being  righteous,  and  he  sinneth  not,  he  shall  surely  live,  because  he  is 

22  warned;  and  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul.  And  the  hand  of  Jehovah  came 
upon  me  there,  and  He  said  unto  me.  Arise,  go  forth  to  the  valley,  and  there  will 

23  I  speak  with  thee.  And  I  arose,  and  went  forth  to  the  valley :  and,  behold,  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  standing  there,  as  the  glory  which  I  saw  by  the  river  Chebar : 

24  and  I  fell  upon  my  face.  And  the  spirit  came  into  me,  and  set  me  upon  my 
feet,  and  He  spake  with  me,  and  said  unto  me :  Go,  shut  thyself  within  thine 

25  house.     And  thou,  son  of  man,  behold,  they  give  [lay]  bands  upon  thee,  and  bind 

26  thee  in  them,  and  thou  shalt  not  go  out  among  them.  And  thy  tongue  will  I  make 
to  cleave  to  the  roof  of  thy  mouth,  and  thou  art  dumb,  and  thou  shalt  not  be  to 

27  them  a  man  that  reproveth;  for  they  are  a  house  of  rebelliousness.  But  when  I 
speak  with  thee,  I  will  open  thy  mouth,  and  thou  sayest  unto  them.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah  :  He  that  heareth,  let  him  hear ;  and  he  that  forbeareth,  let 
him  forbear  :  for  they  are  a  house  of  rebelliousness. 

Ver.  13.  Sept. :   K.  !.•?•.  fmw— 

Ver.  14.   K.  T«  rrvfuttas  xupio'j  i^pt»  fM — 

Ver.  15.  .  .  .  tis  T.  iz't^!jut\^fftgtv  /.tiTftipot,  K.  viptrXBot  t.  K»7cixmtTat  .  .  .  r.  «*r«;  txu,  x.  izet9iret  txu — (some  MSS. 
ind  Syr.  omit  DB'  'ilDn  IB'Nl). 

Ver.  19.  Another  reading :  131J)3  yBH  SIH.  Sept.  and  Arab,  have  read  ytt'lH  for  the  omllted  nytjnn 
which  precedes.  ' 

Ver.  25.   .  .   .  irffovctv  at  l*  oLvroit,  x.  rv  /zri  l^t>.&r,i  l£  ttt'Ten. 

EXEGETICAL  KEMARKS.  I  of  the  divine  glory,  with  which  movement  of  th« 

Vers.  12-15.  After  the  h,stallati<m  of  Ezekiel  in^f"^,^' ''^  "!'/"''"''°"  "'"''"''' f"''.  commences  in 
hi,  Sphere  of  Labour  by  means  of  the  Com-  \  h'oheBt  Jaslnon  His  mission,  shadowed  forth  by 
mission  in  Word,  there  follows  ncrw  ^^^  the  character  of  the  vision  oglor,-,  begins  in  th... 
;«„/„/7„/:™  .•„  „.,(  „;  v„.<  way  to  be  realized  in  actual  iact.     Thus,  and  the 

installation  tft  actual  ract.  .■'..  ,.«.    ._       „-  i-j-^v      jtu       j 

!  Bpint  lifted  me  up  is  connected  with  and  I  beaid, 

Ver.  12.  nn  cannot  possibly  be  anything  else  '  etc.,  and  what  Ezekiel  hears  with  his  actual  in- 
here than  it  has  always  been  hitherto.  Both  troduction  to  his  sphere  of  labour.  As  the  spirit 
Keil  and  Klief.  unnecessarily  bring  in  "  a  wind,"  qualified  him  (ch.  ii.  2)  to  hear  Him  that  spake 
which,  however,  according  to  Keil,  carried  the  to  him,  so  the  spirit  moves,  lifts  him  up  to  d^ 
prophet  through  the  air  not  in  body,  but  in  \  what  he  is  told  (ver.  11).  Comp.  besides,  1  Kings 
spirit,  ch.  viii.  3,  .ici.  1,  24.  But  here,  also,  '  xviii.  12,  46;  Matt.  iv.  1;  Acts  viii.  39.  Th,' 
just  as  in  ver.  14,  there  is  no  reference  to  being  lifting  up  quite  harmonizes  with  this  influence  of 
carried  through  the  air.  The  lifting  up  by  the  spirit  the  spirit,  just  as  it  entirely  corresponds  with  the 
corresponds  entirely  to  the  raising  up  in  ch.  ii.  2.  I  character  of  the  vision  (vers.  24,  25)  in  the  midst 
Only  what  was  there  raising  up  from  the  earth,  '  of  which  it  occurs.  And  because  the  prophet  is 
in  order  to  stand  and  hear,  is  here  rather  (and  that  moved  to  betake  him*lf  to  his  fellow-country- 
also  because  of  the  higher  situation  of  Tel-abib)  men,  he  also  hears  what  he  hears  behind  him.— 
lifting  up  from  the  place  of  hearing,  in  order  to  The  great  tumultuous  noise  {rer.  13,  ch.  xxxvii. 
go  and  speak ;  and  at  the  same  time,  Ezekiel  7  ;  Isa.  ix.  5 ;  Jer.  x.  22)  takes  an  articulate  form, 
.  .  ,.ii,_i_.ji.       L  L       !  hrst  of  all,   as  praise  of  the  glory  of  J'hovah, 

heirs  immediately  behind  him  ^mj   CJ)"!   ^i^P- ;  whereby  our  view  (given  at  p.  39)  of  something 
bF  which  ib  signified  to  him  the  marching  forth   super-terrestrial,  heavenly,  in  the  chajoth  is  only 


18 


EZEKIEL. 


confirmed.  It  is  not  said  who  gave  utterance  to 
this  praise;  and  nothing  in  the  context,  at  least, 
compels  us  to  think  of  heavenly  spirits.  Thus 
there  remain  in  fact  for  it  only  the  chajoth  ;  and 
for  this  we  may  compare  not  merely  Kev.  iv.  8 
sqq.,  but  even  Isa.  vi.  3. — From  His  place,  no 
matter  whether  we  refer  it  to  Jehovah  or  His 
1133,  denotes  verj'  suitably,  what  Keil  denies, 
not  indeed  so  much  as :  who  now  leaves  His 
place  (Hengst. ),  nor  what  is  said  in  ch.  ix.  3, 
still  less  the  temple  (Hav.),  which  is  not  at  all 
the  subject  iu  hand,  but  perhaps,  that  from  the 
place  where  Jehovah's  glory  has  manifested  itself 
to  the  prophet,  and  just  as  it  manifested  itself, 
its  praise  must  and  wilj  go  forth,  and  that  im- 
mediately, over  Israel  (first),  and  into  the  whole 
world,  and  among  all  mankind  (Mic.  i.  3). 
Hence,  also,  as  respects  Ezekiel's  doings  and 
labours,  how  remarkably  in  this  way  the  praise 
of  the  divine  glory  introduces  him  to  his  sphere 
of  action!  lOipoD  is  certainly  too  far  off  from 
VDB'XV  to  which  Keil  wishes  to  refer  it !  Philipp- 
sou  refers  IDIpDO  to  ' '  the  creation  embraced  in 
the  vision :  Praised  be,  etc.,  from  the  place  where 
it  is  borne  along,  where  it  tarries"  (Isa.  xiii.  13). 
— Ver.  13:  comp.  ch.  i.  24,  9,  11,  23,  15,  20,  21. 
This  was  in  a  manner  the  musical  accompani- 
ment of  the  laudation  expressed  above  in  words. 

^pi  dependent  on  yOB'KI  in  '^^er.  12. — pjfj, 
to  arrange,  to  join  together.  Hiphil :  to  strike 
on  one  another. — It  ends,  as  it  began,  in  the 
great  tumultuous  noise.  ("The  life  of  the  crea- 
tures is  the  boundless  sphere  of  the  praise  of  the 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth  [Ps.  cxlviii.].  This 
is  the  fugue  notes  of  the  sublimest  music,  which 
makes  the  universe  itself  ring.  Finely  and 
beautifully  for  the  melodious  haimony,  we  have 
the  happy  expression,  that  the  wings  Ichs  one 
another :  fearful  as  is  the  sound  of  the  striking 
of  wings,  and  of  the  wheel-work  of  creation,  yet 
there  is  unison  and  love  in  it ;  at  last  comes  the 
soft,  gentle  whisper,  as  in  the  case  of  Elijah  I " 
— Umbreit.^ 

Ver.  14  (ch.  xi.  24)  as  at  ver.  12;  the  ecstatic 
lifting  up  is  designated  as  a  being  laid  hold  of,  a 

being  taken  (np?).  Nothing  in  the  context 
points  to  "  taking  away  "  (J.  H.  Mich.);  on  the 

contrarj',  he  went  ("JPSl),  as  he  had  been  com- 
manded in  vers.  1,  4,  11.  Now,  therefore,  a  cor- 
poreal movement  of  the  prophet  in  space  took 
place,  but  not  by  means  of  wind  through  tlie  air 
(Jeii.,  Klief.).  The  vision,  as  to  the  matter  of 
it,  is  at  an  end  with  (vers.  12, 13)  the  laudation  and 
great  tumultuous  noise  (comp.  Gen.  xvii.  22) ; 
Keil  unnecessarily  adopts  the  view  that  it  ends 
only  with  ver.  21.  Personally,  as  respects  the 
person  of  Ezekiel,  the  vision  ends  when  he  is  ecsta- 
tically lifted  up  and  laid  liold  of  by  the  spirit,  and 
not  by  wind,  inasmuch  as  the  power  of  the  spirit 
put  an  end  to  all  lingering  and  loitering  in  him, 
and  prepared  him,  so  that  he  betook  himself  to 
the  quarter  that  was  necessary,  as  was  also  ex- 
pressly indicated  to  him  by  the  departure  of  the 
divine  glory.  And  with»this  the  following  de- 
scription necessarily  corresponds.  Bitterly,  in 
the  heat  of  my  spirit — thus  he  describes  what  is 
in  his  spirit,  when  he  goes  now  on  his  own  feet, 
»fter  the  spirit  lifted  liim  up  and  laid  hold  of 
bim,  so  that  he  could  neither  stand  still,  nor 
move  off  in  any  other  direction.    The  inhjectivity 


of  the  prophet  comes  into  the  foreground  (so 
already  Calvin  has  it).  The  taste  that  was  so  sweet 
before  (ver.  3)  is  followed  (as  in  Kev.  x.  9,  10) 
by  a  bitter  after -taste  ;  the  joyousness  which 
Ezekiel  felt  during  the  vision,  gives  place,  when 
the  vision  ends,  to  bitterness  (Matt.  xxvi.  41). 
This  bitterness  expresses  the  special  feeling  of  the 
prophet,  while  the  heat  designates  the  general 
character  of  his  mental  stale,  'nil  non3,  re- 
flecting the  fiery  style  of  the  vision  he  has  had, 
shows  Ezekiel's  spirit  rained  to  glowing  heat  by 
the  wrath  of  God,  by  the  unavoidable  judgment 
on  Israel  which  he  has  to  announce.  In  so  far 
there  is  as  yet  no  difference  which  would  have  to 
be  got  rid  of  or  repressed ;  the  difference  respects 
not  so  much  the  relation  to  God,  as  the  relation 
to  Israel.  It  is  in  this  direction  that  the  inter- 
pretation of  in  is  to  be  sought  (have  the  LXX, 
read  D"l?),  and  that  simply  as  an  expression  for 
the  pain  which  the  prophet  specially  feels  when 
he  goes  to  his  people.  That  is  the  human  ele- 
ment of  bitterness  in  his  divine  wrath.  Distress 
and  soiTow  undoubtedly  say  too  little, — Hitzig: 
' '  because  the  days  of  cheerful,  sportive  innocence 
are  now  over  for  him"  (!) — but  neither  is  it  the 
"bitterness  of  fiery  wrath  because  of  the  harden- 
ing of  Israel,  because  of  his  commission  with  no 
prospect  of  success"  (Keil);  and  just  as  little 
have  we  to  think,  with  Hengsten.,  of  "holy  irri- 
tation." In  Ezekiel's  spirit  there  is  the  wrath 
of  God  (Jer.  xv.  17)  ;  but  love  to  his  people  feels 
it  bitter, — feels  bitter  pain.  Hence :  the  hand  of 
Jehovah  was  strong  upon  me  (npm,  according  to 
the  ingenious  remark  of  Hitzig,  different  from 
133  in  Ps.  xxxii.  4),  where  we  must  not  compare 
either  ch.  i.  3  or  Isa.  viii.  11,  but  equivalent  to: 
God  strengthened  him,  as  the  Jewish  expositors 
render  it,  with  an  allusion  to  the  name  Ezekiel. 
1  may  be  the  simple  and,  not  "since"  (Ewald), 

nor  as  Hengst. ,  who  derives  the  indignation  and 
heat  of  spirit  from  the  powerful  divine  influence 
in  him. 

Ver.  15.  The  bitterness  of  the  pain,  and  the 
glow  of  the  wrath,  and  the  strengthening  of  the 
Almighty,  obtain  a  corresponding  plastic  expres- 
sion iu  the  behaviour  of  the  prophet,  as  soon  as 
he  finds  himself  in  the  midst  of  his  fellow-exOcs. 

— 3'3N  7n,  the  dwelling-place  of  Ezekiel,  pro- 
bably "hill  of  corn-ears,"  so  called  from  the 
elevated  situation  and  richness  in  grain  of  this 
colonial  settlement ;  for  other  combinations  with 
Tel  in  Babylon,  see  Gesen.  Lex.,  Rosenm.  ; 
comp.  besides,  Introd.  pp.  7,  8.  Jerome  gives  a 
symbolical  meaning  to  the  name  of  the  place. 

The  LXX.  appear  to  have  thought  of  a  form  yyp[ 

and  33D.     (The  Kethib  It^KI  ^^^  gi'en  rise  to 

many  far-fetched  interpretations.  Even  a  second 
river  has  been  made  of  it.  The  Qeri  reads 
3!J'S1>   that  he  has  not  only  come  hither,  but 

also  remained  [!],  not  to  speak  of  other  explana- 
tions. It  is  simply  to  be  read  "lt."N1>  and  to  bo 
connected  with  D{»>:  and  where.)    Seven  days— 

not  because  the  week  is  the  unity  that  most 
readily  suggests  itself  for  a  plurality  of  days 
(HiTZ. ),  nor  as  a  standard  period  for  cleansing, 
consecration,  preparation  for  holy  service  (Keil), 
but,  if  this  number  shadows  forth  anything,  then. 


CHAP.  III.  16-19. 


69 


•ccording  to  its  leading  symbolical  signification 
(Bahr,  tiyjnb.  i.  pp.  187  sqq.,  193  sqq.),  the  cove- 
nant relation  of  God  to  Israel,  by  which  the  wrath 
as  well  as  the  pain  of  the  prophet  might  be  ex- 
cited.     Comp.   Job  ii.   13;  Gen.  1.   10;   1   Sam. 

xxxi.  13  (Ps.  cxxxvii.  1). — WjyffD  partic.  Hiph. 
HiTZ. :  sunk  in  fixed  silence;  Keil:  motionless 
and  still.  Comp.  Ezra  ix.  3,  4.  (Hengst.  :  in  a 
state  of  horror.  But  how  is  this  conceivable 
during  the  whole  seven  days?) — Hav.  finds  in  the 
text  two  classes  of  exiles  :  those  who  had  recently 
settled  near  the  Chaboras,  and  the  old  inhabitants 
of  former  times  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  the 
ten  tribes  stUl  dwelling  there.  Comp.  Introd. 
pp.  7,  8. 

Vers.  16-27.  To  the  Installation  of  Ezekiel  in 
actual  Fact  there  is  appendeil  an  Admoni- 
tion of  a  more  general  Character  {vers.  16-21 ), 
and  a  special  One  having  reference  to  his 
Sphere  of  Labour  {vers.  22-27). 

Ver.  16.  The  admonition  after  the  installation 
coraes  to  Ezekiel  in  a  ntie  revelation.  (In  the 
usual   Hebrew   text   we   find   between   Q'n'  and 

-- 13T  'H''!  the  sign  Pwca;  piDD  j;VDN2  SpDS, 
i.e.  a  pause  in  the  middle  of  the  verse. ) —  Ver.  1 7. 
There  is  first  an  admonition  of  a  more  general 
character,  but  less,  as  Hitz.  supposes,  with  re- 
spect to  the  relation  between  the  revelation  and 
him,  that  he  is  to  speak  only  when  he  receives  a 
revelation,  than  as  to  how  he  is  to  look  upon  him- 
self in  reference  to  his  sphere  of  labour ;  for  the 
latter  reference  is  that  which  predominates  in 
what   follows.      ns'S    partic,    not   subst.,    from 

nax,  "to  draw  round,"  to  draw  over,  to  cover, 
to  take  care  of,  hence:  "to  keep  one's  eyes  on 
anything," — the  .wfr,  the  look-out,  who  from  his 
watch-tower,  which,  in  the  case  of  the  prophet, 
is  the  divine  standpoint,  turns  to  account  the 
revelations  which  are  made  to  him  for  the  weal  and 
woe  of  the  people  entrusted  to  his  care  as  a  watch- 
man. Comp.  1  Sam.  xiv.  16  ;  2  Sam.  xiii.  34,  xviii. 
24;  Jer.  vi.  17;  Hab.  ii.  1;  Isa.  Ivi.  10;  Ezek. 
xxxiii.  1  sqq. — With  the  judicial  character  which 
predominates  in  the  mission  of  Ezekiel,  the  word 
from  My  month  is  not  revelation  in  general,  but 
annoimcemeut,  hint,  commaml,  sentence  in  con- 
nection with  the  threatening  judgment  of  God, 
with  a  view  thereto,  and  determined  thereby ; 
and,  therefore,  ini  i"  Hiph.  not :  to  enlighten 
in  the  sense  of  to  te.ich  (Heb.  xiii.  17),  but  in 
the  sense  of  to  caution,  to  warn.  '300  is  ex- 
plained in  accordance  with  the  preceding  'SQ. 
Hav.  :  "  partly  in  compliance  with  definite  divine 
instructions  received,  partly  with  continual  appeal 
and  reference  thereto." 

Ver.  18.  The  ptiH,  like  the  pnV  in  what 
follows,  is  not  so  much  a  rhetorical  personification 
of  the  species  (Hengst.  ),  and  that  of  the  people  on 
the  one  hand,  of  the  little  Hock  on  the  other,  but 
a  characteristic  individualization,  for  this  pre- 
liminary period  of  the  New  Covenant ;  already 
the  individuals  are  separating  themselves  from 
Israel  as  a  national  whole  according  to  their 
individual  qualification,  i.e.  as  they  exhibit  them- 
selves in  their  procedure  towards  the  divine  judg- 
ment on  Israel,  and  the  public  preaching  takes 
the  shape  of  the  special  care  of  souls ;  and  in  this 
wav  the  national  mission  of  the  prophetic  order, 


on  the  one  hand,  enters  more  deeply  into  it» 
spiritual  significance,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
brings  into  prominence  its  general  human  side.— 
If  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  in  accordance  with  ver. 
17:  "thou  hearest  a  word  at  my  mouth,"  equi- 
valent to :  when  thou  hearest  what  I  say  unto 
the  wicked,  that  I  announce  unto  him  inevitable 
ruin  in  the  impending  judgment  (Luke  x.  16; 
1  Thess.  iv.  8).  —  nion  niD,  the  origin.al  threaten- 
ing on  the  transgressor  of  the  divine  word  (Gen. 
ii.  17)  is  nothing  new,  unheard  of,  is  only  applied 
here  (Gen.  xx.  7)  to  the  individual.  In  order  to 
make  his  duty  quite  clear  to  the  prophet,  to  free 
it  from  every  objection,  whether  springing  from 
his  own  heart,  or  coming  from  his  fellow-men,  oi 
from  surrounding  circumstances,  to  fix  it  for  all 
cases,  and  thus  to  enforce  it  very  strongly,  the 
simple  and  thon  wamest  him  not  is  expanded 
still  farther  into  what  follows,  and  speakest  not 
lo  warn,  etc.,  implying  at  the  same  time  repeti- 
tion and  urgency.  Although  the  nation  as  a 
whole  is  lost  (ch.  iii.  7),  the  return  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  nevertheless,  nay,  so  much  the  more,  to 
be  sought  (Acts  xx.  31 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  2).  The  sub- 
stance of  such  warning:  "of"  and  "from  his 
way;"  it  is  consequently  not  the  judgment  of 
God,  this  way  of  God  with  Israel,  for  this  may 
issue  in  life,  inasmuch  as  it  awakens  to  return,  to 
repentance,  but  it  is  his  own  way  and  will,  the 
life  of  self-v{\\\  on  the  part  of  the  ytJH,  which,  in 
accordance  with  God's  righteousness,  is  changed 
into  death,  just  as  it  is  in  its  root  a  dying,  be- 
cause departure  from  God,  from  the  divine  way, 
pointed  out  in  the  law.  There  lies  at  the  root  of 
pt^  (if  not,  as  contrasted  with  pi  v.  tt*  mean- 
ing of  what  is  crooked,  awry — Hupf.  on  Ps.  i.  1 — 
and  thus  deviation  from  the  straight,  right  way, 
yet  at  least)  apostasy  from  God  (Ps.  xviii.  22 
[21]).  He  is  one  who,  according  to  the  divine 
law,  the  rule  for  Israel  as  a  nation,  appears  un- 
righteous, here  as  everywhere  the  opposite  of  p'lV- 
— njJB'in,  which  the  LXX.  in  ver.  19  also  have 
passed  over,  refers  to  '\yT[  (like  rPS).  construed 
as  feminine,  perhaps  in  order  to  emphasize  the 
significance  of  the  figurative  expression. — m'n?, 
the  object  of  the  warning,  perhaps  at  the  same 
time :  to  bring  him  to  life  again  ( Ps.  xxx.  4  [3] ; 
Hos.  vi.  2 ;  Eph.  ii.  5). — pjj,  properly :  what  is 
not  straight,  perverted  in  consequence  of  de- 
viating from  the  straight,  right  way,  hence : 
unrighteousness,  and  also :  inignil;/.  In  his  per- 
versity the  unrighteous  man  necessarily  brings 
upon  himself  death  as  a  consequence ;  there  is 
an  J'p  py,  as  it  is  expressed  in  eh.  xxi.  30  [E.  V. 

25]. — The  close  of  the  verse  likewise  contains  an 
allusion  to  a  passage  in  Genesis,  Gen.  ix.  5 
(xiii.  22),  only  with  this  difference,  that  B'pa 
stands  instead  of  cm,  which  latter  Ges.  explains 
as :  to  go  after  any  one,  thus  of  a  more  active  re- 
clamation, while  {^p3  means  more  a  looking  after, 
a  seeking  with  the  eyes.  It  is  the  life,  which  is 
in  the  blood,  of  those  in  Israel  which  is  entrusted 
to  the  prophet  as  a  watcliman.  For  this  Jehovah, 
the  Supreme  Proprietor,  demands  a  reckoning. 
The  prophet  who  forgets  his  dutj',  which  he  owes  to 
the  unrighteous  in  God's  stead,  becomes  a  man- 
slaughterer,  a  murderer  of  that  man,  and  is  re- 
garded as  such  by  God. 

Ver.  19.  What  the  way  of  deliverance  ia  foi 


70 


EZEKIEL. 


the  unrighteous  man,  is  shown,  viz.  return,  alike 
inwardly  (wickedness)  and  outwardly.  The  de- 
liverance of  soul,  as  regards  the  prophet  (here 
[j'£3,  formerly  m  Gen.  ix.  4),  is  preservation 
from  the  divine  avenging  of  blood, — Ver.  20. 
Antithetic  parallelism  of  this  and  the  following 
verse  with  the  two  preceding.  Hengst. ,  holding 
fast  by  the  people  in  his  interpretation,  denies 
the  personal  contrast  in  p'lV;  they  are,  according 
to  him,  designated  as  wicked  at  present,  as  right- 
eous with  reference  to  their  destiny  and  better 
past.  The  description  of  the  lighteonB  man 
does  not  certainly  rise  above  a  certain  outward 
legality  and  isolated  righteousnesses.  Ver.  IS : 
'ntDN3.  I'sre  3U>*3-  —  His  righteousness  is  that 
attained  by  him  as  regards  the  law  of  Israel,  the 
national-legal  righteousness;  hence,  also,  depar- 
ture therefrom  is  quite  conceivable  as  "  commit- 
ting wickedness  (iniquity) ;"  and,  for  the  decision 
of  the  matter,  the  stumbling-block  is  given  by 
God ;  i.e.,  to  such  a  righteous  man  (comp.  however, 
Prov.  iv.  11,  12,  XV.  19)  the  exile,  or  the  state  of 
matters  in  Jerusalem,  becomes  a  temptation  from 
God,  in  so  far  as,  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  the 
condition  of  the  man,  such  like  outwai'd  circum- 
stances are  arranged  by  Him,  but  not :  a  stum- 
bliug-block  "on  which  he  may  die  "  (Ew. ) ;  for 
ni53'  Sin  begins  the  apodosis,  just  as  in  ver.  18 
yen  Nin,  ^^  shall  die, — so  it  is  decided  as  to 
the  apostate  righteous  man,  who  has  become  like 
the  wicked  (ch.  xviii.  24),  and  therefore  must 
appear  still  worse  than  he  ;  just  as  the  stumbling- 
block  to  be  given  by  God  brings  him  also  in 
actual  fact  to  utter  ruin.  The  parallel,  however, 
with  ver.  18  necessarily  implies  neglect  in  warn- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  prophet;  and  as  such  omis- 
sion is  presupposed,  so  also  tlie  death  of  this 
'■  righteous  "  man,  his  ruin  in  the  Chaldean 
divine  judgment,  must  be  expressly  ('3)  referred 
to  the  prophet,  and,  consequently,  the  possibility 
of  another  result  be  presupposed.  How  the  case 
will  be  in  reality  with  this  man,  who  is  worse 
than  the  yd,  is  shown  by  the  statement :  in 
his  sin  he  shall  die,  which  points,  not  to  a  false 
step  arising  from  mere  weakness,  ignorance,  but 
to  loickedne.-'s  become  a  habit.  The  individualizing 
description  of  our  verse  (as  already  in  ver.  19) 
gives  additional  proof  of  the  fearful  corruption  of 
Israel  as  a  whole,  which  was  disclosed  in  what 
precedes  (ch.  ii.  3).  His  righteousnesses  mean, 
according  to  Hengst.,  "the  good  works  of  pious 
ancestors,  Ps.  cxxxii.  1  "  (!).  They  are  the  legal 
deeds  of  the  "righteous  man,"  or  collectively: 
what  he  has  done  in  accordance  with  the  law, 
works  without  reference  to  the  state  of  the  heart. 
[Rosenm.  reads  inplV   ^  *  collective  singular 

with  the  plural  of  the  verb  ^13^0.  ]  Comp.  be- 
sides, on  ver.  18. — Ver.  21.  '3  riDNl  *s  in  ver. 
19  ;  but  the  issue  of  the  case  is  exactly  the  oppo- 
site :  there  warning  without  return,  here  warnmg 
which  attains  its  object.  After  the  three  dark 
pictures  which  precede,  this  is  drawn  in  colours 
so  nmch  the  brighter.  /( is  the  righteous  man  as 
he  ouijht  to  be :  and  hence  also  the  emphatic  mode 
of  expression.  Comp.  besides,  1  John  iii.  8,  9,  ii. 
1,  iii.  6. — <3  BS  in  ver.  20.  Comp.  besides,  on 
ver.  19. 

In  vers.  22-27  there  follows  a  quite  special  in- 
(truction  for  Ezekiel  as  to  his  sphere  of  labour, 
which  is  introduced  by  a  special  demand  in  ver. 


22.  Comp.  ch.  i.  3.  It  is  at  Tel-abib,  also,  tlut 
this  divine  revelation  is  made  to  the  prophet. 
Hengst.  consistently  asserts  that  there  is  no 
actual  change  of  place,  that  Ezekiel's  betaking 
himself  to  the  valley,  like  his  presence  at  the 
Chebar,  takes  place  in  the  inner  region  of  the 
spirit  (!). — The  valley,  iis  distinguished  from  the 
height  on  which  Tel-abili  was  situate,  is  not 
exactly  the   plain   extending  to   the    river — not 

mtS'n,  but  nvp3n,  a  certain  valley  between  the 

mountain -walls  there.  It  is  not  so  much  the 
solitude  (Hengst.)  as  the  subsequent  renewal  of 
the  earlier  vision  of  glory  which  leads  to  the 
choice  of  this  locality.  (2  Cor.  vi.  17;  Ps.  xlv. 
10,  11;  comp.  Ezek.  xxxvii.  1,  2.) 

Ver.  23 ;  comp.  ch.  i.  23.  The  vision  begins 
with :  and,  behold,  ^l3y  indicated  to  him  the 
standing  background  and  |irotection  for  his 
labours,  or  the  Judge  before  the  door! — Ver.  24; 
comp.  ch.  ii.  2.  Hitzig's  conjecture  seems  a 
correct  one,  that  this  detinite  ordering  of  the 
prophet  into  the  house  is  connected  with  the 
preceding  summons  to  go  forth  ;  it  appears  at  least 
so  much  the  more  visible, —  which  is  certainly  of 
importance,  if  the  prophet  was,  in  the  first  place, 
to  preach  to  the  eye  merely  of  his  country- 
men. If  his  procedure  in  ver.  15  was  a  sermon, 
this  shutting  of  hinijsel/  up  within  his  house  is, 
primarily,  nothing  else, — an  action,  a  condition 
of  Ezekiel's,  meant  for  a  sermon ;  just  as  in  his 
case,  more  readily  than  in  that  of  any  of  the 
other  prophets,  the  inward  becomes  outward,  and 
the  outward  is  inward.  His  isolation  from  the 
midst  of  his  countrymen  in  the  valley /or  God  is 
now  followed  by  his  isolation  among  them  within 
his  own  house ;  the  former  a  momentary  one,  the 
latter  of  a  more  endm-ing  character.  This  latter 
symbolical  sermon  is  further  defined  as  a  non  in 
publicum  prodire  (ver.  25),  and  more  exactly  as  a 
silence  on  the  part  of  the  voice  calling  to  repent- 
ance (ver.  26).  Those  who  are  so  very  eager 
after  what  is  visible  are  accordingly  directed, 
first  of  all,  to  look  at  what  the  prophet  will  do 
(ch.  xii.  6,  11).  That  would  uecessarOy  excite 
attention,  and  curiosity  would  necessarily,  with 
ever  growing  intensity,  desire  to  have  it  explained, 
what  Ezekiel's  acting  has  in  •\'iew,  what  it  means. 
This  is  certainly  the  primary  reason  why  the  pro- 
phet is  not  only  summoned  away  by  God  (ver. 
22  sqq.)  from  the  midst  of  his  countrymen,  but 
also  receives  the  command  to  shut  himself  up  in 
his  house  in  their  midst.  The  shutting  himsell 
up  in  his  house  is  therefore,  of  course,  sj'mbolic, 
although,  at  the  same  time,  it  explains  to  us 
the  way  in  which  ch.  iv  and  v.  are  to  be  under- 
stood, viz.  as  domestic  occurrences.  It  has  been 
regarded  as  a  picture  of  the  future  of  Ezekiel's 
own  prophetic  destiny  (HXv. ),  and  also  as  a  pic- 
ture of  Jerusalem  under  investment  (Ephraem 
Syrus,  Jer.),  inasmuch  as  it  was  falsely  assumeil 
that  there  was  a  connection  with  what  follows 
immediately,  or  at  a  later  stage.  (Raschi  :  that 
thou  mayest  show  them  that  they  are  unworthy 
of  admonition.  Grot.  :  in  order  to  await  the 
suitable  time  for  speaking.)  Moreover,  this  house 
of  the  prophet  is  the  innocent  cause  of  all  the 
"  leisure  of  domestic  life,"  amid  which,  according 
to  Ewald,  Ezekiel  was  almost  exclusively  occupied 
in  literary  pursuits. 

Ver.  25.  The  shtitting  himself  up  in  his  hous« 
is  not  intended  to  shut  out  his  countrymen  frnni 


CHAP    III.  26,  27. 


71 


him ;  for  what  be  is  to  do  there  is  for  the  house  of 
Israel  (eh.  iv.  3  sqq.),  is  done  before  their  eyes 
(ver.  12;  comp.  alSb  eh.  viii.  1);  but  he  (nnxi) 
is  to  be  for  them  one  who  is  shut  up,  i.e.  in  the 
first  place,  one  who  is  not  to  go  forth  into  their 
midst. — For  son  of  man,  comp.  on  ch.  ii.  1. — 
Behold,  they  lay,  etc.,  can  only  be  his  country- 
.ueu,  and  that  not  as  being  members  of  his  family, 
who  take  him  for  a  madman  (A  Lapide), — a  view 
which  nothing  in  the  context  favours.  But  Hit- 
zig's  view  (accepted  by  Keil)  of  invisible,  heavenly 
powers,  which  bound  Ezekiel  ("as  it  were  bands 
of  enchantment"!),  is  quite  opposed  to  the  con- 
text. Ver.  25  by  no  means  moves  in  the  same 
line  with  ver.  26  ;  but  in  ver.  26  the  transition  is 
made  from  men  to  God.  Ch.  iv.  8,  according  to 
Keil's  own  explanation,  has  no  connection  with 
this.  Everything  depends  on  whether  we  are  to 
look  upon  the  binding  of  the  prophet  as  intended 
to  prevent  him  leaving  his  house,  which  would, 
indeed,  fall  in  ^ith  the  shutting  himself  up  in  it 
commanded  by  God,  but  which  would  correspond 
little  with  the  disposition  of  the  prophet's  country- 
men, who  do  not  certainly  wish  what  God  wishes, 
but  much  rather  the  contrary!  (Hence,  perhaps, 
KlMCHi:  Go  into  thine  house,  and  thou  shalt  be 
shut  up  therein,  just  as  if  they  had  boimd  thee 
with  bands.)  We  are  not  to  assert  with  Keil  that 
a  fettering  by  means  of  these  would  be  in'econ- 
cilable  with  ch.  iv.  and  v.,  since  a  fettering  of 
this  description  might  take  place  afterwards,  and 
Kzekiel,  meanwhile,  might  again  have  become 
free ;  and  just  as  little  is  it  to  be  regarded  as  a 
decisive  objection  to  this  view,  that  no  trace  of 
such  assault  is  to  be  discovered  elsewhere ;  our 
passage  itself  might  contain  the  missing  trace. 
But  D3in2  SVn  K^  is*  rather  (as  also  Hengst.) 
=:but  thou  (nnXl)  ""^^  (shalt)  tiot  go  forth  to 
them.  Instead  of  hindering  him  from  speaking, 
his  couutrjTnen  will,  on  the  contraiy,  in  their 
cuiiosity,  do  everything,  will  even  lay  violent 
hands  upon  him,  that  he  may  come  forth  and 
speak  to  them  ;  they  will  throw  bands  over  him, 
will  bind  him  with  them,  in  order  the  more 
easily  to  bring  him  forth.  All  that  they  gain 
thereby,  besides  his  not  going  forth  himself 
to  them  in  such  a  case,  will  be,  that,  notwith- 
standing their  efforts,  he  will  not  speak  to  them, 
since — ver.  26 — God  will  hinder  it.  The  shutting 
himself  up  in  his  house  is  to  become  something 
more  definite,  viz.  the  shutting  of  his  mouth  at  the 
same  time,  and  that  as  an  n'OW  B"N,  which  is 
here  equivalent  in  meaning  to  "a  dedaimer 
against  vice,"  in  an  almost  exclusively  formal 
lespect,  since  they  are  a  house  of  rebeliiousness 
(ch.  iii.  5),  and  nothing  material  is  to  be  accom- 
plished among  them  as  a  whole.  Comp.  on 
ver.  18. 

Ver.  27.  '12131  points  back  to  nDS3  in  ver.  18. 
Thus  the  silence  of  Ezekiel  is  even  here  already  a 
judgment  of  God  upon  Israel ;  for  the  opening  of 
nis  mouth  has  for  its  object  the  communication 
of  the  divine  revelation  to  his  countrymen. 
Comp.  besides,  on  ch.  ii.  4,  iii.  11,  ii.  5,  7  (Rev. 
ii.  7,  xxii.  11).  The  reference  of  vers.  25-27  is 
primarily  to  ch.  iv.,  v. ;  in  a  less  degiee  it  is  car- 
ried on  to  ch.  vii.  ;  but  perhaps  ch.  xxiv.  27 
and  ch.  xxxiii.  22  refer  to  vers.  26,  27.  Comp. 
there.  In  general,  vers.  26,  27  express  the  entire 
dependence  of  the  prophet,  alike  in  silence  and  in 
speaking,  on  God,  and  consequently  his  divine 


legitimation ;  in  particular,  the  remaining  dumb 
imposed  upon  him — but  that  as  regariis  tne 
other  character  of  his  prophetic  labours  from  ch. 
xxxiv.  onwards — may  be  applied  to  the  period 
down  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  as  charac- 
teristic of  this  period,  and  therefore  significantly 
repeated  at  its  close.     Comp.  besides,  on  ch.  v.  5. 

Additional  Note  ox  Ch.  hi.  12-27. 

[This  section,  which  should  have  formed  a  sepa- 
rate chapter,  records  the  entrance  of  Ezekiel  on  hia 
high  vocation,  and  contains  the  first  message  de- 
livered to  him  respecting  it.  His  former  placi  of 
abode,  it  would  seem,  was  not  the  most  advan- 
tageously situated  for  prosecuting  with  success 
the  work  committed  to  him  ;  and,  in  consequence, 
he  removed  to  Tel-abib,  which  is  nowhere  else 
mentioned,  but  was,  in  all  probability,  the  best 
peopled  locality,  or  the  chief  town  of  the  Jewish 
colony.  When  he  came  and  saw  the  captives 
dwelling  there,  in  a  dejected  and  mournlul  con- 
dition, he  sat  down  among  them  for  seven  days 
continuously — sitting  being  the  common  attitude 
of  giief  (Ezra  ix.  3;  Lam.  i.  1-3),  and  seven  days 
being  the  usual  period  for  the  manifestation  of 
the  heaviest  sorrow  (Job  ii.  13).  By  thus  spend- 
ing, at  the  outset,  so  many  days  of  desolation  and 
sadness,  he  gave  proof  of  his  deep  fellow-feeling 
with  his  exOed  brethren  in  their  depressed  condi- 
tion, and  showed  how  entirely  he  entered  into 
their  state.  Thus  sorrowing  in  their  sorrow,  and 
breathing  the  tenderness  of  a  sympathizing  spirit 
toward  them,  he  sought  to  win  their  confidence, 
and  secure  a  favourable  hearing  for  the  words  of 
mercy  and  of  judgment  which  he  was  from  time 
to  time  to  press  upon  their  notice. 

The  projihet,  however,  did  not  go  alone  to 
this  mournful  field  of  prophetic  agency.  He 
was  borne  thither  under  the  conscious  might 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  was  attended  by  the 
symbols  of  the  divine  presence  and  glory.  When 
he  rose  to  proceed  on  his  course,  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  heavenly  vision  iiegan  also  to 
move ;  and  amid  the  crashing  or  tumultuous 
noise  which  broke  upon  his  spiritual  ear,  he 
heard  the  words,  "  Blessed  be  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  from  His  (or  its)  place  "—certainly  a 
somewhat  peculiar  utterance,  and  one  not  found 
in  any  other  part  of  Scripture ;  yet  not  materially 
different  from  another  in  freqiu-nt  use,  "  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  The  glory  of  Jehovah 
here  was  that  manifested  glory  which  had  ap- 
peared in  vision  to  the  prophet,  and  which  was, 
in  other  words,  a  revelation  of  His  glorious  name. 
To  pronounce  it  blessed  from  its  place,  was  in 
effect  to  bless  God  Himself,  as  thus  and  there  re- 
vealing His  adorable  perfections  and  divine  will. 
And  as  the  prophet  was  going  to  be  the  represen- 
tative and  herald  of  these  in  a  sphere  where  there 
was  much  to  damp  his  spirit,  and  withstand  his 
faithful  agency,  it  was  fit  that  he  should  go  with 
the  solemn  word  pealing  in  his  ears,  from  these 
ideal  ministers  of  heaven,  "  Blessed  be  the  glory 
of  the  Lord."  As  much  as  to  say.  Let  this  above 
all  be  magnified ;  whatever  is  experienced  or  done, 
let  nothing  interfere  with  that  pure  and  majestic 
glory  of  Jehovah,  which  has  now  in  emblem  been 
exhibited. 

In  regard  to  the  message  communicated  to  the 
prophet  after  the  seven  days  of  sadness  had  ex- 
pired, there  is  also  something  peculiar  in  it ;  for 


72 


EZEKIEL. 


it  is  only  Ezekiel  among  the  prophets  who  is 
described  as  a  watchman  appointed  bj'  God,  to 
give  timely  and  faithful  warning  to  the  people. 
Habakkuk  speaks  of  standing  upon  his  watch- 
tower  (ch.  ii.  1),  but  this  was  only  in  respect  to 
his  eager  and  anxious  outlook  for  the  manifesta- 
tions he  was  expecting  of  divine  power  and  faith- 
fulness. Ezekiel  alone  is  represented  as  called  to 
do  for  others  the  part  of  a  watchman  ;  and  in 
doing  it  he  was  most  strictly  charged,  on  the 
cue  hand,  to  receive  all  his  instructions  from  God 
as  to  the  existence  of  whatever  danger  there  might 
be  in  the  condition  of  the  people,  and,  on  the 
other,  to  sound  a  loud  and  solemn  alarm  when  he 
might  perceive  it  actually  besetting  them.  That 
such  should  have  been  the  distinctive  character 
given  to  his  position  and  calling,  manifestly  be- 
spoke the  very  perilous  condition  of  those  to 
whom  he  was  sent.  It  indicated  that  he  had 
something  else  to  do  than  merely  to  sympathize 
witli  them  in  their  afflicted  state,  and  speak 
soothing  words  to  their  downcast  and  drooping 
spirits.  It  was  to  be  his  rather  to  open  their 
eyes  to  the  profounder  evils  that  encompassed 
them,  to  break  the  spell  of  inveterate  and  che- 
rished delusions,  and  raise  the  cry  of  danger  where 
none  was  suspected.  So  that  the  very  form  of 
the  commission  given  to  him  was  like  the  deliver- 
ince  of  a  strong  and  impressive  testimony  to  the 
people  of  the  latent  corruptions  and  imminent 
perils  with  which  they  were  beset. 

If  we  look  also  to  the  substance  of  the  com- 
munication, or  to  the  particular  instructions  given 
to  the  prophet  concerning  the  discharge  of  his 
office,  we  see  at  once  the  grand  principle  dis- 
closed on  which  the  destiny  of  Israel  was  to  turn. 
The  question,  whether  life  or  death,  blessing  or 
cursing,  was  to  be  their  portion,  hung  upon 
another,  whether  they  were  to  make  righteous- 
ness or  sin  their  choice?  Their  return  to  light- 
eousness  was  the  indispensable  condition  of  their 
restoration  to  blessing.  If,  in  despite  of  this,  the 
wicked  should  persevere  in  his  evil  ways,  or  even 
the  righteous  man  should  turn  aside  and  practise 
iniquity,  a  visitation  of  wrath  must  be  looked  for 
— the  original  sentence  against  sin,  to  which  the 
language  designedly  points,  that  the  purpose  of 
God  in  this  respect  might  be  seen  to  be  fixed  and 
unalterable — the  sentence,  that  he  who  trans- 
gresses "shall  surely  die,"  must  take  effect;  for 
God  is  unchangeably  the  same,  and  what  he  ap- 
pointed at  first  as  the  wages  of  sin  must  continue 
to  be  its  wages  .still. 

But  while  this  part  of  the  charge  cut  off  all 
hope  from  a  backsliding  and  impenitent  people, 
the  other  part  of  it  held  out  ample  encouragement 
to  such  as  remained  stedfast  in  the  covenant  of 
God,  or  repented  of  their  evil  ways.  The  man 
who  continued  to  love  the  paths  of  righteousness, 
and  the  man  also  who,  after  having  forsaken, 
again  returned  to  them,  was  to  be  assured  of  the 
blessings  of  life ;  these  should  as  surely  live  as  the 
others  should  die.  For  the  prophet,  as  God's 
watchman,  was  to  represent  the  mercy  as  well  as 
the  justice  of  God's  administration  ;  he  was  to 
have  a  wakeful  eye  upon  the  good,  not  less  than 
the  evil,  that  appeared  among  the  people ;  and 
was  to  stretch  out  the  hand  of  fellowship,  and 
display  the  banner  of  divine  love  and  protection, 
in  behalf  of  all  who  might  be  inclined  or  moved 
to  cle»ve  to  the  service  of  Heaven.  Thus  were 
they  to  know  from  the  outset  that,  for  the  people 


as  a  whole,  and  for  each  individual  amongst  them^ 
this  one  path  lay  open  for  their  return  to  peace 
and  blessing. — ¥AiRBXiB.}i'a  Ezekiel,  yp.  40-43. — 

W.  r.j 

DOCTBIKAL. 

1.  The  revelation  of  the  glory  of  God,  because 
it  is  revelation,  has  always  accordingly  its  special 
locality  (DipD)-     If  heaven,  above  all,  is  reckoned 

the  place  from  which  it  beams  forth  (Deut.  xxvi, 
15;  2  Chron.  xxx.  27;  Isa.  Ixiii.  15;  Hab.  ii 
20 ;  Zeeh.  ii.  17  ;  1  Kings  viii  39),  yet  even  of  it 
1  Kings  viii.  27  is  true ;  how  much  more  of  all 
places  of  revelation  upon  earth!  Thus  God  Him- 
self remains  0  ©£of  and  9  TaTTip  Tni  "ho^ri;  (Acts  vii. 
2 ;  Eph.  i.  17),  the  independent  Possessor  and 
Dispenser  of  glory,  and  the  self-revelation  of  God 
made  in  Christ  is  the  full  revelation  of  His  glory 
(Luke  ii  14) ;  for  to  Him  the  angels  of  God 
descend,  just  as  from  Him  also  and  from  no  other 
spot  on  earth  they  again  ascend  (John  i  52). 
From  God,  wherever  He  manifests  Himself,  on 
Sinai,  in  the  temple.  His  praise  goes  forth  accord- 
ingly with  its  destination  for  the  whole  world. 

2.  The  praise  of  God  is  the  glory  of  God,  which 
is  reflected  in  the  blessedness  of  the  creature, 
especially  of  man.  "It  is  a  momentary  celebra- 
tion beforehand  of  the  eternal  perfection,  which, 
momentary  though  it  be,  has  already  an  element 
of  eternity  in  itself,"  says  Lange  with  respect  to 
the  prayer  of  the  doxology. 

3.  The  servants  of  God,  however  mightily, 
however  completely  they  fulfil  their  task,  so  that 
Ezekiel  can  speak  of  the  "heat  (glow)  of  his 
spirit,"  yet  always  remain  men,  i.e.  if  nOD  signi- 
fies the  holy  wrath  of  God  as  distinguished  from 
mn>  the  being  angry  as  the  effect  of  passion,  yet 
we  shall  meet  with  pain  in  the  prophet's  natural 
love  to  his  people ;  just  as  Jesus  the  Son  of  man 
has  tears  over  Jerusalem  (Luke  xix.  41).  Pain 
is  more  active  than  sorrow,  which  is  more  a 
passive  state.  We  ought  to  be  full  of  the  wrath 
of  God  over  sin,  especially  where  it  has  already 
become  punishment,  the  judgment  of  hardening ; 
but  our  feeling  towards  the  sinners  can  only  be 
pain,  because  of  our  love  to  them  as  men,  as  in 
the  case  of  Ezekiel,  or  sorrow,  if  we  wish  to 
distinguish  the  melancholy,  sorrowful  Jeremiah 
(comp.  Jer.  vi.  11)  in  this  way  from  the  choleric, 
energetic  Ezekiel.  The  servant  of  God,  who 
should  not  find  the  latter  emotions  in  himself, 
according  to  character  and  the  circle  in  which  he 
is  placed,  would  need  to  bethink  himself,  and  to 
mourn  over  himself.  Wrath  without  love  is  of 
the  devil,  but  not  of  God ;  just  as  a  love  which 
cannot  be  angry  may  be  mere  nature,  mere  human 
weakness. 

4.  Even  a  silent  preacher  may  be  a  loud  and 
very  impressive  sermon.  In  certain  circumstances 
silence  may  be  even  more  expressive  than  speak- 
ing. "This  is  the  wisdom  of  him  who  is  truly 
called,"  says  Umbreit,  "that  he  is  sometimes 
silent,  sometimes  speaks ;  but  that  when  he  speaks, 
he  lets  the  divine  word  stream  forth  freely  with- 
out fear  and  trembling  as  to  whether  it  is  under- 
stood ;  for  the  light  is  not  to  be  put  under  a 
bushel ;  it  has  a  right  to  shine,  because  it  in 
Ught." 

5.  The  prophetic  office  of  watchman,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  similitude  of  one  who  is  posted  on 
a  height,  or  a  watch-tower,  has  a  twofold  applica 


CHAP.  III.  12-27. 


tiiin.  Inasmuch  as  the  watchman  has,  in  the 
firsi  place,  to  keep  a  look-out — but  what  meets 
thf.  prophetic  eye  is  presented  to  him  in  vision, 
or  by  means  of  a  revelation  in  word — the  office  of 
watchman  is  identical  with  the  general  designa- 
tion of  the  prophets  as  "seers"  (Doct.  ReHect. 
6  on  ch.  i.  1-3).  Thus  it  is  the  circumstance  nf 
tlieir  dcscrjing  or  not  descrying  that  makes  them 
"watchmen,"  not  the  circumstance  that  they 
have  always  to  speak  or  to  be  silent  accordingly 
(HiTZ. ) ;  for  the  former,  at  least  as  regards  Ezekiel, 
is  still  dependent  on  divine  instructions.  In 
Ezekicl's  case,  the  opening  of  his  mouth  by  God 
forms  the  transition  to  the  second  aud  more 
definite  application  and  interpretation  of  the 
similitude  of  a  watchman,  viz.  that  the  watch- 
man has  to  announce  the  approaching  danger, 
and  therefore  to  warn  against  it.  As  such  he  is 
certainly  not  "the  mere  watchman,  i.e.  (as  Ew. 
expresses  it)  the  sharp  but  quiet,  calm  observer 
of  men,  in  order  to  warn  each  at  the  right  time." 
The  whole  of  the  people  as  such,  as  well  as  in 
their  governing  heads,  is  what  is  entrusted  to  the 
watchman.  But  the  application  of  the  figure  of 
the  watchman,  in  the  direction  of  warning,  rests 
on  the  more  general  duty  of  prophecy,  to  be  the 
controlling  power  of  the  national  life  according  to 
the  divine  law  in  all  respects.  Only  the  warn- 
ing of  the  prophetic  watchman  is  of  a  more  special 
kind,  not  as  regards  the  law,  but  in  view  of  the 
judgments  of  God, — an  express  turning  to  account 
of  the  future  which  he  has  seen  for  the  immediate 
present  in  its  existing  state. 

6.  If  we  find  with  Ezekiel — of  course,  on  the 
basis  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  of  the  theocratic 
nationality  of  Israel — individnalization  already 
taking  place  (comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  1  sqq. ),  such 
indiridualization,  in  view  of  the  period  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  is  a  sign  of  this  period,  and 
more  than  the  personification,  so  frequent  else- 
where, of  what  accords  with  the  law  and  what  is 
contrary  to  it,  in  the  ideal  picture  of  the  righteous 
man,  just  as  in  his  opposite,  the  j){jn.  Israel  as 
a  whole,  in  contradiction  to  its  idea,  begins  to 
resolve  itself  into  the  iVu  ii  of  John  i.  12.  Comp. 
on  ch.  ix.  4. 

7.  In  times  when  the  axe  is  laid  at  the  root  of 
a  whole  nation,  the  mission  of  those  who  were 
originally  destined  for  the  whole  becomes  of  itself 
the  work  of  saving  individuals. 

8.  The  emphasizing  (in  ch.  xviii.  still  more 
explicit)  of  the  statement  as  to  the  personal  re- 
sponsibility of  the  individual  has  reference  to  the 
theocratic  delusion  and  superstition  of  the  hypo- 
crites, the  secure,  which  the  false  prophets  still 
flattered,  according  to  which  the  individual,  be- 
cause a  descendant  of  Abraham  according  to  the 
flesh,  might  hold  hims-ilf  assured  of  belonging  to 
a  nationality  where,  and  where  alone,  a  sure  sal- 
vation was  to  be  found. 

9.  The  illustration  of  the  prophet's  office  by 
means  of  the  sixth  commandment,  supported  by 
Gen.  ix.,  shows  not  merely  how  Tytu/iitTiKif  the 
vifisi  is,  but  what  an  idea  of  life  ought  to  be 
familiar  to  the  ministers  of  the  word.  They  are 
not,  as  it  were,  in  accordance  with  the  world's 
policy,  "  to  live  and  let  live." 

10.  The  disputed  question,  as  to  whether  the 
righteous  can  fall  away,  as  the  Lutheran  theology 
along  with  that  of  the  Jesuits  asserts,  and  which 
the  Reformed  doctrine,  on  the  other  hand,  denies, 
demands  for  its  solution  that  we  should  make  the 


distinction  between  law  and  grace.  That  th(- 
man  wlio  is  righteous  according  to  the  law  maj 
apostatize  unto  death,  is  the  very  thing  asserted 
in  ch.  iii.  20  :  comp.  xviii.  24.  Just  in  the  same 
way,  it  is  denied  in  ch.  iii.  21  with  respect  to  him 
who  is  justified  by  faith,  and  who  remains  righteous 
when  admonished  by  the  Spirit.  Only  this  dis- 
tinction must  not  be  applied  so  as  to  become  a 
distinction  between  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
as  is  done  by  Havemick.  For  the  rightoousness 
of  God  is  one  and  the  same  in  both  (comp.  Roiu. 
iv. ).  The  legal  standpoint,  although  not  in  its 
national  form,  yet  in  its  externality,  runs  through 
the  period  of  the  New  Covenant,  just  as  the  evan- 
gelical standpoint  is  not  strange  to  the  period  of 
the  Old  Covenant,  although  mediated — not  ob- 
scui'ed — under  the  law  by  means  of  the  symbolism 
of  sacrifice. 

11.  "As  the  sinner  may  turn  from  his  way  and 
be  saved,  so  a  righteous  man  may  fall  ?way  from 
his  righteousness  and  become  a  wicked  man. 
The  man  who  is  really  and  truly  righteous  cannot 
do  so  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  lost ;  but  he  may 
fall  into  heinous  transgressions,  and  appear  for 
the  time  stripped  of  his  faith,  like  the  sun  under 
a  cloud,  like  fire  beneath  the  ashes  (David,  Peter). 
But  there  are  also  those  who  believe  for  a  time 
(1  John  ii.  I9>,  who  become  quite  manifest  during 
temptation,  and  also  after  it  is  ended,  when  it  is 
all  over  with  them." — Lavatek. 

12.  If  we  speak  of  a  snare  which  God  lays  for 
man,  this  cannot  be  sin,  what  is  evil,  but  the 
position  in  which  God  places  man  with  a  view  to 
his  own  personal  decision,  as  well  as  with  a  view 
to  the  decision  regarding  him ;  and,  in  fact,  this 
cannot  be  misfortune  merely,  but  also  so-called 
good  fortune,  the  former  leading  to  despair,  the 
latter  conducing  to  hardening  in  false  security. 
Of  course  a  snare  of  God  in  a  definite  develop- 
ment of  sin  may  also  be  already  punishment,  the 
beginning  of  divine  judgment. 

13.  Around  the  warning  as  neglected  or  ad- 
ministered by  the  prophet,  four  cases  group  them- 
selves, four  types  for  all  time :  the  wicked  man 
in  general,  who  goes  to  destruction  without  warn- 
ing,— this  being  the  relative  and  ever-increasing 
guilt  of  Christendom ;  the  wicked  man  in  parti- 
cular, who,  in  spite  of  warning,  chooses  the  way 
of  death  ;  the  righteous  man,  who  is  so  merely  in 
form,  whether  a  conscious  hypocrite  or  not, — just 
as  nominal  Christians  in  the  mass  have  fallen 
away  from  the  Church  in  critical  times  of  perse- 
cution,— he  who  without  warning  falls  under  the 
judgment,  in  connection  with  whose  case  the 
Church  ought  to  remember  her  duty,  as  opposed 
to  the  Pietism  of  the  future,  the  diplomatic  or 
government  Pietism,  as  well  as  the  "soldierly- 
pious"  element  {"mililar-fromm");  lastly,  the 
upright  and  sincere  righteous  man,  who  also  re- 
mains so,  who  lets  himself  be  warned.  Of  the 
four,  then,  there  is  one  against  three.  What  a  con- 
clusion may  be  drawn  from  this  numerical  relation 
of  individuals  to  the  whole ! 

14.  No  mere  deelaimer  against  vice,  still  less 
one  who  is  this  in  the  disguise  of  a  homiletic 
mask,  or  who  labours  thereat  as  being  his  profes- 
sion, is  in  accordance  with  God's  word.  That 
man  only  ought  to  reprove  his  brethren  who  ha« 
a  commission  from  God  for  it,  and  only  wlien  he 
has  that  commission.  "God  does  not  permit 
mortal  men,  according  to  their  mere  vrill  and 
pleasure,  to  condemn  or  to  absolve.    And  althoneli 


•Ti 


EZEKIEL. 


He  si'iii^s  forth  His  servants,  yet  He  does  not 
Himself  renounce  His  authority,  in  virtue  of 
which  the  supreme  sovereignty  remains  with  Him. 
He  is  tile  One  Lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save  and 
to  destroy  (Jas.  iv.  12)"  (Calv.).  The  so-called 
"  in  virtue  of  our  office  "  is  by  no  means  sufficient 
for  this,  but  our  own  conscience  must  legitimate 
our  doing  it. 

HOMILETIC  HINT.S. 

\'er.  12.  "  He  had  come  unto  me  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  me  out  of  myself,  and  taking  me 
into  Himself"  (B.  B.).— "The  Holy  Spirit  lifts 
us  up  from  the  earth  towards  heaven ;  and  where 
He  rules,  the  man  hastens  in  willing  obedience  to 
God  to  perform  his  duties  "  (SrcK.). — "  Scripture 
is  full  of  examples  of  how  God  has  lifted  vp  rulers 
of  the  people  and  His  prophets  by  His  Spirit  to 
higher  things.  Moses  thinks  no  longer  of  his 
sheep,  but  of  the  people  whom  he  has  to  lead 
forth ;  David  is  dra\vn  by  the  Spirit  from  the 
Hock  to  something  higher  ;  the  apostles  openly 
confess  Christ,  and  conspicuous  among  them 
Peter,  whom  a  maid  had  formerly  frightened ; 
even  with  respect  to  Saul  we  read  of  the  elevating 
influence  of  the  Spirit"  (L.  L. ). — "  Lest  he  should 
execute  his  work  with  fleshly  zeal,  the  Spirit  is 
sent  him  as  a  Guide.  Hence  for  a  time  he  is 
transported  out  of  himself,  raised  on  high  beyond 
the  bounds  of  the  lower  and  merely  human  mode 
of  representation.  In  this  state  he  hears  the  judg- 
ments of  God  again"  (Hei.m-Hoffmann). 

Vers.  12,  13.  The  servants  of  our  Go<l  have  not 
merely  His  praise  as  a  blessed  prospect  before 
them,  but  behind  them  also  the  cloud  of  witnesses 
which  encompasses  them  resounds  with  the  praise 
of  His  glory. — "All  creation  glorifies  God ;  only 
the  ungodly  blaspheme  Him"  (Stck.). — A  con- 
trast to  the  people,  who  accused  God  of  unright- 
eousness and  severity,  and  thereby  insulted  His 
honour,  just  as  when  they  imagined  themselves 
to  be  the  only  people  that  was  worthy  and  capable 
of  knowing  the  Glorious  One  (after  Calvin). — 
"In  His  glory  are  comprehended  all  the  perfec- 
tions of  God,  which  can  ever  be  manifested  to 
man,  most  of  all  the  glory  of  His  justifying  grace 
( Jer.  xxiii.  6 ;  1  Cor.  i.  30).  Hence  the  prophet 
had  formerly  seen  the  divine  glory  in  the  likeness 
of  a  man  upon  a  throne.  The  Church  wishes  this 
only,  that  God's  glory  should  be  praised  not 
merely  in,  but  from  its  place,  i.e.  throughout  the 
whole  world,  Mai.  i.  5  "  (Cucc. ). — God's  praise  is 
the  harmony  in  which  heaven  and  earth,  angels 
and  men,  all  beings,  agree. — One  note,  j'et  no 
inonotony.  —  "By  ail  these  voices  he  might  be 
encouraged  ami  stimulated,  as  soldiers  are  by  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  and  the  drum"  (L.  L. ). — 
V'er.  14.  "How  easy  it  is  for  God  to  bring  a 
teacher  to  any  place"  (Stck.).— "  To  those  who 
are  younger  the  preacher's  office  appears  sweeter 
than  it  does  when,  after  due  experience,  the  original 
sweetness  is  mingled  with  bitterness  "  (Stck.). 

Ver.  15.  "  The  silence  of  the  prophets  is  the 
sign  of  God's  wrath"  (Chrysost.  ).  —  "  E.xactly 
so  ought  the  people  to  sit  in  penitent  sorrow  and 
humiliation  before  their  God;  but  their  represen- 
tative, the  servant  of  Jehovah,  is,  at  the  same 
time,  a  sign  of  how  ungodly  the  multitude  sur- 
rounding him  are,  and  how  righteous  the  judg- 
ments which  are  descending  upon  the  people " 
(Hav.I. — "The  stillness  of  a  sick-bed  is  often  a 
tieaus  of  salvation  to  ourselves  and  to  others " 


(RicHT.). — Ver.  17.  "It  is  a  splendid  misery  f; 
be  obliged  to  stand  on  a  height;  those  who  en- 
camp in  the  valley  are  decidedly  more  comfort- 
able" (Stck.). — "That  God  has  assigned  himi'i 
that  position,  and  placed  him  in  it,  ought  to 
make  the  matter  easy  tor  him,  and  to  make  him 
careful  in  it"  (B.  B.). — "Jewels  can  be  moio 
easily  watched  than  souls"  (Stck.).  —  "God's 
word  remains  unspoken,  partly  from  fear  of  man, 
partly  from  sloth,  partly  from  desire  to  please 
man"  (Jekome). — "  The  first  step  in  salvation  ia 
the  knowledge  of  our  sins.  Of  comfort,  the  prin- 
cipal thing,  nothing  is  said  ;  the  prophet  is  onlv  to 
warn,  for  they  became  capable  of  comfort  only  after 
they  had  come  to  know  their  sin"  (L.  L.).  —  "The 
passage  vers.  17-21  is  a  weighty  lesson  of  doctrinal 
instruction,  given  in  holy  earnestness"  (Right.). 
Ver.  18  smi-  "  If  the  prophet  neglects  his 
duty,  that  does  not  help  the  wicked ;  he  dies  be- 
cause of  his  iniquity  :  hasn't  he  got  Moses? 
Where  the  public  ministry  does  not  do  its  duty, 
still  Holy  Scripture  is  at  hand ;  and  it  is  every 
one's  own  blame  if  he  does  not  allow  himself  to 
be  called  to  repentance  by  its  voice"  (H.). — Those 
murderers  who  must  die  by  the  hangman's  hand 
are  far  from  being  so  bad  murden-rs,  in  God's 
sight,  as  many  thoroughly  genial  and  very  culti- 
vated men,  who  look  to  their  office  simply  as  a 
fat  living,  and  who,  by  their  example,  or  even 
merely  from  their  being  dumb  dogs,  allow  souls 
to  go  to  destruction  in  hell. — The  weight  of  the 
sin  of  omission  in  God's  scale. — "  Thou  art  every 
moment  in  danger  of  becoming  a  murderer,  and 
of  undergoing  the  judgment  of  the  murderer: 
this  is  an  ett'ective  stimulus  for  every  one  who  is 
entrusted  with  the  office  of  the  public  ministry" 
(H.  ). — God  as  the  sinner's  blood  relation  and 
avenger  of  blood.  What  an  intensity  about  the 
divine  love! — "The  life  lost  is  something  lost, 
the  soul  lost  is  everytliing  lost.  Oh  what  folly, 
when  a  teacher  is  silent  for  the  sake  of  a  handful 
of  earth,  and  over  and  above  brings  his  own  soul 
into  danger!"  (St.)  —  "Plainly  and  diligently 
the  warning  is  to  be  given,  with  earnestness  and 
impressiveness,  not  with  flattering  words,  nor 
half  in  joke,  nor  merely  touching  the  skin,  but 
setting  forth  the  danger  most  carefully  "  (B.  B. ). — 
"God  quickens,  by  means  of  grace.  His  servant 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  word  of  ex- 
hortation ;  the  sinner  quickens  himself  by  the 
acceptance  of  the  word.  Without  spiritual  life 
and  quickening  here  there  is  no  life  in  eternity, 
but  there  also  only  death.  Faith  is  spiritual  lite, 
and  piety  the  sign  of  this  life"  (Stck.). — "We 
are  not  forthwith  to  despair  of  the  salvation  of 
the  sinner,  for  at  even  also  many  still  go  into  the 
vineyard  (Matt,  xx.) ;  the  malefactor  was  not  con- 
verted till  upon  the  cross.  God  must  declare  a 
man  wicked  and  condemned  ;  otherwise  he  is  not 
so,  although  the  whole  world  were  to  shut  him 
out  of  heaven"  (L.  L.). — "For  in  God's  sight 
nothing  is  more  precious  than  our  souls  "  (Cal- 
vin).— Ver.  19.  Every  function  in  his  calling  i.= 
a  saving  of  himself  in  the  case  of  the  servant  of 
God.  What  need,  then,  has  he  to  cast  a  side- 
look  after  reward,  love,  comfort,  honours,  etc.  ? — 
' '  There  are  men  who  do  indeed  gladly  proclaim 
what  God  wishes,  but  who  yet,  when  they  see 
that  their  words  have  no  entrance  and  are  of  no 
use,  are  thereby  troubled,  and,  from  fear  of  hav- 
ing deceived  themselves,  no  longer  wish  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  word.     But  all  who  con 


CHAP.  IV. 


75 


tinue  to  act  so  are  lovers  of  themselves.  An 
holiest  servant  of  God  bears  the  word  so  long  as 
Goi  will  have  it,  and  does  not  trouble  himself 
alpout  the  good  result"  (B.  B. ). — That  which  is 
demanded  of  the  sinner,  viz.  return,  shows  that 
the  jirayer  finds  audience:  Turn  Thou  me,  and  I 
shall  be  turned.  —  Retura  is  promised  by  God, 
but  man  would  rather  hold  fast  what  is  his  own, 
viz.  wickedness  and  the  wicked  way. — Progress 
on  the  bad  road  resembles  standing  still  on  the 
good  one.  — Ver.  20.  "  It  is  not  enough  to  have 
been  pious,  hut  we  must  also  ha^-e  continued  so. 
Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  he  that  endnreth 
unto  the  end  shall  be  saved"  (Stck.). — "Then 
does  godliness  shine  most,  when  it  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  sinning,  nay,  is  everywhere  enticed 
thereto,  and  yet  does  it  not ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  man  who  turns  away  from  what  is  good  and 
from  the  way  of  righteousness  is  worse,  and  in  a 
more  dangerous  condition  than  the  man  who  has 
never  known  it,  2  Pet.  ii.  21"  (B.  B.).  — "He 
who  does  not  admonish  the  sinner, — a  duty  to 
which  even  common  love  binds  every  man,  when 
he  sees  another  in  danger,  and  can  in  any  way 
help  him, — is  exposed  to  the  judgment,  but  much 
more  still,  if  he  is  sjiecially  appointed  by  God  for 
the  purjjose,  or  pretends  to  be  so"  (B.  B. ). — 
Ver.  21.  "A  faithful  teacher  must  care  for  con- 
verted and  unconverted  alike  ;  for  the  latter,  that 
they  may  awake  out  of  the  sleep  of  false  security  ; 
for  the  former,  that  they  may  not  again  fall 
asleep"  (St.). — "Yea,  even  where  parties  are 
found  who  are  willing  to  help  sinners  into  the 
right  way,  there  is  still  difficulty  in  finding  one 
to  oti'er  his  hand  to  the  righteous,  in  order  that 
they  may  advance  with  greater  ease  in  the  true 
Kay"  (B.  B.). — "We  sin  indeed  daily,  but  let 
us  beware  of  sinning  knowingly.  The  man  who 
'lates  sin  flees  from  it,  shrinks  back  with  dread 


from  it,  does  not  sin  "  (SrcK.). — "  If  a  teacher 
does  not  seek  with  all  earnestness  the  salvation  of 
the  hearers  entrusteti  to  him,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that 
he  is  not  very  much  concerned  about  his  own  sal- 
vation ;  for  if  the  latter  be  the  case,  he  cannot 
neglect  the  former"  (St.). 

Ver.  22  sqq.  "  Isolation  is  the  condition  of 
the  receipt  of  divine  communications.  God 
makes  Himself  known  to  the  mind  only  when  it 
has  been  quite  withdrawn  from  worldly  influences. 
We  must  be  in  the  valley:  but  we  njay  be  in  the 
bustling  town,  and  yet  in  the  valley"  (H.). — 
Ver.  23.  "Although  the  saved  will  behold  the 
glory  of  God  eternally  in  heaven,  yet  they  will 
never  become  satiated  or  wearied  of  it ;  for  here 
below  even  the  contemplation  of  the  divine  glory 
fills  believers  with  hunger  in  all  the  fulness 
of  enjoyment"  (Stck.). — Ver.  24.  "Those  are 
the  true  children  of  God  who  are  continually 
ruled  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  Rom.  viii.  14"  (Stck.  ). 
— Ver.  25.  "Bands  and  trouble  is  the  reward  foi 
the  faithful  labour  of  an  unwearied  teacher " 
(Stck.).  Whoever  is  pleased  with  such  a  salary 
is  tit  for  the  kingdom  of  God. — "  The  bands 
wherewith  believers  are  bound  are  of  difl'erent 
sorts :  misery,  pains,  the  cross,  temptations ;  but 
God  has  arranged  it  beforehand,  and  frees  us  from 
it  "  (Stck.).— "To  feel  at  home  in  the  world  \a 
to  feel  well  in  the  midst  of  danger"  (Stck.). — 
Vers.  26,  27.  "God  has  His  times  and  seasons. 
Well  for  him  who  gives  heed  to  them  "  (TtJB.  B.). 
— "It  is  no  good  sign  God's  hindering  His  ser- 
vants when  eager  to  speak.  Acts  xvi.  6"  (Lc. ). 
— "God  must  give  teachers  and  preachers  a  joyful 
opening  of  the  mouth,  if  they  are  to  teacli  profit- 
ably "  (C'k.). — To  be  silent  to  men  and  to  speak 
from  God  is  the  right  kind  of  preacher. — "  How 
great  is  God's  mercy,  that  He  causes  the  sermon 
to  reach  dumb  ears  even  !  "  (Stck.) 


2.  The  Four  Signs,  and  their  Interpretation  (Ch.  iv.  1-v.  17). 

1  And  thou,  son  of  man,  take  thee  a  brick,  and  give  [lay]  it  before  thee,  and 

2  portray  upon  it  the  cit}',  [viz.]  Jerusalem.  And  give  [lay]  siege  against  it,  and 
build  a  siege-tower  against  it,  and  cast  a  mound  against  it,  and  make  a  camp 

3  against  it,  and  set  battering-rams  against  it  round  about.  And  do  thou  take  thee 
a  pan  in  [of]  iron,  and  give  [set]  it  as  a  wall  in  [of]  iron  between  thee  and  the  city  ; 
and  direct  thy  face  against  it,  and  it  is  in  siege,  and  thou  laye.st  siege  against  it : 

4  this  is  a  sign  to  the  house  of  Israel.  And  lie  thou  on  thy  side,  the  left  one,  and 
lay  the  guilt  of  the  house  of  Israel  upon  it ;  according  to  the  number  of  the  days 

5  ^hat  thou  shalt  lie  upon  it  thou  shalt  bear  their  guilt.  And  I  have  given  thee 
the  years  of  their  guilt,  according  to  the  number  of  the  days,  three  hundred  and 

6  ninety  days  ;  and  thou  bearest  the  guilt  of  the  house  of  Israel.  And  thou 
accomplishest  these,  and  liest  upon  thy  .side,  the  right  one,  a  second  time,  and 
bearest  the  guilt  of  the  house  of  Judah  forty  days ;  a  day  for  a  year,  a  day 

7  for  a  year,  have  I  given  it  to  thee.  And  toward  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  thou 
shalt  set  thy  face,  and  thine  uncovered  arm,  and  thou  prophesiest  against  it. 

8  And,  behold,  I  have  laid  bands  upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt  not  turn  from  one  side 

9  to  another,  till  thou  endest  the  days  of  thy  siege.  And  do  thou  take  unto  thee 
wheat,  and  barley,  and  beans,  and  lentils,  and  millet,  and  spelt,  and  put  them  in 
one  vessel,  and  make  thee  bread  thereof ;  according  to  the  number  of  the  days 
that  thou  art  Ijing  upon  thy  side,  three  hundred  and  ninety  days  shalt  thou  eat 

10  it.     And  thy  food  which  thou  shalt  eat  is  by  weight,  twenty  shekels  a  day  ;  from 

1 1  time  to  time  thou  shalt  eat  it.     And  water  shalt  thou  drink  by  measure,  the  sixth 

1 2  part  of  an  hin ;  from  time  to  time  shalt  thou  drink  it.     And  barley  cake,  that 


76 


EZEKIEL. 


shalt  thou  eat,  and  in  [with]  dung  that  cometh  out  of  man  shalt  thou  bake  il 

13  before  their  eyes.     And  Jehovah  said,  So  shall  the  children  of  Israel  eat  theii 

14  bread  defiled  among  the  heathen,  whither  I  will  drive  them.  And  I  said,  Ah, 
Lord  Jehovah  !  behold,  my  soul  hath  not  been  polluted,  and  neither  carcase  noi 
what  is  torn  in  pieces  have  I  eaten  from  my  youth  up  till  now ;  neither  hath 

15  abominable  flesh  come  into  my  mouth.  And  He  said  unto  me  :  Behold,  I  give 
thee  dung  of  cattle  for  dung  of  man,  and  thou  makest  [preparest]  thy  bread  thereon. 

16  And  He  said  unto  me.  Son  of  man,  behold,  I  break  the  staff  of  bread  in  Jerusalem, 
and  they  eat  bread  by  weight,  and  in  anxiety ;  and  water  by  measure,  and  in 

17  anguish  shall  they  drink;  Because  bread  and  water  shall  be  wanting,  and  man 
and  his  brother  are  struck  dumb  [fiom  anguish],  and  pine  away  in  their  guilt. 

Ver.  4.  Sept.:  .  .  .  kxtoc  ipiSfMv  t.  v/j.(p«tv  ^liiyixovTet  K.  iKetTor  iiMpecs  if  a!oi;**i5i:flTj  £t'  etirov'  at.  A»5'\J/*5  T.  othxitu 


Ver,  5.  .  ,  .  Txs  iue  iSixiiti  etlr.  tU  a, 
Ver.  8.  Anoth.  read. :  ^'HIVD  plur. 

Ver.  9,  ,  .  .  ivtyrtxovTx  X.  iy.xTo* — (Some  Mss.  D^tOn.) 

Ver.  16.  .  .  ,  xvpiot— 

Ver.  17.  OTWf  £vSe£j;  ytw^rxi  otp-rov  . 


fifj^paiv  tyevi^xovTfs  x.  ixxToi  r,fjupxr — 


.  (Anoth.  read.:  VHSS)-    Vulg  :  adfratrem— 


EXEGETIOAL. 

What  the  silence  of  the  prophet  is  intended  to 
signify,  in  case  their  own  bad  conscience  should 
not  set  it  before  them  vividly,  is  nnw  represented 
in  emblem  to  their  curiosity  by  your  symbolical 
actions,  of  which  three  are  contained  in  our  chap- 
ter ;  the  explanatory  inscription  at  the  end  is 
always  given  in  shorter  or  longer  terms,  according 
to  the  expressiveness  and  completeness  of  each 
separate  picture.  According  to  ch.  iii.  24  sq., 
and  as  is  clear  from  themselves,  the  carrying 
out  of  these  symbolical  actions  takes  place  in  the 
house  of  Ezekiel.  Next  to  his  family,  and  perhaps 
called  in  by  them,  we  have  to  think  of  his  coun- 
trymen as  spectators.  The  sections  vers.  1-3, 
.vers.  4-8,  vers.  9-17,  have  a  connection  with  one 
another  (vers.  7,  8,  9sqq. ),  and  supplement  one 
another.  While  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  as  the 
theme  in  the  first  section,  is  at  the  same  time 
i-arried  into  farther  detail,  and  made  more  graphic 
in  the  second  and  third,  after  the  inward,  the 
outward  condition  of  the  parties  concerned  is 
indicated  to  us.  Hengstenberg  again  transfers 
everytliing  to  the  "  sphere  of  the  subjective " 
(similarly  Hitzig  :  allegorj'),  on  which  account 
also  (according  to  him)  the  carrying  out  of  the 
prophet's  instructions  is  not  mentioned,  and  agrees 
with  Ewald,  with  whom  likewise  the  "literary 
activity"  of  Ezekiel  is  the  principal  thing,  for 
whii.'h  the  objectivity  (or  not)  of  the  symbolical 
action  is  a  matter  of  pure  indifference.  Calvin, 
likewise,  makes  ver.  4  sqq.  take  place  in  vision. 
As  regards  the  "almost  childish  impression "  of 
the  action  in  question  as  an  objective  reality,  this 
has  to  be  attributed  to  Hengstenberg's  exposition 
itself ;  but  that  a  publication  of  what  takes  place 
in  the  house  of  Ezekiel  is  not  to  be  a  matter  of 
anxiety,  follows  from  the  well-known  lively  inter- 
course between  those  in  exile  and  the  great  mass 
in  the  fatherland.  ("Meanwhile,  as  the  man  of 
God,  though  full,  is  not  permitted  to  speak,  he  is 
to  employ  the  silent  language  of  writing.  But 
his  writing  is  in  symbol.  His  heart  is  with 
Jerusalem  ;  thire  he  portrays  upon  a  brick  the 
picf-ire  of  the  beloved  city." — UMBltElT.  "The 
heavy  judgment  which  is  to  burst  upon  Jerusalem 
is  announced,  in  harmony  with  the  vision  of  ch.  i., 
which  already  held  out  in  prospect  the  approach 
ol  God  to  judgment." — Hengst.) 


Vers.  l-Z.—The  First  Sign. 

Ver.  1.  nnSI  applies  the  foregoing  special  in- 
struction to  the  prophet  ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
the  imperative  passes  over  into  the  description  of 
what  Ezekiel  is  to  do,  hence  the  perfects  with  ^ 
consec.  "  Just  the  year  before  Zedekiah  had 
journeyed  to  Babylon,  for  the  purpose  of  testify- 
ing his  submission  to  Nebuchadnezzar"  (J.    1). 

Mich.). — As  to  n33?,  comp.  Winer,  Realw.  ii. 

p.  731  sqq.  We  are  not  to  think  of  real  stone,  but, 
of  something  baked  from  clay  (white?  chalky?), 
dried  in  the  sun,  or  burnt  white  in  the  furnace. 
The  walls  of  ancient  Babylon  were  of  bricks,  and 
these  Babylonian  bricks  areone  foot  long  and  broad, 
five  inches  thick  and  square.  "  Such  bricks  as  the 
Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  just  in  those  districts 
where  Ezekiel  lived,  filled  so  often  with  inscrip- 
tions "  (EwALD).  Besides,  there  is  the  significant 
allusion  to  Egypt  and  the  bondage  of  Israel  there, 
Ex.  i.  14,  v.  7  sqq.  "  In  order  to  be  able  to 
engrave  a  delineation  that  will  last,"  Hitzig  re- 
quires the  "clay-brick,"  which  is  likewise  com- 
mon in  Canaan  (Isa.  ix.  10).  Just  so  Keil  :  "white 
clayey  substance. "  Others:  abrick-shajied  slate. 
— As  is  usual  with  those  who  are  thinking  about 
anything,  he  is  to  lay  the  brick  before  him. — ppri 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  :  to  fix,  wliich  may 
be  done  just  as  well  by  drawing  as  by  engraving. 
"  First  »f  all  only  a  city ;  Jerusalem  would  be  the 
last  of  all  the  cities  of  the  earth  to  be  thought  of, 
when  the  subject  in  hand  is  a  city  to  be  besieged 
by  the  Lord.  After  Jerusalem  we  are  to  suppose, 
as  it  were,  a  mark  of  exclamation  "  (Heng.st. ). — 
But  to  the  brick  there  belongs  not  merely,  as 
Hengstenberg  maintains,  the  picture  of  the  city, 
but  also  (in  accordance  with  Ewahl's  view)  what 
follows,  describing  "how  in  all  regular  order, 
through  all  the  steps  from  the  beginning  onwards 
to  the  end,  one  would  open  a  siege  against  it. " 
It  would  be  to  press  the  letter,  to  make  the  execu- 
tion of  it  from  the  outset  impossible  or  ' 'childish, '' 
if  one  were  to  imagine  the  contents  of  ver.  2  to  be 
outside  the  brick  ;  and  how  does  ver.  3  (comp. 
ver.  7)  suit  such  a  ^ew  ?  The  stone  itself  is  not 
Jerusalem  I  (Hitzig.)— Ver.  2.  iiVD  f™""  "11V, 
to  press,  to  straiten.  Hitzig  :  siege-work  in 
general,     p^n  is  Aramaic  (Hitzig  :  it  thus  belongs 


CHAP.  IV.  1-3. 


to  a  land  whose  niiisters  were  thoroughly  ac- 
cjuainted  with  fortress  warfare,  Hab.  i.  10  ;  Isa. 
xxiii.  13)  aud  modern  Hebrew  :  to  look  out,  to 
fix  the  eyes  upon  ;  whence  the  noun,  probably  a 
Chaldee  technical  term,  p'^,  watch-tower  (except 

in  Ezekiel,  elsewhere  only  iu  2  Kings  xxv.  1  and 
Jer.  lii.  4),  for  the  most  part  collectively,  and  so 
also  here  for  the  (wooilen)  towers  of  observation 
equal  or  superior  in  height  to  the  walls  round 
about  the  city  to  be  besieged,  from  which  weapons 
were  thrown  and  shot  by  means  of  the  ballistie,  as 
weU  as  in  other  ways.  [J.  D.  Mich.  ;  two  lines 
of  circumvallation,  a  mound  and  rampart  fur- 
nished with  palisades.  W.  Neumann  ;  the  all 
prostrating  storming-niachine.]  The  plural  nijriDi 
because  several  separate  camps.  Q'"I3,  from  the 
iron  ram's  head  in  front  of  beams,  which,  hang- 
ing in  ropes  or  chains  inside  a  scalfolding  to  be 
moved  upon  wheels,  were  directed  against  the 
walls  and  gates  in  order  to  push  them  in. 
Havernick  traces  back  the  word  to  -|-i2,  n"l3, 
^^^,  "to  bore  through."  Comp.  besides,  Josephus, 
De  Bella  Jud.  iii.  7,  §  19.  (Others  have  under- 
stood by  the  expression,  the  "he-goats,"  i.e.  the 
leaders  of  the  army  divisions  in  the  different 
camps.) — If,  then,  the  prophet,  as  commis5,ioned 
by  God,  enters  on  such  a  siege,  the  real  besieger 
of  Jerusalem  is  the  Lord  God  ;  and  while  the 
Chaldeans  appear  as  mere  instruments  in  the 
divine  hand,  Ver.  3 — which  brings  to  a  close  the 
first  symbolical  action — intimates  what  state  of 
mind,  on  the  part  of  the  Lord,  Ezekiel  has  to 
represent. — nnxi  (just  as  elsewhere  also)  intro- 
duces a  new  element,  \>\il  on  a  parallel  with  ver.  1  by 
means  of  "JPTIp. — n3nD  signifies  something  bent 
together,  which  may  be  flat  for  frying  or  roasting; 
in  such  saucepans  the  flat  cakes  were  fried.  Lev. 
ii.  5.  As  he  is  to  set  the  iron  pan  as  an  iron  wait, 
it  is  clear  that  he  has  to  set  it  up  perpendicularly ; 
it  is  likewise  clear,  from  the  expression  between 
thee  and  the  city,  that  a  relation  of  separation, 
of  division,  between  Jerusalem  as  portrayed  upon 
the  brick  and  the  representative  of  God  is  meant 
to  be  expressed.  Only  on  the  ground  of  such  a 
relation  between  God  and  Jerusalem  can  we  ex- 
plain alike  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  prophet's 
face,  and  specially  the  clause,  and  it  is  in  siege, 
and  along  with  that  vers.  1  and  2.  But  as  the 
wall  is  to  be  after  the  manner  of  iron  (3),  the 
iron  pan  cannot  be  taken  as  a  fascine  protecting 
the  besieger,  because  such  a  thing,  as  a  rule,  was 
not  of  iron,  and  because  certainly  there  could  be 
no  need  of  a  protection  for  God  the  Besieger,  but 
rather  of  a  protection  from  Him  ;  nor  are  we  to 
think  with  Ewald  (1st  edit. )  of  the  "  very  strong 
iron-like  wall  of  Jerusalem  "  (Raschi),  since  the 
suffix  also  in  n''7X  does  not  refer  to  the  pan,  but 
to  the  city,  and  the  strength  of  the  city  wall  is 
not  certainly  to  be  made  prominent.  Ewald  also 
iu  his  very  recent  2d  edition  approaches  the  view 
of  Havernick  (who  with  Ephraem  understands 
"the  mass  of  misfortune  which  is  coming  upon 
Jerusalem  "),  inasmuch  as  he  makes  the  prophet 
put  "the  merely  painted  siege  more  strongly  and 
palpably  by  means  of  the  picture  of  a  wall,  as  it 
were,  of  iron."  But  in  this  way  also  the  so  ex- 
press attitude  of  separation,  which  Hitzig  recog- 
nises, is  lost.  The  allusion  to  Jer.  i.  13  for  "  the 
horrors  of  the  siege"  (Hiv. )  is  too  far-fetched 
[a  Lapide  ;  the  burning  of  the  city  ;   Okigen  : 


the  horrible  tortures  of  the  inhabitants,  Jer.  xx'lx. 
22  ;  2  Mace.  vii.  5  ;  others  :  the  army-fire  of  the 
Chaldeans].  Jerome  (that  the  wrath  of  God  ia 
represented)  nearly  approaches  the  correct  view, 
to  which  Kimchi  points  by  referring  to  Isa.  lix.  2. 
The  pan,  therefore,  as  a  wall,  symbolizes  the 
strong  (Jer.  i.  18,  alike  in  accordani'e  with  God's 
decree,  and  in  consequence  of  the  corruption  o' 
Israel)  wall  of  separation,  which  finally  explains 
everything,  what  precedes  and  also  what  follows. 
Vatabliis  and  Grotius  bring  in,  besides,  "their 
hardness  of  heart  and  the  blackness  of  their  sins," 
just  as  Hitzig  also,  "  the  base  metal "  and  (in 
accordance  with  ch.  xxiv.  6)  "  the  rast  as  a 
picture  of  defilement  through  sin."  (Hengst.  : 
first  the  refusal  of  divine  help,  then  God  Himself 
even  the  assaUant. )  Not  so  much  the  preparation 
of  food  which  follows  (Klief.  ),  as  the  circumstance 
that  such  a  pan  (according  to  Ewald  :  "  the 
nearest  iron  plate  ")  was  at  hand  in  every  house- 
hold (Keil),  suggested  the  choice  of  the  same. 
As  the  siege  is  described  with  the  prophet  as 
besieger,  so  "certainly  it  wUl  be  carried  out,  not 
hundreds  of  years  afterwards,  but  in  the  lifetime 
of  Ezekiel,  during  his  labours"  (Kliek.).  The 
significance  of  the  iron  pan  would  certainly  disap- 
pear if  we  imagined  that  the  prophet  had  grouped 
the  siege  in  little  figures  round  about  the  brick. 
Moreover,  what  is  portrayed  upon  the  stone,  and 
is  here  spoken  of  as  the  city,  is  called  in  ver.  7 
"  the  siege  of  Jerusalem. " — 'llie  house  of  Israel  is 
here  the  same  as  in  ch.  iii.  Comp.  on  the  other 
hand,  ver.  5. — If  the  symbolical  action  is  to  be  a 
sign  (in  the  sense  of  foreshadowing),  thin  the 
view,  that  it  was  also  shown  them,  tliat,  as  it  was 
for  them,  so  it  made  its  appearance  objectively 
before  them,  is  certainly  more  probable  than 
Hengstenberg's  subjective  view,  more  probable 
than  with  Staudlein,  Hiivern.,  Hitzig,  to  make  the 
action  one  that  was  not  really  performed,  but  only 
discoursed  about  (Isa.  xx.  3).  Klief.  :  "an  im- 
portant action,  even  when  besides  it  is  a  silent 
one,  must  be  performed  ;  although  the  text  does 
not  mention  it  expressly,  a  thing  that  quite  ex- 
plains itself  in  the  case  of  one  who  has  received  a 
command  from  God." 

Additional  Note  on  Ch.  iv.  1-3. 

[In  regard  to  the  part  required  to  be  played  by 
the  prophet  himself,  however  it  may  have  been 
understood  in  former  times,  we  should  suppose 
few  now  will  be  disposed  to  doubt  that  the  suc- 
cessive actions  spoken  of  took  place  only  in  vision, 
and  are  no  more  to  be  ranked  among  the  occur- 
rences of  actual  life  than  the  eating  of  the  pro- 
phetic roll  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
Indeed,  such  actions  as  are  described  here,  though 
well  fitted,  when  rehearsed  as  past,  and  read  as 
narratives  of  things  ideally  done,  to  make  a  strong 
and  vivid  impression  upon  the  mind,  would  |iro- 
bably  have  had  an  opposite  efl'ect  if  transacted  in 
real  life.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for 
ordinary  spectators  to  see  Ezekiel  conducting  a 
miniature  siege  with  a  tile  and  a  saucepan,  and 
such  like  implements  of  war,  without  a  feeling  of 
the  puerile  and  ludicrous  being  awakened  ;  and 
the  other  symbolical  actions  mentioned,  especially 
his  lying  for  390  days  motionless  on  one  side,  if 
literally  understood,  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
coming  within  the  limits  of  the  possible.  And 
along  with  the  physical  impossibility  of  one  part 


78 


EZEKIEL. 


of  the  requirement  there  was  the  moral  impossi- 
bility of  another,  since  to  eat  bread  composed  of 
such  abominabls  materials  would  have  been  (if 
])erforraed  in  real  life)  a  direct  contravention  of 
the  law  of  Jloses,  — that  law,  respectful  submission 
to  which  was  ever  held  to  be  the  first  and  most 
essential  characteristic  of  a  true  prophet  (compare 
Deut.  xiv  3,  xxiii.  12-14,  with  xiii.  1-5).  Be- 
sides, we  find  the  prophet  (ch.  viii.  1)  represented 
as  sitting  in  his  house  before  the  number  of  the 
days  to  be  spent  in  a  lying  posture  could  have 
been  completed.  So  that,  on  every  account,  it  is 
necessary  to  consider  the  actions  to  have  taken 
place  in  vision,  as,  indeed,  was  usually  the  case 
in  prophetical  actions,  and  uniformly  so,  as  we 
shall  find  in  Ezekiel.  —  Fairbairn's  Ezekiel. — 
W.  F.] 

Vers.  i-S.— The  Second  Si^. 

Once  more  a  new  appointment,  which  onwards 
to  ver.  8,  carrying  into  further  detail  the  above 
indicated  destiny  of  Jerusalem,  gives  us  a  more 
vivid  picture  of  it  as  respects  the  inner  condition  of 
the  parties  concerned,  after  the  manner  of  a  second 
symbolic  action  on  the  part  of  Ezekiel.  In  the 
position  of  a  prophet,  it  is  implied  tliat  such  an 
one  may  be  the  representative  alike  of  God  and  of 
r.lie  people  ;  and  as,  therefore,  Ezekiel  represents 
Jehovah  in  vers.  1-3,  so  now,  and  in  ver.  9  sqq., 
he  represents  Israel.  "  Where  in  this  way 
Jehovah  Himself  fights  against  His  people,  their 
downfall  is  certain  ;  the  propliet  immediately 
assumes  this  po.sition"  (Hay.).  The  mere  cir- 
cumstance, that  he  is  to  lie  on  the  one  side  and 
the  other  ("to  sleep,"  as  the  Sept.  and  Vulg. 
make  it,  plainly  contradicts  the  context),  is  sym- 
bolical as  regards  those  whom  he  represents,  a 
picture  of  the  poli  ical  situation  (Isa.  xxviii.  20, 
1.  11  ;  Amos  v.  2  ;  Ps.  xx.  8,  xliv.  25) ;  not  "as 
a  sick  pereon  who  can  lie  only  on  one  side,  and 
must  always  without  shifting  lieupon  it"  (Ewald), 
not  as  a  figure  for  a  state  of  political  languishing, 
but  in  contrast  with  standing  upright,  a  lying 
down  in  consequence  of  a  fall  (HiTZ. ).  —  As  the 
period  fixed  is  days  (whicli,  however,  mean 
years),  the  reference  generally  to  the  besieged 
("the  fiightful  constraint  from  without,  during 
which  one  cannot  move  or  stir,"  Ewald)  is  to  be 
held  fast  in  the  first  place  ;  but  then,  farther,  the 
carrying  captive  which  follows,  and  the  sojourn  in 
exile,  is  at  the  same  time  to  be  kept  in  view. 
First  the  left  side  is  made  prominent  when  the 
reference  is  to  the  severed  house  of  Israel, — 
according  to  Ewald,  Hitzig,  because  of  tlie  geo- 
graphical situation  to  the  north  of  Judah  (ch. 
xvi.  46),  while  the  latter  lay  in  the  south, — ac- 
cording to  Grot.,  Havernick,  Keil,  because  of  the 
superiority  of  the  latter  over  the  former  (comp. 
ch.  xxiii.),  Eccles.  x.  2.  Maldon.  :  it  had  the 
priesthood  and  the  kingdom.— Jlj;  is  the  gnilt, 
thus  the  sin  in  its  consciousness  of  punishment ; 
neither  the  former  alone  nor  the  latter  alone,  but 
tlie  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other  in  process 
of  being  effected  for  the  subjective  consciousness. 
The  consciousness  of  guilt  on  the  p.'irt  of  the 
people  is  to  be  awakened. — Inasmuch  as  Ezekiel  is 
to  lay  the  guilt  upon  it,  i.e.  his  left  side,  the  side 
apon  which  he  himself  has  to  lie,  the  problem 
ran  only  be  solved  when  we  regard  Ezekiel  him- 
self, in  virtue  of  his  lying  upon  his  left  side,  as 
the  bearer  of  the  guilt,  which  is  also  immediately 


said.  According  to  Keil,  he  would  come  lo  lii 
upon  the  guilt,  and  not  the  guilt  uyon  him ! 
That  XCT  cannot  here  mean  "  to  bear,"  as 
Hengstenbcrg  asserts,  one  cannot  see,  bei'ausc,  il 
he  is  to  lay  the  guilt  upon  himself,  he  will  have 
to  bear  it  also,  and  the  matter  in  hand  is  not  at 
all  an  olficial  and  mediatorial  or  atoning  substitu- 
tion, but  only  a  symbolical  bearing  of  a  burden 
which  has  to  lie  heavily  upon  the  people,  whom 
he  only  represents.  As  many  days  as  he  shall  lie 
upon  his  left  side,  so  long  will  he  represent  the 
burden  of  guilt  of  the  ten  tribes.  This  is  not 
certainly  meant  to  signify  the  number  of  the 
years  which  they  have  sinned  (Rosenm.  ).  Is  this, 
then,  asserted  by  ver.  5  ?  I'he  number  of  the 
days  of  his  lying  means,  of  course,  "  the  years  uf 
their  guilt;"  but  what  is  carefully  to  be  noticed, 

as  a  period  given  him  by  God  (y;)  Tinj  '3S1)'  }"'''■ 
not  surely  as  a  period  selected  by  God  from  their 
course  of  sinning  for  the  purpose  of  being  repre- 
sented by  him  ?  is  such  a  divine  formulating  of 
the  period  of  their  sinning  well  conceivable  ?  but 
as  the  guilt  measured  by  God,  to  be  represented 
by  Ezekiel,  and  thus  to  be  announced  in  actual 
fact,  which  they  have  brought  upon  themselves, 
and  have  to  bear  in  years.  What  comes  upon 
them  in  years,  Ezekiel  is  to  represent  to  them  in 
days,  thus  bearing  the  guilt  of  the  house  of 
IsraeL  This  explanation,  simply  arrived  at  from 
the  text,  will  have  to  be  tested  by  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  periods  given.  For  Israel  there  are 
appointed  390  days,  and  the  prophet  has  accom- 
plished these. — Ver.  6.  For  his  lying  on  his 
right  side,  a  second  time,  to  bear  the  guilt  o( 
the  house  of  Judah,  40  days  are  appointed.  The 
question,  whether  the  40  days  are  to  be  supposed 
as  included  in  the  390  (with  Cocc.  and  others),  is 
expressly  answered  in  the  negative  by  the  n'jB' 
("  for  the  second  time  ") ;  there  are  390  and  40, 
in  all  430  days,  which  sum  the  text  cert.'iinly  does 
not  add  together.  For  the  special  rea.son,  that 
the  season  of  punishment  has  begun  long  ago  in 
the  case  of  the  ten  tribes,  just  as  it  is  already 
touching  Judah  also,  a  division  of  time  readily 
suggested  itself,  while  the  division  of  collective 
Israel  into  Israel  and  Judah  presinted  itself  his- 
torically. In  getting  the  390  years  to  correspond 
in  respect  of  sinning,  and  especially  the  40,  if 
they  are  to  be  reckoned  as  actual  years,  and  there- 
fore exactly,  even  the  most  diverse  modes  of 
explanation  have  found  themselves  helpless.  The 
whole  kingdom  of  Israel  did  not  last  for  390  years ; 
and  we  must  therefore  go  back  beyond  the  ten 
tribes,  into  the  period  of  the  judges,  not  to  mention 
other  modes  of  reckoning  by  means  of  omissions. 
Eosenm. ,  therefore,  made  the  distinction  between 
Israel  and  Judah  step  into  the  liackground  as  re- 
gards the  390  years  ;  and  inasnmih  as  he  gets  at 
386  years  from  the  division  of  the  kingdom  down 
to  the  eleventh  year  of  Zedekiah  (the  conquest  of 
Jerusalem),  he  consoles  himself  for  what  is  wanting 
with  the  poetic  rounding  off  of  prophetic  language  : 
but  Judah's  40  years  of  sin  are  reckoned  fi'om  the 
twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  the  pious  king  Josiah! 
Hengstenbcrg  understands  Israel  as  collective 
Israel,  begins  with  2  Chron.  xii.  1  (comp.  2C'hron 
xi.  17),  i.e.  from  the  fourth  year  cf  Rehoboani, 
"the  year  of  the  falling  into  sin  of  the  whoU 
nation,"  and  supports  himself  in  this  view  by 
Vitringa's  reckoning  of  430  years  6  months  from 
the  founding  of  the  temple  to  the  destra;tion  of  the 


CHAP.  IV.  4-8. 


79 


itate;  and  deducting  37  years  of  Solomon's  and 
3  of  Rehoboam's,  there  remain  390  years  ;  and 
Judah,  according  to  him,  is  contrasted  with  the 
whole  people,  the  iO  years  being  40  from  the  collec- 
tive 390  :  "  the  despising  of  the  grace  of  God  in 
the  raising  up  of  king  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxiii.  25), 
and  the  frustration  of  the  last  attempt  made  by 
Jeremiah,"  beginning  with  the  thirteenth  year  of 
Josiah,  tlie  first  appearance  of  Jeremiah  on  the 
stage,  whose  labours  down  till  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  lasted  40  years.  The  connection  with 
vers.  1-3  manifestly  makes  the  time  of  punishment 
more  probable  than  a  time  of  sin  ;  and  the  compu- 
tation of  the  number  390  for  the  days  which  the 
sieije  of  the  city  lasted,  from  the  10th  day  of  the 
lOtli  month  of  the  9th  year  of  Zedekiah  down 
to  the  9th  day  of  the  4th  month  of  the  11th 
year,  can  very  simply  be  made  to  correspond  by 
making  a  deduction  for  the  temporary  raising  of 
the  siege  on  account  of  the  Egyptians  (Jer.  xxxvii. 
5).  On  the  other  hand,  every  calculation  of  390 
and  of  40  years — which  is  certainly  involved — 
fails  as  a  time  of  exile  for  Israel  and  Judah.  In 
this  state  of  matters,  if  one  reckons  by  literal  days 
and  years,  but  still  more  considering  the  all-per- 
vading symbolical  character  of  the  whole  and  of 
the  details,  the  acceptance  of  symbolical  formulas 
of  time  for  the  divinely-awarded  punishment  of 
the  guilt  alike  of  Israel  and  of  Judah  commends 
itself.  For  the  number  390  in  reference  to  Israel, 
Kliefoth,  by  comparing  Deut.  xxv.  3  with 
2  Cor.  xi.  24,  in  accordance  with  the  number  of 
the  ten  tribes,  arrives  at  10  X  39  years  of  punish- 
ment as  just  so  many  strokes  of  divine  chastise- 
ment ;  and  for  Judah,  on  the  other  hand,  as  he 
does  not  treat  it  as  two  tribes,  by  a  fair  adjust- 
ment he  arrives  at  the  highest  legal  number  of 
just  40  strokes,  i.e.  years.  Wliat  Keil  remarks  in 
opposition  to  this  view  may  be  said,  but  is  less 
decisive  than  the  certainly  surprising  character 
of  sucli  a  mode  of  reckoning  for  the  prophetic 
symbolism  of  an  Ezekiel.  Klief.  has  been  driven 
to  his  ingenious  attempt  at  interpretation,  be- 
cause the  number  390  bafBed  every  other  interpre- 
tation. But  this  number  also,  which  stands  for 
Israel,  can  claim  no  peculiar  symbolism  for  itself. 
The  ten  tribes,  as  Klief.  himself  calls  them  "torn 
off  branches,  atoms  of  a  nation,"  have,  in  view  of 
the  longer  historical  duration  of  their  exile,  qs  well 
ashy  reason  of  their  greater  liability  topunishment, 
only  in  general  a  claim  to  be  more  heavily  punished. 
In  particular,  they  do  not  come  into  consideration 
as  regards  the  siege  in  our  verses  which  applies  to 
Jenisalem,  nor  in  any  other  way,  save  that  the 
national  prophetic  spirit  must  include  them  in  its 
conception  of  collective  Israel,  for  which  Judah 
with  Jerusalem  is  the  title.  With  such  a  his- 
torical meaning  also  for  Judah,  with  which  also 
the  right  side  of  the  prophet  standing  for  it  corre- 
sponds, one  need  not  be  stumbled  with  Kliefoth, 
although  the  number  390  should  be  "in  itself 
quite  meaningless."  It  is  the  same  as  with  the 
left  side  of  Ezekiel,  so  quite  peculiarly  taking  the 
lead  in  vers.  4,  5,  for  this  reason  onlj',  because 
his  misery  as  an  exile,  long  ago  bet;un,  and  already 
entered  upon  in  part  by  Judah  likewise,  is  fitted 
to  exhibit  before  the  eyes  of  the  remnant  of  Judah 
what  will  not  be  wanting  to  them  just  as  visibly. 
For  the  symbolism  the  number  40,  which  is  ap- 
plied to  Judah,  is  the  determining  element.  The 
relation  of  the  40  to  390  may  be  similar  to  the 
case  in  which  Bahr  (ii.  p.  491)  does  not  allow  the 


numbers  33  and  66  as  such  to  come  into  consii'.era- 
tion,  but  only  in  their  connection  with  7  and  14, 
bringing  them  up  to  40  and  SO.  As  respects  the 
number  40  itself,  Bahr  says  convincingly,  accord- 
ing to  it,  almost  universally,  such  periods  are  fixed 
as  bring  with  them  a  state  of  more  or  less  con- 
straint and  oppression,  and  yet  somehow  at  the 
same  time  a  state  having  a  bearing  on  religious 
affairs.  Keil  is  right  in  basing  the  sjTnbolical 
meaning  of  a  definite  term  of  divine  visitation 
not  simply  on  the  40  years'  leading  of  the  people 
through  the  wilderness  (Num.  xiv. ),  which  pro- 
perly amounted  to  38  years  only,  but  on  the 
earlier  passage  Gen.  vii.  12,  17  Comp. ,  in  order 
to  determine  the  meaning  of  the  number  40, 
Ex.  xxxiv.  28  (Deut.  ix. )  ;  1  Kings  xix.  8; 
Jonah  iii.  4 ;  Matt.  iv.  As  in  this  way  the  40 
for  Judah,  which  alone  properly  came  under  con- 
sideration, threw  light  on  the  390,  the  summing 
up  might  be  let  alone  ;  with  some  reflection  it  was 
done,  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  this  all  the  more 
that  the  number  390  in  itself  must  of  necessity 
appear  meaningless.  The  possible  connection 
with  the  actual  period  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
or  a  portion  of  it  (comp.  on  ver.  9),  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  subordinate  reference.  "  The  suH'ei- 
ings  of  the  siege  will,  in  the  general  sense  of 
severe  constraint,  certainly  continue  during  the 
whole  exile  also,"  etc.  (Ew.)  The  addition  of 
390  and  40  gives  (according  to  Ex.  xii.  40)  the 
period  of  sojourn  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  Eijypt, 
430  years,  significant  for  all  after  periods  of  tlie 
nation,  on  account  of  the  parallel  of  this  period 
with  the  exile  (Introd.  p.  19),  and  in  the  law- 
even  (Deut.  xxviii.  68),  as  well  as  in  Ezek.  ix. 
3,  6,  viii.  13,  brought  into  significant  prominence. 
That  the  sojourn  in  Egypt,  which  sprang  from 
quite  a  different  cause,  suits  badly  as  a  type  for  a 
period  of  punishment  (Klief.),  cannot  accord- 
ingly be  maintained.  Comp.  besides.  Gen.  xv. 
13  (Acts  vii.  6),  where  we  have  it  in  round  num- 
bers! "The  period  of  the  first  heathen  tyranny 
over  the  people  of  Jehovah  repeats  itself  in  the 
history  of  the  nation  :  the  old,  everlastingly  memor- 
able time  becomes  to  the  seer  — himself  already 
living  amid  heathen  surroundings —a  type  of  tlie 
oppressions  rushing  in  anew  upon  them  with 
irresistible  violence  ;  hence  the  punishment  of 
the  exile  is  intensified  by  the  circumstance  that 
it  appears  as  the  antitype  of  the  ancient  430  years' 
Egyptian  bondage"  (Hav.).  But  here  Klief.  is 
right,  when,  against  a  special  reference  of  the  40 
years  for  Judah  to  the  40  years'  leading  of  the  people 
collectively  through  the  wilderness  (for  which 
Hav.  points  to  ch.  xx.  13  sqq.,  23  sqq..  35,  36), 
he  raises  the  objection,  that  in  this  way  another 
occurrence  lying  outside  the  430  years  is  drawn 
in,  while  the  40  years  must  certainly  lie  within 
the  430.  We  must  therefore  either  abide  by  the 
general  symbolical  character  of  the  number  40, 
or  like  Keil,  who  very  ingeniously  draws  attention 
to  the  cii-cumstance,  that  the  last  40  years  of  the 
Eg\'ptian  bondage  furnished  a  reason  for  a  division 
of  the  430  into  390  and  40,  find  again  in  the  40 
the  40  years  of  his  exile  which  Moses  spent  in 
Midian.  Comp.  Ex.  vii.  7  with  Acts  vii.  23, 
30— not  as  Keil,  Ex.  ii.  11-iii.  10  ;  Acts  vii. 
23-30.  "These  40  years,"  remarks  Keil,  "were 
not  only  for  Moses  a  season  of  testing  and  purifi- 
cation for  his  future  calling,  but  doubtless  for  the 
Israelites  also  the  period  of  their  severest  oppres- 
sion by  the  Egyptians,  and  in  this  respect  quite 


EZEKIEL. 


appropriate  as  a  type  for  the  future  period  of 
JuJah's  punishment ;  so  that  as  Israel  in  Egypt 
lest  in  Moses  her  helper  and  protector,  so  now 
Judah  was  to  lose  her  king,  and  to  be  given  up 
to  the  tyranny  of  the  heathen  world-power. "  [See 
Additional  Note  at  the  close  of  the  Exegetical 
Remarks.  —  W.  F.]  Instead  of  the  Kethib 
'J'D'n  (elsewhere  only  in  2  Ghron.  iii.  17)  we  must 
read,  with  the  Qeri,  'JD'H- — Comp.  on  rer.  5. — 

The  suffix  in  vnnj  refers  to  py.     Hengst.,  who 

takes  "IBDdS  as  =  for  just  as  many  days  (Klief., 
Keil  :  for  the  number  of,  for  a  number  of),  trans- 
lates :  so  that  for  every  day  there  comes  a  year,  1 
give  it  thee.  [The  190  of  the  Sept.  for  the  whole, 
and  40  for  Judah,  Havernick  explains  to  himself 
by  the  bringing  in  of  another  type,  viz.  the 
deluge.  Gen.  vii.  24,  12.  They  read  Ex.  xii. 
40  differently  from  the  Hebrew  text.  Hitzig 
makes  them  reckon  their  150  from  the  year  738 
to  588.] 

By  means  of  ver.  7  our  section  goes  back  upon 
the  first  (ver.  3),  and  harmonizes  the  two  sym- 
bolical actions.  Inasmuch  as  the  prophet  repre- 
sented the  people  before,  and  not  so  much  Jeru- 
salem, he  can  in  representing  Jehovah  set  his  face 
towarid  the  Biege  of  Jerusalem  (viz.  as  that  was 
to  be  represented  in  vers.  1-3),  fixedly,  sharply, 
as  an  enemy.  The  bared  arm, — (Isa.  Iii.  10)  as 
ot  a  warrior,  for  the  purpose  of  fighting,  stripping 
it  of  the  garment  up  to  the  shoulder,  — according 
to  Rasehi,  prefiguring  Nebuchadnezzar,  is  at  the 
same  time  the  fret  arm  of  the  prophet,  who  is 
lying  upon  the  other.  As  it  must  be  the  right 
arm  for  the  warlike  object  in  view,  we  shall  have 
(as  against  Hitz.)  to  think  of  the  390  days  in 
vers.  4,  5,  during  which  Ezekiel  lies  upon  the 
left  side,  with  which  ver.  8  also  agrees.  The  arm 
outstretched  in  the  same  direction  strengthens  as 
well  as  gives  effect  to  the  permanence  of  the  look  ; 
if  it  were  to  be  understood  as  occasionally  lifted 

up,  then  the  py,  which  is  certainly  usual  else- 
where also  in  the  case  of  threatening  announce- 
ments, would  be  explained  still  more  definitely. — 
In  accordance  with  ch.  iii.  25,  the  expositors  un- 
derstand the  prophesying  as  not  so  much  orally 
in  words,  but  virtuaUy  by  means  of  this  very 
symbolical  acting.  Comp.  however,  on  ch.  v.  5 
sqq.  — Ver.  8.  ~^T\T\i  njm  in  contrast  with  njn 
13n3.  ch.  iii.  25  :  there  in  order  to  move  him 
along,  here  in  order  to  make  him  fast.  The 
bands  are  not  the  same  as  there  ;  but  whereas  those 
bands  of  men  do  not  make  the  prophet  obedient 
to  them,  a  slave  to  their  will,  the  bands  here,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  God  throws  over  him, 
answer  their  purpose  of  fixing  him  according  to 
God's  will.  The  outward  literal  bands  become  in 
the  divine  speech  a  figurative  expression  for  the 
divine  pow&r  which  will  hold  him  down,  and  at 
the  same  time  (Klief.)  make  him  bear  it  with 
patience.  [According  to  Hav.,  a  new  element  is 
introduced  by  n;ni ;  the  prophet,  in  a  vivid  man- 
ner, is  placed  in  the  condition  of  the  besieged. 
According  to  Calv.  :  indicating  the  stability  and 
firmness  of  the  divine  decree.] — The  turning 
Trhiuh  is  hindered  in  such  wise  is  that /rom  the 
left  to  the  right  side,  onwards  till  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  days  of  his  besieging ;  so  that  he  has 
to  represent  the  siege  of  the  city,  which  may  in 
this  way  he  specified  as  lasting  390  days  (comp. 
on  vers.   6  and  7),  unless  what  follows  was  in- 


tended to  suggest  a  still  more  special  reference. 
[Klief.  refers  vers.  7,  8  to  the  whole  period  ol 
430  days ;  Hitz.  refers  the  prophesying  to  the  40 
days  merely.] 

Vers.  9-17.— r/te  Third  Sign. 

Ver.  9.  A  new  charge,  as  in  ver.  4  ;  a  still  more 
detailed  amplification,  now  especially  of  the  out- 
ivard  condition ;  a  third  symbolic  action,  by  wfiich 
also  provision  is  made  lor  the  sustenance  of  Eze- 
kiel whUe  the  above  described  state  of  affairs 
lasts ;  and  thus  in  connection  with  it.  A  repre- 
sentation of  the  people.  If  already  in  ver.  8 
"  the  state  of  restraint  of  the  besieged"  (Henost. ) 
were  thought  of,  then  an  immediate  transition 
would  be  made  from  this  more  general  calamity 
to  the  more  special  want  of  sustenance. — ptjn, 

a  Chaldaic  plural ;  J  instead  of  Q,  wheat  in  grains 
(in  the  sing,  especially  wheat  on  the  stalk,  in 
the  field).  Hengst.  :  as  wheat  is  thfe  usual 
means  of  sustenance  among  the  exiles,  the  Ch'^l- 
daic  form  pushes  itself  forward.  Manifestly  from 
a  better  time  (Hav.  :  descending  from  what  is 
better  to  what  is  worse  and  worse) ;  for  now  there 
follows  what,  —  however  good  and  in  part  de- 
licious the  ingredients  in  themselves  are, — when 
baked  into  bread,  as  is  the  case  here,  is  prison- 
bread, — barley  in  grains,  1  Kings  iv.  28  (Judg. 
vii.  13 ;  2  Kings  iv.  42 ;  John  vi.  9),  beans  as 
well  as  lentils,  a  favourite  dish  (Gen.  xxv.  34),  ot 
the  latter  of  whiuh  down  to  the  present  day  the 
poor  in  Egypt,  in  time  of  dearth,  make  use  as 
food ;  inM,  millet  (from  ni.  to  swell  in  water,  or 

from  the  dark  colour,  allied  with  [jrj,  "grain"), 

yielding  a  bad  kind  of  bread  ;  and  D«DD3,  fitches, 

spelt  (Ex.  ix.  32),  as  being  one  of  the  poorest 
sorts  of  grain,  which  produces  a  dry  and  not  very 
nourishing  kind  of  bread. — The  circumstance  that 
Ezekiel  is  to  take  of  all  together  does  not  indeed 
run  counter  to  the  law  (TjCV.  xix.  19 ;  Dent.  xxii. 
9),  but  comes  very  near  the  prohibition,  possibly 
indicating  circuvutances  of  a  lawless  character, 
where  one  is  not  so  rigid.  More  expressly  it  is 
suggested  in  this  way,  that  the  besieged  will  in 
their  distress  be  compelled  to  gather  together  every- 
thing /hat  can  possibly  be  turned  into  bread. 
("Airai'TflE  yafi  Toi  [ipaiTac  ToXlopKet/fiivou.}  This  State 
of  matters  is  represented  yet  more  strongly  by 
means  of  the  one  vessel,  which  shows  that  of  each 
separate  sort  not  much  more  is  to  be  had  (ver.  10). 
^The  length  of  time  (D'DTI  1BDD  =  as   many 

days  as  there  are)  is  given  definitely  as  390  days. 
It  is  therefore  "inadmissible,"  with  Keil,  to  get 
rid  of  this  clear  and  definite  statement  by  the 
supposition  that  the  greater  number  merely  is 
given  (Prado),  and  that  the  40  days  are  to  be 
understood  with  the  rest,  but  (Ewald)  are  omitted 
for  brevity's  sake  (in  the  case  of  Ezekiel  1  !).  It 
is  conceivable  that  for  390  days  exactly  the  famine 
would  make  itself  specially  felt.  (2  Kings  xxv. 
3;  Lara.  ii.  20,  iv.  9,  10.)  At  all  events,  ths 
prophet  has  to  calculate  his  prison-fare  for  390 
days,   for  so  many  days  is  he  to  eat  it.      (390 

loaves,  Jer.) — ■]1S"7V  ^^  accordingly  his  left  sid( 
(ver.  5),  before  he  turned  to  the  right  one. 
Comp.  on  vers.  7,  8.  Klief  is  right  as  agiinst 
the  including  of  the  40  days  in  the  390,  not,  hew- 
eve.-,  in  the  extended  application  which  he  assert* 


CHAP.  IV.  10-14 


81 


.or  these  390  days,  viz.  on  to  ver.  17,  as  will  soon 
appear.  It  is  a  very  good  remark  of  Klief. ,  that 
the  prophet  w:is  not  altogether  prohibited  from 
letting  service  be  rendered  to  him. 

Additional  Note  on  Ch.  iv.  9. 

[At  ver.  9,  he  is  ordered  to  "  make  bread  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  the  days  that  he  should 
lie  upon  his  side  ;  three  hundred  and  ninety  days 
shall  thou  eat  thereof."  Here  the  40  days  are 
left  out,  although  during  them  also  he  was  to  lie 
upon  his  side — not,  as  commentators  generaUy, 
and  still  also  Havernick,  suppose,  from  the  first 
period  being  by  much  the  larger  of  the  two,  and 
as  such  standing  for  the  whole ;  but  to  keep  the 
reference  clear  to  the  distinctive  character  of  the 
wilderness-period,  which  was  the  point  chiefly  to 
be  bad  in  view  by  the  Jewish  exiles.  The  eating 
of  polluted  bread  as  a  symbol,  properly  implied  a 
constrained  residence  in  a  Gentile  country — an 
unclean  region ;  hence,  in  the  explanation  given 
of  the  symbol  at  ver.  13,  it  is  declared  of  the 
house  of  Israel,  that  "  they  shall  eat  their  defiled 
bread  amorKj  the  Gentiles,"  But  in  the  wilder- 
ness Israel  stood  quite  separate  from  the  GentUes, 
though  still  under  ]>enal  treatment,  and  in  a 
sense  stUl  connected  with  Egypt  (hence  "the  wil- 
derness of  Egypt,"  XX.  36) ;  and  so  they  who  were 
in  a  manner  to  return  to  that  state  again  were 
merely  to  ' '  eat  bread  by  weight,  and  with  care, 
and  drink  water  by  measure,  and  in  desolate- 
ness;"  a  state  of  chastisement  and  trouble,  but 
not  by  any  means  so  heathen-like,  so  depressed 
and  helpless,  as  the  other. — Fairbairn's  Ezekiel. 
— W.  F.] 

Ver.  10.  His  food  is  this  bad  mixed  food 
(EwALD),  not  the  definite  portion  which  he  will 
have  to  eat  (Keil),  for  it  is  defined  as  portions 
only  by  what  follows.  Ezekiel  is  to  have  to  eat, 
not  as  much  as  he  likes,  but,  as  usually  happens 
in  a  time  of  scarcity  during  sieges,  by  weight 
(ver.  16).  20  shekels  {shekel,  what  is  weighed, 
hence  a  definite  weight,  just  as  mishkol  is  weight 
in  general) — according  to  Ewald,  about  20  ounces ; 
according  to  Keil,  22-23  ounces  of  bread ;  accord- 
ing to  Philippson,  equivalent  to  400  beans  in 
weight  (Lev.  xxvi.  26).  Although  in  those 
warmer,  countries  a  man  needs  less  than  in  our 
climate,  yet  here  it  is  at  most  the  half  of  what  is 
usually  necessary  that  is  specified  for  each  day. 
The  definition  from  time  to  time  strengthens  the 
daily  element,  as  distinguished  from  the  hunger 
which  is  continually  making  itself  known,  never 
satisfied  ;  he  will  not  be  at  liberty  to  give  heed  to 
this  latter,  but  will  have  to  consider  the  time, 
that  he  has  only  20  shekels  fcr  each  day,  hence — 
.seldom,  at  long  intervals,  sparingly!  [Keil  sup- 
poses: at  the  different  hours  ol  the  daily  meal 
time.  He  makes  Ezekiel  provide  himself  with  a 
store  of  grain  and  legumes,  and  prepare  his  bread 
daily  therefrom.  Precisely  so  Klief.,  who  brings 
in,  besides,  the  pan  from  ver.  3  for  the  purpose.] 
And  as  the  food  is  by  weight,  so  the  drink — the 
water  is  by  measure. 

Ver.  11  (ver.  16).  A  whole  hin  is  reckoned  by 
the  Rabbins  at  72  egg-shellfuls ;  hence  one-sixth 
the  same  as  two  logs  =  12  egg-shells.  Too  much 
for  dying,  too  little  for  living.  As  in  this  way 
food  and  drink  are  specified  for  the  390  days,  the 
idea  readily  suggests  itself,  with  Grotius  and 
others,  of  referring    Ver.  12  to  the  40  days  that 


slill  remain.  The  express  mention  of  the  numbei 
was  not  necessary  here,  because  its  symbolism 
(comp.  on  vers.  5,  6)  in  general  sways  the  whole, 
and  because  in  particular  it  is,  of  course,  under- 
stood as  the  residue  after  the  390  had  bcc::  eo 
expressly  made  prominent  (ver.  9).  The  deseiip- 
tion  may  the  more  readily  dispense  with  the 
number,  as  from  the  facts  of  the  case  it  becomes 
sufficiently  clear,  on  the  one  hand,  by  means  of 
the  new  element  of  uncleanness,  especially  after 
the  divine  explanation  which  immediately  follows 
in  ver.  13,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  by  means  of 
that  freer  movement  on  the  part  of  the  prophet 
which  is  demanded  by  ver.  12.  The  40  certainly 
symbolizes  (comp.  on  vers.  4-6)  chiefly  the  exile 
among  the  heathen,  as  it  was  to  begin  for  Judah 
alter  the  taking  of  besieged  Jerusalem.  Hengst. 
excellently  remarks:  "the  barley  cake  here  has 
nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  pot  in  ver.  9  ;  that 
is  gone."  Ewald  finds  in  it  an  "  exceptional  sort 
of  thing,  as  if  for  a  feast;"  certainly  too  much, 
and  not  in  accordance  with  the  character  of 
the   period   of  exile.       .lay,    the   warm   cake   of 

bread  baked  in  the  hot  ashes,  just  as  is  usual  down 
even  to  the  present  day  in  eastern  lands,  especially 
on  journeys,  is  distinguished  as  something  more 
common,  what  is  more  in  order,  from  the  preced- 
ing unusual  and  extraordinary  mixed  food.  Ths 
poor  standing  of  exiles  causes  it  to  be  of  barley 
(comp.  ver.  9),  unless  such  cakes  baked  in  ashes 
were  as  a  rule  of  barley,  of  which  Keil  has  by  no 
means  proved  the  contrary,  as  against  Hitzig. 
[Keil,  Hitzig,  and  others  translate  predicatively : 
as  a  barley  cake,  prepared  in  that  manner,  shalt 
thou  eat  it.  (Is  the  sufllx  neuter?  is  it  to  be  re- 
ferred to  Qrh  in  ver.  10?)]  Since  the  important 
thing  here,  as  regards  the  sense,  is  merely  the 
emphasizing  of  the  uncleanness  of  the  food,  and 
since  the  use  of  dry  animal  dung  as  fnel  (ver.  15) 

is  at  least  nothing  unusual  in  the  East,  nSV  '7^3 
msn  was  the  strong  term  for  it.     As  fuel  (comp. 

for  <^^33,  ver  15;  Dn'isj;),  unlike  Isa.  xxxvi.  12, 
it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  siege,  beyond 
which,  as  regards  the  symbol,  we  have  now  come, 
as  if  it  were  pointing  to  a  scajcity  of  wood  ;  but 
at  most,  it  refers  to  the  harassing,  immured  con- 
dition of  Ezekiel  in  his  own  house.  Filth  and 
misery  round  about  on  every  side  :  what  an  over- 
whelmingly vivid  sermon  for  his  countrymen  this 
situation  before  their  eyes!  Comp.  besides,  Deut. 
xxiii.  12-14.  njJiJn  from  Jiy,  a  technical  word 
for  njy,  either :  to  make  round,  to  curve,  to  bend, 
in  reference  to  the  form  of  these  cakes,  or :  because 
they  were  surrounded  with  hot  ashes.     (Sept.: 

ft  iyicpvfiai.) 

Ver.  13.  The  divine  interpretation,  which  i/ 
immediately  annexed  to  this  quite  extraordinary 
demand,  and  just  because  it  is  so,  lays  stress  (for 
the  reference  is  not  to  the  siege,  but  it  is  already  the 
exile  that  is  spoken  of),  not  on  the  difficulty  as  to 
fuel,  but  bn  its  uncleanness,  and  that  not  so  much 
in  a  Levitical  as  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  as 
judged  by  the  universal  human  instinct  of  decency. 
Man's  dung  signifies  the  profane  sojourn  in  the 
heathen  world  in  general  with  its  idols  (q'5^73  !). 
Comp.  Ezek.  ix.  3.  The  proyihet  raises  his  ob- 
jection— in  Ver.  14 — in  the  sense:  if  I  Ivave  never 
eaten  that  which  is  unclean  according  to  the  law 
of  Israel,  how  should  I  have  anything  to  do  with 


82 


EZEKIEL. 


%  thing  unclean  generally!  (GnoT.) —  pinx,   an 

exclamation  of  astonishment,  fear,  horror.  My 
Boul — not  so  much  as:  I  myself;  it  expresses 
rather  the  living  consciousness  of  the  prophet  in 
ills  feelings,  alike  as  to  his  antipathies  and  sym- 
pathies (Matt.  xxvi.  38).  A  lively  expression  of 
feeling,  especially  characteristic  oiapriest!  Comp. 
as  to  the  subject-matter,  Deut.  xiv.  21 ;  Ex.  xxii. 
31  ;  Acts  X.  14,  xi.  8  ;  Dan.  i.  8.-^33,  according 

to  Ges. ;  something  made  fetid,  stinking ;  hence, 
on  the  one  hand :  unpalatable,  on  the  other :  for- 
bidden to  be  used  by  the  laws  of  food,  something 
abominable,  disgusting,  or:  something  rejected, 
worthy  of  rejection  (Lev.  vii.  18);  also  without 
lij'Q,  Isa.  Ixv.  4.  According  to  Hiv. :  especially 
characterizing  the  priest,  inasmuch  as  in  the  case 
of  the   sacrificial  meals  flesh   left   over  till  the 

third  day  was  reckoned  ^ys,  Lev.  xix.  7.  God 
makesthe  concession  to  him— Ver.  15 — with  riNI, 
corresponding  to  his  njH,  of  cow's  dung  (Kethib : 
'JflEV.    Qeri:   ^y^Si"),   like  camel's  dung — a  very 

common,  odourless  fuel.  The  objection  and  con- 
cession (Hav.  :  an  impressive  episode)  give  a  dis- 
tinctness of  their  own  to  the  matter  in  hand  ;  and 
thereafter  Ver.  16  returns  to  the  beginning,  not 
merely  of  this  third  symbolical  action  (ver.  9  sqq. ), 
but,  in  winding  up,  of  the  whole  chapter  (ver.  1 
sqq.),  and  in  this  way  to  what  is  most  closely  im- 
pending, viz.  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  And  to 
this  corresponds  in  point  of  form  the  m{<-p, 
and,  as  regards  the  subject-matter,  the  participial 
construction  ■;3C"»33n,  of  what  is  as  it  were 
shown  in  the  act  of  beiug  broken  in  pieces. — As 
in  Isa.  iii.  1  bread  and  also  water  are  named  as 
that  which  supports  (Delitzsch),  or  more  exactly, 
that  on  which  one  supports  himself,  so  here  the 
staff  of  bread,  since  bread  supports,  i.e.  nourishes, 
strengthens,  refreshes  the  heart  of  man,  Ps.  civ. 
15;  Gen.  xviii.  5;  Judg.  xix.  5;  Lev.  xxvi.  26. 
This  stafi'  being  broken  on  which  the  earthly 
man  leans,  he  falls  into  the  dust  of  death. 
Defined  more  exactly,  and,  at  the  same  time,  set 

forth  vividly  by  means  of  -Dni'~faNV  Comp. 
vers.  10,  11.— pDDtfD  strengthens  njsns,  the 
anxiety  about  the  means  of  subsistence  (Matt.  vi. 
31,  32)  rising  up  into  silent,  speechless  pain, 
caused  by  the  impending  starvation. — Ver.  17. 
Either  dependent  on  the  principal  thought  in  ver. 
16:  "in  order  that"  (Ewald),  or,  as  this  is 
limited  to  bread,  dependent  on  the  amplification 
of  the  same  there :  because. — The  brother  also  in 
Ps.  xlix.  7. — In  other  respects,  a  quotation  from 
Lev.  xxvi.  39 ;  Lam.  ii.  12,  19  (Luke  xxi.  26). 

Additional  Note  on  Ch.  iv. 

[Jerusalem  in  a  state  of  siege  represents  the 
covenant-people,  as  a  whole,  straitened  and  op- 
pressed by  the  powers  of  this  world,  as  the  instru- 
ments of  God's  just  displeasure.  And  the  prophet 
being  appointed  to  bear,  during  its  continu- 
ance, the  iniquity  of  the  people,  with  stinted  and 
fjul  provisions,  points  in  another  form  to  the 
same  visitation  of  evil — only  with  a  more  particu- 
lar respect  to  the  cause  from  which  it  was  to 
?)ring;  and  the  penal  character  it  should  wear, 
hat  the  time  specified  should  have  been  in  all 


430  years,  denoted  that  the  dealing  was  to  forip.  ;i 
kind  of  fresh  Egyptian  exile  and  bondage  to  the 
elements  of  the  world ;  but  much  more  so  in  the 
case  of  the  one  house  than  in  that  of  the  other. 
The  house  of  Israel  having  cast  off  nearly  all  tluil 
was  distinctive  in  the  position  and  privileges  of 
the  covenant-people,  they  had  consequently  sunk 
into  a  condition  of  greatest  danger,  one  bordering 
on  heathen  darkness  and  perdition^nigh  unto 
cursing.  What  they  might  expect  was  to  be 
bruised  and  crushed  to  the  dust,  as  if  under  the 
rod  of  Egypt.  But  Judah  was  not  so  far  gone; 
she  had  tlie  true  priesthood  to  minister  at  her 
altars,  and  the  house  of  David  to  rule  by  divine 
right  over  the  heritage  of  God  ;  so  tliat  her  sub- 
jection to  the  powers  of  evil  was  only  to  be  like 
tlie  time  of  chastisement  and  trial  in  the  wilder- 
ness, out  of  which  she  might  again  emerge  into  a 
state  of  peace  and  blessing.  As  the  prophet  also 
again  declared,  in  a  later  prophecy,  "And  1  will 
bring  you  into  the  wUderuess  of  the  peoples  (not 
the  wilderness  merely,  but  the  wilderness  of  the 
peoples,  to  sliow  that  it  was  to  be  the  same  only 
in  character  as  of  old,  but  not  in  geographical 
position),  and  there  will  I  plead  with  you  face  to 
face ;  like  as  I  pleaded  with  }"Our  fathers  in  the 
wilderness  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will  I  plead 
with  you,  saith  the  Lord  God  "  (ch.  xx.  35-38). 
A  new  time  of  chastisement,  but  mingled,  as  of 
old,  with  mercy ;  severe  and  earnest  dealing,  but 
for  a  gracious  result — that  they  might  be  refined 
and  purified,  so  as  to  become  fit  for  enjoying  the 
good  which,  as  a  redeemed  people,  was  secured  to 
them  for  a  heritage  of  blessing.  And  if  any  hope 
remained  for  the  other  branch,  the  house  of  Israel 
—  if  they  were  ever  to  escape  from  their  state  of 
Egyptian  darkness  and  bondage,  it  must  be  by 
their  going  to  join  their  brethren  of  Judah  in  the 
wilderness,  and  sharing  in  their  peculiar  treat- 
ment and  prospects.  On  which  account,  it  is  not 
the  whole  of  the  430  years  of  the  Egypt-state  that 
is  appointed  toward  the  house  of  Israel  in  the 
vision,  but  this  shortened  by  the  40  yeare  of  the 
wilderness  sojourn,  to  teach  them  that  a  way  still 
lay  open  for  their  return  to  life,  but  only  by  their 
having  the  Egypt-state  merged  into  that  of  the 
wilderness  ;  in  other  words,  by  ceasing  from  their 
rank  idolatries  and  open  apostasy  from  the  way  of 
God,  and  coming  to  seek,  along  with  Judah, 
through  God's  covenant  and  ordinances,  a  restora- 
tion to  righteousness  and  peace  and  blessing. 

But  why  should  the  prophet,  in  thus  announc- 
ing the  future  dealings  of  God,  have  thrown 
the  delineation  into  so  peculiar,  so  enigmatical  a 
form  ?  Why  should  he  have  presented  it  to  the 
view  as  a  returning  again  "  of  the  years  of  former 
generations"?  Not,  certainly,  on  the  principle 
of  a  bald  and  meagre  literalism,  as  if  he  meant  us 
to  understand  that  the  clock  of  Providence  was 
actually  to  be  turned  back,  and  the  identical 
ground  trodden  over  again,  the  precise  measures 
of  time  filled  up  anew,  of  which  we  read  in  the 
earlier  history  of  the  chosen  race.  He  who  would 
interpret  in  such  a  style  the  symbolical  visions  of 
an  Ezekiel  is  incapable  of  entering  into  the  rapt 
emotions  of  such  a  mind,  and  must  necessarily 
flounder  at  every  step.  For  here  we  have  to  do, 
not  only  with  a  lively  and  fervid  spirit,  which  i» 
ever  breathing  life,  as  it  were,  into  the  dead,  bu 
that  spirit  in  a  state  of  ecstatic  elevation,  in 
which  the  mind  naturally  served  itself  of  the 
more  remarkable  facts   and  proviiences  in  the 


CHAP.  IV. 


«3 


past;  yet  only  as  aids  to  the  utterance  of  pro- 
phetic thought — appropriate  forms  wherein  to 
clothe  the  new  things  oonceruiug  God's  kingdom, 
that  were  through  the  Spirit  imaging  themselves 
to  the  prophet's  vision.  And,  indeed,  the  very 
imperfection  that  usually  appears  in  the/rame  of 
8ueh  historical  visions,  as  compared  with  the 
past  realities, — the  partial  mingling  together  here, 
for  example,  of  the  two  great  consecutive  periods 
of  ptist  judgment  and  trial  in  the  history  of  the 
covenant-j)eople,  so  as  to  make  the  second  begin 
before  the  fiist  had  ended, — this  very  imperfection 
shows,  as  it  was  doubtless  intended  to  do,  that  an 
e.\act  re])roduction  of  the  past  was  not  in  the  eye 
of  the  prophet,  and  that  the  nature  of  God's  con- 
templated designs,  rather  than  any  definite  bounds 
and  limits  respecting  them,  were  imaged  under 
those  ancient  periods  of  tribulation  in  Egj'pt  and 
the  wilderness. 

There  were  three  reasons  chiefly  why  the  pro- 
phets in  general,  and  this  prophet  in  particular, 
might  be  often  led  to  speak  of  the  future  under 
the  form  and  image  of  the  past.  In  the  first 
place,  as  the  me^ining  obviously  did  not  lie  upon 
the  surface,  it  called  for  serious  thought  and 
inquiry  regarding  the  purposes  of  God.  A  time 
of  general  backsliding  and  corruption  is  always  a 
time  of  superficial  thinking  on  sjiiritual  things. 
And  just  as  our  Lord,  by  His  parables,  that  partly 
veiled  while  they  disclosed  the  truth  of  God,  so 
the  prophets,  by  their  more  profound  and  enig- 
matical discourses,  sought  to  arouse  the  careless 
from  their  security,  to  awaken  in(juiiy,  and  stir 
the  depths  of  thought  and  feeling  in  the  soul.  It 
virtually  said  to  them.  You  are  in  imminent  peril ; 
direct  ordinary  discourse  no  longer  suits  your  case ; 
bestir  yourselves  to  look  into  the  depths  of  things, 
otherwise  the  sleep  of  death  shall  overtake  you. 

Then,  again,  it  conveyed  in  a  few  words — 
by  means  of  a  brief  allusion — what  the  most 
lengthened  description  without  it  could  scarcely 
have  accomplished.  It  was  employing  a  device 
which  the  most  powerful  and  effective  orators 
have  sometimes  resorted  to  with  the  greatest  effect 
— as  in  the  memorable  words  of  Mirabeau,  when, 
wishing  to  repel  the  thought  of  danger,  he  flashed 
out  the  pregnant  interrogation  :  "  Is  Hannibal  at 
the  gates?"  In  like  manner,  the  prophet  here, 
seeking  to  impress  upon  his  countrymen  the  cer- 
tainty and  the  awfulness  of  God's  impending 
judgments  on  account  of  sin,  carries  them  back 
to  the  past ;  he  brings  up  to  their  view  Egypt 
and  the  wilderness  as  ready  to  renew  themselves 
again  in  their  experience.  What  thoughts  of 
terror  and  alarm  were  these  fitted  to  awaken  in 
their  minds!  Centuries  of  bondage  and  oppres- 
sion! A  wearisome  sojourn  amid  drought  and 
desolation !  And  then  this  foreshadowing  of  the 
future,  not  only  rendered  more  distinct,  but  also 
strengthened  as  to  its  credibility,  authenticated 
by  those  stern  realities  of  the  past !  It  assuredly 
has  been  ;  shall  it  not  be  again  ? 

But  this  suggests  another  and,  indeed,  still 
deeper  reason  for  such  a  mode  of  representation 
having  been  adopted  ;  for  such  renewed  exhibi- 
tions of  the  past  were  among  the  means  specially 
jhosen  by  God  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  on 
men's  notice  the  uniformity  of  His  dealings,  and 
teaching  them  to  regard  the  providential  facts  of 
one  age  as  substantial  predictions  of  what  are  to 
be  expecteA  in  another.  It  told  men  then,  and 
it   tells   us   now   (only   it   was    more    peculiarly 


adapted  to  those  who  lived  in  ancient  times,  as 
the  revelations  they  possessed  consisted,  much 
more  than  now,  in  the  records  of  history — yet  it 
tells  all  alike),  that  tht^  forms  alone  are  transitory 
in  which  divine  truth  and  righteousness  manifest 
themselves,  while  the  principles  embodied  in  these 
forms  are  eternal,  and  can  never  cease,  amid  all 
outward  varieties,  to  be  giving  forth  siujilar  exhi- 
bitions of  their  life  and  power  to  those  which  have 
already  appeared.  The  eye  that  can  thus  look 
through  the  shell  into  the  kernel,  may  see  the 
future  things  of  God's  administration  mirrored  in 
the  p:ist — not,  indeed,  the  exact  copy  and  image 
of  what  is  to  be,  yet  its  essential  character  and 
necessary  result.  Even  those  very  ]ieriods  of 
bygone  tribulation  and  chastisement,  which  the 
prophet  here  represents  as  coming  to  life  again  in 
his  day — have  they  not  also  a  voice  for  other 
times?  Are  they  not  still  reiterating  their  lessons, 
and  perpetually  renewing  their  existences,  in  the 
case  of  impenitent  transgressors  now,  as  well  ns 
formerly,  in  that  of  drooping  exiles  in  the  cities 
of  the  Medes,  or  on  the  banks  of  Chebnr?  One 
of  these  periods — the  sojourn  in  the  wilderness — 
the  Baptist  still  finds  prolonging  itself  to  the  era 
of  his  own  ministry.  His  word  of  stern  expostu- 
lation and  solemn  warning  makes  itself  heard  as 
"the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness;"  for 
he  sees  everywhere  around  him  trackless  deserts 
where  ways  of  God  need  to  be  opened  up — ele- 
ments of  coiTuption  working  which  require  to  be 
purged  away  by  the  searching  application  of 
divine  righteousness,  before  the  Canaan  of  God's 
inheritance  can  be  properly  entered  and  enjoyed. 
And  the  lukewwrn  and  fruitless  professor  still — 
so  long  as  he  cleaves  to  the  ways  of  iniquity,  and 
refuses  to  yield  a  hearty  surrender  to  the  will 
of  God — what  else  is  his  condition?  He  is  in 
bondage  to  the  elements  of  the  world,  and  there- 
fore can  have  no  part  in  that  good  inheritance 
which  floweth  with  milk  and  honey.  The  doom 
of  Heaven's  condemnation  hangs  suspended  over 
his  head ;  and  if  not  averted  by  a  timely  submis- 
sion to  the  righteousness  of  (!od,  and  a  cordial 
entrance  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant,  he  shall 
infallibly  perish  in  the  wilderness  of  sin  and 
death. — Faikbaien's  i&eiW,  pp.  57-61. — W.  F.J 

DOCTKINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  In  the  case  of  a  prophet  of  Ezekiel's  pecu- 
liarity, it  must  be  granted  that  the  bouiulary  be- 
tween symbolic  representation  in  mere  forms  of 
speech,  and  by  means  of  action  in  real  life,  may 
be  a  movable  one.  Where,  however,  the  prophet, 
just  as  in  the  case  before  us,  is  not  to  speak,  but 
to  be  silent,  what  he  relates  as  a  series  of  facts 
can  hardly  be  otherwise  understood  than  as 
actually  so.  Preaching  by  means  of  things  done 
as  a  mere  form  of  speech  is  a  contradiction  in 
itself.  He  is  to  act  as  He  who  has  sent  bin; 
will  also  act.  There  is,  in  the  first  place,  enougii 
of  words.  And  then  it  would  perhaps  be  difficult 
to  reconcile  with  the  "honesty  and  uprightuess 
of  the  prophet,"  which,  however,  Hengst.  main- 
tains, what  he  asserts  of  his  symbolical  actions, 
that  they  are  "  only  pictures  executed  in  a  lively 
manner,  calculated  to  make  an  indelible  impres- 
sion on  the  imagination."  For  example,  veiB 
14,  15.     [But  see  Note  on  vers.  1-3.— W.  F.] 

2.  "If  any  one  reads  what  Ezekiel  reports  here, 
it  will  perhaps  appear  to  him  like  a  childish  play 


a 


EZEKIEL. 


wliieh  it  would  also  be,  if  God  had  not  commanded 
tlie  prophet  to  make  it  so.  From  this  we  may 
learn  that  the  sacraments  also  are  distinguished 
from  empty  illusions  by  means  of  the  word  of 
God  alone.  The  authority  of  God  for  them  is  the 
mark  of  distinction,  by  which  the  sacraments  are 
singled  out,  and  have  their  meaning.  It  is  not 
the  outward  appearance,  but  the  Author  that  is 
to  be  looked  at.  So  also  the  whole  system  of 
divine  worship  under  the  law  differed  almost  in 
no  respect  from  the  ceremonies  of  the  heathen ; 
yea,  these  latter  brought  their  sacrifices,  and  that 
even  with  the  greatest  possible  pomp ;  but  Israel 
had  God's  command  and  promise  on  their  side  " 
(Calv.  ). 

3.  The  sinner  will  not  get  off  so  easily  before 
God,- however  lightly  he  may  appear  to  deal  with 
his  sin  before  men,  and  before  the  tribunal  of  his 
own  conscience.  Sin  lies  as  guilt  upon  man's 
conscience,  as  a  burdensome  consciousness  that 
one  deserves  punishment,  has  to  expect  punish- 
ment. Between  the  past,  wlieu  the  sin  was  com- 
mitted, and  the  future,  when  punishment  is  de- 
servedly to  be  expected,  guilt  is  the  painful, 
burdensome  present  of  the  sinner.  Guilt  is  an 
abiding  thing,  even  if  punishment  is  a  past  thing. 

4.  If  every  one  in  himself  has  to  bear  his  guilt, 
this  moral  side  is  supplemented  by  the  specifically 
religious  one,  that  a  freeing  from  the  burden  of  it, 
an  exculpation — not  the  denial,  nor  the  lessening, 
the  explaining  away,  but  the  removal  of  guilt — 
has  been  provided  for.  Without  this  thought, 
by  means  of  which  the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  ac- 
complished, true  religion  is  inconceivable.  Such 
a  removal  of  guilt  took  place  mediatorially  in 
Israel  by  means  of  the  priesthood.  What  lay  in 
this  case  in  the  office,  as  of  divine  form  for  ths 
period  of  shadows,  lay  also  in  the  sacrifice,  as  of 
divine  substance  for  the  same  period  of  types ;  by 
means  of  the  sacrifice,  the  removal  of  guilt  took 
place  in  the  way  of  substitution,  of  atoning  accept- 
ance of  that  guilt.  Everything  was  in  a  manner 
like  a  bill  of  exchange,  of  which  God  meant  to 
get  payment  {realisiren)  in  His  own  time.  This 
divine  realization  in  the  fulness  of  the  times  will 
thus  have  the  form  of  a  priest  and  the  essence  of 
a  sacrifice.  The  Servant  of  Jehovah  in  Isa.  liii. 
is  both,  priest  as  well  as  sacrifice ;  but  the  prophet 
is  not  so,  who  has  neither  to  mediate  nor  to  make 
atonement,  but  who  speaks  God's  word  or  em- 
bodies it  in  action — in  our  case  here  the  latter ; 
that  is  to  say,  he  symbolically  represents  the 
guilt  of  the  people  in  his  own  person,  not  so 
much,  of  course,  by  action  as  by  suffering. 

5.  As  Ewald  already  points  out,  the  40  years 
for  .Tudah  are  parallel  with  the  70  years  of  the 
Babylonian  exile  in  Jeremiah.  What  the  latter 
are  in  a  predominantly  numerical  point  of  view, 
the  40  of  Ezekiel  are  in  a  purely  sjTnbolical. 

6.  Havemick,  in  connection  with  the  episode 
of  vers.  14,  15,  mentions  the  case  of  Daniel,  who 
in  deepest  sorrow  must  eat  the  bread  of  affliction, 
and  pine  away  in  grief  over  the  sins  of  his  people, 
hut  an  angel  of  God  comes  also,  and  comforts  and 
strengthens  him.  So  likewise  here,  as  he  says, 
Jehovah  alleviates  the  punishment.  The  protest 
of  Ezekiel  not  less  closely  resembles  the  n'  oii»«to> 
of  the  Son  of  man  in  Gethsemane,  and  the  strength- 
ening by  an  angel  from  heaven. 

7.  The  circumstance  that  they  were  to  eat 
"  their  bread  polluted "  among  the  heathen, 
printed  at  the  same  time,  according  to  Coco.,  to 


the  entire  want  of  the  means  of  cieansing  through 
sacrifice  Hos.  ix.  4).  The  land  of  the  heathen 
far  from  the  temple  was  an  unclean  land,  because 
there  was  no  possibility  of  cleansing  according  to 
the  law  of  the  Sanctifier  of  Israel. 


HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  Similar  symbolic  actions  pe  find  per 
formed  by  Christ  also,  who  places  a  child  in  tht 
midst  of  His  disciples,  washes  their  feet,  etc. 
And  so  God  wishes  here  also  to  say  to  Israel: 
"Thou  wilt  not  hear;  open  thine  eyes  at  least!" 
(H.  H.) — God  sometimes  demands  things  which 
appear  to  men  foolish,  nay,  silly.  But  in  God's 
foolishness  there  is  wisdom,  while  in  all  the  wis- 
dom of  men  there  is  mere  foolishness  in  the  end, 
1  Cor.  i.  23.  —  "Elisha  in  2  Kings  xiii.  causes 
bow  and  arrows  to  be  brought;  Isaiah  in  ch.  xx. 
walks  barefoot ;  Jeremiah  in  ch.  xxvii.  wears  a 
yoke,  bonds,  etc.  The  apostles  shake  the  dust 
off  their  feet  (Matt.  x. ),  shake  their  clothes  (Acta 
xviii.  6)  ;  Agabus  binds  Paul  with  his  girdle 
(Actsxxi. ).  Let  us  recal  to  mind  the  bundle  of 
arrows  wherewith  that  heathen  preached  concord 
to  his  sons"  (L.  L.).  — "  Most  of  all  art  thou  be- 
sieged, when  thou  supposest  that  thou  art  not  at 
all  besieged.  There  is  a  security  of  the  Christian 
which  is  storm ;  for,  according  to  Job,  man's  life 
upon  earth  is  a  warfare"  (Jek.).  —  "Besieged 
Jerusalem  is  the  soul  in  its  sins,  against  which 
all  the  works  of  the  divine  righteousness  are 
directed;  but  as  the  unburnt  brick  is  easily  d.s- 
solved  in  pieces  by  water,  so  also  the  soul  in  its 
sins  by  the  tears  of  repentance  "  (a  L.). 

Ver.  2.  Titus  confessed  of  the  second  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  that  the  city  was  conquered 
more  by  the  angry  Deity  than  by  means  of  the 
Roman  weapons. — "Temptation  may  be  called  a 
spiritual  siege"  (Stck.). — The  whole  world  round 
about  us  is,  in  the  main,  a  siege  of  the  soul ;  in 
the  world  we  have  tribulation.  If  only  the  iron 
pan  does  not  stand  between  us  and  God !  For  if 
God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  God  must  be  against  us,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  our  own  conscience,  what 
could  peace  even  with  all  men  help  us ! 

Ver.  3.  "  Preachers  frequently  appear  to  their 
hearers  as  their  enemies,  because  they  proclaim  to 
them  their  ruin,  and  depict  the  punishment  of 
their  sin  vividly  before  their  eyes ;  and  yet  they 
do  not  wish  their  ruin,  but  the  salvation  of  their 
souls"  (Stck.). — "The  Jews  might  shake  their 
heads  and  thrust  out  their  tongues,  but  this  fact 
they  could  not  alter,  that  it  was  a  sign  for  Israel  " 
(Calv.).^To  him  who  has  his  soul  before  his 
eyes,  everj'thing,  even  if  it  is  not  said  so  expressly 
as  here,  may  be  a  sign. — All  things  must,  and  in 
fact  do,  work  for  good  to  those  who  love  God. 

Ver.  4  sqq.  "  Preachers  are  to  grudge  no 
trouble  and  inconvenience  for  the  best  interests  of 
their  hearers,  1  Thess.  ii.  8,  9  "  (St. ). — "God  does 
not  always  punish  on  the  spot,  when  men  deserve 
it  with  their  sins  "  (0.). — Preachers  are  to  preach 
not  merely  with  the  word,  but  by  their  example, 
in  doing  as  well  as  in  leaving  undone,  and  als» 
in  suffering. — God's  patience  and  His  servants 
patience  is  a  tine  sermon. — "We,  for  the  most 
part,  reckon  up  only  our  days  of  sorrow,  but  for 
our  days  of  joy,  and  e^pecially  for  our  days  of  sin, 
we  have  neither  reckoning  nor  remembrance " 
(Stck.). — Ver.  7.  How  much  longing,  h^w  mncb 


CHAP.  T. 


pain,  but  what  righteousness  also,  lay  in  this  look 
toward  Jerusalem  !  — A  prelude  on  Ezekiel's  part 
to  Luke  xix.  41  sfjci.,  but  also  a  contrast — here 
the  uncovered  arm,  there  the  weeping  eyes  of  Jesus. 
— '*  Ah!  if  now  Jerusalem  and  we  who  are  in  it 
were  to  judge  ourselves,  and  were  to  look  upon 
our  sina  and  vices  as  our  worst  enemies,  and  to 
attack  them  ;  then  it  would  not  be  necessary  for 
God  with  those  who  are  His  to  take  up  a  posi- 
tion against  us  as  enemies"  (B.  B.). — Ver.  8. 
"  Diseases  and  afflictions  of  every  kind  are  such 
bands,  wherewith  God  binds  His  own,  and  not 
merely  the  ungodly"  (Stck.). — "And  now,  be- 
hold, I  go  bound  in  the  spirit,"  says  Paul  in 
Acts  XX. — "Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder, 
»ud  cast  away  their  cords  from  us,"  is  a  well- 
known  watchword  of  those  who  are  mighty 
according  to  the  flesh  in  this  world.  —  "We 
bind  ourselves  with  our  sins,  and  Satan  knows 
how  to  hold  us  fast  in  these  bands  of  our  own  " 
(Stck.). 

Ver.  9  sqq.  So  the  hread  of  misery  is  ever 
still  of  many  sorts,  and  yet  not  much  for  each 
day. —  "  But  our  days  also  for  the  bread  of  misery 
are  measured  and  numbered,  and  beyond  them  it 
is  not  to  last"  (B.  B. ). — Want  of  bread  is  to  be 
endured,  for  man  lives  .lot  by  bread  alone ;  but 
the  want  of  God  no  man  ought  to  be  able  to  en- 
dure, not  even  for  a  single  instant ;  and  yet  how 
many  become  old  and  grey  without  hunger  on 
this  account! — Vers.  10,   11.  The  high  import- 


ance of  bread  and  water  in  a  bodily  and  spiritual 
point  of  view ;  and  yet,  for  the  most  part,  w  e  are 
able  to  think  only  of  prisoners  in  connection  with 
!  bread  and  water. — Ver.  12.  "Nothing  can  be  sv 
I  loathsome  to  men  as  sin  is  to  God"  (Stck.  V  — 
I  "  But  what  else,  pray,  are  those  doing  but  citing 
j  dirt,  who  delight  themselves  in  earthly  tldngs, 
and  do  everything  for  the  sake  of  the  belly  or  tin; 
i  flesh?"  (B.  B.) — And  in  what  is  the  daily  intei- 
1  lectual  food  of  so  very  many  men,  consisting  as  it 
does  of  newspapers  and  pamphlets,  of  social  inter- 
course and  conversation — in  what  is  it  bakeil! 
Paul  reckoned  everything  but  dung  for  Christ, 
Phil.  iii. — Ver.  13.  Along  with  the  Jews,  all  those, 
even  at  the  present  day,  are  eating  defiled  bread, 
who,  like  them,  are  despising  the  bread  of  life 
which  came  down  from  heaven. — Ver.  14.  He 
who  must  be  silent  to  men,  may  yet  open  heart 
and  mouth  to  his  God.—  "  There  is  full  permission 
to  ask  God  for  the  alleviation  of  the  cross"  (0.). 
— Ver.  15.  "  God  is  and  remains  gracious  even 
in  the  midst  of  wrath ;  if  He  does  not  take  the 
cross  of  His  cliildren  entirely  away,  yet  He  alle- 
viates it  "  (Cr.). — Ver.  16  sq.  "  No  one  has  less 
thought  of  it  than  the  rich,  that  there  was  to  be 
a  possibility  of  the  want  becoming  so  great  in 
their  case,  that  bread  and  water  were  so  easily  to 
fail  them,  even  althougli  a  famine  should  happen. 
But  the  rich  man  experienced  it  even  in  hell,  and 
could  not  get  a  drop  of  water,  however  much  he 
wished  to  have  it"  (B.  B.). 


CHAPTER  V. 


1  And  thou,  son  of  man,  take  thee  a  sharp  sword;  as  a  barber's  razor  shalt 
thou  take  it;  and  thou  causest  it  to  pass  over  thine  head  and  over  thy  chin,  and 

2  takest  thee  weighing-balances,  and  dividest  them  [the  hair].  A  third  part  thou 
burnest  in  the  flame  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  as  the  days  of  the  siege  are  fulfilled 
[when  they  are  complete]  ;  and  thou  takest  the  [second]  third  part,  with  the  sword 
shalt  thou  smite  round  about  it  [the city];  and  the  [third]  third  part  shalt  thou 

3  scatter  to  the  wind ;  and  I  will  draw  out  the  sword  after  them.    And  thou  takest 

4  thereof  a  few  in  number,  and  bindest  them  in  thy  skirts.  And  thou  shalt  take 
of  them  farther,  and  thou  castest  them  into  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  burnest 
them  in  the  fire;   therefrom  shall  fire  go  forth  to  the  whole  house  of  Israel. 

5  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah :  This  [city]  Jerusalem,  in  the    nidst  of  the  [heathen] 

6  nations  I  placed  her,  and  the  countries  round  about  her.  And  she  quarrelled 
with  My  judgments  more  wickedly  than  the  [heathen]  nations,  and  with  My 
statutes  more  than  the  countries  which  are  round  about  her;  for  they  despised 

7  My  judgments,  and  walked  not  in  My  statutes.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah :  Because  ye  raged  more  than  the  [heathen]  nations  which  are  round  about 
you,  walked  not  in  My  statutes,  and  did  not  My  judgments,  and  [also]  did  not 

8  after  the  judgments  of  the  [heathen]  nations  which  are  round  about  you.  There- 
fore thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  even  I,  and  I 

D  execute  judgments  in  thy  midst  before  the  eyes  of  the  [heathen]  nations.  And  I 
do  in  thee  what  I  have  not  done,  and  the  like  of  which  I  will  not  do  any  more, 

10  because  of  all  thine  abominations.  Therefore  fathers  shall  eat  sons  in  thy  midst, 
and  .sons  shall  eat  their  fathers ;  and  I  execute  judgments  in  thee,  and  scatter 

11  thy  whole  remnant  to  every  wind.  Therefore,  as  I  live,  sentence  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah :  Surely,  because  thou  didst  defile  My  sanctuary  with  all  thy  detestable 
things,  ami  with  all  thine  abominations,  I  also  will  cut  off;  neither  shall  Mine  eye 

i2  spare,  neither  will  I  show  pity.     A  third  part  of  thee — of  the  pestilence  shall 


86 


EZEKIEL. 


they  die,  and  with  the  famine  shall  they  perish  in  the  midst  cif  thee  ;  and 
the  [-econci]  third  part — by  the  sword  sliall  they  fall  round  about  thee;  and  the 
[thinij  third  part  will  I  scatter  to  every  wind,  and  the  sword  will  I  draw  out  after 

13  them.  And  Mine  anger  is  accomplished,  and  I  cause  My  fury  to  rest  upon  them, 
and  I  breathe  again;  and  they  shall  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken  in  My 

1  4  zeal,  while  I  accomplish  My  fury  on  them.  And  I  will  give  thee  to  desolation 
and  to  mockery  among  the  [heathen]  nations  which  are  round  about  thee,  before 

15  the  eyes  of  every  passer-by.  Arid  it  is  a  reproach  and  a  taunt,  a  warning  and  an 
astonishment,  to  the  [heathen]  nations  which  are  round  about  thee,  when  I  execute 
judgments  in  thee  in  anger  and  in  fury,  and  in  furious  rebukes :  I,  Jehovah,  have 

16  spoken.  When  I  send  ujion  them  the  evil  arrows  of  famine,  which  are  for 
de.struetion,  which  I  will  send  to  destroy  you,  and  I  will  increase  famine  upon 

17  you,  and  I  break  for  you  the  staff  of  bread;  And  I  send  upon  you  famine  and 
evil  beasts,  and  they  make  thee  childless;  and  pestilence  and  blood  press  upon 
thee;  and  a  sword  will  I  cause  to  come  upon  thee.     I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken. 

Ver.    2.  Sept.:  To  nretprot  .  .  ,  ,  x.  ^x^v,  t.  TiTctprei'  x.  xetrecxxufti!  ttCro  Ir  ute-ai  x'jTri,  x.  r.  nrxfinn  a^aTaa;»^^Hff— 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .  trup.  K.  ipsti  irecvn  eixoi  'Irp. 

Ver.    6.   K.  Ipit;  Tct  itxattUfiMTti  fxc'J  r»i  xvafjM  \x  ran  td*an,  x.  ret  jofjjfXM  ,u«i*  kx  ruy  ^aipmy  retv  xvxXoi  »-JTr,i' 

Ver.    7.  Sept.:  .  .  .  ocvd'  av  r,  et^opfjix  Ct^tMti  IX  T.  £0*»r» — (Anoth.  read. :    Qn^tJtTJ  without  s^S,  Syr.) 

Ver.  11.  Anoth.  read.;  r'TIV. 

Ver.  12.  To  TiTOLprov  treu  .  .   .  x.  r.  nrctpT.  rtv  £»  ^tpLti  x,  T.  TIT.  ff.  IjV  ir«»T«  atii[jun  .  .  .  X.  r.  tit.  r,  £*  pcf/^eu»  .  .  .  M- 

Ver.  14.  .  .  .  tfr,pi,cii  X.  T«f  Qvyartprti  rov  xuxKm — 

Ver.  15.  Anoth.  read. :  n*^33  •    Sept.,  Arab.,  Vulg. :  tn  gentibtu. 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  et  batias  pessimas  usqite  ad  intemicumem — 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-4. — The  Fourth  Sign.     Vers.  5-\1.—The 
Divine  Interpretation  of  the  same. 

What  follows  may  be  called  a  second  sign,  in- 
asmuch as  the  three  preceding  symbolical  acts  fit 
into  each  other  as  parts  of  one  symbolical  whole. 
There  is  also  the  indication  of  the  new  section, 
just  as  in  ch.  iv.  1 :  And  thon,  son  of  msn. 
Ch.  T.  1-4,  however,  is  not  without  reference  to 
ch.  iv.  If,  then,  ch.  iv.  1.3  already  carried  Ub 
beyond  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  as  such,  so  much 
the  more  readily  may  the  (numerically^  fourth 
sign  which  the  prophet  is  to  perform  place  us 
hi  the  miflst  of  the  conque.st  of  the  city.  For  it  is 
with  this  that  ver.  1  begins.  The  whole  of  the 
lively  action  revolves  round  the  sword,  which 
ROW  does  its  work  victoriously  ;  what  follows  is  a 
threefold  act  of  the  sword.  Comp.  Deut.  xxxii. 
41.  Ezekiel,  just  as  in  ch.  iv.,  also  represents 
therein  both  God  and  the  ].eople.  What  he  is  to 
take  to  him.self  is  what  God  will  take  to  Himself 
in  the  person  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  whose  sword 
of  execution  is  that  of  God,  here  that  of  Ezekiel. 
Comp.  Isa.  vii.  20.  ("The  mere  image  becomes 
a  .symbolically  isolating  action  ;  where  others 
only  speak  of  shaving  the  head  as  a  sign  of 
deepest  grief,  Ezekiel  takes  a  sword,"  etc. — Um- 
BREIT.)  Ewald's  translation  appears  to  invert 
the  matter,  where,  namely,  the  razor  is  to  serve 
as  a  sharp  sword.  Ezekiel  is  rather  to  take  a 
sharp  mcord  as  a  razor.  (The  purposely-em- 
phasized sharpness  of  the  sword  ought  to  relieve 
Hengst.  of  the  difficulty  which  the  outward  exe- 
cution cau.ses  him.  Of  smooth  shaving,  so  that 
no  hairs  at  all  .are  left,  nothing  is  said ;  and  what 
jhall  one  say,  when  Hengst.  makes  the  task  still 


more  difficult  by  adding:  "especially  for  a  man 
of  predominant  subjectivity,  who  is  usually  not 
skilled  in  such  manipulations."  Such  a  thing 
.sounds  ridiculous,  but  not  what  Ezekiel  is  to 
ilo-)  3in  is  the  instrument  that  "devastates," 
"destroys,"  not  (at  all  events,  in  the  context  of 
our  chapter)  :  a  cutting  tool  in  general,  knife 
(HiTZiG),  although  it  -has  to  serve  as  a  barber's 
razor. — Head  and  bearded  chin  come  into  con- 
sideration, neither  as  being  the  capital  nor  as 
being  the  head  of  the  nation,  the  king,  in  con- 
trast with  the  land  or  the  people,  but  solely  in 
reference  to  the  hair,  which,  therefore,  we  are 
also  to  understand  in  the  clause  :  and  dividest 
them:  they  mean  the  innumerable  (Vs.  xl.  12) 
individuals  of  Israel, — in  its  fulness  (the  flowing 
ornament,  just  as  it  is  the  manly  strength,  of  the 
oriental)  tlie  ornament  and  the  strength  of  a 
nation, — conceived  of  especially  as  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem.  (In  Lev.  xxi.  5,  the  shaving  off  of  the 
hair  is  specially  forbidden  to  the  priest,  HXv. ) — 
The  weighing  balances  (dual)  symbolize  the 
divine  justice,  as  it  weighs  out  the  punishment 
(Isa,  xxviii.  17),  and  render  possible  the  division 
into  three  parts  of  equal  weight  which  follows. 

Ver.  2  puts  us  back  into  ch.  iv.  :  the  prophet 
is  to  burn  a  third  part  of  his  hair  which  he  has 
cut  oil'  -\1S3i  i"  fhs  flame  of  a  tire  kindled  for  this 
purpose.  The  flame  as  an  emblem  represents,  not 
Jerusalem  rising  up  in  flames  (as  Hengst.),  but, 
according  to  ver.  12,  the  co7isnmi)ig  violence  of  the 
pe.stilpnce  and  the  famine  (Lam.  v.  10).  Hengsi. 
gives  himself  unnecessary  trouble  to  make  the 
dead  bodies  be  consumed  by  the  flames.  Keii 
correctly  refers  -i<j;n  "|ina  to  that  Jerusalem 
which  is  portrayed  upon  the  brick  which  Ezekiel 
is  besieging  (ch.  iv.  1  s^q. ;.     Klief.  :  he  is  tr 


CHAP.  V.  3-6. 


87 


burn  this  third  part  upon  the  stone.  The  fourth 
Bynibolioal  action  has  a  common  sphere  with  the 
tiuee  preceding  ones.  Tlie  fulfilling  of  tlie  days 
of  the  siege  is  thereby  put  in  connection  with 

(nsi'DS.  Jer  XXV-  1-)  ch.  iv.  6,  7,  8— comp. 
tliere — so  that  we  have  to  think  of  the  remainder 
of  the  tinie,  specially  tlie  40  days.  In  this  jieriod, 
!is  the  390  days  of  the  siege  are  at  an  end,  he  has 
to  perform  what  is  here  commanded  him.  Tlie 
lying  on  the  right  side  is  therefore,  according  to 
this  statement  also  (comp.  on  ch.  iv.  12),  to 
be  understood  in  a  looser  sense. — n'ni3''3D  refers 
to  the  portrayed  city,  round  about  which,  as  re- 
spects the  second  third  part,  Ezekiel  is  to  smite 
witli  the  sword  (comp.  ver.  12),  in  this  way 
(while,  for  the  first  third  part,  the  siege  was  still 
kept  hold  of)  forming  a  transition  to  the  subject 
wh.icli  follows,  viz.  the  capture  of  Jerusalem. 
Either  in  general  :  what  is  slaughtered  at  the 
rapture  in  the  environs  of  the  city,  when  fleeing 
out  of  the  same,  or  more  specially  :  with  reference 
to  the  flight  of  Zedekiah  (Jer.  Hi.  7,  8)  and  his 
attendants  (?).  Gp.ot.  :  during  the  various  .sallies 
of  the  besieged.  Hexost.  :  while  seeking  for  sub- 
sistence or  attempting  flight  (?). — The  action  with 
the  last  third  symbolizes  (ver.  12)  the  scattering 
in  the  fullest  sense,  and  that  alike  to  all  the  four 
winds,  and  in  such  a  way  that  the  wind  can  make 

its  sport  therewith  as  it  will  (rm^>,  Isa.  xli.  16. 
— aiT'inS  pns  (Ex.  XV.  9)  constructio  prceg- 
nans,  a  quotation  from  Lev.  xxvi.  33,  eonse- 
Huently  not  the  hairs,  but  what  is  signified  by 
them  :  the  .Jews,  partly  those  who  can  flee,  in 
still  larger  number  those  who  are  taken  prisoners. 
Ewald;  "even  then  still  pursued  by  the  sword, 
so  that  only  very  few  after  repeated  testings  (?) 
ultimately  remain  over,  Isa.  vi.  13."  (Jer.  xlii. 
15  sqq.,  xliii.  10  sqq.,  xliv.  11  sqq.)  The  LXX. 
have  from  ver.  12  —  where  pestilence,  famine, 
sword,  and  wind  occur — introduced  a  fourfold 
division  here,  against  which  both  the  text— that 
they  had  a  better  before  them  does  not  appear — 
and  the  symbolical  meaning  of  the  number  three 
for  the  divine  recompense  testify,  as  also,  besides, 
Zech.  -xiii.  8,  9  ;  Rev.  viii. 

Vers.  3,  4  contain  a  continuation  (Keil)  or 
rather  the  completion  of  the  symbolical  trans- 
action. DBt2,  "from  there,"  because  the  last 
third,  remaining  as  it  iloes  in  life,  is  conceired  of 
as  locally  somewhere  in  the  figure  and  in  the 
reality.  It  is  the  third  part  scattered  to  the  wind 
that  is  spoken  of,  as  in  every  case  of  such  scatter- 
ing, some  part  remains  lying  on  the  gi-ound, 
another  part  comes  to  rest  somewhere  farther  on. 
— A  few  in  nambor.  This  even  indicates  a  cer- 
'lin  care,  but  still  more  the  symbolic  binding 
inot  a  collecting,  but  a  preserving)  of  the  hairs  in 
the  skirt  of  the  garment.  (Hos.  iv.  19  does  not 
belong  to  this  category.)  That  "the  Lord  will 
gather  the  remnant  of  His  people  from  their 
dispersion,  and  lead  them  back  to  their  native 
land  "  (Hencst.)  is  not  said  :  on  the  contrary,  in 
ver.  4  there  is  also  another  (n^j;)  taking  of  them 
(DDDl).  '  f-  of  those  that  were  taken,  the  few, 
counted  hairs ;  and,  in  fact,  not  only  are  those  thus 
taken  caxt  into  the  midst  of  the  fire  and  htirni 
therein,  but  ^JOO.  i.e.  from  the  midst  of  the  fire 
(Tin).  '"  whirli  they  are  burning,  there  shall  fire 
go  forth  to  the  whole  house  of  Tsrael.  Neither 
in  connection  with  these  words  nor  from  ver. 


13  sqq.  can  the  thought  arise  of  testings,  of  a 
fire  of  purification.  Nor  is  it,  as  Umbreit  : 
"  that  the  most  pungent  grief  over  the  mournfa' 
lot  of  the  besieged  of  Jerusalem  shall  seize  all 
Israel. "  Thejire  symbolizes  throughout  Ihe  judg- 
ment of  the  wrath  of  God,  at  last  annihilating 
the  people  as  a  whole.  (Jer.  iv.  4  ;  Zeph.  iii.  8. ) 
Jer.  xxix.  21,  22  is  not  to  be  quoted  here  as 
R:ischi  does ;  but  we  must  rather  go  back  with 
Grot,  to  Jer.  xl.  sqq. :  these  fugitives  gathering 
together  in  the  land  may  at  least  easily  be  com- 
pared to  the  hairs  which  fell  to  the  earth  im- 
mediately around  the  prophet  (ver.  3) ;  and  their 
destiny  also  corresponds  (Jer.  Iii.  30).  Hav. , 
Hengst.  think  of  those  brought  back  from  Baby- 
lon down  to  the  burning  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans.  It  is  still  farther  fetched,  with  Klie- 
foth,  Keil,  to  drag  in  Luke  xii.  49  here :  where, 
pray,  has  a  "cleansing,  purifying,  aud  quicken- 
ing power  gone  forth  from  Christ  over  the  whole 
house  of  Israel"?  There  remains  certainly  a 
remnant  from  vers.  3,  4,  only  it  is  neither  cha- 
racterized as  a  holy  seed  (Isa.  vi.  13),  no  even  as 
in  Ezek.  vi.  8  sqq. :  it  is  left  between  tlie  lines. 
[Ewald  (1st  edit.)  translated:  from  me  shall  a 
fire,  etc.,  as  if  it  were  >30D-  Keil,  after  Hitzig, 
would  refer  it  ("  therefrom  ")  to  the  whole  trans- 
action descril)ed  in  vera.  3,  4.  But  Hitzig  makes 
the  sin  to  be  a  fire  (Job  x.\xi.  12),  and  also  the 
prophecy  threatening  destruction  a  fire  pent  up 
(Jer.  xxiii.  29),  which  breaks  forth  into  flame  at 
the  moment  of  its  accomplishment.  To  refer 
13Dt3  directly  to  {jt^J  is  prevented,  of  course,  by 
the  feminine  construction  f^x  KVD-  Hengst.  : 
"from  it,  i.e.  from  them,  the  numerical  multi- 
plicity being  combined  into  an  ideal  unity  with 
reference  to  the  uniting  bond  of  the  evil  dis- 
position." Have  the  LXX.  with  their  i?  aurii) 
thought  of  the  city?]  Comp.  besides,  Judg.  ix. 
15,  20. 

Inasmuch  now  as  in  ver.  5  the  divine  interpret 
tation  begins  with  "nj3j{  713,  what  is  said  in  ch. 
iii.  26  (comp.  ch.  iii.  27),  as  well  as  a  purely 
symbolical  jirophesying  in  ch.  iv.  7,  is  thereby 
modified.  "To  prophesy"  (comp.  ch.  xxxvii.) 
is  also,  primarily,  to  speak  in  the  spirit,  as  that 
usually  takes  place  by  divine  direction.  But  the 
divine  intcrpret:ition  begins  with  the  meaning  of 
Jerusalem.  This  city  portrayed  upon  the  tile, 
viz.  Jerusalem,  the  word  of  Jehovah  points  out  a.s 
placed  by  Him  in  the  midst  of  the  heatheii 
nations,  of  course  not  in  a  local  sense,  liki 
Delphi,  the  navel  of  the  earth.  Already  thi 
Chinese  empire  of  the  centre  points  as  such  to  tlir 
maxims  as  to  the  ethical  equilibrium  prevailinc; 
in  the  Chinese  system.  But  this  is  the  centra, 
position  as  regards  the  history  of  salvation  of 
Israel — represented  by  its  capital,  hence  in  local 
symbolism — for  the  history  of  the  world,  so  that 
from  it  all  the  rays  go  forth  to  the  world  as  a  cir- 
cumference. John  iv.  22.  (Latu.  ii.  15.)  In 
its  position,  so  distinguished  by  God's  grace,  we 
get  the  measure  of  the  guilt  of  Jerusalem,  i.e. 
of  those  whom  it  represents,  inasmuch  as  they 
have  come  so  far  short  of  tlie  obligation  therein 
implied,  that  —  Ver.  6  —  in  God's  sight  they 
appear  even  more  v/icked  than  the  heathen 
(2  Kings  xxi.  9).  Ewald  reads  unnecessarily 
(because  of  p)  loni.  from  "ID',   IID,  which  in 

Hiph.   is  read  with  3 ;  and  linn,   according  to 


i8 


EZEKIEL. 


him,  means  originally  :  to  cause  to  totter,  hence : 
to  exchange  something  against  (p^  something 
else,  so  that  it  gives  way  before  this  latter. 
(Easchi:  "changed  My  judgments  into  wicked- 
ness."     SimUarly  Chald.   and  Syr.)     loni    is 

simply  imperf.  apoc.  from  mO  Hiph.  (an  allu- 
sion to  Ex.  XV.  23  sqq.,  the  first  resistance 
of  the  newly- saved  people.)  Comp.  Deut.  i. 
26,  43,  ix.  7,  24,  etc.  Like  a  technical  term 
for  Israel's  rebelliousness. — p.   in  a  comparative 

sense :  more  than,  leaving  the  heathen  behind 
them,  njftn^,  unto  wickedness;  as  an  adverb: 
wickedly.  (Hitz.  infin. :  so  that  they  sinned 
more  grievously.)  njftJn^  brings  into  promi- 
nence tlie  condition  which  makes  Israel  appear 
worse  comparatively  than  the  heathen ;  hence  [Q 
is  most  connected  with  it.  Unsuitably,  Hengst. 
compares  1  Cor.  v.,  where  the  question  is  not 
about  the  what,  but  about  a  how.  Neither  have 
Isa.  ii.  6  and  Jer.  ii.  10  any  connection  with  this 
passage.  But  the  more  wicked  character  of  Israel 
is  intelligible,  partly  as  contrasted  with  the  grace 
of  God  which  they  have  experienced,  partly  there- 
fore from  the  circumstance  that  they  were  acting 
contrary  to  the  express  will  of  God.  The  com- 
parison" is,  in  a  general  sense,  possible,  because 
the  heathen  also,  by  means  of  conscience,  know 
about  the  divine  will,  have  a  law  written  in  their 
hearts.  Rom.  ii.  14,  15.  '3  inasmuch  as  they 
so  acted,  they  were  rebels  convicted  by  law  and 
statute,  apart  from  conscience,  common  to  them 
with  the  heathen. 

Ver.  7.  'ob  (°u  account  of  such  things),  as 
usual,  at  the  beginning  of  a  weighty,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  of  a  threatening  consequence.  But 
before  the  threatening  of  punishment  there  is  a 
second  emphasizing  of  their  greater  guilt.  [In- 
stead of  D330n  Ewald  reads  D33Sn,  from  njO, 

to  count;  HlTZ. :  it  stands  for  D3)pDn,  "because 

of  your  driving;"  Hav  ,  after  the  Syr.:  because 
ye  "were  more  careless  than  the  heathen  (?). 
Most   simply,    as    also    Ges.,    from   pn,    or    as 

Fvirst,  from  jiDH.  going  back  to  nOH :  "because 
of  your  raging,"  vdih  significant  reference  to 
Ps.  ii.  1.] — With  <nipn3  there  is  inserted  an 
energetic  parenthesis  of  direct  address,  taking  up 
again  the  close  of  ver.  6  backwards,  in  which  the 
1DKO  (to  push  away,  to  reject)  is  changed  into 

Qn^tj'j;  {{p,  and  in  this  way  occasion  is  given  for 
the  following  statement  with  {{■).  Ewald  and 
others  strike  out  the  latter,  and  that  also  because 
of  ch.  xi.  12.  If  ver.  9  manifestly  threatens 
Israel  with  a  heavier  punisliment  than  ever  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  then  it  is  but  too 
plain  we  must  understand  vers.  6,  7  of  a  wicked- 
ness on  the  part  of  Israel  greater  than  that  of  the 
heathen  ;  and  such  acting  more  wickedly  than  the 
heathen  is  intensified  in  ver.  7  merely  with  re- 
spect to  the  natural  law  of  conscience ;  in  other 
words,  this  reference  still  left  unexpressed  in  ver. 
6  is  expressly  brought  in  afterwards.  God's  laws 
and  statutes  they  rejected,  neither  did  they  act 
in  accordance  with  the  natural  laws  belonging  to 
the  standpoint  of  the  heathen  conscience.  In 
ret  another  application,  ch.  xvi.  47.     In  ch.  xi. 


12  the  connection  and  tlie  reproof  is  a  different 
one ;  there  is  nothing  said  there  of  a  being  worse 
than  the  heathen. 

In  ver.  8  we  have,  with  p^  (ver.  7)  repeated, 
the  threatening  of  punishment,  first  of  all  gene- 
rally, then,  in  what  foDows,  in  a  form  more  and 

more  concrete.  — "JvJ?  'Jjn  ;  comp.  Amos  vii.  9  ; 
Rev.  ii.  5. — '3S"Q3  marks  out  the  interpositior 
of  God  as  being  a  retribution  :  hitherto,  thou, 
now  I,  yes,  even  I,  with  a  mode  of  acting  corre- 
sponding to  thine  own  (Matt.  x.  33 ;  2  Tim.  ii. 
121 — As  in  ver.  7,  so  also  here:  n'ti'J?,  illus- 
trated by  the  fundamental  passage  Ex.  xii.  12 
(Num.  xxxiii.  4). — Because  Israel  has  not  made 
itself  a  pattern  to  the  heathen,  an  example  in 
what  is  right  and  becoming  (the  negative  side  to 
ver.  6  is  brought  in  afterwards),  God  on  His  part 
makes  it  a  spectacle  for  the  heathen.  The  laws 
(Rechte)  of  God  become  judgments  (Gerichte)  of 
God.  'This  is  the  one  element  of  retribution ;  the 
other  in  ver.  9 :  because  Israel  has  gone  beyond 
the  heathen  in  wickedness.  His  punishment  also 
will  go  beyond  anything  in  the  past  or  future. — 
rn    is    the    resumption    of   ^3iri3    (ver.    8). — 

liy  initJD  ^=  (f^f  ^'^'^  of  which  I  will  not  do  again 
(Matt.  xxiv.  21). 

Ver.  10.  A  more  concrete  exemplification  of 
what  is  thus  threatened.  The  thought  thereby 
expressed  is  the  breaking  up  alike  of  natural 
family  ies  and  of  the  theocratic  bond  of  Israel 
as  a  n<ttion,  this  being  what  has  never  taken 
place  in  the  past,  and,  having  once  happened, 
what  is  not  to  be  repeated  in  the  future.  Comp. 
Lev.  xxvi.  29 ;  Deut.  xxviii.  53  ;  Jer.  six.  9 ; 
Lam.  ii.  20,  iv.  10;  2  Kings  vi.  28,  29  (Luke 
xii.  53). — D'DBK'  (^^r.  15),  penal  judgments, 
more  exactly  defined  as  D'QSCD  in  ver.  8. — 
'n^'lTI  ■  comp.  vers.  2,  12. 

Ver.  11.  The  repeated  p-)  is  exceedingly  im- 
pressive. '3K"»n.  the  adjective  being  made  to 
precede,  properly  :  living  I.  Deut.  xxxii.  40. 
He  will  show  Himself  to  them  as  being  the  Living 
One.  Corresponding  to  the  climax  of  the  dis- 
course in  the  oath,  there  is  the  solemn  earnest- 
ness of  the  DX3  part-  pass,  constr.  from  QSJ 
(□nj  non),  low,  secret  speaking ;  therefore : 
utterance  =  "  speaks,"  a  parenthetical  noun- 
clause. — The  desecration  with  which  Israel  is 
charged  in  ch.  viii.  has  respect  to  the  temple,  but 
to  that  as  being  the  abode  of  Jehovah's  glory. 
The  avenging  judgment  (with  a  reference  to  ver. 
1)  holds  out  in  prospect  the  cutting  off  (another 
reading:  jnjX.  Isa.  xv.  2>  of  this  noblest  orna- 
ment of  the  people,  where  Jehovah  meets  with 
His  people,  and  they  with  Him.  [^i,  in  this 
its  simplest  sense,  too  readily  suggests  itself  for 
us  to  have  recourse,  with  Hengst.,  to  the  funda- 
mental passage  Deut.  iv.  2  (ch.  xiii.  1):  to  take 
therefrom  of  that  which  God  has  promised  to  give 
them,  or,  like  Hav. :  I  also  will  withdraw  from 
the  people  what  is  theirs,  or,  with  Ges. ,  to  supply 
the  following  lyjj  :  I  also  will  draw  off  mine  eye, 

or,  like  Ewald,  to  read,  from  xxiv.  14,  jnsx  s^: 
"I  will  not  neglect."  Hitz.:  I  also  will  sweep 
you  away  (C|-\J,  2  Kings  xxi.  13),  or  (jJISK)' 
I  also  will  let  myself  alone,  leave  myself  scope  to 
do  as  I  please.  Keil,  like  Ges.  (Job  xxxvi.  7), 
takes  Dinn  {<7)  adverbially  :  that  it  may  not  feel 


CHAP.  V.  12-17. 


89 


compassiou,  aii'l  understands  the  last  'JJJ'DJI  ac- 
cordingly.] JJ13S  stands  emphatically  without 
an  object ;  if  it  is  allowable  to  refer  it  to  the 
temple,  the  following  transition  (Jer.  xiii.  14)  to 
vers.  12,  13  sqq.  announces  certainly  something 
more  general,  more  comprehensive.  Comp.  ch. 
ix.  6. — Ver.  12.  After  this  reference  to  ver.  1,  as 
already  in  ver.  10,  we  have  now  the  more  de- 
tailed divine  interpretation  of  ver.  2.  Comp. 
besides,  Jer.  xxix.  17,  .\vi.  4,  xv.  7.  By  means 
of  what  is  threatened,  the  anger  of  God  is  accom- 
plished— Ver.  13 — inasmuch  as  it  is  fully  poured 
out.  The  full  realization  is  its  accomplishment. 
Up  to  the  point  of  "  causing  it  to  rest  vpoti 
them,"  and,  at  the  same  time,  in  them,  so  that 
they  have  the  consciousness  thereof,  comp.  John 
iii.  36.  [To  give  vent  to  His  fury  upon  them 
suits  badly,  after  the  anger  is  accomplished.] 
Comp.  besides,  ch.  xvi.  42,  xxi.  22  [17]. — 
'riDnjni  perf.  Hithp.,  by  syncope  for  'noninnv 
The  meaning  of  the  Niphal  (to  have  compassion) 
does  not  suit  the  context,  especially  in  what 
follows.      DHi   is  properly :  to  take  draughts  of 

air,  to  draw  in  and  send  forth  tlie  breath,  whence 
the  Piel ;  to  comfort,  Hithp. :  to  comfort  oneself 
(so  also  the  Nipbal).  The  meaning:  "  to  be  re- 
venged,"  does  not  suit  here.  Comp.  Isa.  i.  24. 
The  accomplishing  of  anger  comes  therefore  to 
mean  also  the  bringing  of  it  to  an  end  ;  one  might 
say  :  grace  recovers  breath  again.  The  extremely 
anthropomorphic  style  of  our  passage  is  a  highly 
figurative  mode  of  representing  the  personal  life 
and  acting  of  God.— ijn'V  knowledge  as  the  re- 
sult of  experience. — <ri"13T  twice  again  (vers.  15, 
17).  In  the  word  spoken  in  zeal  we  have  a 
guarantee  of  the  certainty  of  the  deed.  [The 
difl'erent  division  of  the  words  by  Ew. ,  who  takes 
-3  as  a  formula  of  swearing,  is  unjustifiable.  ] 

Ver.  14.  Like  3-in>  the  "devastator"  (in  this 

section  of  the  sword  of  God),  n3"in  i*  A^  "de- 
vastation," the  desert,  wilderness.  Lev.  xxvi. 
31,  33 ;  Jer.  vii.  34 ;  Lam.  ii.  1  sqq.  AUitera- 
tively  therewith,  flD^n  :  the  tearing  in  pieces ;  in 
other  words :  the  dishonouring,  derision.  Jer. 
xxiv.  9;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  34.  The  divine  interpre- 
tation from  here  onwards  touches  on  what  is  said 
in  ver.  4 — the  national  annihilation  of  Israel. — 
Ver.  15.  nn'm.  ■viz.  Jerusalem,  to  which  the  dis- 
covrse  returns,  as  in  ver.  8  (ver.  5).  (Deut. 
X3  fiii.  37;  Lam.  v.  1.)  Declamatorily  in  the 
third  person. — njDn  ninariQli  rebukes  in  actual 
fact,  from  nS'i  to  reprove,  to  chastise.  Comp. 
besides,  Deut.  xxix.  24. 

Ver.  16.  Famine  is  the  predominating  element. 
Because  sent  forth  among  them  by  the  Lord,  its 
operations  are  compared  to  the  arrows  of  a  bow. 
Deut.  xxxii.  23,  42;  Lam.  iii.  12,  13.— As  in 
ver.   15  njrn,  so  now  Dn3- — The  evil  aiTows, 

because  they  are  n'nCD?,  from  rmc.  which  is 
explained  by  what  follows. — The  description  of 
the  famine  rises  to  a  climax  ;  first  it  strikes  like 
single  arrows — destruction  is  present ;  then  it  in- 
creases, accumulates — the  arrows  from  all  sides 
become  thicker;  at  length  the  staff  of  bread  is 
broken  (comp.  ch.  iv.  16). — Ver.  17.  The  famine 
IS  again  referred  to,  in  order  to  connect  with  it 
what  remains,  after  the  manner  of  the  Pentateuch 
and  of  Jeremiah  ;  comp.  ch.  liv.  15;  Deut.  xxxii. 


24 ;  Lev.  xxvi.  22,  25 ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  23.  Hengst. 
understands  the  evil  beasts  figuratively  of  the 
heathen.  Isa.  hi.  9 ;  Jer.  xii.  9.  Famine  and 
evil  beasts,  in  parallel  with  pestilence  and  blood 
(not  ;=  bloody  pestilence,  as  Ew. ).  Correspond- 
ingly with  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  it  oome.o 
to  an  end  at  last  with  the  sword. 

rOCTKIKAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  It  belongs  to  the  prevailing  aspect  of  judg- 
tntnt,  that  those  who  are  to  be  saved  appear  like 
a  minimum,  which  is  indicated,  indeed,  but  not 
described  more  fully.  This  also  is  characteristic, 
that  their  salvation  is  made  dependent  wholly  on 
their  being  concealed  and  spared  (ver.  4),  with- 
out any  reference  to  their  subjective  state.  As 
judgment  reigns  on  the  one  hand,  so  imconditional 
free  grace  on  the  other. 

2.  Judgment  must  prevail  where  the  national 
standpoint  is  that  of  the  law.  This  lies  as  a  con- 
sequence in  the  character  of  the  law.  It  is  only 
his  having  a  certain  position  towards,  or  be- 
taking himself  to,  the  person  of  the  Lawgiver  that 
can  preserve  the  transgressor,  the  sinner,  from 
the  sentence  of  death  pronounced  by  the  law. 
But  Israel  as  a  whole  stands  in  opposition  to 
Jehovah,  not  merely  with  its  unlawful  outward 
conduct,  but  as  regards  its  thorough  ungodliness 
of  heart.  Thus  compassion  ceases,  as  is  expressly 
mentioned  in  ver.  11.  That  Jehovah  is  engaged 
in  the  most  personal  way  is  attested  by  the  very 
form  of  the  expression  in  ver.  13. 

3.  The  lost  condition  morally  of  the  people  as 
such  is  significantly  brought  before  us,  in  ver.  11, 
in  the  profanation  of  the  sanctuary.  For  this  is 
the  most  express  local  symbol  of  the  personal 
presence  of  Jehovah  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  with 
which,  besides,  the  most  perfect  indwelling  of 
God  in  the  fulfilment  (John  ii.  19  sqq.)  is  iden- 
tified. 

4.  The  judgment  threatens  the  national  exist- 
ence of  Israel.  But  if  the  nationality  of  Israel  is 
the  holy  nationality  of  the  people  of  God,  then  it  is 
as  intelligible,  that  the  peculiar  form,  the  symboli- 
cal body,  of  this  idea  which  is  to  be  realized  may 
perish  in  the  judgment  of  God,  as  it  is  certain 
that  the  idea  will  be  realized,  in  however  few  i* 
may  be ;  in  reality,  there  has  been  but  One  Israt ., 
that  was  alike  sacrifice  and  priest,  people  and 
king. 

5.  Hav.,  Hengst.,  and  others  find  in  our  chap- 
ter the  announcement  of  yet  a  second  penal  judg- 
ment, viz.  the  last  by  the  hand  of  the  Romans, 
as  already  Theodoret,  Jerome.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  more  complete  (the  expulsion  of  the  ten  tribes 
was  a  partial  thing)  unfolding  of  j  «dgment  in- 
volved in  the  Chaldean  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
is  not  finished  till  the  judgment  of  the  world  on 
the  last  day  (Matt.  xxiv.  21).  The  judgment 
which  still  farther  diminishes  the  small  number 
in  the  skirt  of  the  garment  in  ver.  3  thus  finds 
in  the  context — where  a  transition  is  made  from 
the  numerical  element  to  the  substance  of  the 
matter — its  goal  in  the  consuming  of  the  whole  of 
Israel  (ver.  4).  In  the  Chaldean  judgment,  Israel's 
nationality  perished;  at  that  early  period,  not 
first  by  the  hand  of  the  Romans.  "We  have  no 
king  but  Caesar"  is  the  answer  of  the  lea  .ling 
men  of  Israel  already  in  John  xix. 

6.  On  ver.  9  Hav.  remarks  :  "  Alone  of  itt 
kind,  and  to  be  compared  with  nothing  else,  it 


!»0 


EZEKILL. 


tlie  judgmeut  of  tlie  Lord  which  runs  through 
the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God:  it  is  a  judg- 
ment continually  rising  higher  and  higher,  as 
compared  with  which  what  goes  before  always 
appears  an  insignificant  one,  and  in  this  its  un- 
ceasing progress  paving  the  way  for  the  culmi- 
nating point  of  the  last  judgment."  Hengst. 
calls  the  judgment  on  Israel  "a  thing  unique  in 
the  history  of  the  world."  Only  one  must  not 
choose  to  read  the  true  fulfilment  in  Josephus 
first,  but  as  and  because  the  Chaldean  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  was  the  first  judgment  of  the 
kind,  so  it  remains,  as  to  its  essence  also,  the  onh/ 
one.  For  where  is  there  a  second  nation,  to 
which  God  has  stood  so  near,  driven  forth  in  such 
a  way  from  its  land  of  promise  since  the  days  of 
the  fathers,  judged  and,  as  being  judged,  pre- 
served? But  as  this  political  mummification 
serves  the  world-purpose  of  the  Anointed  One,  so 
it  is  in  the  same  direction  that  we  are  to  seek  the 
meaning  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans,  viz.  not  as  a  repetition,  but  merely  a« 
an  application  of  the  Chaldean  judgment  to  the 
last  period  of  the  world  beginning  with  Christ, 
to  the  last  day.  Hence  the  general  eschatolo- 
gical  character  of  the  discourses  of  Jesus  in  the 
Gospels  bearing  on  the  subject. 

7.  For  the  central  position  of  Jerusalem,  in  a 
theological  point  of  view,  Hengstenberg  quotes 
"  Jeshurun,  the  congregation  of  the  upright,  the 
pattern  nation  prepared  by  God,  which  was  to 
send  forth  its  light  into  the  surrounding  heathen 
darkness,  to  honour  its  God,  and  to  draw  others 
to  Him.  Deut.  iv.  5,  6;  Isa.  xlii.  19.  Comp. 
Matt.  V.  14;  1  Pet.  ii.  9." 

8.  Judgment  is,  in  every  decisive  moment  of 
the  history  of  salvation  (in  tlie  history  of  the 
world),  the  goal,  the  end.  "  Crisis  "  is  the  name 
given  to  it  when  one  contemplates  history  from  a 
remedio-pathological  point  of  yiew. 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sqq.  "  By  means  of  the  similitude  of 
the  hair,  the  Lord  would  intimate  His  exact  con- 
nection with  Israel,  how  they  have  received  from 
Him  all  nourishment  and  supplies ;  from  which 
fellowship  He  now  cuts  them  olf  like  hair " 
(B. B. ). — "On  account  of  its  much  hair,  i.e.  its 
great  population,  Jerusalem  was  so  proud  and 
full  of  vain  confidence"  (C. ). — "And  what  an 
Impression  must  it  make,  when  Ezekiel,  who  was 
of  the  priestly  class,  contrary  to  Lev.  xxi.,  shaved 
head  and  beard ! "  (L. ) — "The  judgments  of  God 
have  their  stages,  and  come  at  last,  when  the 
measure  of  sins  is  full,  in  a  crowd,  so  that  he  who 
escapes  the  one  falls  into  the  other  "  (Tub.  B.  ). 
* '  Men  and  all  creatures  become  sharp  swords,  when 
God  makes  use  of  them  in  judgment"  '(SrcK. ). — 
"  Behold  an  example  of  divine  providence  !  God 
does  not  strike  blindly  in  His  judgments,  but,  in 
the  midst  of  the  greatest  confusion  of  human 
affairs,  weighs,  as  it  were  with  scales,  all  that  is  to 
happen  to  every  one  "  (W.). — "  Not  even  a  hair 
shall  be  wanting  to  ns  ;  but  neither  shall  a  hair 
escape  with  the  just  God"(B.  B.). — "God  is  just, 
but  He  is  also  merciful :  let  us  betake  ourselves  to 
His  mercy"  (L. ). — "  If  one  does  not  himself  in 
time  cut  off  his  vanities  and  bad  habits,  then 
must  a  razor  belonging  to  another  make  the  eyes 
water,  and  cut  in  such  a  way,  that  of  skin  and 
hail  nothiig  remains"  (B.  B.). — •"  In  the  judg- 


ment leavn  God's  justice,  in  the  foretelling  of  i1 
His  goodness  ;  but  sin's  loathsomeness  brings  on 
the  judgment"  (Stck.). — "If  one  does  not  fear 
before  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  or  God's  word 
(Eph.  vi.  ;  Heb.  iv.),  then  must  the  sword  of  the 
enemy  come  and  hew  down  the  barren  trees " 
(B.B.). — God's  judgments :  (1)  sharp,  (2)  without 
respect  of  persons,  but  (3)  just. — Ver.  2.  "Exile 
is  honourable  if  it  happens  to  us  for  Christ's 
sake ;  the  man  who  has  to  endure  it  because  of 
sin  cannot  comfort  himself  therewith"  (Stck.). 
— "  These  were  certainly  thoroughly  scattered 
sheep,  because  they  had  forsaken  their  Sheplierd! 
He  that  will  not  allow  himself  to  be  gathered 
uuuer  the  wings  of  Jesus,  will  be  carried  away  by 
the  wind  of  the  divine  wrath  down  to  hell.  And 
let  a  man  flee  whither  he  will,  if  he  wants  a  good 
conscience,  then  the  vengeance  of  God  follows: 
there  is  no  possibility  of  escape  from  Him  "  (B.  B). 
— Under  the  sword  of  God:  (1)  the  man  whom 
the  tiame  in  the  inner  man,  the  fire  of  conscience, 
does  not  consume,  (2)  is  struck  down  by  the  out- 
ward calamities  of  life,  (3)  or  he  is  carried  away 
by  every  gust  of  wind — of  pleasure,  of  opinion,  etc., 
in  the  world,  and  so  is  lost. — Ver.  3.  "  Divine 
providence  and  goodness  remembers  mercy  in  the 
midst  of  wrath,  because  of  the  Messiah,  who  w;is 
to  be  born  of  this  seed  "  (Stck.). — "  Otherwise  it 
would  have  happened  as  in  the  case  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah"  (L. ). — Think  how  we  are  first  bound 
up  in  the  skirt  of  the  righteousness  of  Jesus 
Christ !  And  no  one  will  pluck  us  out  of  His 
hand. — Ver.  4.  "This  is  not  to  be  literal  file, 
but  something  much  more  real  even  than  this, 
the  fire  of  the  wrath  of  God,  when  He  gives 
them  over  to  the  curse,  and  to  the  everlasting 
torment  of  an  evil  conscience  ;  and  this  fire  is 
to  take  hold  of  all  Israel,  with  the  exception 
of  those  preserved  in  the  skirt  of  the  garment " 
(Cocc). 

Ver.  5  sqq.  The  greater  the  benefit,  the  greater 
ought  to  be  the  gratitude. —  "In  the  Church, 
greater  sins  are  often  committed  than  outside  of 
it"  (St.). — After  the  manner  of  Jerusalem,  those 
cities  acted  in  later  times,  where  most  of  Jesus' 
miracles  were  wrought  (Matt.  xi. ). — Outward 
advantages,  without  the  inward  disposition  to 
correspond,  are  tow  for  the  fire.  —  "We  have 
therefore  to  see  to  it,  that  we  hear  the  pleasure 
(the  burden)  of  prosperity  with  a  strong  mind" 
(C. ). — To  whom  much  is  given,  of  him  much  may 
be  required,  and  much  is  required ;  and  yet  there 
shall  only  be  required  faithfulness  in  stewardship, 
and  that  gratitude  which  is  so  easily  understood 
of  itself. — "  He  that  knows  his  Lord's  will,  am) 
does  it  not,  sins  more  giievously,  and  has  mor.* 
grievous  punishment  to  expect,  Luke  xii.  47 
(0.). — "Perversion  of  the  true  doctrine  and  o* 
the  tme  worship  and  imholy  living  draw  thi 
judgments  of  God  after  them"  (TiJB.  Bib. ).— 
Ver.  6  sqq.  "The  heterodox  often  show  in  their 
worship  more  zeal,  earnestness,  and  stedfastness 
than  the  orthodox"  (St.).  —  "Their  vices  we 
often  adopt  from  the  heathen,  and  in  what  is 
good  allow  them  the  advantage.  They  ought  to 
have  learnt  from  us,  and  we  may  learn  even  from 
them  "  (B.  B.). — Ver.  8  sqq.  "  As  it  is  the  com- 
fort of  the  pinus  :  if  God  be  for  us,  who  can  b» 
against  us  ?  so  it  is  the  terror  of  the  ungodly : 
since  God  is  against  you,  who  will  be  for  you  ? " 
(Stck.) — The  divine  judgments  in  the  world  ar» 
a  mirror  for  the  world. — Ver.  9.  The  individuality 


CHAP.  VI.  91 

oi"  tlu- jiult;nients  of  Ooil  an  interesting  liistorical    fore  we  ought  to  liear  betimes,  lest  "we  be  com- 
tliemi-.  —  \'er.  10.    "  Famine  has  no  eyes,  no  ears,     pelled  to  feel  when  it  is  too  late. — Ver.  14.    How 


po  hands,  but  teeth.  It  has  no  respect  of  persons, 
nor  does  it  listen  to  anything,  nor  does  it  give, 
but  is  cruel  and  unmerciful"  (Stck.). — Fathers 
often  enough  devour  their  children  by  the  bad 
example  which  they  give  them.     And  children 


many  su':h  mon  iments  of  divine  retribution  stani 
on  our  life-path!  We  walk  past,  yes,  alas!  past 
them.  Into  thr  mirror  of  the  judgments  of  God 
we  look  in  vain,  just  as  into  that  of  the  divin-j 
law. — "  If  love  cannot  improve  us,  then  must  wt 


devour  their  fathers  by  their  covetousness,  want  '  feel   the   iron  sceptre"  (B.   B.). — Ver.   17.    "AU 
of  affection,  disobedience,  by  the  grief  which  they  i  the  creatures  are  ready  for  vijngeance,  and  wait 


prepare  for  them. — Ver.  11.  In  him  that  does  not 
sanctify  God,  God  sanctifies  Himself. — I  live,  and 
ye  shall  live  also.  But  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  These  are  con- 
trasts.— How  many  pr>fane  the  sanctuary  of  God 
by  sleep,  by  extravagance  in  dress,  by  their  dis- 
tracted worldly  thoughts  !^Ver.  13.  There  thou 
seest  how  zealous  love  can  be.  This  causes  the 
jealousy  of  Him  who  is  Israel's  Husband. — There- 


nierely  for  God's  command  "  (Stck.), — "  If  men 
do  not  terrify  us,  then  there  are  the  beasts " 
(Stck.). — Thus  there  is  a  chiiin  of  divine  punish- 
ments; one  takes  the  other's  hand. — "  In  the  end, 
it  is  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  Be  not,  then, 
like  the  ilog  which  bites  the  stone,  and  not  the 
hand  which  threw  it!"  (Stck.)  —  "God  sub- 
scribes the  threatening  with  the  royal  monogram 
of  His  name"  (a  L.). 


3.  The  Two  Discourses  of  Rebuke  (Ch.  vi,  and  vii,). 

('h,  VI.   1.  And  the  word   of   Jehpvah   came  unto  me,   saying:  Son  of  man,  set 
"2  thy  face  toward  the  mountains  of  Israel,  and    prophe.sy  to  them.     And  say, 
3  Ye  mountains  of  Israel,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jehovah,     Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah  to  the  mountains  and  to  the  hills,  to  the  brook-channels  and 
to  the  valleys  :  Behold,  I,  even  I,   cause  a  sword  to  come  upon  you,  and  I 
t  destroy  your   high   places.      And   your   altars    are    desolated,    and  your   sun- 
pillars  are  broken  in  pieces;  and  I  make  your  slain  to  fall  before  your  dung- 
5  idols.     And  I  lay  the  carca.ses  of  the  children  of  Israel  before  their  dung-idols. 
C  and  scatter  your  bones  round  about  your  altars.     In  all  your  dwelling-places 
shall  the  cities  be  laid  waste,  and  the  high  places  become  desolate,  in  order  that 
your  altars  may  be  laid  waste  and  broken  in  pieces,  and  your  dung-idols  be  laid 
waste  and  done  away  with,  and  your  sun-pillars  be  thrown  down,  and  your  handi- 

7  works  be  rooted  out.     And  the  slain  falls  in  your  midst,  and  ye  know  that  I  am 

8  Jehovah,  And  I  leave  a  remnant,  inasmuch  as  there  are  to  you  some  that  have 
escaped  the  sword  among  the  heathen   nations,  when  ye  are  scattered  in  the 

9  countrie.s.  And  your  escaped  ones  remember  me  among  the  heathen  nations, 
whither  they  are  carried  captive,  when  I  have  broken  their  whorish  heart,  wliich 
hath  departed  from  me,  and  their  eyes,  which  go  a  whoring  after  their  dung-idols ; 
and  they  feel  loathing  in  their  faces  for  the  evil  things  which  they  have  done  in 

10  respect  of  all  their  abommations.     And  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah;  not  in 

11  vain  have  I  said  that  I  would  do  this  evil  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah :  Strike  into  thy  hand,  and  stamp  with  thy  foot,  and  say,  Woe  to  all 
the  evil  abominations  of  the  house  of  Israel,  who  shall  fall. by  the  sword,  by  the 

12  famine,  and  by  the  pestilence.  He  that  is  far  off  shall  die  by  the  pestilence; 
and  he  that  is  near  shall  fall  by  the  sword;  and  he  that  remained  over,  anu  he 
that  is  preserved,  shall  die  by  the  famine;  and  I  accomplish  My  fury  upon  [in] 

13  them.  And  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  their  slain  are  in  the  midst  of 
their  dung-idols  round  about  their  altars,  at  every  high  hill,  upon  all  the  tops  of 
the  mountains,  and  under  every  green  tree,  and  under  every  thick  terebinth,  on 

1 4  wliatever  place  they  did  offer  sweet  savour  to  all  their  dung-idols.  And  I  stretch 
out  My  hand  upon  them,  and  make  the  land  a  desert  and  waste  more  than  the 
wilderness  of  Diblath,  in  all  their  dwelling-places;  and  they  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah. 

Ver.    3   VhIk,:  .  .  .  ni/u'iiu  e(  miHiitu— (Anoth.  read  :  njH  I    <3X ''*  """''"^ '"  *•""'■' 

Ver,    6.  Anoth.read. :  Q^^^p^    ^JsS.      ^^alg. :  simulacroi-um  vestrorum. 

Ver.    6.  .  .  .  tf  Txirt]  r  XK.Totxtxuij.etv.     At  vekttg  — 

Ver.    9.  Sept. :    .   ,  .  art  ifju^uAxoL  rr,  xxpita  ociraiv — 

Ver.  12.    O  lyyve  iv  pof^xtx  .   .   .    c  hs  fjuzxpixi  iv  Qa.va.'rat  TlAlvTtjtf-li,  X,  a  .   .   .   x.  9  Ttptlxo^vi     Bv  Jtifxi^ — re^kttU  .  .   -  M 

Ver.  13.  ,  .   ,  t/u«v— 


98 


EZEKIEL. 


EKEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

The  first  discourse  is  not  exactly  a  continuation, 
or  eTCn  a  farther  elucidation  of  what  precedes,  but 
a  word  by  itself,  although  with  reference  to  what 
went  before.  Its  resemblance  to  Jeremiah  will 
be  shown  by  manifold  points  of  contact  with  the 
style  of  Jeremiah.  According  to  Calv.,  Ezekiel 
turns  now  from  Judah  to  Israel  (?). — Ver.  1.  Comp. 
ch.  i.  3,  iii.  16. — Ver.  2.  yiS  qib*  expresses  the 

direction,  and  that  simply:  toward;  the  trans- 
lation of  5X  by  :  "  against,"  is  stronger  than  is 
necessar)-. — The  moantaina  of  Israel  remove,  of 
course,  the  horizon  of  the  prophet  from  Jeru- 
salem, which  was  hitherto  mainly  the  subject  of 
discourse,  to  a  greater  distance ;  but  the  expres- 
sion is  used,  not  so  much  in  order  to  characterize 
the  whole  land  according  to  its  peculiarity,  as  a 
land  of  mountains  in  the  sense  of  Deut.  xi.  11 
(Hengst.),  which  in  the  connection  here  would 
be  quite  superfluous ;  but  the  mountains  come 
into  consideration,  as  the  sequel  shows,  as  Israel's 
well-known,  favourite  placet  of  sacrifice  ( Jer.  iii. 
6).  According  to  J.  D.  Mich.  :  "a  prophecy 
against  the  remnant  of  the  ten  tribes  in  Pales- 
tine, which  took  part  ercn  in  Hezekiah's  and 
Josiah's  passover. "     As  in  the  case  of  words  of 

speaking,  QnvX  might  also  mean  :  "to  prophesy 
of  them;"  but  they  are — Ver.  3 — formally  ad- 
dressed.     Comp.    1    Kings  xiii.    2.  —  p'SK   may 

be  a  narrow  valley,  a  defile,  and  equally  well  a 

river-bed,  a  brook-channel. — For  niX'ji'l  we  have 

in  the  Qeri :   nVSsi'V     Not  for  the  purpose  of 

depicting  the  whole  land,  but  in  order  graphically 
to  set  forth  the  mountains  ;  or  because  defiles 
and  valleys,  on  account  of  the  growth  of  trees, 
are  distinctively  for  idolatrous  services  (e.g.  the 
valley  of  Hinnom,  Jer.  vii.  31,  xxxii.  35).  In 
the  latter  respect,  the  sword  comes  and  destroys 
the  high  places,  as  high  places  of  worship,  self- 
chosen  ;  hence  your. — ^jx  (jjn  energetically  ex- 
pressive. The  sword-tone  from  ch.  v.  begins 
again  to  make  itself  heard. 

Ver.   4.  lOC'JI  perf.  Niph.  of  Dt3t'.  comp.  ch. 

iv.  17  ;  here  of  being  rendered  silent  by  devasta- 
tion ;  to  lay  waste. — The  altars  where  sacrifices 
are  offered.—  n»3sn  only  in  the  plural,  statues, 

images  of  the  Phenician  sun-god  (Baal -Ham- 
man) ;  Raschi  :  "sun-pillars." — D'b^^J  likewise 
only  in  the  plural,  certainly  not  :  "  stocks," 
from  ^\)i,  "  to  roll "  (?),  but  undoubtedly  con- 
nected with   ^^3   and  ^J^j,   "  dung, "  unless  :  the 

"abominable,"  "hoi-rible,"  from  the  original 
meaning:  "  to  separate,"  "to  divide."  HJiv. : 
Btone  monuments  (contemptuously :  loose  stones), 
dead  masses  of  stone.  (Perhaps  :  "  your  excre- 
ments.")—<JS^,  "in  face  of,"  lying  before  the 
face.  Dust  to  dung. — Ver.  5.  135  is  :  something 
fallen,  a  dead  body ;  comp.  Lev.  xxvi.  30. — qyV 
is  "what  is  strong,"  hence  :  a  bone.  (Lav.  re- 
marks here,  that  perhaps  also  they  made  them- 
selves be  buried  beside  their  idols,  and  that  now 
the  bones  of  the  dead  were  to  be  brought  out  and 
Mattered  by  their  enemies  seeking  after  the  orna- 


ments of  the  dead.)     The  discourse  is  addressed 
to  the  mountains  ;  but  as  it  is  spoken  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  so  also  in  reality  it  is  spoken  to  them. 
In  Ver.  6  the  place  of  execution  is  extended  by 

means  of  D3'ni3E>lD  733  to  the  inhabited  land, 
more  specially  to  the  cities  (Jer.  ii.  28).— 
njSinri)  with  significant  allusion  to  2"in  (sword). 

— IVD/  ■  ^^^  extermination  of  the  idolatrous  wor- 
ship therefore  is  the  object. — 10tJ>{{'V  Hengst.: 
"  and  become  guilty,"  be  convicted  as  guilty  by 
means  of  the  destruction.  UCH  is  "to  demolish," 
"to  break  in  pieces,"  and  from  that  morally: 
to  commit  a  fault,  and  consequently  to  become 
guilty,  finally :  to  suffer  punishment.  Guilt 
appears  a  strange  thought  for  our  context  here. 
— Ver.  7.  Slain  [sing.];  the  individual  instead  o( 
all  who  are  like  him,  one  here,  another  there. — 
Because  the  discourse  reaches  a  pause,  after  the 
personal  element  (as  in  vers.  4,  5)  has  been  added 
to  the  material,  there  is  mentioned  as  the  result 
the  experimental  knowledge  of  Jehovah, — not  so 
much  of  His  being  God  alone,  as  of  His  eternity  ; 
here  in|poutrast  with  the  idols  which  pass  away. 
With  such  knowledge  taken  into  view  as  the 
effect  of  later  experience,  the  way  is  paved  at  the 
same  time  for  Ver.  8.  (Ew.  converts  *n^nini, 
which  is  to  him  "  incapable  of  explanation  "(!!), 
into  'n"l31,  which  he  attaches  to  ver.   7.) — The 

remnant  are  such  as  have  escaped  so  far  as  the 
sword  is  concerned,  etc. ;  comp.  ch.  v.  2,  12,  3 
(Rom.   ix.    27,  xi.   5).  —  D3'm"lTn3,   inf.   Niph. 

with  plur.  suffix,  for  D3nilin3- 

Ver.  9.  Comp.  Luke  xv.  17  sqq.  (Lev.  xxvi. 
41). — -|B>j<  :  if,  or  when. — TIISB'J  Ges.  under- 
stands in  a  middle  sense  :  "  I  break  for  myself. ' 
Hengst.  :  "  The  passivity  passes  over,  as  it  were, 
from  those  whose  heart  is  broken  to  Him  by 
whom,  and  in  whose  interest,  it  has  been  broken. 
I  was  broken,  instead  of :  I  have  broken  for  my- 
self. "  [Others  :  By  whose  whorish  heart  I  am 
broken  (with  pain.  Gen.  vi.  6>.  Hitz.  :  their 
heart  and  eyes,  which  could  not  be  satisfied  with 
whoredom  (ch.  xvi.  2S,  29),  God  will  then 
"satisfy"  with  bitter  feelings  (Tiysb'n  instear' 

of  ^niSCj)-  Ew.  reads,  instead  of  'rn3K'J  IC'K, 
"more  simply,"  ^13E>3V     The  LXX.  have  read 

'nV3K'3-  ]  Is  there  an  allusion  to  David  in  Ps.  li.  1 7 
(2  Sam.  xi.  2),  as  Hengst.  supposes? — njt  is  found 
properly  only  of  the  woman,  as  here  aW>  in  the 
application  to  the  marriage  relationship  of  Israel 
to  Jehovah.  The  word  means  properly  :  to  incline ; 
but  whether  is  it  towards  or  away  from?  In 
the  latter  sense  (Hos.  ix.  1)  we  have  it  inter- 
preted by  means  of  '^yo  ID — \^ii  J  i"!  ^^^  former 
by  means  of  -<-|nK.— itSpJI  (Dip)  "'i'^  Dag. 
euphon.  in  the  last. — Dn'JD3.  not  of  the  idols 
=  '3S7.  vers.  4,  5,  but  of  the  e.«caped,  who  feel 
loathing  in  their  own  faces  ("not  reciprocally," 
Hitz.).  (Hengst.:  to  become  a  loathing  to  them- 
selves. EosENM. :  so  that  their  face  shows  th« 
loathing.)  Ch.  xx.  43,  xxxvi.  31.— nipnrT^N : 
"in  reference  to,"  as  respecting,  etc.  Comp. 
besides,  Jer.  xxii.  22;  Hos.  iv.  19.— 73?,  like 
^{<>  of  which  it  is  an  abbreviation. 


CHAP.  VI.  lC-14. 


93 


Ver.  10.  Like  ver.  7,  a  pause  in  the  discourse,  a 
lepetition  of  the  object  in  view.  He  remains 
what  He  is,  but  they  must  change,  must  away 
back  to  Him.  In  this  experimental  way  they 
come    to    know    Jehovah.  —  Qjn    (in),    gratis, 

frustra,  in  complete  form  DJIT^S-  That  the 
deed  proves  the  word  is  not  the  special  point  of 
this  second  pause  in  the  discourse,  but  (according 
to  the  accents)  the  eternity  of  Jehovah,  as  in  ver. 
7,  in  contrast  with  the  idols  that  pass  away,  so 
now  in  contrast  with  those  who  change  in  Israel. 
— The  words  "Not  in  vain  have  I  aaid,"  etc. 
(comp.  on  ch.  xiv.  23),  show  in  general  how  it  is 
possible,  by  means  of  the  fulfilment  of  what  has 
been  said,  that  they  can  acquire  from  experience 
the  knowledge  of  Jehovah  ;  and  they  form,  be- 
sides, the  transition  to  Ver.  11  :  ^OX"^^•  P^ia 
and  displeasure,  in  general  lively  emotion  (Num. 
xxiv.  10 ;  Ezek.  xxi.  19  [17],  xxii.  13).  Not 
like  ch.  XXV.  6  or  "2  Sam.  xxii.  43.  But  comp., 
as  to  the Jirst  gesture,  ver.  14.  Either:  with  the 
hand  upon  the  thigh  (Jer.  xxxi.  19),  or ;  one 
liand  into  the  other.  The  gesture  with  the/oot 
Hengst.  takes  in  the  sense  of  impatience,  which 
cannot  wait  for  the  sutt'ering  following  upon  the 
sinful  action.  The  prophet  symbolizes  in  his  own 
person  the  indignation  of  Jehovah. — nt'Xi  accord- 
ing to  Keil,  a  conjunction  :  that. 

Ver.  12.  Since  the  "  house  of  Israel"  (ver.  11) 
as  a  whole  is  interpreted  b}'  means  of  ^g'X  in  the 
plural,  and  since,  in  fact,  more  exactly  it  is  those 
who  fall  by  the  sword,  etc.,  the  specification  of 
our  verse  refers  to  the  same  parties.  He  that  is 
far  off,  who  may  reckon  himself  far  off  from  the 
sword,  whicli  is  first  named  in  ver.  11,  dies  by 
that  which  is  last  named  in  ver.  11,  and  hence 
relatively  farthest  off :  pestilence.  He  that  is 
near,  who  is  near  the  death  by  famine,  the 
second  named,  does  not,  however,  perish  by  it,  but 
falls  by  what  is  still  nearer  to  him  (according  to 
ver.  11),  the  first  named  sword.  He  that  re- 
malneth  over,  viz.  from  the  pestilence,  and  he 
that  is  preserved,  viz.  from  the  sword,  dies  never- 
theless, as  it  were  of  himself,  by  the  famine. 
The  prevailing  reference  here,  according  to  ch. 
iv.,  v.,  is  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem;  but  livjn 
is  not  on  that  account :  he  that  is  besieged 
(HiTZ.).     Comp.  besides,  ch.  v.  13. 

Ver.  13.  A  third  pause  in  the  discourse  ;  comp. 
vers.  7,  10.  The  point  iL  hind  is  the  eternity  of 
Jehovah — the  begir.ning  being  at  the  same  time 
resumed  in  e  supplementary  way  now  at  the 
close  and  termination  of  the  discourse — in  con- 
trast with  the  land,  consequently  with  what  has 
been  promised  and  given  by  Jehovah  Himself! 
Thus  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  fury  just 
threatened  (ver.  12)  is  brought  about.  Perhaps 
also  the  hearers  of  the  prophet  are  aildressed,  who 
may  be  conceived  of  as  acquiring  such  knowledge. 
Comp.  besides,  vers.  4,  f>;  1  Kings  xiv.  23  ; 
2  Kings  xvii.  10;  Dent.  xii.  2;  Isa.  Ivii.  5  sqq. ; 
Hos.  iv.  13 ;  Jer.  ii.  ?0,  iii.  6. — Heights  of  hills 
and  tops  of  mountains,  as  being  nearer  heaven, 
the  heavenly  powers,  as  it  were  like  natural 
altars  of  the  earth,  adapted  also  for  watching  the 
progress  of  the  sacrifice,  of  the  sacritcial  smoke 
mentioned  in  what  follows.  —  Not  forests,  groves, 
but  single  green  trees  found  in  the  brook-channels 

»nd  ravines. — n^K  like  [i^K,  from  its  strength,  a 
tree  similar  to  the  oak,  ever-green,  rich  in  shade, 


with  fruit  in  clustere,  capable  of  reaching  a  great 
age,  hence  also  used  for  monuments,  l;.nilmarks, 
and  the  like  (KiMCHi  :  our  elms).  In  arboricul- 
ture the  tree  most  preferred,  perhaps  as  being 
sacred  to  Aatarte.  -|[^}{  Qipo,  toco  5^0=:  uM. — 
The  standing  formula  in  the  law  of  the  offering  in 
general,  and  in  particular  ol  the  burnt-offering 
which  is  whoUy  consumed,  TWi  n'"l.  "savour  ol 
rest,"  is  a  bitter  criticism,  where  God  must  pro- 
nounce it  of  the  worship  of  idols.  ("  The  idea  of 
rest  is,  like  that  of  peace,  synonymous  with  ac- 
ceptability, pleasantness,  so  that  the  formula  is 
intended  to  assert  that  the  oflering,  when  it  rises 
up,  is  acceptable,  well-pleasing  to  God,"  Bahr.) 
Comp.  Gen.  viii.  21;  Ezek.  \Tii.  11,  xvi.  18; 
Hos.  ii.  13. 

Ver.  14.  The  exceedingly  expressive  gesture 
(ch.  xiv.  9,  13)  explains  itself,  in  contrast  with 
the  foregoing  spread  of  idolatry  ('DDJI  over 
against  DKnjHJ  'n  ver.  13).— noU'DI  nODB'  13  ; 
a  waste  and  desolation.  Me  greatest  waste. 
Comp.  ch.  V.  14  ;  Jer.  vi.  8. — A  wilderness  of 
Diblah  is  not  known  elsewhere,  hence  many 
have  read  Kiblah,  a  city  which  lay  on  the  northern 
boundary  of  Palestine  (?),  with  n  local  attached 
to  it,  in  this  sense  :  "  from  the  wilderness  (in  the 
south  and  east)  as  far  as  Riblah."  Besides  the 
fact  that  the  change  of  reading  is  without  support 
from  the  ancient  translators,  there  is  so  much 
against  it  in  a  linguistic  and  geographical  point 
of  view  (comp.  Dent,  xxxiv.  H  and  2  Kings 
xxiii.  33 ;  Jer.  xxxix.  5,  Iii.  10),  that  certainly 
the  simpler  plan  recommends  itself,  to  take  o 
comparatively  (p)  and  "  Diblathah  "  ==  Dib- 
lathaim  (Jer.  .xlviii.  22  ;  Num.  ,x.xxiii.  46),  which 
is  also  in  the  inscription  recently  discovered  at 
Dhiban,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Dead  Sea  voomp. 
Schlottmann's  Osterprogramm,  1870  ;  Nbldekc, 
Die  Inschri/t  des  Kon'ujs  Mesa  von  Moab,  Kiel, 
1870),  the  Moabite  city  on  the  margin  of  the 
great  wilderness  of  Arabia  Deserta.  Comp.  Keil 
on  the  passage.  [Hav.  takes  "  Diblathah  "  as  a 
proper  name  formed  by  Ezekiel,  whose  appellative 
meaning  (the  form  like  nniDR.  side  by  side  with 

njon)  is  perhaps  :  "wilderness  of  ruin,  of  de- 
struction "  (Joel  ii.  3;  Jer.  Ii.  26),  analogously  U 
"Babylon."] 

Additional  Note  on  Ch.  v.,  vi. 

[In  the  vision  of  the  siege  and  the  iniquity- 
bearing,  a  heavy  burden  of  troubles,  partly  in 
progress,  and  partly  still  impending,  had  been 
announced  by  the  prophet  as  determined  against 
the  covenant  people.  The  afflictions  of  Egj'pt 
and  the  trials  of  the  wilderness  were,  in  a  manner, 
to  pass  over  them  again.  But  even  that  was  not 
enough ;  for  as  their  guilt  exceeded  the  guilt  ol 
their  forefathers,  so  the  chastisement  now  to  b'l 
received  from  the  hand  of  God  was  to  surpass  all 
that  had  been  experienced  in  the  history  of  the 
past.  This  more  severe  message  is  unfolded  in  the 
next  vision,  that  recorded  in  these  chapters. 

The  judgments  themselves  are  distributed  into 
three  classes,  according  to  the  threefold  division 
of  the  hair  :  the  sword  was  to  devour  one-third  of 
the  people  ;  famine  and  pestilence  another ;  acd 
that  which  remained  was  to  be  scattered  among 
the  nations.  The  strongest  language  is  employed 
to  describe  the  calamities  indicated  under  these 


H 


EZEKIEL. 


vai-ioiis  h.'ads,  ;inil  everytliiag  is  introduced  thiit 
might  liave  thf  effect  of  conveying  the  most 
appalling  idea  ol'  the  coming  future.  Aniiil  the 
horrors  to  be  produced  by  famine  and  pestilence, 
the  dreadful  words  of  Moses,  that  "  their  fathers 
should  eit  their  sons  in  the  midst  of  them,"  are 
reiterated,  with  the  addition  of  the  still  darker 
feature,  that  "  the  sons  should  also  eat  their 
lathers  "  (ver.  10).  The  wild  beasts  of  the  field, 
too,  were  to  embitter  by  their  ravages  the  cala- 
mities produced  by  the  evil  arrows  of  famine  ; 
and  the  sword  was  to  pass  through  the  land  in 
such  fury,  that  none  should  be  able  to  escape, 
rendering  all  a  desolate  wilderness  (ch.  vi.  14), 
destroying  also  their  idols,  and  scattering  around 
them  the  dead  carcases  of  the  people,  so  that  the 
things  in  which  they  had  foolishly  trusted  should 
flnly  in  the  day  of  evil  prove  the  witnesses  and 
companions  of  their  ruin  (ch.  vi.  3-6).  Finally, 
in  respect  to  those  who  should  escape  the  more 
immediate  evils,  not  only  should  they  be  scat- 
tered far  ant'  wide  among  the  nations,  but  should 
there  also  meet  with  taunting  and  reproaches ; 
nay,  a  sword  should  be  drawn  out  after  them,  as 
had  already  been  predicted  by  Moses  (ch.  v.  12  ; 
Lev.  xxvi.  33)  ;  they,  too,  were  to  be  for  burning 
(so  also  Isa.  vi.  13) ;  for  the  anger  oil  the  Lord 
was  still  to  pursue  after  them  with  "  furious 
rebukes,"  until  He  had  completely  broken  their 
rebellious  liearts,  and  wrought  in  them  a  spirit  of 
true  contrition  for  sin  and  perfect  reconciliation 
of  heart  with  God  (ch.  vi.  9). 

Nothing  of  a  dehnite  nature  is  mentioned  as  to 
time  and  place  in  this  dark  outline  of  revealed 
judgments.  That  the  doom  of  evil  was  by  no 
njeans  to  be  e.'cliausted  by  the  troubles  connected 
with  the  Chaldean  conquest  is  manifest ;  for  that 
portion  of  the  people  who  were  to  go  into  exile 
and  be  dispersed  among  the  nations  were  ap- 
pointed to  other  and  still  future  tribulations. 
There  w;is  to  be  a  germinating  eWl  in  their 
destiny,  because  there  would  be,  as  the  Lord 
clearly  foresaw,  a  germinating  evil  in  their  cha- 
racter ;  and  so  long  as  this  root  of  bitterness 
should  still  be  sjiringing  up  into  acts  of  rebellion 
against  God,  it  should  never  cease  to  be  recoiling 
upon  then  with  strokes  of  chastisement  in  pro- 
vidence. In  this  there  was  nothing  absolutely 
singular  as  to  the  principle  on  which  the  divine 
government  proceeded— only;  as  God  had  con- 
nected himself  with  Israel  in  a  manner  He  never 
had  done  with  any  nation  before,  nor  would  with 
any  other  again,  there  should  be  a  certain 
singularity  in  their  case  as  to  the  actual  experi- 
ence of  suffering  on  account  of  sin.  In  their  his- 
tory as  a  people,  the  footsteps  of  God's  righteous 
judgment  would  leave  inipres.iions  behind  it  of 
unexampled  .severity,  according  to  the  word  here 
utti-red:  "And  I  will  do  in  thee  that  which  I 
have  not  done,  and  whcreunto  I  will  not  do  any 
more  the  like,  because  of  all  thine  abominations." 

Hut  there  is  no  caprice  in  the  dealings  of  God. 
When  He  afHicts  with  the  rod  of  chastisement 
and  rebuke,  it  is  only  becaus  the  righteous  prin- 
ciples of  His  govennnent  clemand  it;  anil  the 
fearful  buiden  of  evils  bere  suspended  over  the 
heads  of  ancient  Israel  sounds  also  a  warning- 
note  of  judgment  to  all  nations  and  all  ages  of 
che  world.  Tliere  have  been,  it  is  true,  such 
clianges  introduced  into  tlie  outward  adnnnistra- 
tion  of  (iod's  kingdom,  as  render  it,  foi-  the  most 
(crt,  impossible  to  truce  the  execution  of  His  judg- 


ments with  the  same  ease  ani  certainty  nilh 
which  we  can  mark  their  course  in  the  history  o 
ancient  Israel.  But  it  is  not  the  less  certain 
that  the  principles  which  produced  such  marked 
effects  then  are  in  active  operation  still  ;  and 
wherever  Israel's  guilt  is  incurred  anew,  there  will 
infallibly  be  experienced  a  renewal  of  Israel's 
doom.  For  the  gospel  has  brought  no  suspension 
of  God's  justice  any  more  than  of  His  mercy.  It 
contains  the  most  glorious  exhibition  of  His  grace 
to  sinners  ;  but  along  with  this  it  contains  the 
most  affecting  and  awful  display  of  His  righteous 
indignation  against  sin.  Both  features,  indeeil, 
of  the  divine  character  have  reached  under  the 
gospel  a  higher  stage  of  development ;  and  so  far 
has  the  introduction  of  the  new  covenant  been 
from  laying  an  arrest  on  the  severity  of  God,  that 
not  till  it  appeared  did  the  Jews  themselves 
experience  the  heaviest  portion  of  the  evils 
threatened  against  them ;  then  only  did  the 
wrath  begin  to  fall  upon  them  to  the  uttermost, 
and  the  days  of  darkness  and  tribulation  come, 
such  as  had  not  hitherto  been  known.  This 
vision  of  woe,  therefore,  extends  alike  over  both 
dispensations,  and  speaks  to  men  of  every  age 
and  clime  ;  it  is  a  mirror,  in  which  the  justice  of 
God  reflects  itself  for  the  world  at  large,  with  no 
further  alteration  for  gospel  times  than  such  as  ia 
implied  in  the  words  of  the  apostle:  "Of  how 
much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be 
thought  worthy  who  hath  trodden  under  foot 
the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of 
the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an 
unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
Spirit  of  grace?" — Faikbaiun's  Ezekiel,  pp.  64, 
65-67.— W.  F.] 

DOCTRINAL  KEFLECTIONS. 

1.  But  what  has  Israel  sought  with  all  its 
idolatry  ?  It  has  sought  a  strange  righteousness 
instead  of  that  offered  to  it  in  the  law  of  God, 
viz.  the  heathen  righteousness,  which  is  that  of 
the  natural  man  in  his  self-will.  Therefore  God's 
righteousness  in  judgment  breaks  in  pieces  this 
self-righteousness  in  all  its  manifold  forms. 

2.  It  is  therefore  the  first  petition  in  the  prayer 
which  the  Messiah  has  taught  us :  Hallowed  be 
Thy  name,  of  which  the  first  step  is  thus  ex- 
pressed in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  :  Grant  that 
we  may  rightly  know  Thee,  a  point  to  which  this 
chajiter  also  returns  over  and  over  again.  And 
to  glorify  and  praise  God  in  all  His  works,  as  the 
catechism  farther  tt  aches,  is  exactly  the  opjiosite 
of  the  works  of  our  own  hands  in  ver.  6. 

3.  Without  a  remnant,  theetemity  of  the  divine 
covenant,  and  with  it  the  eternity  of  Jehovah 
Himself,  the  essence  of  His  name,  would  fall  to 
the  ground.  The  continuity  of  the  Church  of 
God  is  the  defence  of  the  divine  covenant-faithful- 
ness, the  proof  of  the  divine  providence  (govern- 
ment), the  triumph  of  gi'ace  over  all  judgment. 
He  who  judges,  sifts. 

4.  "  But  first  must  heart  and  eye  be  broken, 
and  fallen  man  must  feel  a  loathing  of  himself  on 
account  of  his  wickedness,  before  lie  turns  to  Him 
who  has  not  spoken  in  vain.  This  is  the  only 
way  to  the  knowledge  of  the  living  and  true  God  ; 
and  wc  all  must  first  with  Israel  learn  to  seek  and 
find  with  broken  whorish  hearts  and  eyes  th* 
light  of  the  gospel  in  the  shame  of  captivity 
among  the  blind  heathen"  (Umdi:.). 


CHAP.  VI. 


96 


5.  "  One  may  certainly  feel  that  he  has  to  do 
with  God,  but  not  humble  himself ;  just  as  Cain 
(Gen.  iv.  6)  was  compelled  to  tremble  before  God, 
but  alwaj's  remained  the  same.  So  it  usually 
happens  with  the  lost.  It  is  certainly  a  part  of 
repentance  to  recognise  God's  judgment,  but  the 
half  merely.  To  be  displeased  with  oneself  is 
the  other  half"  (Calv.  ). 

6.  By  consenting  to  God's  judgment,  by  ap- 
]irovin<;  of  it  and  of  His  righteousness  with  our 
whole  heart,  as  the  prophet  is  to  smite  with  his 
hands  and  to  stamp  with  his  foot,  let  us  judge 
ourselves,  and  then  we  shall  not  be  judged.  Our 
justification  of  God  leads  to  our  justification  by 
God,  in  the  way  shown,  e.g.,  in  Ps.  li. 

7.  It  is  a  specialty  of  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  prominence  given  to  jcuovah, 
who  speaks  and  will  act  accordingly  (ch.  v. ),  and, 
on  the  other,  the  emphasis  laid  on  knowledge  as 
the  result  of  experience.  Because  Jehovah  speaks 
in  accordance  with  His  nature,  will,  decree.  He 
will  be  what  He  is,  when  what  He  has  said  comes 
to  pa.ss.  In  such  knowledge  of  Jehovah,  reached 
through  experience  of  what  comes  to  pass,  there 
lies  an  eschatological,  New  Testament  element. 
There  is  a  reference  to  the  fulness  of  the  times, 
alike  in  the  judgment  on  Israel,  and  as  regards 
the  salvation  of  the  whole  world.  The  judgment 
on  the  heathen  element  in  Israel  is,  besides,  the 
judgment  on  heathenism  in  general.  Jehovah  is 
the  holy  monogram  of  all  the  future,  the  divine 
motto  for  the  appearing  of  eternity  in  time,  the 
manifestation  of  God  in  flesh.  (Comp.  Hos.  ii. 
19  s<iq.) 

HOMILETIC   HINTS. 

Vers.  1,  2.  So  a  son  of  man  may  be  brought  by 
God  into  such  a  position  as  to  assail  "mountains" 
even,  i.e.  those  who  tower  like  mountains  above 
the  level  of  the  rest  of  men,  princes  and  kings 
and  the  like,  with  the  word  (Ps.  cxliv.  5). — "  Sin 
not  only  pollutes  man,  but  drags  the  rest  of  the 
creatures  also  into  suffering  along  with  him" 
(a  L. ). — Ver.  3  sqq.  Against  the  sword  of  God 
idols  are  of  no  avail. — How  many  a  p>lace  con- 
demns jnany  a  man,  and  becomes  his  place  of 
judgment ! — There  thou  seest  the  manifold  ways 
of  men,  in  which  they  depart  from  the  One  Liring 
God,  and  make  to  themselves  broken  cisterns, 
Jer.  ii.  13. — In  particular,  a  false  worship  does 
not  remain  unpunished,  although  it  boasts  a  long 
time. — The  power  of  strange  gods  over  a  heart 
which  is  not  at  home  with  God,  and  which  follows 
unceasingly  its  strange  lust :  this,  namely,  that 
house  and  l|)l'art  become  desolate  places  of  death. 
— Ver.  6.  God  first  smites  man  repeatedly  on  the 
hand  ;  at  last  He  smites  in  ]iieces  the  works  of  his 
hands. — Ver.  7.  "  If,  therefore,  sin  is  committed 
in  our  midst,  be  not  silent,  laugh  not,  give  no 
applause'  (Stck.V — God  is  not  less  to  be  known 
in  His  judgments. — Vei-s.  1-7.  God  and  idols: 
(1)  how  His  word  condemns  them  ;  (2)  how  His 
judgment  annihilates  them  ;  (3)  how  those  who 
serve  thrm  come  to  shame,  spiritually  and  cor- 
poreally. 

Ver.  8.  "The  Jews  among  the  heathen  nations 
—an  example  of  the  goodness,  but  also  of  the 
severity,  of  God,  ooth  leading  us  to  repentance  " 
(Stc.k.). — "  God  has  and  keeps  for  Himself  at  all 


times  a  little  flock  in  the  world,  which  can  V< 
overpowered  by  no  one"(CK.). — "Yes,  what  ia 
there  that  is  not  scattered  over  the  earth  !  Only 
think  of  the  many  graves  and  gi-avestones ! 
;Stck. ) — Ver.  9.  "So  long  as  it  goes  well  with 
the  sinner,  he  is  usually  deaf  and  blind  amid  all 
admonitions  and  judgments.  What  a  benefit 
therefore  conferred  by  God,  when  he  opens  his 
eyes  and  ears  by  means  of  evil  days!"  (St. ^ — 
"  Among  the  heathen  "  means  grace  in  the  strange 
land,  where  one  was  not  to  expect  it.— The  blessing 
of  affliction. — In  prosperity  misery,  in  adversity 
salvation  !  —  Remembrance  a  way  to  God.  — 
"  AfEiction  is,  as  it  were,  a  hammer  for  our  strong 
heart,  and  is  able  to  force  tears  from  the  eyes  " 
(a  L.  ). — "  Misery  is  the  best  preacher  of  repent- 
ance, when  one  will  not  listen  to  others.  The 
majority  are  always  like  horses  and  mules  ;  they 
are  not  to  be  brought  to  God  otherwise  than  by 
bits  and  bridles,  whips  and  rods"  (B.  B. ).  —  In 
idolatry  there  is  a  whorish  ardour,  as  the  religious 
history  of  heathendom  characteristically  proves. 
— "  For  it  is  chastity  of  the  spirit  to  serve  God 
purely"  (C. ). — How  must  the  good  God  thus  go 
after  us  men,  in  order  merely  to  bring  back  our 
heart  and  oiu-  eyes  even  from  destruction '  — 
"  The  sinner  has  nothing  of  his  own,  neither  his 
heart,  nor  his  eyes,  nor  his  feet ;  everything  be- 
longs to  the  world,  and  is  in  the  service  of  the 
devil  "  (A  L. ).  — "  The  true  grief  for  our  sin 
begins  in  the  heart,  manifests  itself  through  the 
eyes,  and  proves  itself  in  the  whole  life  and  walk  ' 
(Stck.).  —  "Sincere  repentance  never  comes  too 
late,  but  has  always  access  to  the  grace  of  God, 
Rev.  iii.  17,  19  "'(W.).—"  When  it  is  right  in 
the  penitent  heart,  there  is  also  loathing  of  cur- 
selves,  Luke  xviii.  13  "  (after  St.). 

Ver.  10.  "  The  knowledge  of  God  a  fruit  of 
repentance  "  (C). — "  Men  make  their  boast  with 
empty  threatenings  ;  but  with  God  there  is 
earnestness"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  11.  Ezekiel's  ex- 
clamation of  woe  has,  as  one  may  say,  hand  and 
foot.  The  whole  man  is  wholly  in  it  with  his 
heart.  Such  excitement  is  not  to  be  blamed  in 
any  servant  of  the  Living  God.  The  messengers 
of  "peace  at  least  (Matt,  x.)  are  to  shake  the 
dust  off  their  feet.  And  He  Himself,  the  Peace- 
ful One,  has  in  Luke  xi.  uttered  one  woe  after 
another. — "  God  has  many  rods,  wherewith  He 
chastises  evil-doers,  but  three  especially,  in  which 
all  the  rest  are  gathered  up"  (L.). — Ver.  V2. 
"No  man  can  escape  God"  (Stck.).  —  Death 
overtakes  us  in  all  forms ;  woe  to  the  impenitent': 
— "There  are  two  kinds  of  flight  from  God  :  one 
which  is  of  no  use,  and  that  by  means  of  true  re- 
pentance, which  avails"  (L.V — Ver.  13.  "  .\s  is 
the  case  with  Paul  in  Phil,  iii.,  it  causes  the  pro- 
phet also  no  annoyance  to  say  the  same  thing 
repeatedly"  (Stck.). — How  sin  can  turn  what  is 
pleiising  to  the  Most  High  into  exactly  the 
opposite  1 — Ver.  14.  "  When  God  has  held  His 
hand  long  enough  stretched  out  to  allure,  to 
bless,  then  at  length  He  stretches  it  out  also  to 
punish"  (Stck.). — The  wilderness  shall  blo.ssom 
(Isa.  XXXV.) ;  but  what  was  blossoming  may  also 
become  a  wihlerness,  and  both  from  God. — 
"Jehovah  is  He  who  will  be  what  He  is;  in 
other  words.  He  who  shows  His  eternity  and 
power,  and  fulfils  His  word,  and  does  not  chan^. 
nor  deny  Himself"  (Cocc). 


K  EZEKIEL. 


CHAPTER  Vir. 

1,  2  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,  And  thou,  son  of  man, 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  An  end  to  the  soil  of  Israel !  the  end  cornea 

3  upon  the  four  comers  [borders]  of  the  land.  Now  [comes]  the  end  upon  thee, 
and  I  send  Mine  anger  into  thee,  and  judge  thee  as  thy  ways  [are],  and  give 

4  upon  thee  all  thine  abominations.  And  Mine  eye  will  not  restrain  itself  from 
[have  pity  upon]  thee,  neither  will  I  spare;  for  [but]  thy  ways  will  I  give  upon 
thee,  and  thine  abominations  shall  be  in  thy  midst ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am 

5  Jehovah      Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  An  evil,  one  evil,  behold  it  cometh. 

6  An   end  cometh,   there   cometh   the  end ;    it   awaketh  for  thee,  behold,  it 

7  cometh.  The  turn  {1)  cometh  to  thee,  O  inhabitant  of  the  land;  the  time 
cometh  ;  the  day  is  near,  tumult  and  not  joyous  shouting  upon  the  mountains. 

8  Now  will  I  shortly  pour  out  My  fury  upon  thee,  and  I  accomplish  Mine  anger 
upon  [in]  thee,  and  judge  thee  as  thy  ways  [are],  and  give  upon  thee  all  thine 

9  abominations.  And  Mine  eye  will  not  forbear,  and  I  will  not  spare  ;  as  thy 
ways  [are]  wiU  I  give  upon  thee,  and  thine  abominations  shall  be  in  thy  midst ; 

10  and  ye  know  that  it  is  I,  Jehovah,  that  smiteth.    Behold,  the  day,  behold,  it 

1 1  cometh  :  the  turn  (i)  springeth  up ;  the  rod  sprouts ;  pride  blossoms.  The 
violence  riseth  up  into  the  rod  of  wickedness;  not  of  them,  nor  of  their 
multitude,  nor   of  their  pomp ;    neither   is   there   anything   glorious   upon 

12  [in,  among]  them.  The  time  comes,  the  day  arrives  ;  let  not  the  buyer  rejoice, 
nor  the  seller  mourn  ;  for  heat  [of  anger]  cometh  upon  the  whole  multitude 

13  thereof  For  the  seller  shall  not  return  to  what  is  sold,  even  were 
their  life  still  among  the  living ;  for  the  vision  is  upon  [against]  the  whole 
multitude  thereof;  he  shall  not  return,  nor  shall  they — in  his  iniquity  is 

14  every  one's  life — show  themselves  strong.  They  blow  the  horn,  and  make  all 
ready,  and  there  is  none  who  goeth  to  the  battle ;  for  My  heat  of  anger  is 

15  upon  [against]  their  whole  multitude.  The  sword  without,  and  the  pestilence 
and  famine  within  !     He  that  is  in  the  field  shall  die  by  the  sword  ;  and  he 

16  that  is  in  the  city,  famine  and  pestilence  shall  devour  him.  And  if  their 
escaped  ones  escape,  they  are  upon  the  mountains  like  doves  of  the  valleys, 

17  all  of  them  cooing,  each  one  in  his  iniquity.    All  hands  shall  be  slack,  and  all 

18  knees  shall  dissolve  into  water.  And  they  gird  sackcloth  about  them,  and 
horror  covers  them ;  and  upon  all  faces  is  shame,  and  baldness  on  all  their 

19  heads.  Their  silver  shall  they  cast  upon  the  streets,  and  their  gold  shall  be 
to  them  for  repudiation.  Their  silver  and  their  gold  shall  not  be  able  to 
deliver  them  on  the  day  of  the  outpouring  of  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  :  they 
shall  not  satisfy  their  soul,  neither  fill  their  bowels ;  for  it  was  a  stumbling- 

20  block  of  their  iniquity.  And  the  ornament  of  his  decoration — for  pride  they 
placed  it,  and  images  of  their  abominations,  of  their  [their  acatt.'^  detestable 

21  things,  they  made  of  it ;  therefore  I  give  it  to  them  for  repudiation.  And  I 
give  it  into  the  hands  of  the  strangers  for  a  prey,  and  to  the  wicked  of 

22  the  earth  for  a  spoil ;  and  they  profane  her.  And  I  turn  away  My  face  from 
them,  and  they  profane  My  secret;  and  violent  ones  come  into  her,  and  pro- 

23  fane  her.     Make  the  chain ;  for  the  land  is  full  of  blood-guiltiness,  and  the 

24  city  is  full  of  outrage.  And  I  bring  wicked  ones  of  the  [heathen]  nations,  and 
they  take  possession  of  their  houses :  and  I  make  the  pride  of  the  strong  to 

25  cea.se;  and  their  holy  places  are  profaned.     Destruction  cometh  [came];  and 

26  they  seek  salvation  [peace],  and  there  is  none.  Destruction  upon  destruction 
shall  come,  and  rumour  shall  be  upon  rumour  ;  and  they  seek  a  vision  from 
the  prophet ;  and  the  law  [instruction]  shall  perish  from  the  priest,  and  counsel 

27  from  the  elders.  The  king  shall  mourn,  and  the  prince  shall  put  on  blank 
amazement,  and  the  hands  of  the  people  in  the  land  shall  be  slack  :  according 
to  their  way  will  I  do  unto  them,  and  according  to  their  deserts  will  I  judge 
them ;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 


CHAP.  VII.  1-7. 


97 


Ver.    2.  Sept. ;  ,  .  .  raSi  Asyii  .  .  .  Trt  yri  r.  'Iff-/).  Ttpiz;  nxti,  to  iFipizi  xku  et* — (Anotb.  read. ;  Y\i7\   K3   N3   }*P") 

Ver.    3.  .  .  .    r.  xtpaa  mn,  ra  vtpxi  Tp9t  *■«. 

Ver,    4.  Anoth.  read. :  n^3"n3. 

Ver,    5.  Anoth.  read.:  "IflN. 

Ver.  7.  .  ,  .  ^  «Xax*i  ...  fly  utTx  SepvSin  •vjs  pur  Hifm—contritio  super  te  .  .  .  prope  est  dies  occisionis,  et  non 
fioriae  niontiuTn.    (Anoth.  read.:  n^px  ^^'"■^ 

Ver.  10.  Sept. :  .  .  .  r.fupat  xupiou,  iiui  t.  irtpxs  11*11— 

Ver.  11.  K.  ffvrrpi'^it  rrrptyuM  itafjuu,  K,  di  fUrcL  $opu$an  o-lil  fUroL  rrouini.     K,  9-Jx  il  c^ran  liVir,  tuit  itpmrf*o( 

i>  J '.  nic.    (Anoth.  read. :  nj    ^p^.      Vtilg. :  et  non  erit  requies  in  eis.} 

Ver.  13.  ...  0  XTOiuivei  Tpe{  rav  s-aiAouvTa  ...  at/  ipatiri;  .  .  .  r.  TAt;dff<  etuTits  «u«*»vx««ju^li,  x.  emSptifTtf  fp  e^Sm}  u* 
Zitr.t  at'jTOv  av  xpeLTyiffii. 

Ver.  It  .  .  .  x(!.,«T<  Ti  «v^T«>r«— (Anoth.  read. :   lypHi  Sept,  Arab,  Vulg.) 

Ver.  16.  'llf  ^tptffvipgu  fx.iXiTr'rtxcti'  vxtrot;  i^oxTlw,  ixaffnt — 

Ver.  22.   .  .  .  ti<riXfjffovTau  li;  xi/Tot  i^t/kaxrat; — 

Ver.  23.  .  .   .  T>.r,pr,;  Aoan- — 

Ver.  24.  .  .  .  X.  xvarrpt^v  TO  fpvxyfjux  T.  lirx'"*f  xurmi — (Anoth.  read. :  Q|y,  Arab.) 

Ver.  27.  .  .  .  Anoth.  read. :   Dn't3DtJ'D3V      Vulg. :  et  secundum  Judicia — 


EXEGETICAL  KEMARKS. 

According  to  Hengst.,  the  first  cycle  closes  here, 
and,  in  fact,  with  a  song  (?).  But  the  "lyric" 
element  (E\v. )  is  rather  a  rhetorical  one.  Neither 
is  there  any  "  solemn  close,  which  corresponds 
with  the  solemn  introduction,"  but  simidy  a 
second  prophetic  discourse  attached  to  the  firbt  in 
ch.  vi.  The  prophet  has  in  his  eye  the  time  of 
the  breaking  forth  of  the  divine  judgment. 
(Hitzig  from  ver.  3  onwards  works  himself  into 
tlie  idea  of  two  defective  recensions  of  the 
original  text,  for  which  there  is  no  valid  ground. 
Neteler  lays  the  Hebrew  text  as  a  basis,  so  far  as 
it  is  confirmed  by  the  Greek  translation,  in  order 
to  obtain  a  ' '  piece  of  four  parts  carried  through 
with  complete  symmetry.") 

Ver.  1.  Comp.  ch.  vi.  1. — Ver.  2.  pinxi.  as  so 
often,  an  address  to  the  prophet  in  contradistinc- 
tion from  the  people  (ch.  ii.  8,  iii.  25,  iv.  1,  v.  1). 
The  Sept.  supplied  "ibS-     A  mark  of  exclamation 

is  enough. — riDlN^.  not  "of"  (Hesgst.),  nor,  as 
Ew.  maintains  against  the  accents  :  "  thus  saith 
.  .  ,  to  the  fatherland  of  Israel."  HDIX  is  tlie 
soil  of  a  countiy,  for  which  afterwards  JIXH; 
hence  the  tobil  ruin.  Comp.  ch.  vi.  14.  The 
preceding  discourse  is  brought  to  a  point  in  this, 
under  the  motto  of  the  end, — Instead  of  nys^S 

the  Qeri  gives  the  more  usual  form  j;3"i{<. — 
Ver.  3.  713,  so  that  it  finds  its  place  in  thee, 

where  it  can  have  vent. — Ways  for  walk.     In 

accordance  therewith  will  be  the  judgment. 
Their  abominations  come  upon  their  own  heads. 
— Ver.  4.  Din,  "to  restrain  oneself,"  hence  "to 
spare  "  (cli.  v.  11),  to  have  compassion. — They 
are  to  see  their  abominations  again  in  their 
midst,  in  their  consequences,  the  divine  punish- 
ments.    Comp.  besides,  ch.  vi.  7. 

Ver.  5.  njn,  what  is  destructive,  injurious, 
here  conceived  of  as  being  so  evil,  that  it  is  spoken 
of  as  one  standing  alone,  and  not  as  a  succession 
of  evils.  (Comp.  ch.  v.  9.)  J.  D.  MlCH.  : 
"  which  makes  an  end  at  once,  so  that  no  second 
is  necessary." — The  curt,  abrupt  character  of  the 
discourse  portrays  the  snidden,  violent  nature  of 
the  judgment. — The  Chald.  read  perhaps  inK- 

Ver.  6.  f'pn  J'pn.  a  play  upon  words.  After 
having  apparently  slept  so  long  and  so  soundly, 
the  end  (not  Jeliovah)  awakes,  and  therefore  it 


comes. — "rhtt,  fern.,  because  Jerusalem  is  in  th« 

background,  as  in  ver.  3  also.  ("  The  repetition 
indicates  the  certainty,  the  gi-eatness,  and  the 
swiftness." — a  L.)  —  nX3(fem.)  resumes  the  .so 

strongly-emphasized  nV"!  of  ^^^-  5,  or  it  stands 
impersonaDy  (Hiv.,  Keil),  or  it  prepares  for 
m'DSn  in  ver.  7,  which  means  "a  crown"  in 

Isa.  xxviii.  5,  a  meaning  which  is  not  suitable 
here.  It  might  be  allowable  to  translate  in  our 
verse:  "the  turn  comes  to  thee,"  inasmuch  as 
m'BV  from  ngv  ™ay  be  something  "  arranged  in 
a  row  together  "  with  something  else,  where  one 
thing  follows  another.  But  this  certainly  hardly 
suits  nsy  in  ver.  10.  The  interpretation  most 
in  favour,  viz.  "destiny"  (HiTZ. :  the  goddess  of 
fate,  properly  :  vicissitude  of  fortune,  catastrophe), 
gives  a  suitable  although  heathenish  sense  ;  we 
would  be  compelled  to  admit  a  borrowing  on 
Ezekiel's  part  from  his  Chaldaic  surroundings, 
and  yet  the  expression  itself  is  not  thereby  ex- 
plained. It  is  sought  to  be  explained  by  the 
circle  of  fate,  or  its  being  shut  up  within  itself. 
One  might  think  of  the  return  of  the  sin  in  the 
pitnishment,  wherewith  it  finishes  itscourse;  comp. 
vers.  3,  4.  (iqv  in  Judg.  vii.  3  =  to  return 
circuitously.)  Others  hold  fast  by  the  meaning 
"crown,"  and  understand  by  it  the  kingdom  of 
the  Chaldeans,  or  the  king  of  the  Chaldeans. 
Hav.,  who  combats  this  meaning,  asserting  that 
in  Isa.  xxviii.  it  is  a  pkit  of  hair  that  is  meant, 
accepts  a  later  Aramaism,  m'DV  =  8^DV.  "the 
dawn,"  viz.  of  the  evil  day  (Joel  ii.  1,  2).  Grot, 
with  reference  to  Y^p7\  in  ver.  6,  inasmuch  as  it 
was  cu.stomary  for  judgment  to  be  administered 
in  the  morning.  Others  in  other  ways.  Was  it 
intended,  perhaps,  to  indicate  something  equiva- 
lent to  :  what  is  marked  with  the  graver  (pSV), 
what  is  determined,  established,  as  in  Jer.  xvii. 
1? — ?['7Ni  masc,  because  of  what  follows  (Hos. 
ix.  7). — Di'H,  artic:  dies  Hie. — Tumult,  perhaps 
alarm  of  war,  and  in  contrast  therewith  ^^,  '•«■ 
Tl>n  (comp.  Isa.  xvi.  9,  10;  Jer.  xlviii.  33),  cry 

of  joy  of  the  vine-dressers  (?),  or  cry  of  victory, 
Isa.  xl.  9  (J.  D.  Mich.),  or /ftsiinaZ-pomp  of  th? 
idolaters,  ch.  vi.  3,  13  (Kosenm.).  Hengst,  ; 
"joyful  shout  of  the  mountains,"  because  th» 
shout  of  joy  is  heard  on  them  and  called  forth  bj 


9« 


EZEKIEL. 


theru  (Ts.  ixxxix.  13),  in  placp  of  which  will 
come  the  painful  tumult  of  those  who  are 
seeking  iluliverance.  Hav.  takes  in  for  nin, 
"  bri^'htness,"  so  that  the  dawn  rises  without 
inouutain  -  brightness  (?),  without  irradiating  the 
mountains  which  are  first  to  be  irradiated  (!). 
Ver.  8.    nny;  comp.  ver.  3.— anpo,  in  Deut. 

xxxii.  17  of  place,  here  of  time  (Job  xx.  5). 
Comp.  besides,  ch.  vi.  12,  vii.  3,  4.— Ver.  9. 
Comp.  ver.  4.  The  added  expression  smiteth  does 
not  announce  what  follows,  but  meets  beforehand 
a  false  interpretation  of  the  same  (the  sprouting 
rod).  Ver.  10.  Comp.  on  ver.  7. — nXV>  because 
of  what  follows  of  the  springing  up,  like  a  plant, 
from  the  koU  of  which  thesinnern  are  bragging. — 
The  rod  is  for  Israel,  in  order  ti  pimkhment,  in 
fact,  the  staff  of  the  Chaldean  ruler,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's sceptre.  What  a  contrast  to  Num.  xvii. 
2,  3  !  To  the  "  sprouting  "  of  power,  which  can, 
corresponds  the  "blossoming"  of  pride,  which 
will.     (Tn^,  to  boil,  to  boil  over. ) 

Ver.  11.  Thus  the  violence,  the  violent  acting 
which  takes  place,  rises  into  the  rod  of  wicked- 
ness, i.e.  which  punishes  the  wickedness  of  Israel ; 
into  the  staff,  sceptre,  of  the  Chaldean,  where- 
with Israel's  wickedness  is  smitten  (Isa.  x.  5). 
Other  expositors  interpret  nDD  already  in  ver. 
10  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Grot.),  its  royal 
Hceptre  (Coco.),  and  refer  alike  pnj  there  and 
ODD  here  to  the  complete  sinful  development  of 
the  kingdom  (Ew.),  so  that  the  rod  of  wicked- 
ness would  be  that  rod  wherewith  wickedness 
smites  itself.  Grot,  takes  ■) adversative ;  the  violent 
Chaldean  rises  up  against  the  wicked  tribe  of 
Judah.  Cocc.  :  Israel's  violent  conduct  (Gen. 
vi.  11)  brings  upon  them  instead  of  God  the 
sceptre  of  the  Chaldean  dominion  of  wickedness. 
It  would  be  natural  to  understand  the  immedi- 
ately following  not  of  them,  etc.,  in  such  a  way 
that  this  "rod  of  wickedness,"  "of  violence," 
would  now  be  pointed  out  more  definitely,  in  as 
far    as    it   is   not   to   spring    forth    from    Israel 

(QnO"87)>  neither  from  their  roaring  (pnn. 
Isa.  V.  13,  14,  the  noisy,  politically-roused  mul- 
titude), nor  from  their  humming  (by  paronomasia, 
equivalent  to  :  pomp),  consequently  neither  of 
democratic  nor  of  aristocratic  origin  (comp. 
1    Kings   xii.    11).      on    or   nOH,   plur.    D^D.l 

(only  to  be  foimd  here) ;  DnDHD  for  DlT'Onn, 
Ges.  :  of  their  possessions,  Keil  :  the  multitude 
of  possessions.  [Hen'gst.  :  "nor  of  them,  and 
them  (yet  again)," — like  n,-;  en  in  Isa.  Ivii.  B, — 
however  much  they  may  hold  up  their  heads  ; 
Jewish  expositors  resolve  it  into  itjJx  QflD  N^l 
DHD,  and  understand  it  of  their  children  (so  the 

Chaldee)  ;  Hav.  :  cares,  anxieties,  these  are  as 
useless  as  the  multitude  of  the  people  them- 
selves !  ?]  The  penal  judgment  will  come  from 
outside  themselves.  Hengst. :  "It  is  a  throw- 
ing contempt  on  the  'we,'  which  they  hail  con- 
tinually in  their  mouth,  and  repeated  with  great 
emphasis :  we,  we  shall  do  everything,  etc.  (Jer. 

XXX.  21  ;  Zech.  x.  4)."— cna  nrx^l,  Ges.  from 

ny,  Keil,  fromnij,  "tobe  prominent ;"  something 

gloricm.     [Hi v. :  "  and  there  is  a  want  of  beauty 


in  them."  (The  word  is  found  only  here.) — 
According     to     the    Jewish    expositors,    ni    '<" 

nn'3,  from  nnj,  loud  lament.     Hengst.  :  "that 

wailing  wUl  be  forgotten  in  deep  despair." 
(Cocc.  making  it  refer  to  the  falling  sceptre  of 
David,  they  will  be  obliged  to  conceal  their  nail- 
ing on  that  account  before  the  tjTant  who  con- 
quers them!)  Ew.  :  "Nothing  will  remain  o'. 
the  wicked,  neither  of  their  proud,  haughtily 
blustering,  luxurious  conduct,  in  prosperity  as 
hitherto,  nor  of  their  sighing  or  even  their  discon- 
tented grumbling  and  murmuring  in  adversity." 
Similarly  Calvin,  of  the  root  and  branch  destruc- 
tion of  them,  their  multitude,  their  possessions.] 

Accordingly  s^  sijl  N^l  ^^^  understood  as  short 
sentences  descriptive  of  the  result  of  the  stroke  of 
ver.  10  (Keil),  the  effect  of  the  repetition  being 
heightened  by  the  omission  of  the  verb,  as  if  they 
were  exclamations.  As  for  the  rest,  Hitz .  remarks 
excellently:  "unannounced  as  KXiTTr,;  the  day 
will  come,  unexpectdlly,  and  so  much  greater 
the  shock  of  surprise." 

After  a  second  emphasizing  in  ver.  12  of  the 
leading  thought  of  the  proclamation — comp.  ver. 
7 — X3i  J"Jn,  proph.  preterites — the  buyer  and 
the  «eller  ai-e  given  as  an  exemplification  from 
the  dealings  of  ordinary  life.  The  former  is  not 
to  rejoice  in  the  possession  which  he  covets  ;  he 
does  not  come  into  the  enjoyment  of  it.  The 
latter  is  not  to  mourn  over  the  loss  of  a  property 
he  would  fain  retain,  but  which  has  been  alienated 
from  necessity  ;  much  else  is  at  stake  :  for  pin, 

elsewhere  e)}<  pin.   comes  upon  n3ion"^3    (the 

suffix  agreeing  witli  i)X"lB"  ODIS^.  or  referring 
to  Jerusalem),  the  whole  of  the  people  is  con- 
sumed. Comp.  Ps.  x.xxix.  6.  Hengst.  :  the 
multitude  which  makes  so  much  ado  about 
nothing. — The  general  reason  is  followed  in  ver. 
13  by  a  more  special  one  (as  Hengst. ),  or  by  what 
is  merely  a  specializing  of  -jnri- — '3  might  also 

stand  in  the  sense  of :  but  certainly,  i.e.  the 
seller  is  not  to  mourn,  but  certainly  lie  shall  not 
return  to  his  property  that  is  sold;  hence  the 
possible  return  thereto  must  not  be  a  motive  for 
him  not  to  mourn.  That  is  to  say,  the  seller 
would  have,  —  and  therefore  is  this  specialty  intro- 
duced, in  order,  at  the  same  time,  to  mark  the 
national  ruin, — according  to  Lev.  xxv.,  the  pros- 
pect of  the  year  of  jubilee,  the  caiTying  out  of 
which  is  thus  attested  here  (Hiv.),  or  at  least 
presupposed  in  its  idea,  and  therewith  the  return 
to  what  he  had  sold  remained  open.  (PhUipps. 
thinks  of  the  right  of  the  seller  at  any  time  to 
buy  back  again  what  was  sold,  either  himself  or 
through  the  nearest  kinsman,  for  the  selling  price, 
Ruth  iv.  ;  Jer.  xx.xii.)  But  although  in  other 
cu'cumstances  the  man  who  has  no  possession, 
the  vexed  poor  man,  has  a  better  chance  of  being 
left  behind  than  the  man  who  has  a  possession, 
the  joyous  rich  man,  in  the  case  impending  it 
will  in  general  be  otherwise,  i.e.  quite  alike  for 
the  one  and  for  the  other.  Individuals,  indeed, 
will  remain  alive.  ~liyi,  a  conditional  circum- 
btantial  clause  (Hiv.,  Keil),  so  that  the  case  is 
supposed,  that  their  (viz.  the  sellers')  life  i? 
among  the  living,  that  they  come  out  of  it  with 
their  life.  The  aeUer,  consequently,  is  used  col- 
lectively for  the  individuals  who  as  such  comi 


CHAP.  VII.   13-lS. 


99 


to  he  considered.  The  judgment  applies  to  th( 
[lerKont — this  is  the  leailin<;  thoufjht — and  not,  as 
the  expositors  assert,  to  tlieir  possession.     Hence 

n:iOn"^D"?X — ^a  is  repeated  from  ver.  12,  hut 
instead  of  pin  ^^c  have  by  paronomasia  ptn,  the 
ijlowinij  heat  seen  in  the  prophetic  vision  (ch.  i. ). 
pfn  might  perhaps  confirm  the  interpretation  of 
m'DVn  in  ver.   7  as  wliat  is  ti.\ed,  determined. 

in  like  manner  31C"  S?  i^  resumed  from  the 
beginning  of  our  verse,  and  that  in  the  same 
sense,  so  that  it  is  certainly  not  to  be  translated  : 
"  for  the  prophecy  against  the  whole  multitude 
shall  not  return  "  (Jer.),  a  tliought  which  is  too 
little  in  keeping  with  the  exceptional  earnestness 
of  the  context.  Rather  is  the  statement  meant 
to  be  sometliing  additional  o-i  to  the  perso/is,  ap- 
pended to  the  special  exemplitication  of  the  seller. 
Hence  tJ"N1  equivalent  to  ;  slrux  every  one  has 
'  his  life  in  his  iniquity,"  and  it  is  therefore  very 
questionable  whether  (as  was  parenthetically  sup- 
posed above)  "  their  life  "  might  be  "  still  among 

the  living." — iptnn'  vh-  t^^ey  shall  not  show 
themselves  strong,  manifest  strength,  coui-age  ; 
the  iniquity  cripples  their  power  of  life,  with 
which  what  follows  agrees  admirably.  [Other 
expositions  :  Ewald  ;  "  But  certainly  they  may 
become  unfortunate  or  the  reverse  for  a  time :  he 
who  was  compelled  to  sell  his  property  may  not 
even  obtain  it  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  divine  punishment  may  no  longer 
light  upon  the  rich  brawlers,  yet  the  former  re- 
main in  their  lust  after  a  life  of  sense  in  the 
world,  without  coming  to  repentance  through 
adversity  (Ps.  xvii.  14),  and  the  latter  do  not 
sutler  themselves  to  be  drawn  out  of  their  sins  by 
prosperity  ;  all  are  irresolute,  cowardly  people," 
etc.  Hiiv.  explains  the  last  clause  also  of  the 
year  of  jubilee  still,  whose  object  is  "to  be 
'  strengthened  in  life  "  (in^PI.  'm  accus.  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  passive  1ptnn')>  *>o  t\i&t  one 
springs  up  into  new  life  :  there  has  been  a  restora- 
tion— a  new  birth.  No  one  is  to  obtain  a  new 
strength  of  his  vital  powers  by  means  of  his  sin ; 
rather  do  those  fearful  Sabbatical  years  make 
their  apjiearance,  Lev.  x.xvi.  34  sq.     The  second 

aif  vh  ^^^  ^Iso  been  understood  by  some  in 
the  sense  that  no  one  "turns,"  although  the 
prophecy  summons  all  to  repentance,  which  agrees 
just  as  little  with  the  context.  "B"X1  's  inter- 
preted on  the  part  of  some  by  an  omission  of  the 
relative:  "every  one  whose  life  is  in  his  iniquity, " 
while  others  take  the  first  suffix  pleoiiastically, 
i:i  this  way :  "  they  shall  not  any  of  them 
strengthen  themselves  by  means  of  (on  account 
of)  the  iniquity  of  his  life,"  so  as  to  be  able  to 
stand  against  their  enemies.  The  plural  with 
the  collective  t^'X-  Hesgst.  :  "The  seller  will 
in  no  case  return  to  the  property  which  he  has 
sold,  so  that  he  should  be  obliged  to  regard  it 
with  pain,  for  the  whole  land  is  strippe<l  of  its 
inhabitants ;  but  it  may  also  happen  that  he  loses 
his  life,  and  he  has  to  account  it  good  fortune  if 
this  does  not  take  place,  so  that  the  thing  sold 
cannot  be  a  source  of  pain  to  him  :  and  many  a 
one  (C^XI^  ^^'ill  i^"'  retain  his  life  because  of  his 
misdeed. "]    The  LXX.  read  pj;  instead  of  py. 

Ver.  14.   The  predicted  feebleness  is  placed  be- 
foTe  oilr  eyes  in  a  picture   all  but  ironical. — 


Vipn3  li'is  nothing  to  do  with  Jer.  vi.  1  (where 

Tekea  is  a  proper  name).  But  an  infin.  absol. ,  with 
prepisitioa  and  article,  is  gramnutii'ally  too  bold. 
Neither  are  we  to  translate,  as  Hengst.  does : 
"they  blew  with  a  loud  bla.st,"  but  (as  also  the 
Sept. )  as  designating  the  •  histruiiient  wherewith 
the  blast  is  maae.    The  infin.  absol.  pan  Cpsn) — 

comp.  Nah.  iL  4  [3]  (a  military  term) — shortly 
for   the    finite    verb   (Ew.    Gram.   §    351,   c). — 

nonbob.  Hitzig  acutely :  to  tlie  battle,  not : 
into  the  battle. — Comp.  besides,  vers.  17,  12  ; 
Lev.  xxvi.  17. — Ver.  15.  Comp.  ch.  v.  12,  vi. 
12  ;  Lam.  i.  20.  Comp.  a"lso  Maik  xiii.  15,  16. 
Instead  of  acting  ofl'ensively,  not  even  on  the  de- 
fensive ;  without  resistance  they  fall  victims, 
partly  to  the  swoixi  of  the  enemy,  which,  accord- 
ing to  ch.  V.  7,  is  the  sword  of  God,  partly  to  th« 
pestilence  combined  with  the  famine. 

Ver.  16.  The  fate  of  those  of  them  who  in  anj 

way  escape  is  localized  upon  the  moontains  (^x 
for  ^y,  ch.  vi.  13), — having  fled  thither  (Ps.  xi.  1 ; 
Mark  xiii.  14;  Luke  xxi.  21,  22),  they  shall  be 
there  like,  etc.,  their  condition  being  compared 
to  that  of  doves  of  the  valleys,  i.e.  doves  which, 
having  lost  their  nests,  are  not  like  wild  doves  at 
home  upon  the  mountains,  and  whicli,  when 
frightened  by  birds  of  prey,  make   known  their 

sorrow,  their  painful  feeling. — niDH  D?D.  rightly 
Keil  :  figure  and  reality  mixed  up  together;  in 
form  belonging  to  the  comparison,  in  reality  to 
the  things  compared.  The  stronger  expression 
non,  not  without  reference  to  njIDH  in  ^crs.  13, 
14,  and  their  tumult  going  before. — For^j^ya  ti^ti^ 
comp.  ver.  13.  As  is  their  life,  if  they  still  save 
it,  so  is  their  expression  of  that  life,  and,  in  fact 

(by  the  individualization  of  the  all,  Cp2\  each 
one  gives  utterance  to  his  soitow  in  his  iniquity, 
as  a  sorrow  that  is  deserved,  therefore  as  a  penal 
sorrow.  [The  LXX.  read  perhaps  *non.  But 
the  text  is  not  to  be  changed  in  accordance  there- 
with, for  certainly  in  what  follows  the  farther 
description  of  these  fugitives  is  given.]  Hence 
ver.  17  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the  whole  ]ieople 
(Keil,  Hengst.);  it  is  rather  the  interpretation 
of  the  melancholy  cooing  in  ver.  16.  A  picture 
of  the  repentance  which  is  wrung  from  thern. 
The  hands  refuse  to  perform  their  office,  nay, 
even  the  knees  refuse  to  stand  and  keep  linn. 
The  expression  for  the  latter  (ch.  xxi.  7)  is  in- 
tended to  portray  the  complete  desolation  of  thtir 
strength;  comp.  Josh.  vii.  5  (Isa.  xiii.  7  ;  Ex.  xv. 

15).  The  LXX.  too  literally.  (For  n^hn. 
comp.  Joel  iv.  18.) 

Ver.  18.  Along  with  such  (negative)  feebleness 
we  have  (as  positive  elements)  :  mourning  and 
horror,  shame  and  grief.  As  the  expression  of 
the  first,  the  cloth  of  coarse  hair,  which  they 
girt  about  themselves  with  a  cord  (Isa.  iii.  24). 
For  the  second,  the  strong  expression  ni^7S  nnD3 
(Ps.  Iv.  5):  if  mourning  is  their  girdle,  then  horror 
is  their  covering.  But  as  shame  is  upon  (ps 
for  ^J))  all  faces,  so  baldness  is  on  the  back  part 

of  the  head  of  all,  as  the  result  of  grif-f,  or  !( 
must  be  supposed  the  custom  in  mourning  (Job 
i.  20),  or  that  they  have  plucked  out  their  haij 


too 


EZEKIEL. 


m  llicir  pain  (Ezra  ix.  3).  Comp.  besides,  Jer. 
xlviii.  37;  Amos  viii.  10;  and  Deut,  xiv.  1. 

Vcr.  19  speaks  in  the  outset  of  the  fugitives 
Btill,  wlio  cast  from  them  everything  that  is 
burdensome.  But  what  one  casts  away,  that  he 
also  in  a  certain  measure  repudiates;  hence  rnj, 
"detestable  thing,"  "abomination."  The  re- 
newed mention  together  of  the  two  principal 
means  employed  in  sinning  (silver  and  gold),  in 
the  ne.xt  place,  generalizes  the  circle  of  the  persons 
involved,  so  as  to  embrace  the  people  generally. 
Of  idols  of  silver  and  gold  (Isa.  ii.  20),  however, 
there  is  no  need  as  yet  to  think.  It  is  rather 
treasures  of  that  sort  that  are  spoken  of,  which 
hinder  one  during  a  flight,  which  only  provoke 
the  booty-loving  enemy  still  more,  nay,  which, 
now  that  the  saving  of  life  is  aimed  at,  appear 
like  rubbish.  For  that  life  might  be  purchased 
therewith  is  no  longer  the  case,  since  the  day  of 
the  overflowing  (lay)  wrath  of  the  Eternal  ( Luke 
ixi.  22)  is  come  (comp.  Isa.  xiii.  17  ;  Zeph.  i.  18; 
1  Pet.  i.  18).  They  have  neither  enjoyment  (satis- 
faction) from  it,  nor  even  the  filling  of  the  bowels 
by  means  of  it.  Silver  and  gold  are,  alike  for 
the  ta-st^  and  for  necessaries  (in  a  practical  point 
of  view,  iesthetically  and  physically  considered), 
without  significance  in  this  day  of  judgment ; 
the  element  wliich  comes  in  that  case  into  con- 
sideration is  the  Btumblingblock  which  they  made 
of  it,  so  thi^t  they  fell  into  iniquity  over  it.  In 
ch.  iii.  20  we  have  a  stumbling-block  which  is 
given.  Their  riches  and  their  trust  in  them  made 
them  satisfied,  so  that  they  needed  nothing.  As 
a  punishment,  these  riches  do  not  now  satisfy 
them,  do  not  even  fill  their  belly  ;  nothing  can 
be  bought  with  them  so  that  they  may  live. 

The  giving  of  a  reason  for  the  punishment 
drawn  from  the  guilt  leads  to  a.  farther  descrip- 
tion of  this  guilt  in  ver.  20.     The  i  is  explanatory. 

Because  the  riches  wherewith  Israel  was  decked 
out,  and  might  adorn  herself  like  a  bride,  of 
course  U  xvpl^t,  were,  on  the  contrary,  misused  for 
self-exaltation  and  pride.  Comp.  Isa.  ii. — 
inOE' ;  the  subject  is  the  people,  or :  every  one, 

or  :  one  ; — the  suflix  refers  to  the  ornament  of  his 
decoration  (HXv.,  Keil;  elegant  ornaments),  by 
which  others  understand,  not  the  gold  and  silver, 
but  the  temple.     Hitz.  reads  inOB'-      From  the 

self- exaltation  resulted  the  will-worship,  the  di- 
versified self-choice  in  divine  worship. — DiT'SlptJ', 
as  frequently  from  Deut.  xxix.  17  onwards ; 
omitted  by  the  LXX. — 13,  not:  in  the  temple, 
but :  of  the  silrer  and  gold.     Comp.  Ex.  xxxii. ; 

Ho3.   ii.   10  [8],  viii.   4,  xiii.   2.— vnnj  'fl'bv, 

the  idea  of  retribution  here  explains  the  mih  in 

ver.  19. — But  as  God  gives  it  to  them  as  a  thing  to 
be  cast  away  and  rejected,  so  He  gives  it  to  their 
enemies  iu  ver.  21,  who  are  described  as  in  ver.  24 
( Ps.  Ixxv.  8),  for  a  prey.  The  victory  of  the  wicked 
is  God's  penal  victory. — J^sn  is  not  Babylon,  but 

we  should  rather  say  the  wicked  of  the  earth  are 
She   Babylonians.       In   defence   of  the    Kethibh 

lli'^ni.  with  fern,  suffix  (comp.  ver.   12),  where 

hitherto  ma.sculine,  Ewald  remarks:  "a  gradual 
Iransition  from  the  masc.  13V  1°  t^i^  holy  city, 
which,  strictly  speaking,  is  meant,  and  even 
distinctly   named    in    ver.    28."  *  The    Qeri    la 


in^i'^m,  which  Hitzig   defends.       According   to 

Hav!  (LXX.,  VuLG.),  to  be  referred  to  the 
"  elegant  ornament  ;"  according  to  others,  to 
the  objects  of  worship  of  gold  and  silver. 

Ver.  22.  QnD  from  those  at  Jerusalem,  so  that 
the  enemy  can  get  the  mastery  over  it.  Others  • 
I  will  not  look  what  the  enemy  shall  do,  but  let 
them  act. — From  the  "profanation"  of  what  is 
holy  an  explanation  is  got  oj'  the  preceding  cha- 
racteristic title  of  the  "strangers"  as  the  "  wicked 
of  the   earth."      pBV  is    "something   hidden," 

something  concealed  ;  according  to  Hav. ,  of  the 
place  :  the  sanctuary,  the  holy  of  holies,  where 
Jehovah  dwells  in  sacred  darkness  ;  according  to 
others  :  the  holy  land  in  general ;  according  to 
Hengst.,  of  the  matter  iu  hand:  the  church- 
treasure,  which  is  secularized.  [The  LXX.  read 
perhaps  'mpg.      Ewald  :   the  treasure  of  My 

guardianship,  i.e.  of  My  country  or  My  people.] 

The  suffixes  of  na  and  nv>>n  belong  to  the  city, 

Jerusalem,  which  always  stands  in  the  back- 
ground. Others  prefer  a  neuter  construction  ; 
Keil  :  come  "  over  it. "  For  violent  ones,  comp. 
Matt.  xi.  12  (which  passage  is  to  be  understood 
in  accordance  with  this). 

Ver.  23.  In  form  directed  to  the  prophet,  like 
the  whole  discourse ;  in  substance  equivalent  to  : 
pronounce  the  captivity  to  be  ready.  "As  it 
were  indignant  at  the  profanation,  Jehovah  com- 
mands to  put  an  end  to  the  doings  of  the  enemy 
by  the  deportation  of  those  who  were  left  be- 
hind "  (Hiiv. ).  By  means  of  the  article,  the 
putting  in  chains  is  declared  to  be  no  longer  a  thing 
to  be  doubted,  but  certain,  quite  fixed,  just  as 
things  generally  known  have  the  article.  Others 
collectively.  "In  reality  the  king  was  carried 
away  in  chains  and  cast  into  prison  "  (Buns.). — 
The  plural  D''DT  always  means  blood  poured  out ; 
hence  Q'OT  USB'Dj  ^  trial  which  is  held  with  ■ 
respect  to  such  a  case,  a  sentence  which  is  pro- 
nounced upon  it,  a  punishment  which  is  decreed 
for  it,  all  of  which  are  unsuitable  for  the  parallel 
Don-  Just  as  unsuitable  here  is  :  the  right  of 
blood-shedding.  We  are  therefore  to  understand 
it  of  the  case  in  law,  the  ciime,  the  blood-guilti- 
ness. Comp.  Deut.  xix.  6  (Gen.  vi.  11).  Hav. 
understands  it  of  the  judgment  on  blood-shedding 
("  hence  :  inexorable,  relentless  "),  while  he  refers 
Don  to  the  violent  enemies.  Of  course  "blood- 
guiltiness  "  gives  a  reason  for  (13)  something  more 
than  putting  in  chains,  viz.  death ;  but  perhaps 
captivity  is  thereby  meant  to  be  indicated  as  the 
least  thing  that  can  happen  to  them  after  guilt 
such  as  theirs. 

Ver.  24.  "  fPicked  heathen" — (ver.  21)  so  that 
they  fall,  besides,  into  bcul  hands  of  men  (2  Sam. 
xxiv.  14).  Comp.  Ew.  Gram.  §  313,  c;  Hab. 
i.  6  sqq. — pxj,  either  as  in  ver.  20:  pride  (HXv.  : 
everything  of  which  the  mighty  are  wont  to 
boast),  or:  ornament,  decoration,  glory,  of  the 
temple  (ch.  xxiv.  21). — They  may  be  called 
strong,  as  well  because  of  their  real  strength, 
when  they  preserved  their  fidelity  to  the  Strong 
One  who  dwelt  in  their  midst,  as  in  accordance 
with  their  imagined  strength  (Lev.  xxvi.  19). 
Ew.  reads  Q^j)  pj{J,  "their  proud  splendour." — 

l^jflj  cannot  be  the  Picl  of  ^nj,  which  would 
mean  "to  divide  for  a  possession,"  but,  is  the 


CHAP.  VII.  25-27. 


lOi 


N'phal  of  ij^n.  —  Dn'BnpO>  according  to  Ew. 
(Oramm.    %  215,   a)   from    Er^po,    with    vowel 

paAed  back.     Rosenm.  reads :  Dn'{}''IpD ;  Hav. 

Dn*!J''lpO-    Hengst.  :  ' '  those  who  sanctify  them, " 

hence  partic.  Piel  without  Dagesch  forte  of  gnp, 
understanding  the  priests  now  no  longer  able  to 
discharge  their  functions,  whereby  the  means  of 
reconciliation  are  withdrawn  from  Israel  (Lev. 
xvi.  ;  Isa.  xliii.  26,  27).  [Others  :  of  unworthy 
Levitical  service,  inasmuch  as  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel  is  also  hisonly  true  Sauctifier,  ch.  xxxvii.  28.] 
"Ezekiel  points  to  the  cloud  only,  Jeremiah  in 
eh.  xxxiii.  opens  the  view  to  the  sun  hidden  be- 
hind it."  By  their  sanctuaries  are  understood 
sometimes  the  buildings  of  the  temple,  but,  as 
being  no  longer  God's,  sometimes  the  self-chosen 
ones  of  the  Jews. 

Ver.  25.  niSp  only  li^re  (see  Gesen.  Lex.). 
Acoording  to  Meier,  not  :  destruction,  but  in 
accordance  with  the  root -meaning  ("to  draw- 
together"),  as  in  the  Syr.,  of  the  drawing  to- 
gether of  the  skin  and  hair  from  fright  (horror). 
Exactly  so  Ew.,  Hengst.  :  contraction,  in  con- 
trast with  the  expansion  which  is  connected  with 
all  joyful  prosperity,  and  which  is  founded  in  the 
nature  of  the  people  of  God,  Gen.  xxviii.  14  ; 
Isa.  liv.  3,  [Hav.  :  the  conclusion,  the  close 
(J»p,  vers.  2,  6).]  For  the  gender  and  masc.  verb 
comp.  Ew.  Gramm.  §  173,  h,  174,  g.  [Ros. :  n 
paragog.]    X3i  a  proph.  perf.  (Keil).  —  "Peace" 

is  too  narrow  for  Dipc>,  as  also  attempts  at  peace 

with  money-offerings  with  Nebuchadnezzar,  of 
which  some  think.  The  attempts  at  salvation 
which  they  make  in  vain  are  specified  in  what 
follows. 

Ver.  26.  While  the  disasters  are  accumulating, 
and  the  rumours  are  multiplying  (Matt.  xxiv.  6\ 
they  seek,  first  of  all,  from  the  prophet  (the 
generic  idea).  Comp.  Jer.  xx.wii  17,  xxxviii. 
14.  [Hengst.  understands  it  of  the  false  prophets, 
aiid  compares  for  the  priests  Zeph.  iii.  4 ;  Jer. 
ii.  8  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  26.]  What  they  seek,  viz.  a 
vision,  is  mentioned,  but  it  is  not  said  tliat  they 
find  it.  That  they  do  not  becomes  clear  alike 
from  ver.  25,  and  from  the  circumstance  that  in- 
struction perishes  from  the  priest,  and  counsel 
from  the  elders.  Comp.  Jer.  xviii.  18  ^Luke 
xxi.  25).  To  the  threefold  class  in  ver.  26  we 
have  a  corresponding  parallel  in  Ver.  27,  the 
king — the  prince  of  the  tribe — the  people  in  the 
land;  and  to  the  want  of  counsel  corresponds  the 
failure  in  action.     It  is  a  national  ruin.     (As  to 

^3Kr;\   see  Gesek.   Gramm.  §  53,  Obs.)     {^2^, 

a  well-known  figurative  mode  of  expression  for 
beiTig  covered  with  and  wrapt  up  in  terror,  just 
as   in  the   case  of  the  king  it  is  a  deep  siknt 

viourning  that  is  meant  (73^).  For  '<TV  comp. 
ver.  1"  {rxc-ifiitx;  x'-Ts^'i  Heb.  xii.  12).  Like 
their  conduct  will  God's  dealing  with  them  be, 
drawn  from  it,  regulated  in  accordance  with 
it.  As  to  DmS.  see  Ew.  Gramm.  %  264,  6. 
Dn'ODCMI.  Hengst.  :  "with  judgments  which 
correspond 'to  t'heir  deeds,  "and  so  Ew.  also,  and 
others.  Better  :  according  to  what  is  right  in 
r'/eretice   to  them.     Instead  of  3  there  is  also 


the  reading  3  (ver.  3).  With  the  well-knowa 
(ch.  vi.  14,  v.  15)  refrain  'lj;Tl,  the  two  dis- 
courses of  rebuke  in  ch.  vi.  and  vii.  come  to  a 
close. 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  We  have  before  us  in  this  chapter  an  Old 
Testament  pattern  for  the  awe-inspiring  Die6 
irce,  dies  ilia,  the  so-called  "gigantic  hymn" 
(comp.  Zeph.  i.  14  sqq. ).  What  Fr.  v.  Meyet 
says  of  the  latter  may  be  uttered  also  of  this 
chapter  of  our  prophet :  "  With  the  man  who  is 
so  insensible  that  he  can  read  it  without  alarm 
and  hear  it  without  dread,  I  should  not  like  to 
dwell  under  the  same  roof. " 

2.  The  contents  are  the  same,  ever  the  same. 
The  drops  fall  without  intermission  on  the  stone, 
the  heart  of  Israel.  Unbelief  has  just  the  cha- 
racteristic either  that  it  believes  in  no  punish- 
ment at  all  (2  Pet.  iii.  3  sq. ),  or  that  its  frivolous 
mind  knows  beforehand  that  what  will  come  will 
certainly  not  be  so  severe  nor  last  so  long.  And 
therefore  God  does  not  grudge  to  tell,  us  over 
and  over  again  our  ineritable  destiny,  and  also  to 
push  it  ever  nearer  to  us.  The  enduring  mean- 
ing as  well  as  application  of  our  chapter  may  be 
expressed  in  this  way,  that  the  end  of  those 
things  in  which  they  place  their  trust,  and  in 
which  they  find  their  satisfaction,  is  to  be  held  up 
before  the  false  security  of  the  men  of  this  workl 
on  every  side.     Respire  finem. 

3.  "Sin  has  an  active  and  a  passive  history. 
When  the  latter  begins,  tlien  what  was  formerly 
an  object  of  pleasure  becomes  an  object  of  dread  " 
(Hengst.).  "  On  the  day  of  judgment  the 
abominations  stand  in  Israel's  midst  not  in  their 
alluring,  seductive  form,  but  with  all  the  woe 
which  comes  in  their  train  "  (Hav.). 

4.  "  God  does  indeed  punish  the  sinner  from 
moment  to  moment  in  his  ccmscience,  but,  so  far 
as  outward  experience  is  concerned.  He  causes 
him  to  learn  the  error  of  his  way  at  first  only  in 
omens  of  the  most  gently  threatening  character, 
so  to  speak,  by  means  of  passing,  dimly  visible 
angels  of  warning.  In  this  way  He  gives  him 
great  scope  for  freely  bethinking  himself  and  for 
returning  of  his  own  free-will,  or  else  for  com- 
plering  of  his  own  free-will  his  experience  of  the 
ruin  which  lies  on  his  path  of  bondage.  But  in 
this  way  the  divine  long-sutfering  is  revealed, 
which  gives  the  sinner  time  lor  repentance.  The 
picture  of  this  long-suffering  of  God  is  furnished 
by  the  three  years  of  Christ's  ministry.  Then  at 
the  end  of  its  lingering  the  long-sutfering  steps 
into  the  background  behind  the  divme  wrath" 
(Lanoe). 

5.  The  love  of  God  and  its  ultimate  aim  in  re- 
demption is  resisted  in  particular  by  the  folly  of 
the  sinner,  which  pursues  as  its  object  deliver- 
ance from  misery,  and  that  the  misery  which  at 
any  time  happens  to  be  present,  and  in  self- 
righteousness  sets  itself  against  deliverance  Ironi 
sin,  sometimes  by  disputing  the  causal  nexus  of 
sin  and  misery  as  punishment,  sometimes  by  the 
denial  of  sin  altogether.  The  redeeming  love  of 
God,  therefore,  cannot  make  itself  known,  in 
opposition  to  man's  vain  imagination,  in  any 
way  more  practical  and  concrete  than,  first  of  all, 
by  means  of  the  zeal  of  divine  ^vrath.  In  view 
of  the  aim,  viz.  redemption,  and  as  being  divine, 
this  zeal  of  wrath  is  not  merely  a  thing  of  the 


102 


EZEKIEL. 


0.  T.,  but  not  less  expres&ly  belongs  to  the  N.  T. 
it  is  reilenipiive  inivsmui'li  as,  through  retribu- 
tive visitation  by  means  of  punishment,  not  only 
Joes  God,  who  has  vanished  from  the  eonscious- 
uess  of  the  self-righteous  man  —  self-righteous 
although  both  a  sinner  and  a  ilebtor — reveal 
Himself,  but  man  also  by  this  means  is  to  become 
free  from  the  hurtful  delusion  of  "envious  gods," 
of  a  "  blind  fate,"  of  an  arbitrary  "  necessity  of 
nature."  Judgments  like  that  on  Judah  and 
Jerusalem  are  therefore,  besides  being  divine,  of 
a  redemptive  character.  There  is  an  effort  after 
salvation  in  such  crises,  and  at  all  events  in  the 
biblical  wrath  of  God  there  is  more  of  the  wisdom 
of  love  than  in  the  common  assertion  that  a  God 
who  is  angry  is  a  God  who  does  not  love. 

6.  The  tragic  truth  of  the  history  of  the  world, 
and  especially  of  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  celebrates  in  those  epoch-making  cata- 
strophes, which  are  the  emblems  of  the  last 
judgment,  the  truth  of  the  idea  of  God's  zeal  in 
wrath,  of  this  fatal  curse  of  sin. 

7.  Where  God  is  seen  angry  in  Holy  Scripture, 
there  we  have  no  mere  personification  of  divine 
righteousness,  but  the  personality  of  the  Holy 
and  Just  One  revealing  itself;  there  there  can  be 
no  reference  to  human  passion  ;  there,  in  fact,  we 
have  divine  compassion.  The  form  of  sinfulness  is 
just  as  little  an  essential  and  necessary  element 
in  wrath  as  in  love. 

8.  However  anthropomorphic  the  stamp  it  may 
wear,  God's  wrath  is  no  less  truly  a  part  of  His 
nature,  by  means  of  which  the  absolute  an- 
tagonism of  His  spirit  and  will  to  sin  is  expressed 
from  the  innermost  energy  of  His  holiness.  It  is 
not  the  ebullition  of  an  impure  love  for  unright- 
eousness, as  is  the  case  with  the  wrath  of  man, 
but  it  is  the  necessary  (unless  God  chooses  to 
deny  Himself)  reaction  and  opposition  of  His 
holy  love  for  righteousness.  In  the  operations  of 
divine  wrath,  therefore,  the  holy  will  of  God  is 
revealed  in  its  character  of  righteousness  by 
means  of  righteous  judgment,  which  recompenses 
the  sinner  according  to  his  own  works. 

9.  The  continuance  of  a  nation  depends  not 
only  on  the  usual  material  conditions,  but  on 
ideal  powers  of  life,  which,  when  despised,  show 
themselves  to  be  powers  of  death. 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  2  sqq.  God's  grace  has  indeed  no  end,  is 
an  everlasting  grace,  but  its  manifestation  and 
our  consciousness  of  it  may  come  to  an  end, 
which  at  the  same  time  announces  a  perfecting 
in  what  is  evil. — "What  had  begun  in  the  ten 
tribes  was  completed  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  " 
(B.  B.). — "What  is  long  hidden  is  not  remitted. 
The  longer  God  delays  with  punishment,  the 
heavier  it  is  "  (W.). — "  The  end  as  respects  God's 
long-suffering;  then,  in  respect  of  the  land,  with 
which  it  had  not  yet  come  to  the  end ;  lastly,  the 
completion  of  the  punishments"  (Cooc. ). — The 
end:  a  universal  end  (not  only  of  Israel,  but  as 
of  Israel,  so  of  every  man  and  of  the  whole  world) ; 
a/earful  end  (if  under  tlie  wrath  of  God  accord- 
ing to  onr  abominations) ;  an  inevitable  end  (how- 
ever safe  we  seem,  however  thoughtlessly  we 
think  and  speak). — "  God  has  his  Now  (Luke 
xix.  42),  which  is,  of  course,  hid  from  our  eyes 
knd  minous,  if  we  have  not  regarded  the  Now  of 
rar  merciful  visitation  "  (Stck.). — "  So  also  in 


respect  of  antichristianity,  which  h:is  apreaj 
among  the  people  of  the  New  Testament,  its,  einl 
is  fixed,  when  God  will  lay  upon  it  all  its  abon-i- 
nations,  and  will  pour  out  His  vials  of  wrath  ' 
(B.  B.). — He  th.at  is  secure  says:  Soul,  tak.: 
thine  ease  ;  but  God  says  :  This  night  thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee  (Luke  xii.  19,  20). — 
What  an  awakening  call  for  every  sinner  1  Th? 
end  comes,  alike  of  pleasure  and  of  life.—  "  If 
the  sinner  will  not  awake,  then  the  punishment 
must  awake"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  9.  "It  was  not  strokes 
of  fate  or  the  like  they  were  to  perceive  therein, 
but  God's  hand  and  smiting"  (Coco.). — Every 
one  must  know  the  Lord  in  the  end,  if  not  as  ou3 
that  calls,  allures,  blesses,  then  as  one  that  smites, 
is  angry,  punishes. — "  Let  the  sinner  know  that 
he  binds  for  himself  the  rod  which  will  smite 
him"  (.\  L. ). 

Ver.  11.  "  Tyrants  are  God's  scourges  "(0.). — 
Ver.  12  sq.  "  As  for  the  pious  an  hour  of  help 
is  promised,  so  for  the  transgressor  an  hour  of 
destruction  strikes"  (SrcK.). — God's  judgment* 
sometimes  remove  the  distinction  arising  from 
prosperity  and  possession,  and  make  men  alike. 
— Ver.  14.  "  What  avails  the  trumpet,  and  of 
what  use  all  weapons  and  every  preparation,  i( 
the  Lord  departs  from  a  people,  from  a  city,  from 
an  army?" — "Courage  is  also  God's  gift,  as  we 
see  in  the  case  of  Gideon,  Samson,  Uavid,  and 
others." — "Where  God's  terrors  aj-e  at  work, 
there  neither  counsel,  nor  call,  nor  deed  gives  help  " 
(Stck.). — "  In  vain  do  men  blow  the  trumpet, 
if  that  of  the  Supreme  Judge  makes  itself  heard  " 
(U.MBK.).  —  Ver.  15.  War,  pestilence,  famine, 
these  three  remain  down  even  to  the  end,  and  are 
bound  up  with  one  another. — "  The  sinner  would 
fain  flee  or  hide  himself"  (SrcK.). — "God  can 
find  thee  everywhere"  (B.  15.). — Ver.  16.  "Re- 
flect that  thou  also  must  one  day  leave  every- 
thing, and  see  to  it  that  thou  keep  a  good  con- 
science "  (Stck.). — "  So,  many  kinds  of  sighs  are 
heard  in  the  world.  But  the  best  are  the  un- 
utterable ones,  wherewith  God's  Spirit  Himself 
makes  intercession  for  believers,  Rom.  vui.  26  " 
(B.  B.). — "Late  repentance  is  seldom  true  re- 
pentance" (Stck.). — Ver.  17.  "The  hands  and 
knees  of  believers  also  do  indeed  sometimes  be- 
come weary,  but  they  kuow  where  to  strengthen 
them"  (St.).  — Ver.  18.  If -the  inward  return  is 
wanting,  God  knows  well  how  to  enforce  the  out- 
ward ;  and  that  even  as  far  as  to  bring  about 
the  public  confession  of  the  fault,  as  may  be  seen, 
surely,  in  the  case  of  Judas. 

Ver.  19.  How  can  one  have  such  eager  desire 
after  what  he  will  at  another  time  cast  from  him 
in  such  cold  blood? — "  God  is  the  only  true  and 
abiding  treasure  which  is  to  be  sought"  (Stck.). 
— "  Oh,  if  one  were  only  betimes  to  cast  it  out  of 
his  heart,  that  it  might  not  make  him  unjust, 
covetous,  and  ungodly  !  "  (B.  B.).  — "  Would  that 
this  were  written  on  the  doors,  yea,  in  the  hearts 
of  all  the  avaricious,  and  the  rich,  and  those 
eagerly  desirous  of  riches,  that  golil  and  silver 
will  not  be  able  to  save  in  the  day  of  WTath,  and 
in  the  hour  of  death,  and  at  the  day  of  judgment! 
What  has  been  sought  after  with  so  great  pains, 
scraped  together  with  much  injustice,  guarded 
with  the  greatest  care,  that  leaves  its  possessor 
comfortless  and  heliiless  when  he  most  needs 
help,  and  leaves  him  lying  on  his  sick-bed  in  his 
pains,  and  can  rescue  him  neither  from  the  enemy. 
nor  from  the  sick-bed,  nor  from  death,  much  less 


CHAP.  vin. 


lOS 


make  him  blessed"  (B.  B.).— Vers.  19,  20.  Tho 
danger  of  riches :  in  the  false  estimate  of  theiu, 
in  the  abuse  of  tliem. — The  final  judgment  on 
riches  :  how  it  will  take  place  (by  means  of  the 
rich  themselves,  and  before  God  and  men)  ;  by 
what  means  it  is  incurred  (through  pride  and 
idolatry). — "  How  many  would  have  been  happy 
in  this  world,  and  blessed  in  the  world  to  come, 
if  they  had  not  been  rich!" — Ver.  20.  What 
adorns  is  also  easily  soiled.  —  What  ought  to 
humble  man  for  the  most  part  makes  him  so 
much  the  more  proud. — Self-seeking  the  source 
of  all  abuse  of  earthly  blessings,  as  well  as  of  the 
neglect  and  contempt  of  heavenly  blessings.  — 
"This  is  ingratitude,  to  misuse  such  gilts  of 
God  for  pride,  for  e.xtravagance,  for  mere  finery, 
and  for  idolatry"  (H.  H.).— Ver.  21.  "Our 
worldly  possessions  are  not  ours,  but  God'?,  who 
can  do  with  them  how  and  what  He  will." — 
"God  employs  for  the  carrying  out  of  His  judg- 
ments heretics  and  ungodly  men,  in  order  that 
those  whom  He  punishes  by  this  means  may  be 
the  more  |)ained  that  they  had  falsely  boasted  of 
the  true  religion  "  (St.  ).  — Ver.  22.  The  face  of 
God  the  consecration  of  our  life  :  our  free  upward 
look  to  it,  its  gracious  look  on  us.  — These  are  the 
critical  turnings  in  the  life  of  the  individual  and 
of  whole  nations,  the  turnings  of  the  divine  face. 
— The  profanation  by  the  enemy  is,  alas !  always 
preceded  by  the  profanation  on  the  part  of  the 
friends. — God  protects  Himself  against  His  friends 
by  means  of  His  enemies.  —  What  a  sign  the 
profanation  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  temple  for 


all  high  -  churchism,  still  so  splendid  and  ostenta- 
tious ! 

Ver.  23.  God  makes  various  chains  ;  even  that 
of  Paul  had  been  made  by  Him. — "First  trans- 
gression is  linked  to  transgression ;  then  comej 
the  chain  of  the  wrath  of  God  ;  at  last  come  the 
chiiv.s  of  darkness"  (Stck.). — Ver.  24.  Pride 
comes  before  a  fall,  and  after  tte  fall  come  the 
sufferings. — Woe  be  to  us  when  'our  sanctuaries 
are  nothing  but  our  sanctuaries  ! — -Ver.  25.  "  Men 
often  delay  so  long  till  death  comes,  before  they 
trouble  themselves  about  their  spiritual  peace. 
Oh,  how  easily  it  may  come  about,  that  they  are 
snatched  away  by  death  before  they  obtain  that 
peace!"  (St.). — The  danger  of  the  death-bed. — 
In  order  that  we  may  be  able  to  seek  it  early, 
God's  salvation  is  there  for  us  even  before  our 
birth. — Vers.  26,  27.  "  On  God  depends  the  weal 
and  woe  of  states  "  (Stck.). — "  Famine  as  regards 
the  word  of  God  is  at  such  a  time  the  heaviest 
punishment  of  all"  (Or.). — "  Th.at  is  the  most 
terrible  judgment,  when  God  does  not  permit  the 
light  of  His  word  any  longer  to  shine,  and  allows 
us  to  sink  into  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  be- 
cause it  is  a  strong  comfort,  even  in  the  greatest 
sutl'ering,  when  the  Lord  sheds  light  upon  us 
with  His  word"  (H.  H.).—"  Therefore  David 
prays  :  See  if  1  be  on  any  wicked  way,  Ps.  cxxxix. " 
(Stck.). — In  the  end,  out  of  all  the  ways  of  men, 
and  in  accordance  with  their  own  desert,  God's 
truth  and  righteousness  come  to  light. — "This  is 
life  eternal,  to  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  John 
xvii.  3"  (Stck.). 


Ill,  THE  SUBSEQUENT  EXECUTION  OF  DIVINE  COMMISSIONS.— Ch.  viii.-xxiv. 

1.  The  Vision  (Ch.  viii.-xi.). 
1.   Hie  Abominations  in  the  Temple  (Ch.  viii.). 

1  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  sixth  year,  in  the  sixth  [month],  on  the  fifth  of  the 
month — I  was  in  my  house,  and  the  elders  of  Judah  were  before  me,  and  there 

2  fell  upon  me  the  hand  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  I  saw,  and  lo  a  likeness  as  the 
appearance  of  fire:  from  the  appearance  of  His  loins  and  downwards,  fire;  and 
from  His  loin.s  and  upwards,  as  the  appearance  of  brightness,  as  the  look  of  the 

3  brightness  of  gold.  And  He  stretched  out  the  form  of  a  haud,  and  took  hold  of 
me  by  the  front  hair  of  my  head,  and  the  Spirit  lifted  me  up  between  the  earth 
and  the  heaven,  and  brought  me  to  Jerusalem  in  visions  of  God,  to  the  opening 
of  the  door  of  the  inner  [court]  that  points  toward  the  north,  where  is  the  seat  of 

4  the  [iiioi]  image  of  jealousy,  which  provoketh  to  jealousy.     And,  behold,  there  the 

5  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel,  like  the  vision  which  I  saw  in  the  valley.  And  He  said 
unto  me  :  Son  of  man,  lift  up  now  thine  eyes  toward  the  north.  And  I  lilted  up 
mine  eyes  toward  the  north,  and  behold  on  the  north  at  [nonhward  of]  the  gate  of 

6  the  altar  that  [idoi-]  image  of  jealousy  at  the  entrance.  And  He  said  unto  me : 
Son  of  man,  seest  thou  what  they  are  doing  ]  great  abominations  that  the  house 
of  Israel  doeth  here,  in  order  to  be  far  from  My  sanctuary  !     And  yet  again  shah 

7  thou  see  great  abominations.     And  He  brought  me  to  the  opening  of  the  court. 

8  and  I  saw,  and  behold  a  hole  in  the  wall.  And  He  said  unto  me  :  Son  of  man. 
break  now  through  the  wall.     And  I  broke  through  the  wall,  and  behold  iin 

9  opening.    And  He  said  unto  me :  Come  and  see  the  wicked  abominations  that  thej' 

10  are  doing  here.     And  I  came  and  saw;  and  behold  every  (every  kind  of)  form  of 
creeping  things  and  beasts,  abomination,  and  of  all  the  (all  kinds  of  the)  dung-gods 

11  of  the  house  of  Israel,  portrayed  (painted)  upon  the  wall  round  and  round.     And 
there  stood  before  them  seventy  men  of  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and 


104 


EZEKIEL. 


Jaazaniah  the  son  of  Shaphan  standing  in  their  midst,  and  every  one  liis  censer 

12  in  his  hand,  and  vapour  of  the  cloud  of  the  incense  rising  up.  And  He  said  unto 
me :  Hast  thou  seen,  son  of  man,  what  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Israel  are 
doing  in  the  dark,  each  one  in  his  chambers  of  imagery?  for  they  say,  Jehovah 

13  seeth  us  not ;  Jehovah  hath  forsaken  the  land.    And  He  said  unto  me:  Yet  again 

14  shalt  thou  see  great  abominations  that  they  are  doing.  And  He  brought  me  t« 
the  opening  of  the  gate  of  the  house  of  Jehovah  which  was  toward  the  north; 

15  and,  behold,  there  sat  the  women  weeping  for  Tammuz.  And  He  said  unto  me  : 
Hast  thou  seen,  son  of  man?  Yet  again  shalt  thou  see  abominations  greater 
than  these.  And  He  brought  me  to  the  court  of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  the  inner 
one,  and,  behold,  at  the  opening  of  the  temple  of  Jehovah  between  the  porch 
and  the  altar  about  five-and-twenty  men,  their  backs  to  the  temple  of  Jehovah 
and  their  faces  toward  the  east,  and  they  bowing  themselves  toward  the  east 
before  the  sun.  And  He  said  unto  me  :  Hast  thou  seen,  son  of  man  ]  Was  it 
[viz  ver.  16]  E  lighter  thing  for  the  house  of  Judah  than  to  do  the  abominations 
which  they  [vers,  s-is]  have  done  here?  for  they  filled  the  land  with  violence,  and 
returned  to  provoke  Me  to  anger,  and  [there],  lo,  they  stretch  out  the  vine-branch 
to  their  nose.  And  [but]  I  also  will  deal  in  fury;  Mine  eye  shall  not  spare,  neither 
will  I  show  pity;  and  if  they  cry  in  Mine  ears  with  loud  voice,  then  I  will  not  hear. 


16 


17 


18 


nti»h- 


Ver.    1.  Sept. :  .  .  .  ty  t  -xifj^rm  fjiwi — 

Ver.    2.  Sept.  and  Arab,  read:   B"K'nNnD3- — Anoth.  read.:  C'K   nSIOS 
Ver.    3.  .  .  .  Toi;  CrAsw  t«u  xtu/^kcv  (Sept  and  Arab,  from  flip). — Anoth.  read.:  nS"ID3,   in  visione.     Sei*, 
Vnlg.,  >yr.,  Chald.,  Ar. 

Ver.    6.  .   .  .  «.  tTi  6^»j  aputprms  fjLutavx;. 
Ver.     9.   .  .   .  iSt  criutpov. 
Ver.  12.  .  .  .  troievfft  6jhl,  ixccffTo; — 
Ver.  14.  Vulg. ;  plangentes  Adonidem. 

Ver.  16.  Anoth.  read. :  O'lnntTO.  .,     ,        . 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  fJ.^  fjuxpat.  Ttn  CLXtu  'Iov2a   leu  rrum   rcte    ayo/Meit  a(    ^iTeivixectrtv  wSt,   dioTi  ifrkr.rat  ...;*.  >6ov  . 
\MrU*iiUfftv  T   *A*)jtwt  *J  f^xTripiZo^it;. 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Of  the  abominations  which  come  to  be  repre- 
sented in  this  vision  of  our  prophet  there  are 
four:  (1)  after  an  introduction  (vers.  1-4),  the 
image  of  jealousy,  vers.  5,  6 ;  (2)  the  uMatry  in 
the  secret  place  of  tlie  chambers  of  imagery,  vers. 
7-13;  (3)  the  mourning  for  Tammuz,  vers.  14, 
15  ;  (4)  the  worship  of  the  sun,  with  a  closing 
threatening  of  God,  vers.  16-18.  The  common 
feature  is  the  localizing  of  these  abominations  at 
the  temple.  That  in  this  way  a  really  existing 
state  of  things  connected  with  the  temple  (Ewald) 
is  meant  to  be  reproduced — according  to  Hav.  a 
feast  of  Adonis,  which  had  been  held  in  the  4th 
month  (!)  at  Jerusalem  in  the  temple — is  just  as 
little  to  be  granted  as  it  is  to  be  denied  that  this 
or  that  allusion  to  the  real  state  of  matters  may  find 
a  place  here  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  14).  Disobedience 
toward  Jehovah,  in  common  with  all  Israel's  idol- 
atry, could  not,  at  all  events,  find  a  more  suitable 
symbolical  expression.  For  sin  is  a  profanation 
of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  and  therefore  since  He 
lias  in  the  temple  His  palace  in  the  midst  of 
Israel,  so  much  the  more  is  it  a  profanation  of 
this  dwelling  of  Jehovah,  if  Israel's  sin  is  idolatry, 
since  the  only  place  of  worship  for  Israel  was  to 
be  that  connected  with  the  worship  of  Jehovah  in 
His  temple-palace.  Hengst.  lays  emphasis  on 
the  circumstance  that  the  temple  is  "  the  ideal 
dwelling-place  of  the  people"  (Lev.  xvi.  16),  and 
thus  "every  sin  polluted  the  sanctuary."  "So, 
then,  here  also  all  that  was  present  in  the  land 
of  an  idolatrous  character  is  united  in  a  single 
comprehensive  picture,  and  placed  in  the  temple, 
lo  cry  thence  to  God  and  call  forth  His  ven- 


geance." Neteler  admits  also  "four  idolatrous 
symbols  "  as  "  a  figurative  delineation  of  the  yet 
much  more  dangerous,  more  subtle  idolatry  :  the 
first  picture  a  representation  of  pride,  from  which 
the  passions  spring,  which-  are  refiected  in  the 
animal  forms  of  the  second  picture."  "  As  pride 
lays  waste  the  soul,  so  sensuality  lays  waste  the 
body — represented  by  the  mourning  of  the  women 
for  Tammuz ;  and  this  lordship  of  nature  over 
the  spirit  is  completed  in  materialism,  which 
holds  lifeless  matter  to  be  the  Absolute,  and  wor- 
ships it  accordingly."  Hengst.  thinks  "not  so 
much  of  idolatry  springing  from  aberration  of  the 
religious  instinct,  as  rather  of  a  homage  which 
was  paid  to  the  world-powers,  for  the  purpose  of 
attaining  to  safety  through  their  help  without 
God,  nay,  even  against  God."  At  all  events  it 
corresponds  to  the  symbolical  character  of  the 
whole,  to  recognise  as  symbolized  in  the  number 
four  the  realm  of  heathenism  as  that  of  the  natural 
world  outside  the  kingdom  of  God.  (Kl.iEF.  : 
"that  Israel  has  brought  together  its  religious 
rites  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  spread  them 
throughout  the  whole  land.")  The  connection  of 
our  chapter  with  the  two  discourses  of  rebuke, 
in  ch.  vi.  and  vii.,  is  clear,  especially  from  th» 
comparison  with  ch.  vii.  20  sqq. 

Additional  Note  on  Ch.  viii. 

[A  new  stage  of  the  prophetic  agency  of  Ezekiel, 
and  of  his  spirit-stiiring  communications  to  the 
captives  on  the  banks  of  the  Chebar,  opens  with, 
this  chapter,  and  proceeds  onwards  in  an  uninter- 
rupted strain  to  the  end  of  the  eleventh.  These 
four  chapters  form  one  discourse  (as  the  preceding 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-4. 


105 


portion  had  also  done,  from  ch.  iii.  12  to  the 
closi-  of  eh.  vii. ),  and  a  disuourse  somewhat  more 
specific  iu  its  character  and  bearing,  tlian  the 
revelations  previously  made.  The  vision  of  the 
siege,  and  of  the  iniquity-bearing,  described  in 
ch.  iv.,  had  respect  to  the  covenant-people  gene- 
rally— including,  indeed,  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem, yet  so  as  also  to  comprehend  the  scattered 
portions  of  Judah  and  Israel.  This,  too,  was  the 
case  with  the  vision  of  the  shaven  hair,  and  its 
foreshadowing  desolations,  contained  in  ch.  v.-vii. 
The  burden  there  delivered  was  an  utterance  of 
divine  judgments  against  the  whole  covenant- 
people  on  account  of  sin  ;  because,  having  been 
planted  as  the  witnesses  and  heralds  of  God's 
truth  in  the  midst  of  the  nations,  they  had  them- 
selves fallen  before  the  heathen  corruptions,  which 
it  was  their  special  calling  to  havc-  resisted  to  the 
uttermost.  Therefore,  in  just  retribution  for  the 
betrayal  of  God's  cause  into  the  enemies'  hands, 
the  heathen  were  become  His  instruments  of  ven- 
geance, to  inflict  on  the  whole  house  of  Israel  the 
various  forms  of  a  severe  and  prolonged  chastise- 
ment. But  now,  in  the  section  of  prophecy 
which  commences  with  ch.  viii. ,  the  people  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  small  remnant  of  Judah,  who, 
under  Zedekiah,  continued  to  hold  a  flickering 
existence  in  Canaan,  form  the  immediate  object 
of  the  prophet's  message,  not  only  as  apart  from 
the  Babylonish  exiles,  but  even  as  standing  in  a 
kind  of  contrast  to  them.  And  it  is  of  essential 
moment  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  purport 
of  the  vision  that  we  rightly  apprehend  and 
estimate  the  circumstances  which  led  to  so 
partial  and  specific  a  direction  in  the  mess.ige 
now  delivered.  —  Fairbaihn's  Ezehiel,  pp.  81, 
82.— ■W.  F.] 

Vers.  1-4.   The  Introduction. 

The  date  in  ver.  1 :  in  the  sixth  year,  on  the 
fifth  day  of  the  sixth  month.  (August — Sep- 
temljer. )  The  year  is  that  after  the  captivity  of 
King  Jehoiachin  ;  comp.  ch.  i.  2.  ("  By  means 
of  such  a  reckoning  He  humbles  the  Jews, "  Calv.  ) 
The  year  of  Israel  (Winer,  Realw.  i.  530  sq.)  is 
reckoned  at  354J  days,  each  of  the  twelve  months 
at  29-30  days.  From  eh.  i.  1  sqq.  to  ch.  viii.  1 
there  are  14  months  =  413  days,  as  a  medium 
between  406  and  420.  But  we  need  according  to 
ch.  iv. :  390  plus  40  days,  to  whii^h,  according  to 
ch.  iii.  15,  seven  days  more  are  to  be  added,  thus 
in  all  437  days.  As  it  is  inconceivable  (so  also 
Hitz.)  that  with  a  date  so  precise  Ezekiel  should 
have  been  guilty  of  an  inaccuracy  so  easily  avoided, 
a.  Jotirfold  solution  is  possible.  (1)  Either  the 
symbolical  actions  in  ch.  iv.  v.  are  subjective,  or 
a  mere  rhetorical  turn  (Hav.,  Hengst.,  Hitz., 
Eeil):  in  this  case  every  diSiculty  disappears. 
1,2)  Or  we  may  include  the  40  days  for  Judah  in 
the  390  (oomp.  on  ch.  iv.  6,  9),  and  get  in  this 
way  the  necessary  days.  (3)  Or  the  fifth  year  of 
Jehoiachin  was  an  intercalarj'  year  of  13  months, 
as  such  usually  occurred  every  3  years,  some- 
times also  even  with  the  2d  year  (J.  D.  Mich.)  ; 
and  then  there  are  reckoned  for  it  (Relandi,  Ant. 
Sacr.  iv.  §  ii.)  381-385  dnys plus  2  months  (58-60 
days),  in  all,  439-445  days.  (4)  Or,  lastly,  our 
vision/alls  into  th^  40  days/or  Judah  (comp.  on 
ch.  iv.  12),  as  Kliefoth's  view  is,  against  which  Keil's 
objections  have  no  force.  And  not  only  the  con- 
tents, but  also  the  circumstances  accord  there- 


with. First  of  all  the  p/oce  .■  in  my  house;  comp 
on  ch.  iii.  24.  3tJ'T  does  not  necessarily  indicatfj 
the  posture  as  one  of  sitting,  in  contrast  with 
lyinginch.  iv.,  since  3^  means  radically  :  to  be 
fixed  somewhere  (hence  :  to  dwell,  to  tarry,  to  re- 
main) and  some/joio;  hence  :  to  sit,  also :  to  lie,  as 
well  as:  to  stand  13C1D.  vpr-  3).  Then,  fiirther, 
the  representatives  of  the  parties  addressed,  to 
whom  the  prophetic  vision  is  directod  (ver.  17), 
correspond  :  the  elders  of  Judah,  of  the  captivity. 
That  it  took  place  on  the  Sabbath,  that  they  had 
come  to  hear  a  sermon,  is  not  said.  Comp. 
rather  on  ch.  iii.  24.  According  to  Ewald,  they 
were  seeking  comfort  and  advice,  especially  on 
account  of  the  bitter  contempt  of  the  poor  exiles 
on  the  part  of  the  proud,  intoxicated  capital. 

Additional  Note  on  Oh.  viii. 

[No  express  reason  is  assigned  for  their  sitting 
there,  though  we  can  have  little  doubt  that  it 
was  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  from  his  lips 
some  communication  of  the  divine  will.  The 
Lord  also  was  present,  to  impart  suitable  aid  to 
His  servant ;  but,  lo  !  instead  of  prompting  him 
to  address  his  speech  directly  to  those  before  him, 
the  Spirit  carried  him  away  in  the  visions  of  God 
to  the  terajde  at  Jerusalem,  that  he  might  obtain 
an  insight  into  the  state  of  corruption  prevalent 
there,  and  might  learn  the  mind  of  God  respect- 
ing it.  The  message  delivered  to  the  eldei-s  who 
sat  around  him  consisted  mainly  in  the  report 
of  what  he  witnessed  and  heard  in  those  divine 
visions;  and  it  falls  into  two  parts, — the  account 
given  of  the  reigning  abominations  contained  in 
ch.  viii.,  and  the  dealings  of  judgment  and  of 
mercy  which  were  to  be  pursued  toward  the  re- 
spective parties  in  Israel,  as  unfolded  in  the  thiee 
succeeding  chapters. 

Now,  what  should  have  led  the  prophet  to 
throw  his  message  into  such  a  form  as  this,  but 
that  some  connection  existed  between  the  exiles 
of  Chebar  and  the  remnant  in  Jerusalem,  which 
made  the  report  of  what  more  immediately  be- 
longed to  the  one  a  seasonable  and  instrucrive 
communication  to  the  other  ?  We  formerly  had 
occasion  to  norice,  that  among  the  exiled  portion 
there  were  some  who  still  looked  hopefully  to- 
ward Jerusalem,  and,  so  far  from  believing  things 
there  to  be  on  the  verge  of  ruin,  were  persuaded 
that  ere  long  the  way  would  be  opened  up  for 
their  own  return  thither  in  peace  and  comfort. 
Among  those  also  who  were  still  resident  in 
Jerusalem  and  its  neighbourhood,  it  appears, 
there  were  some  who  not  only  looked  upon  them- 
selves as  secure  in  their  position,  but  eyed  their 
exiled  brethren  with  a  kind  of  haughty  indiffer- 
ence or  contempt,  as  if  these  had  no  longer  any- 
thing in  common  with  them  !  That  it  was 
this  latter  state  of  feeling  which  more  immedi- 
ately led  to  the  present  interview  between  the 
elders  and  the  prophet,  and  the  revelations  which 
ensued,  we  may  not  doubtfully  gather  from  the 
allusion  made  to  -it  near  the  close  of  the  vision 
(ch.  xi.  15) — where  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
are  represented  as  saying  to  the  exiles,  "Get  you 
far  (rather.  Be  ye  far,  continue  in  your  state  of 
separarion  and  distance)  from  the  Lord;  unto  us 
is  this  laud  given  in  possession."  As -much  as  to 
say,  "  It  may  well  befit  you  to  be  entertaining 
thoughts  of  evil  and  dark  forebodings  of  the 
future  ;  your  outcast  condition  cuts  you  off  from 


106 


EZEKIEL. 


any  proper  interest  in  God,  and  renders  such  sad 
anticipations  natural  and  just.  Abide  as  you 
are— but  as  for  us,  we  dwell  near  to  God,  and  by 
His  good  hard  upon  us  have  the  city  and  land  of 
our  fathers  in  sure  possession.  It  is  not  impro- 
bable that  this  taunting  declaration  of  their  own 
fancied  .superiority  and  assured  feeling  of  safety 
had  been  called  "forth  by  the  tidings  reaching 
Jerusalem  of  the  awful  judgments  announced  in 
Ezekiel's  earlier  predictions ;  as,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  express  and  pointed  reference  made 
here  to  that  declaration  leaves  little  room  to 
doubt  that  the  rumour  of  it  had  been  heard  on 
the  banks  of  the  Chebar,  and  had  led  the  elders 
of  JuJah  to  present  themselves  in  the  house  of 
the  prophet.  For,  in  their  unhappy  circum- 
.stanoes,  the  knowledge  of  such  thoughts  and 
feelings  being  entertained  toward  them  at  Jeru- 
salem must  have  exercised  a  most  depressing  in- 
fluence on  their  minds,  and  could  not  but  seem 
an  adequate  occasion  for  their  endeavouring  to 
ascertain  the  mind  of  the  Lord  as  between  them 
and  their  countrymen  in  Judea. — Fairbairn's 
Ezfhiel,  pp.  82-84.— W.  F.] 

According  to  Hengst.,  the  "  rousing  political 
intelligence  "  had  arrived,  that  Elam  and  Jledia 
have  joined  the  coalition  !  As  to  the  rest,  comp. 
on  eh.  i.  3,  iii.  22,  U.  Klief. ;  "the  hand, 
etc.,  because,  again,  the  matter  in  hand  was  not 
revelation  in  word,  but  action." — Ver.  2.  The 
vision,  going  back  and  attaching  itself  to  what 
goes  before,  begins,  like  ch.  i.  and  iii.,  with  a 
theophany.  Comp.  on  ch.  i.  4,  5.  B'S.  from 
ch.  i.  onwards,  characteristic,  hence  also  the  first 
impression  which  Ezekiel  receives;  comp.  ch.  i. 
27.  The  Sept.  read,  or  gave  as  an  explanation, 
tya,  of  couree  from  the  mention  of  the  loins, 
etc.  It  looked  for  the  most  part  like  (nS"lD3) 
lire,  yet  there  was  not  wanting  upwards  int. 
the  brighter  splendour  (Dan.  xii.  3).  (Ch.  ix.  4.) 
As  to  the  rest,  comp.  on  ch.  i.  4,  27. — nPDtJTin 
(EwALD,  Gt-am.  %  173,  h,  1).— Ver.  3.  From  the 
fire-picture  there  is  stretched  the  n'33n  (from 
n33.  to  build,  to  form)  of  a  hand.  As  always, 
th^  riijiirative  expression  emphasized  as  contrasted 
with  the  spirituality  of  God.  (Junius:  the  hand 
is  the  Spirit,  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son  ;  comp.  ilatt.  xii.  28  with  Luke 
xi.  20.)  Hence  not  in  a  corporeal  sense  (There- 
fore rni.  not  "wind"  [Klief.,  Kl.];  comp.  on 

ch.  iii.  12) ;  ch.  xi.  24 ;  as  also  QTlpX  niN^Oi 
comp.  on  ch.  i.  1.  Clarius  notices  the  difference 
between  this  passage  and  ch.  xl.  1  sqq.  Thus 
far  the  manner  of  the  occurrence,  now  the  direc- 
linn  taken  :  in  general  to  Jerusalem,  in  particular 
to  the  spot  where  (he  gate  of  the  inner  cotirt  of  the 
temple  (the  court  of  the  priefsts,  for  which  the 
"  priest "  Ezekiel  uses  merely  n'O'JSn,  viz. 
^V^.  vers.  7,  16  ;  the  fern.  gen.  would  agree 
neither  with  nnS  nor  with  -|yt^',  whereas  ivn 
is  com.  gen.)  opened  (nnQ\  looking  toward  the 

north.  This  court  of  the  priests  was  (Jer.  xxxvi. 
iO)  on  a  higher  level  than  the  great  court  or  the 
court  of  the  people.  The  partition-wall  between 
the  twu  was  (in  order  to  allow  of  the  people  look- 
ing on,  of  so  little  consequence,  that  in  2  Chron. 
iv.  9  there  is  no  mention  of  the  gates  in  it.  The 
opening  of  the  gate  is  not  toward  the  court  of  the 
ftople,  so  that  the  position  of  the  spectator,  as 


was  also  suitable  for  the  priest,  is  taken  fro7n  tht 
inner  court.  nOIQX  (comp.  on  ch.  i.  4),  in  thi.-, 
direction,  hence  northward  we  are  to  understand 
Df^K'S-  Hesgst.  :  "from  the  north  the  pun- 
ishment was  to  come  ;  this  position  was  an  actual 
summons  to  the  north  to  send  forth  its  avenging 
hosts  ;  possibly  also  a  reference  to  the  sin  already 
committed,  the  political  adulteries  of  Jenisalem 
with  the  northern  power  Babylon,  against  which 
they  alternately  conspired  and  then  again  sought 
to  gain  it  over,  as  Zedekiah,  in  the  same  year  in 
which  he  had  treated  with  Edom,  Moab,  etc., 
against  Babylon,  suddenly  made  ott'  again  to 
Babylon,  Jer.  li.  59."  Or  the  expression  north- 
wards points  out  the  principal  tendency  of  Jewish 
idolatry  (Hos.  ii.  18  [16]),  viz.  towards  Bel  (Baal, 
of  the  Babylonians,  who  were,  of  course,  in  the 
north,  or  properly  in  the  north-east.  The  image 
of  jealousy,  which,  perhaps,  ou  this  very  account 
is  mentioned  just  here  (comp.  ver.  5),  is,  on  the 

one  hand,  particularized  by  means  of  ^OD  (some- 
thing covered  over,  an  idol-ixnage  of  that  descrip- 
tion, Deut.  iv.  16),  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
explained  more  generally  by  means  of  rUpDH. 
The  latter  expression  stands  for  {{'Jpsn  (from 
S3p)i  as  is  usually  understood.  Lightfoot  thought 
of  an  image  of  Moloch.  In  the  reign  of  llanasseh 
(2  Kings  xxi.  7)  we  meet  with  the  image  of 
Astiirte,  which  Ewald  conjectures  here,  from  the 
circumstance  that  love  is  allied  to  jealousy.  Al- 
though with  an  allusion  to  an  existing  state  of 
things  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  14),  yet,  in  accordance 
with  the  symbolic  character  of  the  whole  vision, 
resting  much  more  on  the  basis  of  Deut.  x.xxii. 
16,  21,  Ex.  XX.  5  (comp.  Ezek.  v.  13,  xvi.  38, 
xxiii.  25),  and  agreeably  to  the  ill-pervading  re- 
presentation of  the  relation  of  Jehovah  and  Israel, 
we  may  perhaps  with  Hengst.  (Warburton) 
have  to  think  of  an  "ideal  concentration  of  all 
idolatrous  jiractice-t,"  and  these  as  they  were  in 
vogue,  in  the  first  place,  among  the  people  in 
general;  hence  the  image  in  the  court  of  the 
peoplf.  With  this  also  corresponds  admirably  in 
ver.  4  the  so  characteristic  antithesis  of  the  glory, 
etc.  Comp.  ch.  iii.  22,  23,  i.  4,  as  well  as  in  our 
chapter  vers.  2,  5  ;  farther,  ch.  i.  28,  ix.  3,  xliii. 
3.  zi'V,  as  before  QC-nE'S-  The  God  of  Israel 
He  is  called,  in  contrast  with  "the  gods  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  the  work  of  men's  hands," 
2  Chron   xxxii.  19. 

Vers.  5,  6.    The  Image  ofJeaUmsy. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  virtual  description 
of  the  image,  we  have  the  description  in  so  many 
words  in  ver.  5  ;  but  so  expressive  is  the  thing  of 
itself,  that  Jehovah  needs  only  to  summon  the 
prophet  to  look.  The  direction  repeatedly  given 
is  too  plain  to  admit  of  there  being  any  obscurity 
with  respect  to  the  gate  of  the  altar.  Because 
of  this  being  named,  the  expression  '>  'n  is  used. 

For,  coming  from  the  north,  as  the  "  glory  "  (ver. 
4)  is  to  he  supposed  to  do  (ch.  i.  4),  this  gate  led 
into  the  court  of  the  priests,  where  Ezekiel  has 
taken  up  his  position  (ver.  3),  and  where  the 
brazen  altar  of  burnt-oH'ering  was,  in  reference  to 
which  (ch.  ix.  2)  the  name  "  gate  of  the  altar  " 
(perhaps  with  an  allusion  to  2  Kings  xvi.  14)  is 
explained ;  wherewith,  at  the  saaie  time,  an  anti- 


CHAP.  \  III.  7-13. 


lOV 


thesi.'s  of  the  image  of  jealousy  might  again  be 
hinteil  .it.  Others  {e.rj.  Kimchi)  have  thought 
of  the  altar  of  the  image  (2  Kings  xxi.  4,  5).  At 
the  entrance  of  the  gate,  thus  iu  the  outer  court. 
—  Ver.  6.  Qnj3,  an  emphatic  contraction  in  running 
inteirogatory  speech  ;   DirnD  (Qeri),  sufficiently 

e-vplained  by  what  immediately  follows  (the  house 
of  Israel,  etc. ),  so  that  there  is  no  necessity  for 
maintaining  that  some  were  actually  engaged  in 
worship. — Great  abominations,  ch.  v.  11,  vi.  9, 
is  the  motto,   the  ever-recurring  refrain   of  the 

chapter,  vers.  9,  1.3.  15,  17. — rtpm^,  Ewald, 
Hav. ,  like  most  of  the  ancients,  supply  the 
Speaker  Jehovah:  "in  order  that  I  may  go  far 
ofl'  from  My  sanctuary,"  may  turn  away  fiom 
disgust  (ch.  xi.  23).  He.vgst.  :  "  that  they 
(those  formerly  mentioned)  may  be  removed,  as 
unworthy  of  dwelling  with  the  Lord,  may  be 
driven  out,  as  Aduni  once  was  from  Paradise." 
Hitzig:  "what  ought  to  be  far  away."  As 
pni  means  "  to  be  far  off,"  why  not  render  it  by 
tlie  bare  infinitive  :  merely  in  order  to  be  far  off 
from  My  sanctuary?      The  construction   with 

?W3  (*^^-  ^-  15  ;  Jer.  ii.  5)  makes  them  appear 

as  former  members  of  the  family,  who  in  going 
away  elevate  themselves  above  Him  who  is  en- 
throned in  the  .sanctuary. 

Vers.  7-1 3.   TTie  Idolatry  in  the  Secrecy  of  (he 
Chambers  of  Imagery. 

Although  at  'ij  'jflfl  in  the  preceding  verse  we 
«onnot  exactly  carry  out  the  comparison  by  sup- 
plying a  n?SO  (^s  i"  ^sr.  15),  yet  there  lies  in 
the  Sn  ait'n  niVl  ^^^  preparation  for,  the  inten- 
tion, the  beginning  of  a  climax  in  the  thought. 
In  the  preceding  section  :  the  house  of  Israel, 
in  this  :  its  elders;  this  would  be  a  climax. 
Comp.,  however,  on  ver.  11.  Here  :  in  secret, 
there;  openly;  this,  at  all  events,  is  no  climax. — 
Ver.  7.    W)iere  the  court  opens,  the  inner  one  into 

the  outer,  for  ivnn  nnS"^K  is  manifestly  the 
same  as  'n''D"3Sn  -il't!"  nnB"i'X  in  ver.  3  ;  thus 
neither  the  eastern  principal  door  ;Lir.HTF. , 
Ewald,  Hengst.)  of  the  court  of  the  priests, 
nor  the  northern  exit  of  the  court  of  the  people 
(Hav.,  Hitz.,  Klief.,  Kl.),  in  which  case  men- 
tion is  made  by  some  holding  the  latter  view  of 
porches  with  cells  (2  Kings  xxiii.  11  ;  1  Chron. 
x.xviii.  12 ;  .Jer.  xxxv.  4).  In  favour  of  the 
former  view,  the  absence  of  any  farther  definition 
cannot  be  used  as  an  argument ;  for  while,  after 
enough  had  been  said  in  vers.  3  and  5,  there  was 
no  need  of  any  farther  definition  for  the  well- 
known  nriD.  there  would  certainly  have  been 
need  of  it,  if  all  at  once  the  intention  was  to 
speak  of  the  eastern  door,  as  is  also  expressly 
done  in  eh.  x.  19,  xi.  1.  But  as  regards  the 
other  view,  the  and  He  brought  me  is  no  support, 
as  the  prophet  certainly,  who  is  in  the  inner 
court,  is  brought  also  farther  (of  course  in  vision) 
when  he  now  gets  to  see  the  hole  (Neteler  trans- 
lates :  "a  hole  for  one")  in  the  wall,  viz.  the 
gate  portion  of  the  wall  trhich  divided  the  courts. 
As  he  is  to  go  still  farther,  he  is  commanded  in  Ver. 
8  to  break  through,  to  enlarge  the  hole  which 
•hows  him  the  way  (is  not  "  as  it  were  a  model," 


Heng-st.),  so  that  his  own  person  may  get  through. 
When  this  has  been  done,  an  opening  show,» 
itself,  a  door  or  window,  or  what  opens  up  to  him 
the  glimpse  which  follows.  When — Ver.  9 — he 
has  approached  at  the  divine  summons,  idolatry 
once  more  reveals  itself,  and  that  the  so  peculiar 
anima^worship  of  the  Egyptians,  a  fact  which 
Klief  disputes  without  cause.  According  to  him. 
the  hole  was  in  the  wall  of  the  outer  couit,  ana 
he  makes  the  prophet  break  through  and  discover 
the  pictures,  etc.,  on  the  outside.  In  that  case 
what  was  secret  about  it,  as  it  is  certainly  repre- 
sented to  he  ?  Hitzig  maintains  that  the  worship 
was  in  the  interior  of  the  gate-building,  which 
contained  chambers,  but  ch.  xl.  36  is  no  proof 
for  this  temple.  The  entrance,  Hitzig  supposes, 
was  built  up  during  Josiah's  reformation  in  wor- 
ship. ^Ver.  10.  Comp.  Gen.  i.  24,  ix.  3  ;  Deut. 
iv.  17, 18  ;  Rom.  i.  23.  j»pB»  (ch.  v.  11)  is  con- 
strued by  Ewald,  Hitz.,  Hengst.  in  ap])osition 
with  nonai  :  "  beasts  of  abomination,"  "abomin- 
able beasts,"  since  to  them  was  paid  the  honour 
due  to  the  Creator — according  to  Hitz.,  e.ij.  dogs, 
cats,  etc. ;  Kl.  takes  it  as  in  apposition  with  fifjyt 
also  (according  to  Hitzig,  beetles  especially),  in- 
asmuch as  the  representation  of  both  was  ma(U 
for  the  purpose  of  paying  religious  honours  to  the 
pictures.  Best  of  all  Bunsen  :  "every  form  ol 
abominable  creeping  things  and  beasts. "  What 
follows  might  stand  by  way  of  explanation  :  and, 
in  fact,  of  all,  etc.,  or  all  idols  of  this  sort  are 
meant,  as  also  birds,  etc.  (Hitz.  :  calves  [Apis 
and  Mnevis]  and  he-goats.)  Klief,  Kl.  maintain 
that  in  this  way  all  other  possible  varieties  of 
idol-worship  which  had  spread  in  Israel  are  sub- 
joined co-ordinately  with  'an  ?3-  But  the  de- 
lineation or  painting  (npnD>  neut.  sing.)  of  all 
upon  the  wall  of  the  apartment  into  which 
Ezekiel  looks  through  the  opening  is  so  charac- 
teristically Egyptian,  that  for  one  who  is  unpre- 
judiced anything  else  is  inconceivable.  Ch.  xxiii. 
14  is  not  to  be  brought  into  comparison  as  against 

this  view.     As  to  the  '73,  so  common  with  our 

prophet,  see  on  ch.  vi.  4  ;  in  Lev.  xxvi.  30  first, 
in  Deut.  xxix.  17  expressly  of  the  idols  of  Egypt. 
The  seventy  in  Ver.  11,  according  to  Ewald, 
"  a  round  number  to  express  the  great  strength 
of  the  Egyptian  party  among  the  nobles,  which 
according  to  .Jeremiah  then  existed  "  ;  according 
to  others  :  the  Great  Sanhedrim,  an  institution, 
however,  which  first  arose  after  the  exile.  Ac- 
cording to  our  text,  they  figure  either  as  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  collective  body  of  the  elders,  a 
committee  (council  of  elders)  drawn  from  (o) 
these  official  persons,  or  they  represent  the  house 
of  Israel,  are  a  representation  of  the  people. 
[By  mentioning  precisely  this  numJ^er  of  elders, 
the  jirophet  sets  before  us  a  representation  of  the 
whole  people, — an  ideal  representation,  and  of  such 
a  kind  as  to  indicate  the  strong  contrast  that 
existed  betw  een  former  and  present  times — the 
original  seventy  (Ex.  xxiv. )  being  employed 
in  immediate  connection  with  God's  glory  and 
covenant,  while  these  here  were  engaged  in  an 
act  which  bespoke  the  dishonouring  of  God's 
name,  and  the  virtual  dissolution  of  His  cove- 
nant.— Faiebairn's  Ezekiel.  — W.  F.]  The  num- 
ber 70  is  chosen  for  symbolical  reasons,  10  times 
7  (BiiHB,  MoK.  KuU.  ii.  p.  660)  resting  on  Ex. 


108 


EZEKIEL. 


xxir..  Num.  xi.,  in  reference  to  the  covenant  be- 
tween God  ami  Israel.  In  favour  of  the  symboli- 
cal character  of  this  number  there  is  also  the 
circumstance  that  Jaazaniah,  the  71st,  is  not 
counted  among  them.  The  individual  named  us 
Bon  of  Shaphan  is  a  different  person  from  in'lTX^ 
in  ch.  xi.  1.  The  name  Shaphan  we  read  also  in 
2  Kings  xxii.  ;  Jer.  xxix.,  xxxvi. ,  x.xxix.  He 
appears  to  have  had  a  good  reputation,  so  that  for 
the  s}Tnbolical  meaning  by  the  mention  of  him 
the  contrast  in  conduct  on  the  part  of  his  S(  n 
here  might  be  rendered  the  more  emphatic. 
Similarly  Bunsen,  Hengst.  :  "who  probably 
tilled  the  same  post  as  his  father  (as  chancellor), 
was  perhaps  the  soul  of  the  negotiations  with 
Egypt ;  partlj'  on  this  account,  partly  because  of 
his  ominous  name  :  the  Lord  hears,  which  in- 
volved the  judgment  on  this  procedure,  intro- 
duced ;is  a  historical  personality  into  this  ideal 
company."  Is  the  expression  :  standing  in  their 
midst,  meant  to  indicate  an  olticial  superiority  as 
president,  or  his  social  consequence  among  them, 
or  the  circumstance  that  even  the  son  of  .such  a 
father,  with  whose  name  the  memory  of  the  pious 
destroyer  of  idolatry,  Josiah,  was  united,  could 
be  found  in  the  midst  of  such  a  company  (Ps.  i. 

!)■  DiTJdS  '-f.  the  idol-pictures  on  the  wall 
round  about.  IDJ?)  according  to  Hengst. :  "  the 
prayer  of  the  cloud  of  incense,  because  it  was  an 
embodied  prayer,  Ps.  cxli.  2  ;  Rev.  v.  8,  viii.  3, 
4."  "  They  say  by  the  offering  of  incense  before 
those  miserable  figures ;  Deliver  me,  for  thou 
art  my  god  (Isa.  xliv.  17)."  The  Hebrew  word 
means  certainly  :  to  press  on  any  one  with  re- 
quests, but  also  :  to  press  together  so  that  there 
is  a  large  quantity,  to  heap  up,  so  that  that 
which  swells  up,  the  vapour,  may  be  indicated 
here.  So  richly  that  there  was  a  cloud ;  comp. 
besides.  Lev.  xvi.  13.  After  Ezekiel  has  seen  it, 
the  interpretation  is  given  him  in  Ver.  12.  In 
the  dark,  every  one  in  his  chambers  of  imagery, 
contains  everything  necessary  for  understanding 
it.  First  of  all,  the  darkness  may  certainly  be 
regarded  as  a  symbol  of  the  darkened  knowledge 
of  <Jod,  but  means  still  more  that  the  procedure 
of  the  nobles  of  the  people  shuns  the  light,  has 
its  being  in  secret.  In  this  way  we  have  a  com- 
plete explanation  of  the  hole  in  the  gate  portion 
of  the  wall,  in  the  wall  of  the  court  (ver.  7),  of 
the  clandestine  manner  in  which  the  prophet  gets 
access  (ver.  8),  etc.  ("They  had  in  Egypt,  in 
the  rocks  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  deep  under- 
ground passages,  sometimes  labyrinths,  which 
led  to  underground  vaults,  whose  walls  were 
covered  over  and  over  with  hieroglyphs,  and,  in 
fact,  the  entrance  to  them  is,  just  as  here,  only 
a  hole,  at  which  no  one  imagines  there  is  any- 
thing of  con.sequence  behind,"  etc. — J.  D.  Mich.) 
That  every  one  does  so  proves  the  repres.^nta- 
tive  character  of  the  71  in  ver.  11.  "nn  i-''  that 
which  is  shut  up,  the  inteiior  of  a  tent,  of  a 
house-;  hence,  a  chamber.  The  chambers  of 
imagery  have  idolatrous  pictures  painted  on  the 
walls.  As  it  is  represented  (vers.  9,  10;  in  the 
wall  of  the  court  between  the  hif;her  and  the 
lower  court,  so  it  is  done  witliin  the  walls  of 
their  own  dwellings  by  the  elileis  of  the  people, 
who  a])]iroached  the  priests  in  virtue  of  their 
official  character.  The  domestic  heathenism,  as 
diHtiuguished  from  the  public  in  vers.  5,  6. 
Heugst.  makes  the  direct  participation  m  Egyp- 


tian idolatry  ste  1  into  the  background.  i"The 
people  relied  at  that  time  on  the  help  of  the 
Egyptixns,  and  looked  to  them  as  their  saviours." 
— Cocc. )  Ewald  maintains  that  Egyptian  animal - 
worship  was  at  the  time  really  practised  in  deeply 
concealed  apartments  of  the  temple  area,  inas- 
much as  every  idolater  of  that  sort  offered  incense 
as  his  own  priest,  and  prayed  in  a  separate  apart- 
ment (and  hence  so  many  of  them  are  found  in 
Egypt),  comp.  Amm.  Marc.  xvii.  7,  xxii.  15. 
He  points  in  proof  of  this  to  the  Egyptian  vassalagp 
of  King  Jehoiachim.  The  pressure  of  the  Chaldean 
party  at  the  time  upon  the  Egyptian  explains, 
according  to  him,  the  expression,  repeated  in 
ch.  ix.  9,  of  their  deep  despair  of  the  affairs  of 
the  fatherland.  Hengst.  speaks  in  a  predomi- 
nantly political  sense  of  the  Egyptian  fancies 
wherewith  they  occupied  themselves  in  their 
inner  man  ;  the  revolt  from  Babylon,  undertaken 
in  concert  with  Egypt,  was  still,  he  alleges, 
"  a  public  secret. "  For  they  say:  'm'X.  This 
is  their  so-called  right  to  do  it,  not  meant  as  an 
excuse,  perhaps.  Jehovah  shall  have  the  blame. 
That  He  seeth  not  can  hardly  imply  (Isa.  xxix. 
15)  a  dogmatic  denial  of  His  omniscient  (Ps. 
cxxxix.,  xciv.  7)  Godhead  {Ps.  xiv.  1),  just  as 
little  as  His  having  forsaken  the  land  is  ireant 
to  deny  in  so  many  words  His  omnipresent  omni- 
potence ;  but  their  speech  is  practical  ungodli- 
ness :  when  He  has  turned  away  His  eye  and 
presence  from  us  and  from  the  land,  when  we 
are  no  longer  anything  to  Him,  then  nothing  is 
left  for  us  but  to  look  out  for  the  gods  of  other 
nations  and  lands,  that  they  may  dwell  with  us. 
— Ver.  13.   Comp.  ver.  6. 

Vera.  14,  15.   The  Mourning /or  Tammuz. 

In  ver.  7  Ezekiel  was  between  the  inner  and 
outer  court ;  in  ver.  14  he  is  brought  to  the  open- 
ing of  the  gate  of  the  house  of  Jehovah.  Comp. 
to  the  opening  of  the  gate  of  the  house  of 
Jehovah  which  is  toward  the  north  with  ver.  3  ; 
to  the  opening  of  the  gate  of  the  inner  [court] 
that  looketh  toward  the  north ;  thus  the  gate 
of  the  house  and  the  gate  of  the  inner  [court] 
correspond  with  each  other,  the  one  as  applying 
to  the  whole,  the  other  as  referring  only  to  a 
part  of  the  same.  The  house  of  Jehovah  is  the 
whole  of  the  temple,  consequently  the  opening  of 
the  gate  of  it  can  hardly  be  anything  else  than 
the  place  where  the  outer  court  of  the  temple 
opens  to  the  outside  altogether.  The  northerly 
direction  of  the  gate  also  corresponds  best  witli 
the  movement  of  the  prophet  hitherto.  There, 
then,  are  the  women,  viz.  those  who  are  weep- 
ing for  Tammuz,  for  this  reason  sitting  on  the 
ground,  as  was  the  custom  of  mourners  (Matt, 
xxvii.  61).  [According  to  Hitzig :  the  female 
population  represented  in  the  individuals,  who 
are  exactly  at  the  place  assigned  to  the  women.] 
First,  the  people  in  general  ;  then,  the  elders  of 
the  people  ;  now,  the  female  sex.  This  .«  like  a 
climax.  The  publicity  also  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  women  (as  ilistinguished  from  the  eldei's) 
makes  tlie  occurrence  in  so  far  parallel  with  the 
first  in  vers.  5,  6.  Meier  :  the  name  probably 
signifies  :  possessor  of  power,  mighty  one,  ruler ; 
Tammuz  =  rfoHi!« MS,  properly  :  tamer,  lord.  niH* 
and  tlDrii  "  contrast !  According  to  Hiiv. ,  a  con- 
traction from  piton  (TtD-=DDI3.  to  ""^'t  away),  oi 


CHAP.  VIII.  lG-18. 


lOJ 


from  llDjn  (TD3).  "f  persons  or  things  in  reference 

to  the  "  disapiiearance  "  (dying,  the  i?i»iir««t  in 
contRiSt  with  the  lileiin;)  of  the  Greek  "  Adonis," 
who  ([inx,  >■(■  "lord  "with  the  Phoenicians)  is 

the  Syrian  Taminuz  (SiftuouX,  Sa/i/isy;).  Ac- 
cording to  the  fable,  the  beautiful  favourite  of 
Venus,  killed  by  a  boar  in  the  chase,  but  after- 
wards rising  to  life  again,  in  whose  honour  the 
fourth  month  (.Tune — .luly )  was  called  "Tammuz. " 
At  his  feast  tlie  kinnor  (a  sort  of  lyre)  was  jilayed  ; 
hence  Cinyras,  the  father  of  Adonis,  just  as 
Myrrha,  from  the  incense  {"YO)  usual  thereat,  was 
his  mother  among  the  Greeks.  It  was  a  funeral- 
feast  in  the  East,  for  it  celebrated  the  death  of 
the  beautiful  life  of  nature  about  the  time  of  the 
greatest  summer-heat  (lIDn  DSIpn)-  Byblos  in 
Syria,  where  the  swollen  waters  of  the  river 
Adonis  assumed  a  red  colour  about  this  time, 
when  the  snow  melted  on  Lebanon,  was  the 
principal  seat  of  the  god.  (Comp.  Hav.  against 
Movers,  who  makes  the  oriental  celebration  of 
the  festival  approach  nearly  to  the  Greek,  in 
autumn.  But  comp.  also  Hitz.  on  the  passage, 
and  Winer,  ii.  COl  sqq. ;  Herzog,  Reakncycl.  xv. 
667  sqq.)  According  to  Preller  (GriecA.  Mythol. 
i.  p.  219),  the  disappearance  of  Adonis  was  at  first 
expressed  allegorically  (i^«niir^»,-),  after  which 
tl*y  sought  him  (Z,riTn(ris),  until  at  length  they 
found  him  (•.ipiiris),  and  now  bewailed  him  as 
dead,  by  means  of  the  e-xhibition  of  his  picture, 
%fith  gloomy  elegies  and  the  usages  of  a  funeral. 
The  solemnity  ended  with  the  cry  :  Adonis  lives 
and  has  risen ;  hence  with  the  comfort  of  his  re- 
turn. Pain  for  the  lost  beauty  of  the  year,  dread 
of  winter,  the  ray  of  hope  connected  with  spring. 
Sappho  already  sang  of  the  death  of  Adonis  and 
of  the  lamentation  for  him.  Bdn.ien  ;  "seven 
days  long  the  women  gave  themselves  up  to  their 
lamentations,  and  were  obliged  to  share  their 
hair  or  to  sacrifice  their  chastity  "  (J.  D.  Mich.). 
Havernick,  as  no  trace  of  the  worship  of  Adonis 
CMi  be  found  in  earlier  times  among  the  Hebrews, 
brings  forward  the  view  :  that  under  Josiah's 
successors  such  idolatrous  worship  obtained  a 
footing,  especially  through  Zedekiah's  political 
alliance  with  the  Phoenicians  against  Babylon  ; 
that  the  seductive  charm  of  this  worship,  which 
is  attested  by  its  wide  diffusion,  is  to  be  taken 
into  account ;  and  that  the  gloomy  direction  of 
the  popular  consciousness  at  the  time  (ver.  12, 
ch.  ix.  9)  was  in  sympathy  with  nature's  mourn- 
ful mood.  "  The  Adonis-myth  was  thus  a  picture 
of  the  history  of  the  peojile,  as  the  natural  con- 
sciousness arranged  it  for  itself  and  arbitrarily  in- 
terpreted it  (eh.  xi.  2,  3). "  Hengst.  lays  emphasis 
on  the  northern  origin  (between  Tripolis  and 
Berytus)  of  the  worship,  the  characteristic  wail- 
ing women,  and  finds  the  real  import  in  the 
seeking  of  political  aid  among  the  Phoenicians. 
(Others  have  thought  of  a  kindred  Egyptian  wor- 
ship. Hitzig  makes  the  worsliip  of  Adonis  come 
from  Egypt ;  Adonis  =  Osiris. ) — Ver.  15.  Comp. 
vers.  12,  13.  The  climax,  up  till  now  merely 
hinted  at,  is  plainly  expressed  with  respect  to 
what  follows.  Vers.  6  and  13  keep  what  goes 
before  in  a  co-ordinate  relation. 

Vera.  16-18.   T?4C  Sun-Worship  (vers.  16,  17); 
the  Closing  Threatening  qf  Qod  (ver.  18). 

Now  comes  in  conclusion  t  he  culminating  point 


of  the  abominations,  introduced  by  the  localUy, 
viz.  the  court  of  the  priests.  It  takes  place  in 
the  inner  part  of  Jehovah's  house, — thereby  plaosd 
in  contrast  with  the  publicity  going  before,  and 
parallel  with  the  actings  of  tin?  elders  in  ver.  7 
sqq.,— and  in  fact  (njni)  where  the  temple  (the 
holy  place)  opens  into  the  inner  court,  indicated 
stdl  more  minutely  because  of  the  significance  of 
the  locality.  The  porch,  1  Kings  vi.  3.  The 
altar,  the  brazen  altar  of  burnt-offering.  Comp. 
Joel  ii.  17.  (Matt,  x.xiii.  35  ;  2  Chron.  xxiv.  20, 
21.)  Accordingly  there  can  be  no  doubt  thai 
tlie  persons,  the  25  men, — as  most  expositors  along 
with  Lightfoot  believe,  the  presidents  of  the  24 
orders  of  priests  (1  Chron.  xxiv.)  with  the  high 
priest  at  their  head, — represent  the  priesthood. 
3  ' '  asserts  the  fact  expressly,  but  only  in  a  sub- 
jective way"  (Hitz.),  as  what  appeared  to  be  the 
case,  the  prophet,  as  it  were,  not  trusting  his  own 
eyes.  In  this  way  the  abomination  to  be  de- 
scribed is  greater  than  what  has  hitherto  been 
related  of  the  kind.  But  then,  farther,  tlie  de- 
scription of  the  posture  assumed  (comp.  1  Kings 
vii.  25,  xiv.  9  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  6  ;  the  antithesis 
of  their  backs  and  their  faces,  the  contrast  of 

'■•  ?3'n"7K  with  nmp,  "toward  .sunrise ")  sets 

forth  what  is  abominable  in  the  highest  dcgiee. 
The  sanctuary  of  the  Eternal  is  a  thing  going 
down  behind  them  ;  they  turn  to  the  new  light. 
For  Dn'innL''0.  which  is  probably  an  error  in 

transcription,  almost  all  read   D'innL"D  (partic. 

from  nnC?.  Ges.  Gram.  §  74,  18),  as  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  DfiK>  "ye,"  could  not  tally  with  nsn. 

According  to  Hav.  an  ironical  alteration  of  the 
usual  form,   with  an   allusion   to  nriB'  in  the 

Hiphil  (to  destroy,  to  do  evil).  Hengst.  :  an 
anomalous  form,  just  as  the  abnormal  certainly 
cannot  surprise  us  in  Ezekiel  ;  the  form  a  ijiiid 
pro  quo,  like  the  conduct  indicated  by  it ;  by 
inserting  n.  the  prophet  gives  a  criticism  after  the 

manner  of  a  quotation  from  Ex.  xxiv.  1  ;  Dent, 
xi.  16;  as  much  as  to  say:  they  worship,  whercis 
it  is  said  in  the  law  of  God  :  Ye  shall  not  wor- 
ship. If  Tammuz  is  the  sun-god,  then  an  easy 
transition  from  what  goes  before  is  accomplished, 
without  our  being  obliged  here  also  on  that 
account  to  look  with  favour  on  Havernick 's  wor- 
ship of  Adonis.  It  is  the  primitive  Salmisin  ; 
comp.  Dent.  iv.  19,  xvii.  3.  (2  Kings  xxiii.  5, 
11.)  EwALD  :  sun-worship  in  accordance  with 
Zoroastrian  superstition  (Job  xxxi.  26).  Hengst. 
takes  the  25  as  princes  of  the  people  (ch.  xi.  1), 
an  ideal  representation  of  the  ruling  class, — 2  from 
each  of  the  12  tribes,  besides  a  president  (!).  Be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  the  definite  basis  in  the 
Mosaic  books,  which  in  contradistinction  the  70  in 
ver.  11  had,  3  stands  here,  "nearly,"  "  about "  (!). 

The  gradation  in  ver.  15  points  to  tlie  sin,  at 
present  just  in  full  bloom  (?).  The  project  of  a 
league  with  Medo-Persia  (already  mentioned  in 
Isaiah  as  the  destroyer  of  the  Chaldean  univeisal 
monarchy,  ch.  xiii.  17,  xxi.  2)  had  perhaps  called 
forth  the  inquiry  of  the  elders  in  ver.  1,  especially 
as  the  Diaspora  was  the  appropriate  instrument 
for  such  a  coalition,  etc. — Ver.  17:  vers.  15,  12, 
6.     Hitherto  the  question  was  followed  by  soni<v 


no 


EZEKIEL. 


'hing  else  of  a  different  kind,  i.e.  of  a  worse  kind. 
This  time  a  new  question  winds  up  :  was  U  a 
light  thing  ya.  small  thing— Niph.  of  ^hp ;  eomp. 
1  Kings  xvi.   31)  for  Judah  viore   than  {'\yVO) 

=zwas  that  which  thou  hast  seen  a  lighter  (smaller) 
thing  than  the  committing  of  the  abominations  ? 
i.e.  embracing  in  cue  vers.  5-15.  A  negative 
answer  is  supposed,  since,  according  to  ver.  15, 
what  is  Keen  in  ver.  16  is  to  be  the  culminating 
poittt  of  all,  more  burdensome  than  all  else. 
And  aa  in  ver.  12  a  <3  inlrodiiced  the  alleged  justi- 

tcation  (in  a  parallel  case)  of  the  elders  of  the 
people  in  their  acting  by  God's  mode  of  procedure, 
30  God  furnishes  the  reason  ('j)  of  the  negative 

answer  expected  to  His  question,  so  that  Judah 
•an  have  nothing  more  heinous  to  be  put  in  the 
opposite  scale  from  what  they  have  done  :  for 
they,  etc. ;  comp.  ch.  vii.  23.  (It  looks  quite  like  a 
pai-uUel  to  the  "for  they,"  etc.  of  ver.  12.)  And 
instead  of  turning  to  the  Eternal,  they  have  re- 
turned merely  for  the  purpose  of  provokiug  Him 
to  anger.  The  thought  taken  in  connection  with 
ver.  12  would  accordingly  be  :  the  land  of  which 
they  say  that  Jehovah  has  forsaken  it,  they  have 
tilled  with  violence,  so  that  there  remained  no 
room  in  it  for  the  Holy  One  ;  but  their  acting  in 
the  temple  shows  (a  climax)  that,  as  regards  the 
Eternal,  they  are  seeking  not  the  expiation  for 
their  guilt,  but  His  wrath.  He  seeth  not,  say 
they, — and,  lo,  they,  etc.  (tlie  liighest  point  of 

the  climax),  so  that  'ns  D^n^C  is  either  to  be 
understood  of  a  specially  provoking  gesture  in 
idolatrous  worship,  or  must  be  interpreted  from 
the  context  as  a  proverbial  mode  of  speaking. 
[Ewald  translates  :  "  is  it  too  small  a  thing  for 
the  house  of  Judah  to  practise  the  abominations 
which  they  practised  here,  that  they  filled  the 
land  with  injustice  and  exasperated  Me  repeatedly, 
and  that  now  they  even  put  the  twig  to  their 
nose  ? "  having  in  view  the  twig  of  the  sacred 
tree  held  before  the  mouth  during  prayer  (so 
already  J.  D.  Mich,  and  many  expositors),  "as 
if  there  were  not  yet  enough  in  the  more  ancient 
revolting  idolatries  as  well  as  in  the  already  de- 
picted (ch.  vii.  23)  roughness  of  their  everyday 
life,  and  as  if,  besides,  this  most  recent  supersti- 
tion nmst  now  be  added."]  The  climax  in  the 
thought  and  the  reference  to  Parseeism  lies  in 
the  context,  but  the  "Barsom"  (a  bundle  of 
diflereut  kinds  of  twigs)  does  not  correspond  with 
miDTH  (a  vine  branch,  ch.  xv.  2  ;  Isa.  xvii. 
10),  neither  does  the  solemn  holding  before  the 
mouth  with  the  left  hand  correspond  much  with 

DDS'^S  nPB'-      Hengst.  assigns  as  a  reason  for 

"the  vine-branch"  its  being  "a  quite  pre-eminent 
product  of  the  sun  "  ;  and,  according  to  him,  the 
nose  is  mentioned  ironically  instead  of  the  mouth. 
A  gesture  in  worship  is  demanded  by  the  expression 
Djm.  Klief.  confesses  himself  unable  to  explain 
the  idolatrous  custom.  The  thyrsus-staff  of  the 
worshippers  of  Bacchus  has  also  been  suggested. 
Kcil  finds  the  climax  in  the  acts  of  violence  as 
compared  with  the  abominations,  —  the  moral 
corruiition  shows  the  full  measure  of  their  guilt ; 
but  the  jjroverbial  mode  of  speaking  has  not  yet 
been  sutficiently  cleared  up.  Israel  himself  has 
been  gnggested  here  as  the  vine-stock  (Jer.  ii.  21), 


SjX,  translated  by  "  anger "  (their  anger,  viz. 
which  they  have  provoked  on  God's  part,  oi 
which  they  cherish  towards  God  and  His  piu- 
phets),  and  the  interpretation  given  as  if  the 
meaning  were  :  to  pour  oil  into  the  fire,  to  bring 
brushwood  to  the  flames.  HXv.  :  "and,  lo! 
they  send  forth  the  mournful  ditty  (about  Adonis, 
miDT  for  TDT.  mOT)  to  their  anger  "  (that  which 

falls  upon  them).  Hitzig  renders  miDf:  prun- 
ing-knife  ("  they  put  the  pruniug-bill  to  their 
nose"),  wishing  to  provoke  Me,  tliey  provokn 
themselves  (Jer.  vii.  19  ;  Hab.  li.  10  ;  Prov. 
xxiii.  2),  in  connection  witli  which  he  ouotes  the 
scene  in  Auerbaeh's  cellar  from  Faust,  etc. — 
Ver.  18.  Comp,  ch.  v.  11,  vii.  4,  9,  ix.  5,  10, 
threatening  with  corresponding  retribution  on  the 
part  of  God.     (Ch.  xi.  l.J  ;  Isa.  i.  15  ;  Jer.  xi.  11). 

DutrillXAL  KEFLKCnOXS. 

1.  As  the  idea  of  salvation  is  especially  domi- 
nant in  the  history  of  Israel,  and  draws  from  it 
the  most  manifold  types,  so  iu  a  pre-eminent 
degree  prophecy  is  ruled  by  the  idea.  In  verbal 
prophecy  the  idea,  and  especially  the  ChristiaB 
idea,  of  the  future,  clothes  itself  at  one  time  in 
accordance  with  what  is  peculiar  to  the  prophets 
as  individuals,  at  another  by  making  use  of  allu- 
sion to  the  form  of  the  present,  and  of  the  forces, 
persons,  occurrences,  etc.  moving  it,  but  in 
general  entirely  within  the  sphere  of  the  Ohl 
Testivment  mode  of  representation ;  so  that  what 
is  meant  to  be  just  the  most  striking  expression 
for  the  idea  shows  itself,  through  the  later  realiza- 
tion of  the  idea  exactly  in  this  form,  to  be  at  the 
same  time  a  prediction,  apart  from  the  express 
predictions  of  the  prophets.  (Comp.  on  this  sub- 
ject Tholuck,  die  Fropheten,  S.  p.  105  sqq.) 
Now  what  the  figurative  word  accomplishes  ;is 
regards  the  object  aimed  at,  that,  as  regards 
deepening  our  views  of  the  truth,  appears  to  be 
the  task  of  symbol  in  prophetic  action,  in 
dramatic  vision.  The  vision  of  the  abominations 
in  the  temple  here  in  Ezekiel  is  a  theologizing 
one  of  the  apostasy  of  Israel,  now  ripe  for  judg- 
ment. 

2.  The  living  God  of  revelation  is  the  measure 
of  the  dead  idols  of  the  heathen,  alike  as  regards 
the  pantheistic  slumping  of  them  in  the  world, 
and  as  regards  their  polytheistic  separation  ac- 
coriling  to  the  different  lands  and  peoples.  He 
is,  and  whatever  wanders  to  those  otljcrs  and  is 
falsely  attributed  to  them  belongs  to  Him.  On 
the  same  deep  basis  of  truth  theologically,  pin- 
vision  brings  the  idolatry  of  Israel  into  view  in 
the  temple  of  Jehovah,  and  therewith  into  con- 
demnation. The  temple  becomes  the  standard 
for  judgment  of  every  heathen  worship. 

3  It  was  condescension  in  the  sphere  of  history 
on  the  part  of  the  idea  of  revelation,  that  for  so 
long  a  period  a  fixed  nation,  like  Israel,  was  to 
be  the  bearer  of  it,  and  that,  after  the  general 
analogy  of  heathen  nations,  church  and  state 
covered  each  other.  Only  with  the  expansion  of 
the  •church  into  its  ideal,  i.e.  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  among  mankind  as  a  whole  (Rev.  xxi.  3), 
have  "state  religion"  and  "state  church"  a^ 
ideas  become  efi'ete.  They  are  merely  existing 
realities  of  a  wretched  kind;  their  ideas,  if  one 
chooses  to  speak  of  them,  are  antiquated  ;  they 
are  reproductioua  of  the  past,  Judaism,  if  not 


CHAP.  VIII. 


m 


heathenisms.  Progress,  an  J  by  no  means  "radical" 
progress  merely,  but  much  more  still  religious. 
i.e.  Christian  progress,  points  away  beyond  them. 

4.  The  distinction  made  between  "  abomina- 
tions "  and  "  violence  "  recalls  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  tables  of  the  law, — sins  against  God 
and  sins  against  men.  Over  against  violence  in 
the  latter  respect,  there  makes  its  appearance  what 
God  must  abhor.  As  the  former  fills  the  land 
and  becomes  the  fashion,  so  the  latter  provokes 
the  anger  of  God.  Ungodliness  and  immorality 
in  their  connection  here  bear  witness  to  the  con- 
nection between  faitli  and  morals. 

6.  Superstition  and  unbelief — the  one  acting, 
the  other  speaking — present  themselves  together 
in  ver.  12  in  one  sentence,  just  as  these  forms  of 
the  self-originated  theology  of  the  sensuous  self- 
consciousness  touch  each  other  from  opposite 
sides.  Unbelief,  which  Holy  Scripture  never 
knows  absolutely,  since  to  it  faith  is  the  original 
godliness  in  the  nature  of  man,  appears  here  also 
as  one  that  "speaks"  (Ps.  xiv.,  liii. )  and  has 
gods.  Superstition  draws  its  reason  from  unbelief. 
As  Nitzsch  describes  the  process;  "in  the  de- 
praved working  of  passive  piety  man  attempts 
first  of  all  to  deny  the  facts  of  the  religious  con- 
science, wholly  or  in  part ;  but  yet,  in  so  far  as 
the  consciousness  of  God  compels  him,  he  leaps 
over  from  unbelief  into  superstition,  i.e.  he  defines 
for  himself  the  divine  as  a  thing  that  is  human, 
sensuous,  worldly,  analyzes  for  liimself  the  feeling 
of  God  into  the  sensuous,  out  of  whicli,  in  the 
next  piace,  arise  fanatical  imaginations,  sometimes 
slavish,  Sometimes  audacious,  Rom.  i.  21-25." 
When  Plutarch,  in  his  well-known  treatise  trtfi 
ii4iriiitifii»iiti,  gives  the  preference  to  unbelief,  he 
underestimated  it  as  a  source  of  superstition  ;  he 
winds  up,  moreover,  with  the  converse,  viz.  that 
many  fall  i'rom  supei-stition  into  unbelief.  Jean 
Paul,  on  the  contrary,  wlio  calls  superstition 
"faith  with  a  but,"  would  "rather  live  in  the 
densest  malarious  atmosphere  of  superstition  than 
under  the  air-pump  of  unbelief,"  where  in  the 
former  case  one  breathes  with  difficulty,  in  the 
latter  he  is  suffocated. 

6.  Augustine  raises  the  question  :  why  should 
the  Romans,  who  paid  divine  honour  to  all  the 
gods  of  all  nations,  as  they  showed  by  having  a 
Pantheon,  yet  have  continually  refused  to  honour 
the  God  of  Israel  ?  and  found  the  reason  in  the 
exclusiveness  wherewith  Jehovah  claims  to  be 
honoured  alone,  as  being  the  true  God  in  contrast 
witli  the  false  gods. 

7.  The  mourning  for  Tammuz  reminds  us  of 
the  801T0W  "of  the  world"  in  2  Cor.  vii.  Is  it 
unintentional  that  only  this  side  of  this  idolatry 
is  indicated  in  Ezekiel  ?  It  worketh  death,  says 
the  apostle  of  the  sorrow  of  the  world.  Over 
against  the  pleasure  of  life  in  the  rites  of  Tammuz 
on  its  mere  natural  basis,  the  prophet  has  to  take 
his  stand  on  the  divine  sentence  of  death  of  the 
spirit ;  as  there  is  no  repentance  on  the  part  of 
any  one,  the  other  side  in  the  worship  of  Tammuz 
cannot  possibly  prophesy  of  salvation.  (As 
against  Bauer,  Rel.  d.  A.  T.  ii.  p.  234  sq.) 

8.  The  front  of  the  temple  looked  to  the  east, 
the  back,  therefore,  to  the  west.  And  such  is 
the  case,  moreover,  with  most  of  the  ancient 
nations  ;  and  so  it  meets  us  again  also,  for  the 
most  part,  in  Catholic  church  architectpre.  But 
>  universal  nile  it  is  not  (according  to  Vitruvius, 
the  oppoeite  it  the  rule  for  heathen  temple-archi- 


tecture), just  as  little  as  tlie  turning  of  tiic  f.ic-f 
toward  the  east  in  Christian  prayer  is  a  universal 
rule  ;  sometimes  the  front,  sometimes  the  apsis, 
is  turned  to  the  east.  Some  have  wished  to  find 
the  reason  for  the  holy  of  holies  being  turned 
toward  the  west  in  the  antithesis  to  heathenism. 
M.ilMONiDES,  More  Ktb.  iii.  45  i  "  Superstitioi 
generally  at  that  time  worshipped  the  sun  ;  there- 
fore Abraham  turns  to  the  west  on  lloriah,  sa 
that  he  turned  his  back  to  the  sun."  Comp.  on 
the  other  hand,  Bahh,  Synih.  i.  212.  When  the 
Catholic  church  architecture  built  the  choir  to- 
wards the  east,  the  alleged  anti-heathenish  de- 
sign of  the  opposite  course  was  set  aside,  inasmuch 
as  Christ,  as  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  now  deter- 
mines the  direction  ;  it  was  imagined  also  that 
paradise  was  there,  etc.  etc. 

9.  There  is  a  gradation  in  wickedness,  for  there 
is  a  development  towards  ripeness  for  judgment. 
And  as  the  greatness  of  the  sin  is  determined  ac- 
cording to  the  person  and  circumstances,  so  tlie 
corresponding  gieatness  of  the  punishment  is  de- 
termined according  to  the  knowledge  of  and  op- 
portunity for  what  is  good.  But  the  Judge  and 
Avenger  is  God. 

HOMILETIO    HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  "  We  may  be  assured  everywhere, 
whether  at  home  or  from  home,  of  the  presenct 
of  God  ;  hence  also  we  have  to  fear  God  every- 
where "  (Stck.  ). — The  pulpit  for  the  exiles  in 
the  house  of  the  prophet. — "Elders  also  ought 
to  hear  and  learn  God's  word  "  (Stck.). — Ver.  2. 
Comp.  on  ch.  i.  27  sq. — Ver.  3.  "The  saints  in 
mortal  flesh  are  between  heaven  and  earth,  for 
they  are  not  yet  indeed  completely  above,  but 
still  they  have  already  forsaken  what  is  below  " 
(Gregory). — "  As  here  by  the  hair,  so  by  the 
smallest  thing  the  pious  are  lifted  upwards  by 
God  "  (Jun.). — "  God's  children  and  servants  are 
led  and  guided  not  by  the  spirit  of  the  world,  but 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  "  (St.).—"  Yea,  if  this  body 
could  follow  the  spirit,  it  would  lead  it  into 
heaven  with  it.self.  ' — "God  was  Master  of  the 
house  at  Jerusalem,  and  they  brought  iu  to  Him 
another  idol  ;  that  displeased  Him  justly  " 
(Randgl. ). — See  how  jealous  love  can  be!  the 
jealousy  of  Israel's  Husband. — "  So  God  is  pro- 
voked also  by  all  who  admit  into  their  heart 
passion,  pride,  atrogance,  debaucliery,  avarice, 
and  other  idols"  (B.  B.). — Ver.  4.  Christ  and 
Belial. — God  in  His  jealousy  is  likewise  God  in 
His  glory.  —  "In  another  way  also  God  lets  His 
glory  be  seen,  when  He  causes  a  peculiarly  power- 
ful testimony  to  be  borne  in  His  Church,  by 
means  of  which  He  unveils  the  abominations  in 
all  ranks,  and  causes  them  to  be  pimished  through 
His  witnesses,  since  there  also,  as  here,  public  wor- 
iihip  especially  is  wont  to  be  assailed." — To  pei- 
ceive  God's  glory  in  spite  of  all  abominations  is 
the  privilege  of  His  faithful  servants,  of  His  cliil- 
dren,  who  do  not  cast  away  their  confidence. 
Our  faith  is  the  victory  which  hath  overcome  the 
world.  — "  Such  a  strengthening  was  needed  by 
the  prophet,  in  order  that  he  miglit  fearlessly 
withstand  the  raging  audacity  and  stubbornness 
of  the  people;  God  equipped  him  in  this  way 
with  a  suit  of  armour  "  (C. ). 

Ver.  5.  "God  places  our  sins  before  His  eyea, 
and  in  like  manner  also  before  ours  "  (Stck.  ). — "  St 
sits  the  envious  Pharisee  also,  wlio  has  merely  ai 


112 


EZL'KIEL. 


Wfwiird  righteousness,  like  an  image  of  jealousy 
in  the  doorway,  and  will  not  let  the  simple  peoplo 
enter  through  the  fear  of  the  Lord  into  the  faith 
and  love  of  Christ,  and  thus  tal<es  away  the  key 
of  knowledge  (Matt,  xxiii.  13)"  (B.  B.).— Ver.  6. 
"  Whoever  opens  door  and  gate  to  sin,  falls  from 
sin  to  sin"  (St.).— "Whatever  man  does,  he  does 
it  before  God's  face,  although  the  blinded  sinner 
thinks  Goil  blind"  (Stck.). — "  God's  people  also 
may  fall  into  great  darkness  and  blindness"  (St.). 
Ver.  7  sqq.  God's  eye  sees  also  through  the 
wall,  and  He  can  give  His  servants  a  hole  in  the 
wall  as  well  as  eyes,  so  as  to  see  what  is  be- 
tween the  walls. — "Guilty  consciences  love  what 
is  concealed"  (Stck.). — Occasionally  an  Ezekiel 
comes  across  those  concealed  ones. — "  Thy  heart 
is  to  be  God's  temple.  But  how  does  the  Lord 
find  this  temple  ?  Just  as  here.  Only  dig 
through  the  white-washed  wall  of  thy  self-love 
and  hypocrisy,  then  slialt  thou  perceive  in  the 
light  of  God  all  sorts  of  monsters  and  abomina- 
tions, which  the  enemy  has  gathered  together  in 
thee,  to  the  disgust  of  the  Master  of  the  house. 
Enough  of  unclean  reptiles  shalt  thou  find  be- 
hind the  wall  of  thy  flesh,  only  dig  through  !  " 
(B.  B.) — "Assuredly,  as  soon  as  the  true  wor- 
ship of  God  is  forsaken,  men  have  no  longer  any 


limit;  from  one  they  pa.^3  to  a  myriad"  (C). — 
Idolatry  is  not  merely  of  the  gross  kind  ;  nor  ii 
that  which  Christians  practise  merely  of  the  re- 
fined kind. — Yea,  everything  which  is  on  ettelh 
may  become  an  idol  to  man. — -I  count  everything 
but  dung,  Paul  testifies  in  Phil.  iii. — Ver.  11. 
"Those  who  ought  in  this  way  to  take  the  lead 
of  others  in  showing  a  good  example,  are  often 
the  worst"  (St.). — "  The  eiders  before  the  idols, 
men  before  beasts,  tln^  living  before  mere  pic- 
tures!  "  (B  B. ) — May  all  assemblies  of  church- 
wardens take  an  example  by  them  ! — Ver.  12. 
God  is  to  blame  for  our  guilt  I — Thus  many 
jnake  for  themselves  a  blind  God,  like  Fortune. — 
Ver.  13  sqq.  What  a  corruption  must  be  among 
H  people  where  the  old  and  the  female  sex  are 
infected! — On  ordinary  days,  the  lust  of  tha 
flesh  ;  on  fast-days,  repentance  and  sorrow. 

Ver.  15  sq.  "  Nothing  is  so  absurd  as  that  a 
man  might  riot  be  brought  to  it,  Rom.  i. "  (St.) 
— "  Daniel  turned  in  his  prayer  toward  Jeru- 
salem "  (B.  B.). — "All  the  ungodly  turn  their 
back  on  God"  (St.). — "  But  who  will  count  those 
who  in  our  time  turn  their  back  on  God  ?  "  (B.  B. ) 
— Ver.  18.  They  turned  their  back  on  God,  and 
so  He  turns  His  back  on  them. — The  eye  and  ear 
of  God  shut,  what  a  picture  ! 


2.  The  Judgment  on  the  Guilty  (Ch.  IX.). 

1  And  He  cried  in  mine  ears  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Near  are  the  visitations 

2  of  the  city,  and  every  one  [has]  his  weapon  of  destruction  in  his  hand.  And, 
behold,  six  men  came  from  the  way  of  the  higher  gate,  which  looketh  toward  the 
north,  and  every  one  his  weapon  for  breaking  in  pieces  in  his  hand  ;  and  a  man 
in  their  midst,  clothed  in  liuen,  and  an  inkhorn  on  his  loins  :  and  they  came  and 

3  stood  beside  the  brazen  altar.  And  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  rose  up  from 
the  cherub,  over  which  it  was,  to  the  threshold  of  the  house ;  and  He  called  to 

4  the  man  clothed  in  Unen,  which  had  an  inkhorn  on  his  loins.  And  Jehovah  said 
unto  him.  Go  through  the  midst  of  the  city,  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  mark  a 
[cross-]  mark  upon  the  foreheads  of  the  people  that  sigh  and  that  groan  for  all 

5  the  abominations  that  are  done  in  the  midst  thereof.  And  to  the  others  He  said 
in  mine  ears.  Go  through  the  city  after  him,  and  smite ;  your  eyes  shall  not 

6  spare,  neither  shall  ye  show  pity.  Old  man,  young  man,  and  maiden,  and  child, 
and  women  shall  ye  slay  to  destruction,  and  [jet]  no  one  upon  whom  is  a  [cross-] 
mark  shall  ye  touch  ;  and  ye  shall  begin  at  My  sanctuary.     And  they  began  with 

7  the  men,  the  elders,  who  were  before  the  house.  And  He  said  unto  them. 
Defile  the  house,  and  fill  the  courts  with  slain ;  go  ye  forth.     And  they  went 

8  forth,  and  slew  in  the  city.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  had  slain,  and  I 
was  left,  that  I  fell  upon  my  face,  and  cried,  and  said,  Ah,  Lord  Jehovah  ! 
destroyest  Thou  the  whole  residue  of  Israel,  whilst  Thou  art  pouring  out  Thy  fury 

9  upon  Jerusalem  ]  And  He  said  unto  me.  The  guilt  of  the  house  of  Israel  and 
Judah  is  exceeding  great,  and  the  land  is  fuU  of  blood,  and  the  city  full  of 
wresting  of  judgment ;  for  they  say,  Jehovah  hath  forsaken  the  land,  and  Jehovah 

10  seeth  not.     And  I  also,  Mine  eye  shall  not  spare,  neither  will  I  show  pity  ;  their 

11  way  I  give  upon  their  head.     And,  behold,  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  had  the 
inkhorn  on  his  loins,  gave  answer,  saying,  I  have  done  as  Thou  hast  commanded  m& 

Ver.    1   Anotli.  read.:  v3  jilur.,  Sept.,  Syr.,  Arab.    Tn  ver.  2,  also,  the  SjT.  and  some  codd.  have  the  plural. 
Ver.    2.  .  .  .  e>Si3i/xft*f  v«3ij^,  x.  J[aiv,j  ff»rrftipov  itrt  nrif  iripvct  tci/Tcv. 
Ver.   4,  .  .  .  ioe  TO  mifj-nov — Vulg. :  .  .  ,  tt  signa  Thau  super — 

Instead  of  7V  anoth.  read.:  7X. 

.  iT#  ran  otyiot*  fji.eu  etp^Btr&l   , 


et  ririty  l^tt  tv  r.  ctxtt. 


Ver. 
Ver. 

Ver.    7.  .  .  .   nz-nfim^oLTi  r.  ohoui  .  .   .  x,  *0TTSTI. 

Ver.   8.  Other  read.:  DDiaHa,  INK'31,   "IKB'SV— 7nj  Tip  PVISI,  Syr. 

Ver.   ».  (For  D'DT  they  read  DOn.)   Sept. :  . . .  in  iirA«r9r  i)  yii  Xmi»  »»J.J.«i, x.  li  trrtis  . 

Vtr.  11.  Anoth.  read.:  It^V  733  (TiiuuD  Babil.,  Tabo.). 


.  mStHtme  m 


aaafa^nat 


CHAP.  IX.  1,  •-'. 


n3 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

The  iniquity  (ch.  viii. )  is  now  followed,  in 
»ccordauee  with  God's  threatening  (ch.  viii.  18), 
by  the  punishment  as  tlie  carrying  out  of  the 
threatening,  and  tliat  as  regiirds  the  e.xecution  of 
judgment  on  the  guilty  inhabitants  first.  But  in 
the  midst  of  destruction  there  is  at  the  same  time 
preservation. 

Ver.  1.  He;  the  same  as  in  ver.  4.  With  a 
loud  voice,  not  without  allusion  to  ch.  viii.  18  ; 
just  as  also:  and  He  cried  in  mine  ears.  The 
loud  voice  does  not  correspond  to  "  the  greatness 
of  the  abominations  which  cry  to  God  "  (Hekgst.  ) ; 
rather  is  "  the  strength  of  the  emotion  "  thereby 
portrayed  (HiTZ.) — "the  loud  outburst  of  indig- 
nation "  (JuN.) — at  the  same  time  an  energetic 
act  of  the  Lord. — laip  (ch.  xii.  23),  most  simply 
with  Hengst.   perf.  Kal,  as  in  Hos.   ix.    7  ^X3. 

an  announcement  meant  alike  generally  and  for 
Ezekiel, — Hengst.  :  for  the  special  executioners 
of  what  has  been  announced  (  {71SI).  viz.  that  it 
is  now  the  time.  3"ip  in  Kal ;  to  press  on,  to 
come  near,  to  be  near  ;  in  Piel,  transitively  :  to 
cause  to  approach,  to  admit,  to  offer  :  intransi- 
tively (and  at  the  same  time  intensively) :  to  be 
very  near,  to  approach  with  the  greatest  haste. 
(Hitzig  reads   I3ip.     Hiv.,   Kl.  :    imper.    Piel 

intransitively:  "  Iiither  ye,"  etc.)  —  mpS.  as 
almost  always :  penal  visitation  (Hos,  ix.  7). 
The  plural  is  not  out  of  place  either  as  regards 
the  meaning  of  the  word  or  in  the  connection. 
A  plurality  is  implied  in  ch.  v.  12,  15  sq. 
[HiTZ.  :  "autliority"  for:  those  who  have  re- 
ceived orders  against  tlie  city,  so  that  nillpS 
is  particulaiized  by  means  of  CX.  Ha  v.,  Kl.  : 
"  overseership, "  the  guard,  the  heavenly  watchers 
of  the  city,  w)io,  as  an  authority  appointed  by 
God,  are  to  execute  the  punishment  on  tiie  un- 
godly.] Hitzig  asks:  to  whom  is  the  summons 
addressed  ?  Cocc.  answers  :  not  so  much  to  those 
entrusted  with  the  visitation,  as  to  the  watchers 
of  the  city,  who  have  hitlierto  kept  off  tlie  former. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  no  summons  at  all  is 
issued,  but  with  express  reference  to  the  prophet 
the  approaching  punishment  is  proclaimed  by 
God, — as  regards  the  substance  of  the  thing,  ex- 
pressed in  general  terms,  and  as  respects  the  form 
of  its  execution,  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  only  in 
ver.  2  that  a  more  detailed  definition  follows. 
What  sort  of  persons  are  to  be  undei-stood  by 
B»»X  may,  of  course,  be  conjectured  from  their 

equipment :  '173,  according  to  the  context  (comp. 
also  ch.  V.)  :  each  one  his  sword  ;  against  which 
Hav. :  "no  common  earthly  weapon  is  suitable 
in  the  hands  of  such  a  host."  A  hint  as  to  who 
the  persons  are  is  contained,  perhaps,  in  the  ex- 
pression :  innttD  ;  comp.  Exod.  xii.  23  ;  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  16.  [BuNSEX  :  "the  judges  of  the  city, 
the  punishing  and  destroying  angels."] 

Ver.  2.  They  are  men  also  in  Gen.  xviii.  2, 
but  none  the  less  angels.  [According  to  Klief.  : 
men,  as  such,  execute  the  judgment  on  Jerusalem  ; 
according  to  Calv.  :  the  Chaldeans  ;  according  to 
Gkot.  :  the  generals  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  who 
from  six  sides  besieged  and  took  the  city  (f). 
According  to  Cocc. :  signifying  the  angelic  hosts 
together  with  the  Babylonian  army-corps.]    An 


explanation  of  the  divine  jadgment  makes  itself 
clear  (ch.  i.  4).  The  number  six,  whcwe  interpre- 
tation has  been  attempted  even  to  desjieration, 
needs  no  explanation,  since  it  is  rather  the  num- 
ber seven  that  lies  before  us  with  the  one  man 
in  their  midst,  etc. ,  the  specially  sacred  n  umber ; 
consequently  :  how,  on  the  basis  of  God's  covenant 
with  Israel,  punishment  and  exemption  take  place. 
[HiTZ. :  "the  dogma  of  the  seven  archangels  in 
germ."]  As  Ezekiel  is  to  be  supposed  in  the 
court  of  the  priests  (ch.  viii.  3,  5, 16),  the  higher 
gate  will  be  the  gate  indicated  there.  Comp. 
that  passage. — 1VBD.  Jer.  li.  20  sqq.     He  who  is 

in  the  midst  of  the  destroyers  proves  that  in  the 
midst  of  destruction  there  is  also  to  be  something 
else.  What  ?  His  clothing  teUs  us  partly,  his 
equipment  partly.  "IBDH  nDp>  only  in  our  chap- 
ter, is  :  a  writer's  utensU  ;  not  a  writing-tablet, 
but :  an  inkliorn,  such  as  writers  were  accus- 
tomed to  carry  hanging  in  their  girdle  or  on  it. 
From  this,  however,  we  are  not  to  infer,  with 
Keil,  that  he  is  "a  chancellor  among  the  other 
officials,"  for  such  is  not  the  character  of  the  six  ; 
but  from  that  wherewith  he  is  provided  we  are  to 
inter  what  he  has  to  do  :  he  is  not  like  those 
others  to  destroy,  to  break  in  pieces.  He  has  an 
inkhom,  whereas  they  have  each  a  sword  1  [The 
Sept.   read   TSDH,   and   translated :    a  sapphire 

girdle.]  From  the  destroyers  he  is  distinguished 
likewise  by  his  clothing,  which  is  certainly  not 
iu  conformity  with  an  appointment  of  that  kind. 
In  linens  (plural)  is  explained  by  Hengst.  of  the 
collective  linen  (Lev.  xvi.  4,  23)  garments  of  the 
high  priest,  whose  antitype  is  the  Angel  of  the 
Lord,  the  Angel  of  the  covenant  (Mai.  i.  3),  who, 
according  to  Zech.  i.  12,  gets  from  the  Lord  good 
comfortable  words  for  the  covenant-people,  just 
as  the  high  priest  appears  in  Zech.  iii.  as  the 
type  of  Chi'ist,  as  the  figure  of  the  Angel  of  the 
Lord.  So  already  Havernick.  Keil,  on  the 
other  hand,  only  admits  that  the  one  man  in 
relation  to  the  six  "stands  somewhat  like  the 
high  priest  in  relation  to  the  Levites. "  Accord- 
ing to  Hitz.  the  garment  of  byssus  marks  him 
out  as  the  highest  in  rank  ;  he  appears  to  be  the 
same  in  whom,  with  Zechariah  and  the  author  of 
the  Apocalypse,  the  spirit  of  prophecy  assumes 
personality,  the  so-called  par  excellence  Slan  of 
God,  Gabriel  of  the  book  of  Daniel  and  of  the 
Koran  ;  similarly  the  TviSfia  in  ch.  viii.  2,  3 
appears  to  have  assumed  angelic  form  (!).  Ac- 
cording to  Cocc.  the  Spirit  of  God  is  likewise 
symbolized  here,  who  produces  the  mark  upon 
the  foreheads  of  believers,- — their  confession. 
According  to  Calvin  it  is  an  angel,  who  is  distin- 
guished by  the  ornamental  character  of  his  dress 
from  the  men,  the  remaining  six.  Keil  admits 
iu  addition  the  comparison  with  Dan.  x.  5,  xii. 
6,  7  (Rev.  i.  13  sqq.),  but  holds  that  the  view  ot 
the  Angel  of  the  Lord  is  not  thereby  established, 
inasmuch  as  "the  shining  white  robe"  is  pecu- 
liar not  merely  to  this  angel  or  Christ,  but  the 
seven  angels  also  in  Rev.  xv.  6  appear  iji  sniuu.g 
white  linen,  and  the  shining  white  coiour  sym- 
bolizes iu  general  divine  holiness  and  glory  (Rev. 
xix.  8).  In  the  first  place,  however,  by  the  ex- 
pression :  clothed  in  linen,  nothing  at  all  is  said 
as  to  brightness  of  colour,  but  it  is  simply  the 
material  of  the  clothing  that  is  given,  wnich,  i! 
it  points  to  anything,  points  to  the  clothing  0/ 


lU 


EZEKIEL. 


the  hi(/h  priest.  Now,  as  tlie  liuen  garments  of 
the  priests  (corap.  ch.  xliv.  17  sqq.)  mark  them 
out  "as  the  meiiators  of  sauctiflcation, "  whose 
"entire  calling  had  for  its  aim  the  sanctification 
of  Israel  by  Jehovah,  and  the  sanctification  of 
Jehovah  by  Isi-ael "  (Bahr,  Symb.  ii.  89),  the 
in  linen  is  admirably  appropriate  in  our  context. 
The  sanctification  of  Israel  is  limited  here,  of 
coarse,  to  the  separation  of  certain  parties  in  order 
to  their  being  spared,  as  it  is  given  in  commission 
to  the  m:m  by  Jehovah  (ver.  4)  ;  but  the  sancti- 
fication of  Jehovah  takes  place  in  the  case  before 
us  not  merely  through,  but  on  Israel.  Ever  and 
always  it  is  a,  prkMly  act,  in  the  midst  of  destruc- 
tion,' to  make  the  mark  on  what  destruction  does 
not  touch  (.ver.  6).  If,  accordingly,  it  is  not  so 
clear  from  the  clothing  and  equipment  who  tlie 
party  in  question  is,  as  what  he  is  to  do,  for  what 
he  is  designed,  yet  it  is  generally  acknowledged 
that  his  being  in  the  midst  of  the  six  is  the  place 
of  leader,  of  chief  among  them.  Only  after  he 
has  marked  or  not  have  they  to  smite ;  they  go 
after  him  (.vers.  4,  5)  ;  he  answers  in  their  name 
likewise  (ver.  11).  To  a  position  of  such  dis- 
tinction, if  the  six  are  angels,  the  Angel  of 
Jelwvah  thoroughly  corresponds.  Comp.  Zech.  i. 
11  sq. ;  Josh.  v.  14  ;  Gen.  xviii.  By  their  taking 
up  their  position  at  the  brazen  altar  is  by  no 
means  asserted  their  taking  up  their  position 
before  Jehovah,  i.e.  because  the  glory  of  God  is 
there,  as  Keil,  Klief. ;  but  the  meaning  is  :  where 
the  guilt  has  reached  its  climax  (ch.  viii.  16), 
from  that  point  also  the  punishment  m.ust  go 
forth.  [Hav.  ;  as  the  coming  from  the  north 
stood  in  relation  to  the  sin  committed  there,  so 
now  the  heavenly  beings  appear  "  as  it  were 
looking  after  and  j)rotecting  the  rights  of  the 
altar."  "  As  a  heavy  accusation,  the  forsaken 
and  despised  brazen  altar  stood  there;"  comp. 
Amos  ix.  1.  GiiOT. :  they  stood  there  as  those 
who  would  prepare  many  victims  for  God  !  Isa. 
xxxiv.  6;  Jer.  xii.  3,  xlvi.  10.]  The  high- 
priestly  man  in  linen  also  corresponds  therewith. 
Comp.  besides,  Ex.  xxxii.  35  sqq.  (Hengst.  : 
"the  protection  of  the  pious  is  his  privilege; 
but  the  work  of  vengeance  also  is  under  his  con- 
trol." "The  angels  stand,  waiting  for  God's 
beck  and  command.  He  whose  spiritual  eye  was 
opened  could  only  look  with  deep  horror  on  the 
people  filled  with  joyful  hopes  of  the  future. 
They  appear  at  the  place  of  transgression,  in 
order  to  glorify  God  in  the  downfall  of  those  who 
would  not  glorify  Him  by  their  life. ") 

Ver.  3  makes  the  glory,  etc.  (which  is  there 
conceived  of  as  the  Shecliinah-cloud)  move  out  of 
the  holy  of  holier  (Hay.,  Heng.st. ),  and  that  not 
merely  as  far  as  "  the  gate  of  the  sanctuary,  near 
which  the  altar  stood  "  (Hengst.),  for,  "  in  order 
to  give  commamls  to  His  servants,"  it  is  not 
necessary  for  Jehovah  to  go  to  the  place  where 
they  are  standing  ;  and  He  called  suggests  rather 
a  greater  distance.  As  to  the  house,  comp.  on 
ch.  viii.  14,  16.  Accordingly,  by  the  threshold 
of  it  will  not  be  meant,  as  Keil  supposes,  the 
threshold  of  the  temple  porch,  through  which 
one  entered  into  the  holy  place  (ch.  viii.  16),  but 
the  outermost  point,  where  the  exit  was/rom  the 
court  of  the  people  into  the  city — quite  in  accord- 
ance with  the  direction  which  follows  in  ver.  4 
Kjq.  That  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  according  to 
en.  viii.  16,  stood  over  the  cherub  between  the 
perch  and  the  altar  (Keju.),  is  qot  said  in  ch. 


viii.  16  ;  and  Klief.  says  at  first  also  merely : 
"where  the  vision  of  God  and  the  prophet  had 
for  the  moment  their  station."  "We  do  not  forget 
that  the  characteristic  of  Ezekiel  is  the  prophecy 
of  glory  (see  Introd.  to  ch.  i.  4-28),  and  that 
therefore  everything  comes  forth  to  the  prophet 
always  from  the  glory  of  Jehovah  ;  but  the  vision 
of  that  glory  changes  alike  as  regards  the  locality 
and  as  regards  the  form  of  manifestation,  so  that 
sometimes  this,  sometimes  that  other  feature 
steps  into  the  foreground,  and  the  rest  into  tlie 
background.  For  this  there  was  a  thorough 
appropriateness  in  the  "variable  hieroglyph,"  as 
V.  Meyer  has  happily  called  the  cherub.  (Bahu, 
i.  312.)  The  word  3n3n  appears  in  Ezekiel  for 
the  first  time  here,  and  that  in  reference  to  the 
arrangements  of  the  holy  of  holies,  specially  of 
the  ai'k  of  the  covenant.  As  the  chajoth  in  r.h.  i. 
are  the  same  as  the  plural  C'3n3.  I'^i^^l  ^y  Ezekiel 
also  in  ch.   x.,  and  common  elsewhere    (a^nsn 

collectively,  not:  for  the  "ideal  unity  of  thu 
cherubim"  (Hengst.),  but:  (or  the  well-knou-n 
double  ornament  of  the  sacred  cheat),  the  convert- 
ing of  the  chajoth  into  cherubim  in  its  applica- 
tion here  (Doctrinal  Reflections,  12,  p.  55)  may 
be  looked  upon  at  the  same  time  as  a  prophetic 
interpretation  of  the  employment  of  tiiu  cheiub 
in  worship,  especially  over  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant, on  the  basis  of  the  vision  in  ch.  i.  As  to 
the  disputed  etymology,  see  Ges.  Lex,  and  Thts.; 
KuiiTZ,  inHerzog,  ii. ;  Lange,  Genes,  p.  241.  For 
the  prophetico-historic  employment  of  the  cherub 
in  ch.  X.  in  respect  of  its  movement  (p.  40),  the 
conjectural  derivation  from  the  converting  of 
3UT  (Ps.  civ.  3,  xviii.  10)  into  3:^3  commends 

itself  more  than  any  other,  as  hinting  at  the 
passing  of  the  chajoth  of  ch.  i.  into  the  cherub. 
The  chariot-element  (as  against  Kurtz)  has  in  the 
representation  of  Ezekiel  something  e.ssential ;  and 
if  the  form  is  not  carried  out  perfectly  as  regards 
the  copy  in  the  tabernacle  and  temple,  yet,  as  far 
as  the  idea  is  concerned,  there  can  be  no  hesita- 
tion about  it,  as  Jehovah  may  also  remove  His 
abode  from  the  midst  of  Israel,  inasmuch  as  He 

(^SnC  TiSn)  's  do  national  God  in  the  heatjeu 

sense.  As  to  the  rest,  see  Doctrinal  Reflections. — 
With  ver.  3  is  still  to  be  compared  ch.  x.  4,  18  ; 
Ex.  xl.  36  sqq.;  Num.  x.  11  sq.  The  rising  up 
of  Jehovah  already  prefigured  the  abandonment 
of  the  temple  to  the  enemies  of  Israel  for  judg- 
ment on  them. — Over  which  it  was,  'rom  the 
setting  up  of  the  ark,  in  accordance  with  the 
idea  of  the  symbol,  for  threatening  and  promise, 
not  always  visible,  but  (as  here)  making  itself  so 
in  a  given  case  (Fs.  Ixxx.  1). 

Ver.  4.  The  divine  command  runs  :  ' '  Away 
into  the  city."  Yet  grace  shall  go  before  justice. 
But  nothing  is  said  of  marking  in  the  temple  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  certainly  in  vers.  6,  7 
smiting  is   spoken   of.       niD  ^=  to   make   a   '/l, 

which  last  letter  in  the  Hebrew  was  in  the  ancient 
Phcenician  alphabet,  in  the  Egyptian  writing,  as 
also  upon  the  Jewish  coins,  of  the  form  of  a  cross 
(  i  ).     Hence  as  in  general  nUl  (1  Sam.  xxi.  13) 

is  "to  mark, "and in  "a mark"  (Jobxxxi.  35),  so 
perhaps  here  in  niTini  is  used  on  purpose  of  the 
marking  of  thi*  particular  mark.     "  A  cross  wu 


CHAP.  IX.  &-9. 


115 


just  as  natural  for  a  mark  as  for  a  signature  " 
(HiTZ.).  Hav.,  who  (as  also  Vitringa)  conversely 
derives  m  from  nin.  holds  the  indefiniteness  as 
required  by  the  circumstance,  that  the  mark  was 
not  intended  for  men.  But  an  indefinite  thing  is 
certiiiuly  no  mark,  not  even  for  angels,  wiio  are 
conceived  of  here  in  human  form  ;  and  if  it  was  to 
be  a  mark  of  any  kind  you  like,  this  certainly 
would  be  somehow  expressed.  Klief.  (Vulg.)  : 
a  Tan  as  mark.  The  deeper  significance,  that  a 
cross  was  to  be  the  mark  for  sparing.  Christian 
exegesis  has  perceived  from  of  old  (Tertullian, 
Origek,  Cyi'uian,  Jerome).  As  to  the  rest,  corap. 
Rev.  vii.  3,  ix.  i,  xiv.  1 ;  Ex.  xii.  (Gen.  iv.  15). 
"  By  this  mark  one  is  separated  from  the  mass  " 
(Hengst.  ).  Consequently,  if  the  mass  is  dedi- 
cated to  destruction,  he  is  preserved.  Upon  the 
foreheads,  according  to  most :  because  there  it  is 
most  easily  seen  ;  according  to  others  :  as  there 
slaves  bore  the  names  of  their  masters  (inscripti, 
literati  servi).  Comp.  also  E.x.  x.xviii.  38  (Bahr,  ii. 
143). — Men,  because  of  what  precedes  :  the  city, 
Jerusalem:  inhabitants,  citizens.  The  qualifi- 
cation for  the  mark  is  twofuld,  expressed  in  words 
of  similar  sound.  njS  inwardly,  pjj}  also  utter- 
ing it ;  consequently  those  who  are  not  only  not 
like-minded,  but  also  audibly  make  known  their 
pain.  (The  Niphal,  which  commonly  stands  in 
the  case  of  reflex  influences  on  the  mind.) 

Ver.  5.  ^j;,  Qeri  px ;  ^  sl'>o  the  singular 
D33'V'  "'hich  is  unnecessary.     Comp.  Ex.  xxxii. 

27  ;  Ezek.  viii.  18,  v.  11.— Ver.  6.  Deut.  xxxii. 
25  ;  Ezek.  v.  16.  The  command  is  not  merely  to 
knock  them  down,  but  to  make  an  utter  end  of 
them.  Because  of  ch.  viii.,  the  beginning  (sup- 
plementary to  ver.  5)  is  made  with  the  sanctuary; 
and  this  is  immediately  explained  of  the  courts, 
which  are  before  the  house  in  the  narrower  sense, 
as  men  (oh.  viii.  16),  elders  (ch.  viii,  11),  women 
(ch.  viii.  14)  were  in  them.  [Keil,  following 
Klief.,  supposes:  "  they  were  in  general  old  men, 
well  stricken  in  years,  who  had  come  into  the 
court  to  sacrifice,  but  yet  all  the  while  were  liable 
to  the  judgment. "  HiTZ. :  it  was  just  the  Sab- 
hath  1  RosEN'M.  :  "at  My  sanctuary,"  i.e.  at 
those  who  have  sinned  there.  Sept.  :  as  if 
»{»«ipi3t3^=.  at  My  holy  ones,  the  priests.    "  When 

the  Sept.  read  :  '  inside  the  house,'  this  is  mani- 
festly inconect,"  Ew.]  Comp.  for  this  beginning 
1  Pet.  iv.  17.  (Consequently  not  like  2  Kings 
xi.  15.) 

In  ver.  7  what  has  already  been  done  is  not 
approved  in  the  form  of  a  command  (Hengst.), 
because  the  Go  forth  is  to  follow  ;  but  as  in  this 
way  the  beginning  is  called  good,  so  the  order  is 
given  to  continue  onwards  till  the  end.  Comp. 
Num.  xix.  11  (Lev.  xi.  24).  The  defiling  of  the 
house  takes  place  in  accordance  with  ver.  6,  inas- 
much as  the  courts  belonging  to  it  as  a  whole 
(which  explanation  of  n*3n  is  given  by  means  of 

miSnn,  so  that  house  here  =  "sanctuary"  in 

ver.  6)  are. filled  with  corpses.  It  is  only  now 
they  go  into  the  city.  He  pushes  them  on,  as  it 
were,  with  military  abruptness  (Hengst.). 

In  ver.  8  Ezekiel  only  is  left  remaining  in  the 
court  of  the  priests  of  the  temple,  for  it  is  there 
the  prophet  is.  (Against  Kimchi,  Hitz.,  Keil.) 
Impreasive  solitude !     (1  Kings  xix.  10.)    It  is 


not  as  being  spared  that  Ezekiel,  speaking  as  he 
does  of  his  own  accord  as  a  mere  si)ectator,  comes 
into  consideration,  just  as  also  the  preserving 
mark  is  not  made  upou  him.  His  objection  is 
meant,  therefore,  to  be  read  as  occurrimj  Oetwem 
the  execution  in  the  courts  of  the  temple  and  thai 
in  the  city.     ^SB'SJ,  Rosenm.,    Hengst.  ;   third 

pret.  Niph.  with  X  epenthetic  for  the  first  = 
"and  he  remained  over,"  viz.  "  I,"  where  we  art 
to  supply  in  thought  ng^S-     Hengst.  :  "  taking 

the  place  of  the  noun  :  a  he-remained-over. "  ll 
is  at  all  events  surprising,  in  order  to  arrest  atten 
tion,  to  emphasize  the  result.  Buxtorf  :  ex- 
pressing the  consternation  and  perplexity  of  thf 
jirophet  by  means  of  the  confused  form  of  tht 
word.  Keil,  following  Hitz. :  a  "  m.alfomiation, 
a  b'ending  together  of  the  partic.  and  the  ini- 
perf.,  and  manifestly  a  slip  of  the  pen,  to  be  read 
as   a   partic.  nS'J'J,    ^^^  to   be  connected   with 

Dnianj. "      See  other  attempts  at  explanation  in 

Hav.     Ew.  re;ids  simply  :  IJJ'J'SV     Comp.  Num. 

xvi.  45  ;  Josh.  vii.  6.  His  anguish  vents  itsell 
in  this  cry  to  God  (ch.  xi.  13  ;  1  Sara.  xv.  11). 
For  the  question,  comp.  Gen.  xviii.  23  sqq., 
XX.  4.  This  question  is  not :  "from  the  soul  of 
those  upon  whom  the  judgmeut  has  just  fallen  " 
(Hengst.),  whose  representative  Ezekiel  cannot 
be,  but :  from  the  /eelimj  of  his  fellow-exiles,  o! 
whom  therefore  no  mention  is  made.  That  his 
question  is  not  hindered  by  his  having  heard  of 
the  pious  being  spared  (Hirz. ),  shows  either  his 
fear  in  this  respect,  that  in  Jerusalem  there  will 
be  nothing  at  all  to  be  spared,  or  that  the  sparing 
in  comparison  with  the  destruction  does  not  at 

all  come  into  consideration.  Hence  73.  The 
residue  of  Israel  is  that  which  still  remains 
(especially  at  Jerusalem)  of  Israel  collectively 
after  the  previous  (the  Assyrian  and  the  Chaldean) 
catiistrophes.  Comp.  besides,  ch.  vLi.  8.  Here 
the  outpouring  of  fury,  elsewhere  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit. 

Ver.  9.  As  the  prophet,  on  account  of  the 
greatness  of  the  destruction,  makes  no  ment.on 
of  the  sparing  in  his  question,  in  like  manner  God 
also  does  not  do  so  in  His  answer,  because  of  the 
greatness  (ISO  1KD3>  in  a  superlative  sense)  of 
the  guilt  alike  of  Israel  and  of  Judah  (ch.  iv.  4 
sqq.).  Comp.  Gen.  iv.  13  ;  Lam.  iv.  6. — Ezek. 
viii.  17,  vii.  23. — HDO.  Ew.  ;  perverseness ; 
Hengst.  :  declension  ;  Hitz.  :  identical  with 
naiD,  Isa.  Iviii.  9.  Hoph.  of  nD3.  perhaps  (as 
such  testimony  in  favour  of  what  is  right  on 
God's  part  is  necessary)  :  of  the  pcrversiim,  the 
setting  aside  of  the  right  (Deut.  x.\vii.  19  ;  Amos 
V.  12).  Apostasy  from  God  does  not  lie  in  the 
context,  and  would  also  be  more  definitely  ex 
pressed  (1  Kings  xi.  9).  As  in  ch.  viii.  12  their 
idolatry  is  explained  in  this  way  from  their  own 
mouth,  so  here  their  moral  corruption.  Here 
also  the  question  is  not  about  God's  being  and 
essence,  but  about  His  will  and  acting.  The 
clauses  are  inverted  to  correspond  with  the 
present  context :  in  ch.  viii.  12  it  is  the  "  not 
seeing "  that  is  spoken  of  first,  here  it  is  the 
"having  forsaken."  The  tilling  of  the  lans 
and  city  with  lawless  conduct  shows  how  thej 


fl6 


EZEKIEL. 


imagine  tLey  have  free  scope,  and  fancy  that  no 
one  is  taking  the  oversight  of  tliem.  And  with 
the  "  not  seeing  "  there  is  connected  in  ver.  10  a 
partial  confirmation  of  their  saying  as  regards  the 
lye,  wliich,  however,  on  the  other  hand,  so  fear- 
fully demonstrates  God's  presence  in  the  land  by 
means  of  righteousness  and  judgment  (aposio- 
pesis).  Comp.  ver.  5,  eh.  viii.  18,  v.  11,  vii.  9. 
The  way  is  the  bent,  and  in  general  the  manner, 
ot  iife.  But  what  they  suppose  they  are  treading 
under  their  feet  comes  as  iniquity  to  be  punished 
upon  their  head  (1  Kings  viii.  32). — Ver.  11. 
Already  the  answer  of  God  gave  an  affirmative 
reply  to  the  question  of  the  prophet ;  but  still 
more  is  this  the  case  with  the  announcement  of 
the  accomplished  fact  made  by  the  leader  of  the 
mysterious  avengers  in  their  name, — an  announce- 
ment which  certainly  includes  in  it  also  the  pos- 
sible sparing.  Comp.  on  ver.  2.  Comp.  Gen. 
xxxvii.   1-1 ;  Num.   xiii.  26.     Comp.   Luke  xiv. 

22  ;  John  xvii.  4.  The  Qeri  l^ti  ^33  is  un- 
necessary. 

DOCTRINAL  EEFLECTION.S. 

1.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  what  our  prophet  sees 
in  vision,  that,  however  much  the  vision  of  glory 
(ch.  i.>  remains  at  the  foundation,  and  however 
much  on  this  basis  the  unity  of  Him  who  speaks 
to  the  prophet  and  transacts  with  him  is  in  sub- 
stance preserved,  yet  sometimes  tlie  one  or  the 
other  element  of  the  form  of  manifestation  retires 
into  the  background,  e.r/.  in  ch.  viii.  2  sqq.  the 
throne-chariot  and  the  chajoth  ;  and  that  some- 
times, as  in  the  chapter  before  us  (ver.  3),  a 
change  of  view  takes  place,  corresponding  to  the 
sphere  of  the  revelation,  which  is  here  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Jehovah.  The  thought  which  is  to  be 
expressed  at  the  time  supplies  of  itself  the  reason 
of  the  distinctive  form  of  expression  in  vision, 
while  at  the  same  time  there  is  no  want  of  retro- 
spective reference  showing  that  it  is  one  and  the 
same  thing,  so  that,  as  has  been  said,  amid  all 
the  diversity  the  unity  continues.  In  this  way 
it  is  the  same  Jehovah  who  is  seed  in  His  glory 
in  ch.  i.  that  lays  hold  of  Ezekiel  in  ch.  viii.  3, 
and  that  everywhere  speaks  to  him  and  acts  as 
his  Guide.  And  so  He  who  lifts  him  up,  the 
Spirit  (ch.  viii.  3),  certainly  controls  the  move- 
ments of  the  chajoth  also  in  ch.  i.  12,  20  sqq. 
And  in  the  seven  men  of  ch.  ix.  2  it  is  merely  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  that  is  again  unfolded. 

2.  Our  chapter  also  furnishes  a  prelude  to  the 
last  day,  the  "  evening  of  the  world"  (as  Lange 
calls  it  at  Gen.  xviii),  approaching  for  the  in- 
habitants of  Jerusalem.  Thus  the  appearance  of 
angels  on  the  scene  is  not  merely  natural  by 
reason  of  this  parallel,  but  so  much  the  more  as 
the  judgment  on  Jerusalem  in  Holy  Scripture- 
much  more  than  the  destruction  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah -is  a  foil,  nay,  a  constituent  element 
for  the  last  judgment. 

3.  In  the  vision  of  glory  (ch.  i.)  we  have 
noticed  repeatedly  (comp.  especially  on  ch.  i.  28), 
along  with  a  predominantly  judicial  character  on 
the  whole,  the  bright  splendour,  the  sun-bnght 
element,  and  lastly  the  rainbow.  Thus  the 
priestly  form  in  white  linen  in  the  midst  of  the 
»vengers  canno*  surprise  us.  The  "one  man" 
in  their  midst  is  a  vivid  allusion  to  "  the  likeness 
18  the  appearance  of  a  man  "  in  ch.  i.  26. 

4.  Although  conceived  of  executively  in  a  his- 


toric'il  form  of  expression  for  the  immediate  ob- 
ject of  the  vision  in  ch.  ix. ,  yet  the  group  ol 
seven  represents  substantially  the  same  thing  as 
what  ch.  i.  set  before  the  eyes  of  the  prophet, 
in  reference,  first  of  all,  to  Israel.  Comp.  in 
this  connection  especially  what  is  held  as  estab- 
lished as  to  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  in  relation  to 
the  glory  of  Jehovah  (Langs,  Genesis,  p.  386 
[T.  k  T.  Clark],  and  our  Doctrinal  lleflections  on 
ch.  i.  4-28).  The  Son  of  man,  when  He  shall 
come  in  His  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with 
Him,  as  it  is  said  in  Matt.  x.w.  31,  likewise 
separates  (just  as  here  the  mark  is  the  dividing 
element)  the  assembled  nations  one  from  another. 
Quite  ill  accordance  with  the  difference  of  times, 
of  the  last  day  from  the  time  when  it  is  called 
to-day,  just  as  expressly  does  the  judgment  de- 
volve upon  Him  then  as  does  the  sparing  in  our 
chapter. 

5.  It  is  not  "  Hebrew  poetry,"  as  was  the 
opinion  of  the  ofttimes  more  esthetic  than  theo- 
logical Herder  (Gelst  der  hebr.  Poesie,  ii.),  that 
is  to  be  credited  alike  with  the  priestly  elemi-;it 
in  the  angel-leader  of  Ezekiel,  and  with  the  angelic 
element  in  the  priesthooii  in  general.  But  neithei 
does  the  "symbolic  cultus,"  as  Balir  and  Um 
breit  maintain  on  the  other  hand,  furnish  the 
only  ground  for  it.  But  it  lies  in  the  nature  of 
the  calling  of  the  angels  (nomen  officii)  to  be  the 
mediating  element,  mediators  of  the  divine  reve- 
lations ;  hence  to  be  in  general  what  constitutes 
the  prophetic  office  also  (Hagg.  i.  13),  but  quite 
specially  what  belongs  to  the  employment  of  a 
priest  (Mai.  ii.  7).  If,  however,  according  to 
Num.  xvi.  5,  the  priests  are  those  whom  Jehovah 
permits   to   come   near  to   Him,   are   called  the 

D'Sllp  (''1  explanatorj'  designation  having  the 

same  letters  as  the  cherubim),  and  if  their  proper 
work  is  the  bringing  near  of  the  sacrifices,  then 
their  mediation  lies  especially  in  the  direction 
from  Israel  to  Jehovah  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  medintion  of  the  angels  has  its  sphere  in  the 
other  direction,  and  that  exclusively,  viz.  from 
God  to  man,  and  so  they  are  called  "  messengers, 
ambassadors,"  and  in  accordance  therewith  a  doc- 
trine is  framed  with  regard  to  them  in  Heb.  i.  14. 
The  j)erfection  of  the  idea  of  mediation,  where  the 
two  directions  met,  was  brought  about  through 
Him  in  whom  the  divine  sending  is  a  self-mani- 
festation of  God,  and  the  priestly  character  is  a 
self-sacrifice  of  humanity  (1  Tim.  ii.  5).  Now 
Jehovah  appears  in  His  iingel  xht  s|i;t>iv,  just  as 
on  the  other  side  the  priestly  order  represents 
Israel,  the  nation  of  priests,  and  its  head,  the  high 
priest,  represents  the  Israelitish  order  of  priests. 
There  would  thus  be  a  prefiguration  in  vision  of 
the  perfected  mediation  in  the  Angel  of  Jehovah 
here  in  priestly  office  as  well  as  priestly  clothing 
("  the  noble  white  form  of  peace,"  Umbreit). 

6.  "  We  must  consider  this  as  beforehand  pro- 
bable," remarks  Hengstenherg,  "  because  the 
Angel  of  the  Lord  is  represented  elsewhere  also 
as  the  leading  personality  in  the  great  divine 
judgments,  which  are  executed  in  the  interests  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  He  it  was,  e.g.,  who  as  the 
destroying  angel  slew  the  first-born  of  Egyjit, 
Ex.  xii.  23."  " There  lies  at  the  foundation  the 
old  picture  of  the  Egyptian  passover,  but  trans- 
figured in  the  prophetic  spiriti  -\s  there  tht 
destroying  angel  appeared  as  the  Deliverer  of  the 
covenant-people,  so  here  he  appears  as  the  Shield 


CHAP.  IX. 


117 


of  the  ideal  theocracy,  of  those  truly  faithful  to 
God  among  His  people  (oh.  ix.  4  sqq. ),  as  the 
Avenger  of  ungodliness  on  the  apostate  theocracy 
(ch.  X.  2,  7).  JJoth  tilings  serve  one  object,  the 
true  welfare  of  the  covenant-people  "  (Hiv.). 

7.  For  the  typical  allusion  to  Christ  the  follow- 
ing points  are  enumerated  by  the  ancients:  (1) 
The  human  form,  as  having  respect  to  the  incar- 
nation as  well  as  to  His  powerful  mediation  ;  (2) 
that  He  is  "one,"  1  Tim.  ii.  5;  (3)  that  He  is 
found  in  the  midst,  as  it  were  as  a  prince,  point- 
ing to  the  kingly  majesty  and  dignity  of  Christ ; 
(4)  the  linen  garment,  the  symbol  of  innocence, 
purity,  of  priesthooil,  etc. ;  (5)  that  He  carries  no 
Weapon  of  destruction,  but  inscribes  the  elect  in 
the  book  of  life,  in  reference  to  the  last,  Heng- 
stenberg  expresses  himself  as  follows  :  "It  admits 
of  question  whether  the  inkhorn  serves  at  the 
same  time  for  inscribing  the  names  in  the  book 
of  life,  of  which  mention  is  first  made  in  Ex. 
xx.\ii.  32  (Ps.  Ixix.  28;  Rev.  xx.  12).  It  is,  of 
course,  probable,  especially  taking  into  account 
the  fundamental  passage,  Isa.  iv.  3.  According  to 
this  view,  the  inscribing  the  names  in  the  book  of 
life  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  primary  thing,  the 
marking  of  the  foreheads  simply  as  a  consequence. " 

8.  Bahr  (ii.  p.  75)  explains  the  priestly  linen 
garment  as  symbolizing  at  once  salvation  and 
life  and  righteousness,  which  appears  to  suit 
only  the  commission  to  spare  (ch.  ix.  4),  just  as 
he  explains  the  garment  of  purity  as  referring  to 
those  who  had  kept  themselves  pure  from  the 
defilement  of  Jerusalem's  trespass. 

9.  The  weU-known  Shechinah  of  Jewi.sh  tradi- 
tion is  equivalent  to  the  glory  of  Jehovah  (John 
i.  14).  If  the  former  is  to  be  regarded  more 
strictly  as  a  cloud,  and  the  latter  more  as  a 
brightness  of  light  or  fire,  yet  the  latter  is  to  be 
conceived  of  in  closest  connection  with  the  former. 
That  this  symbol  of  the  presence  of  Jehovah  was 
a  permanent  thing  above  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
in  the  holy  of  holies,  as  was  for  the  most  part  the 
view  of  the  older  theology  along  with  the  Jewish 
tradition,  cannot  be  drawn  from  the  Scripture 
passages  referring  to  the  subject.  Lev.  xvi.  2  is 
not  indeed  to  be  explained,  with  Bahr  (i.  395  sq. ), 
Winer,  and  others,  by  ver.  13,  but  neither  does 
it  fix  (as  Hencst.,  Keil)  such  a  wonderful  mani- 
festation of  the  divine  glory  for  the  great  day  of 
atonement,  and  in  fact  also  for  the  whole  after 
period  of  the  Solomonic  temple  ;  but  it  is  to  be 
understood  simply  in  connection  with  the  cloud 
of  guidance  during  the  journey  through  the 
wilderness,  Ex.  xiii.  21  sq.,  xiv.  24  ;  Num. 
xiv.  14  ;  Neh.  ix.  12,  19  ;  Ex.  xl.  36  sqq., 
xxxiii.  9  ;  Num.  xii.  5  ;  Deut.  xxxi.  15  ;  Num. 
ix.  15  sqq.;  Ex.  xix.  9,  xxv.  22.  The  pheno- 
menon on  the  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  the 
tabernacle  and  of  the  temple  (Ex.  xl. ;  1  Kings 
viii. )  was  an  extraordinary  one.  Comp.  the  rea- 
sons against  a  permanence  of  such  a  presence  of 
God  in  Bahr  (i.  397).  Comp.  also  Herzog  (xiii. 
p.  476  sq. );  and  as  to  the  controversy  during  last 
century,  see  the  literature  in  WlNEK,  Realw.; 
Keil,  Archaol.  §  21,  i.  p.  115. 

10.  The  idea  which  was  symbolized  by  the  ark 
of  the  covenant  in  the  most  holy  place  is  indis- 
putably that  of  a  throne,  however  much  the  im- 
mediate object  was  in  reality  to  be  an  ark  (chest) 
for  the  law  of  the  covenant.  The  purpose  of  the 
ark  was  accomplished  with  the  two  tables  of 
»tone.     The  idea  of  the  throne  was  illustrated  by 


the  tivo  cherubim.  The  two  cherubic  ornaments 
correspond  with  the  two  tables  of  the  law,  as  these 
latter,  with  the  capporeth,  represent  the  dualism  ol 
the  righteousness  and  mercy  of  God,  which  finds 
in  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  ( Lev.  xvii.  11)  its 
typical  divine  institution  and  promise  of  adjust- 
ment and  harmony.  The  fact  of  the  cherubim 
being  joined  in  the  closest  manner  to  the  capporeth 
strips  it  of  the  mere  signification  of  a  "  cover"  ibr 
the  ark -chest,  which  already,  apart  from  the  des- 
tination of  the  capporeth,  receives  no  countenance 
from  its  composition  as  being  a  plate  wholly  of 
gold.  Delitzsch  compares  with  it  the  heavenly 
y^pT  in  ch.  i.   22.     [^32    (mm  Piel  "133,  in  a 

causative  sense:  to  make  to  cover  (Gen.  vi.  14), 
or  intensively ;  to  cover  entirely,  thoroughly,  iloes 
not  signify  that  the  law  of  God  was  covered  up, 
which  would  mean  the  covering  up  of  God's  rights 
and  righteousness,  which  are  meant  to  be  protected 
rather,  but,  as  is  at  once  underetood  of  itself:  that 
that  sin  which  becomes  manifest  through  the 
law  finds  covering  before  God,  atonement  on  the 
capporeth  (Lev.  xvi.  14).]  It  may  certainly  be 
admitted  that  the  view,  as  it  were,  of  a  co\ering 
on  the  ark  might  have  figuratively  its  point  of 
transition  to  the  idea  of  atonement.  As,  then, 
the  ark  guards  the  tables  of  the  law,  so  the 
cherubim  with  their  wings  protect  the  capporeth, 
Ex.  xxv.  20.  The  manifested  presence  of 
Jehovah  in  righteousness  and  mercy  as  holy  love 
is  shiningly  clear.  Understanding  the  clierubim 
as  the  chajoth,  as  is  the  case  here  in  Ezekiel,  we 
have  in  them,  in  the  shape  of  an  ornament,  the 
symbolization  of  the  life  of  creation  (Doctrinal 
Ketlections,  12,  p.  55),  as  it  appears  in  a  state  of 
heavenly  rest  engaged  in  the  worship  of  God,  yet 
none  the  less  ready  always,  in  the  way  of  active 
service,  to  glorify  Him  alike  in  judgment  and  in 
mercy.  In  actual  fact  they  acknowledge  the 
heavenly  King  in  Israel,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel, 
Jehovah,  as  the  living  Elohini  of  revelation 
(p.  40),  the  Most  High  over  all.  And  when 
Delitzsch  defines  the  diti'crence  thus:  that  the  ark 
of  the  covenant  as  n33'lD  (1  Chron.  xxviii.   18) 

is  not  so  much  a  moveable,  traveUing  throne,  as 
the  throne  that  is  stationary  and  at  rest,  with  this, 
of  course,  accords  the  circumstance  that  the  douKe 
cherub  on  the  capporeth  as  it  were  surrounds 
Him  who  is  enthroned  (Ex.  xxv.  22);  but  yet  the 
circumstance  is  not  to  be  overlooked,  that  the 
staves  intended  for  removing  the  .ark  of  the 
covenant  were  continually  to  remain  in  it  (Ex. 
xxv.  15).  As  regards  the  etymology  of  the  word, 
we  must  reject  that  which  lias  been  attempted, 
after  the  analogy  of  the  root  yribh  in  the  Sanscrit, 
from  "greifen"  (Eng.  to  grip,  grasp)  (Delitz.sch- 
as  those  who  lay  hold  of  and  carry  forward  the 
divine  throne;  or  FiJKST:  like  the  Greek  griffins 
and  the  Egyptian  sphinxes  as  guardians),  because 
a  laying  hold  of  is  nowhere  ascribed  to  the  cheru- 
bim ;  and  the  fact  that  in  Gen.  iii.  24  they  have"  to 
keep  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life,  is  not  to  be 
derived  from  a  peculiar  quality,  as  guardians,  just 
as  also  we  cannot,  with  Kurtz  (Herzog,  ii.  p.  655), 
deduce  therefrom  a  "task,"  according  to  which 
paradise  was  "  entrusted  "  to  the  cherub,  and  that 
he  gave  it  back  "into  the  hands  of  man,  its 
original  possessor,"  having  also  "preserved  be. 
yond  the  flood  its  proper  essence,  the  paradisiacal 
powers,"  etc.  Nothing  of  this  has  any  place  ii 
Holy  Scripture.     What  is  said  in  Rev.  xxi.  and 


us 


EZEKIEL. 


xxii.  reminds  us  (ch.  xxii.  1  (?),  2)  iu  some 
respi'cts  of  what  belongs  to  paradise,  but  is  by  uo 
ir.e.ins  paradise,  but  tlie  lioly  city,  New  Jerusalem, 
the  tabernacle  of  God  with  men  (ch.  xxi.  2,  3), 
whioU  by  new  creation  (ver.  5)  comes  down  from 
God  out  of  the  new  heaven  to  the  new  earth.  The 
cherubim  do  not  inhabit  (Gen.  iii.  24)  paradise, 
but  "  on  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden,"  conse- 
quently outside  of  it  is  found  the  Shechinah 
(•3{j»5l),  which  exhibits  Jehovah  Elohira.     The 

meaning  of  this  is,  that  for  man  henceforth  the 
glorious  presence  of  God  is  outside  paradise,  and 
hence  also  the  approach  to  the  tree  of  life  iu  the 
midst  of  paradise  is  denied  to  man.  For  Israel, 
life  before  God  and  God's  glorious  presence  are 
svmbolized,  as  regards  worship  in  the  most  holy 
place,  specially  by  means  of  the  atonement  on  the 
capporeth  and  the  double  cherub,  as  well  as  by 
means  of  the  cloud  during  the  journey  in  the 
wilderness,  and  on  occasion  of  the  dedication  of 
i^olomon's  temple.  In  reality,  the  life  is  restored 
for  mankind  when  He  whose  body  is  the  temple 
(John  ii.  21,  i.  14)  could  say  on  that  great  all- 
accomplishing  day  of  atonement  on  Golgotha  to 
the  thief :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  Me  in  paradise"  (Luke  xxiii.  43). 
Jloreover,  we  have  to  distinguish  the  historico- 
symbolic  cherub,  the  cherub  of  worship,  the 
cherub  of  prophetic  vision,  and  the  rhetorieo- pro- 
phetic (Ezek.  xxviii. ),  as  well  as  the  cherub  of 
poetry  (Ps.  xviii. ). 

11.  If  the  mark  of  the  cross  is  the  simplest 
exegesis  of  the  in,  we  must  not  merely  say  with 

Schmieder,  that  "  this  coincidence  in  any  case 
remains  ever  memorable  for  the  thoughtful  ob- 
server of  the  ways  of  God,  whose  counsel  has 
planned  everything  beforehand,"  but  it  will  also 
be  interesting  to  mention  what  is  analogous  in 
different  quarters.  The  Egyptian  Apis  was  de- 
noted by  a  white  triangle  (or  square),  the  charac- 
teristic mark  of  the  power  of  nature  (or  of  the 
world).  On  the  brow  of  the  Indian  Shiva  is  the 
jiictiire  of  the  fertilizing  stream  of  the  Ganges. 
Shiva's  or  Vishnu's  mark  is  made  on  the  brow  of 
the  Hindoo  who  has  been  cleansed  in  the  holy 
water.  The  Japanese  pilgrim  to  the  temple  of 
Tensjo  Dai  Sin  gets  as  a  token  of  indulgence  a 
small  square  box,  on  which,  in  large  characters, 
the  name  of  the  god  is  written,  and  which  he 
can-ies  home  upon  his  forehead.  If,  according  to 
the  ancients  (and  the  more  recent  mystics  also), 
the  four  quarters  of  heaven,  the  flying  fowl,  the 
praying,  the  swimming,  even  the  walking  man, 
the  rowing  ship,  the  ploughing  peasant,  etc.,  the 
Egyptian  key  of  Isis,  the  hammer  of  the  god 
Thor,  not  to  speak  of  the  preparation  of  the 
paschal  lamb, — if  all  these  furnished  a  "  silent 
prophecy  pointing  to  Christ,"  "the  providential 
clement  may  at  all  events  (says  Merz  in  Herz"g, 
riii. )  be  acknowledged,  that  the  putting  to  death 
of  the  world's  Redeemer  must  be  accomplished  by 
that  very  instrument  of  torture,  which  is  capable, 
as  no  other  is,  of  being  made,  represented,  set  up, 
and  looked  upon  as  a  xign  before  all  the  world, 
and  in  all  the  world,"  etc. 

12.  It  is  not  Grotius,  as  Heugst.  erroneously 
isserts,  but  Junius,  who  has  already  remarked  that 
in  Egypt  it  was  the  doorposts,  here  it  is  the  fore- 
heads, and  that  consecjuently  while  in  the  fonner 
cane  it  was  .still  families,  hou.ses,  here  it  is  merely 
tingle  individuals  that  come  into  consideration. 


.\s  contrasted  wittf  Egypt,  it  is  Israel  which  in 
this  crisis  of  the  worliijf  stands  the  test,  in  virtue 
of  a  cleansing  by  means  of  blood,  of  a  puriticatiou 
from  sin.  For  if  God  will  impute  sin,  who  shall 
stand?  Here  in  Jerusalem,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  question  is  as  to  the  Israelite  (Dent.  vi.  8), 
who  is  so  after  the  spirit  and  not  after  the  flesh, 
as  it  is  not  all  Israelites  who  are  the  trut  Israel, 
It  is  a  crisis  in  a  narrower  sense,  consequently 
a  separation.  Hence,  also,  over  against  tl  e  per- 
sons comes  the  person  of  the  Lamb,  just  as  in 
Matt.  XXV.  12  the  "  1  know  you  not"  is  the 
decisive  element.  His  mark  brings  about  ex- 
emption from  punishment  in  Jerusalem  (Joel  ii. 
32),  while  in  Egypt  it  is  the  blnod  of  the  lamb 
(Ex.  xii.  13,  7).  Whoever  has  not  the  Spirit  ot 
(_'hrist  is  none  of  His.  For,  finally,  the  Spirit  is 
the  mark  wherewith  we  are  sealed,  whereby  we 
cry,  Abba,  Father  (Rom.  >'iii.  15;  Rev.  xiv.  1). 

13.  "The  marking"  (observes  Hexgst.,  as 
already  J.  H.  Mich.)  "does  not  secure  against 
any  share  in  the  divine  judgment,  for  this  would 
not  correspond  with  the  nature  of  the  divine 
righteousness,  as  even  the  elect  are  atfected  in 
many  ways  by  the  prevailing  corruption  ;  it  is 
merely  a  security  against  their  being  carried  away 
with  the  wicked  (Ps.  xxviii.  S),  against  an  evil 
death,  and  everything  which  woidd  stand  opposed 
to  the  rule  that  '  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God '  (Rom.  viii.  28). 
Jeremiah  is  an  example."  Comp.  also  Jer.  xxxix. 
16  sqq.,  xlv.  5. 

14.  One  may,  with  Hav,,  find  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  those  to  be  spared  (ver.  4)  a  characterizing 
of  fidelity  according  to  its  negative  side  merely. 
They  are  the  Protestants  from  the  bottom  of  their 
hearts  in  Jerusalem.  Moreover,  the  circumstance 
that  they  are  described  in  such  a  way  shows  how 
oppressed  they  are  by  the  corraption  universally 
prevailing,  so  that  their  being  spared  in  the  judg- 
ment is  at  the  same  time  a  deliverance  from  the 
wicked  (Ps.  i.  4  sqq. ;  Luke  xviii.  7  sq.).    ' 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  "  Each  one  is  to  have  his  weapon  in  his 
hand,  not  merely  by  his  side  or  on  his  should<'r, 
in  order  that  he  may  strike  out  on  every  side  im- 
mediately. The  Chaldeans  were  as  it  were  the 
executioners,  the  Jews  the  criminals,  and  the 
appointed  time  was  come.  When  they  shall  say. 
It  is  peace  !  and  reckon  the  evil  day  far  from  them, 
destruction  shall  come  upon  them  swiftly"  (B.  B.). 
— "  The  visitation  of  grace  brings  salvation  for  the 
pious  (Luke  i. ),  while  the  visitation  in  wrath  is 
the  portion  of  the  ungodly  (Ps.  vi.  1,  2)"  (Stck.). 
— Ver.  2.  "  Those  who  admonish  are  followed  by 
the  executioners,  the  prophets  by  the  soldiers,  the 
friends  by  the  enemies"  (Stck. ).  —  "  Although 
the  Lord  sends  forth  His  angels  of  vengeance,  yet 
the  Angel  of  the  covenant  is  with  them,  who 
watches  over  the  children  of  God"  (Tub.  B. ). — 
"  From  this  we  deduce,  in  the  first  place,  the 
effective  threatening  for  the  ungodly,  that  God 
has  always  servants  who  stand  ready  to  obey 
Him  ;  in  the  second  place,  the  comfortable  con- 
viction, how  even  the  unbelieving  Chaldesns 
wage  war  under  God's  commands,  and  must  act 
in  accordance  therewith  ;  and  lastly,  we  see  that 
God  spares  His  elect.  This  is  just  God's  secret 
providence"  (C).  —  "The  small  number  of  be- 
lievers need  not  surprise  us ;  they  have  often  been 


CHAP.  IX. 


r,9 


only  few"  (L.). — Thou  seest  how  the  Son  of  God 
at  all  times  g-athers  for  Himself  by  His  word  and 
Spirit  a  chuTch  cliosen  to  everlasting  life,  and 
protects  and  upholds  it  (Heipelbeug  Cat.  y«. 
54). — A  contemplation  at  the  altar,  which  is 
fitted  to  alarm  us  (by  reminding  us  of  our  sin,  by 
the  thought  of  retributive  punishment),  which  is 
meant  to  comfort  us  (by  means  of  the  atonement, 
by  the  act  of  sparing  in  the  midst  of  the  judg- 
ment).— Vers.  1-3.  The  six  and  the  seventh  in 
their  significance  for  the  judgments  of  God. — The 
severity  and  the  goodness  of  God. — Punishment 
and  grace  almg  with  one  another. 

Ver.  3.  "  The  Jews  imagined  that  God  was,  as 
it  were,  bound  to  the  visible  temple  ;  but  He 
shows  them  and  us  something  different.  If  we 
imitate  the  Jews,  our  pretence  of  pure  doctrine 
will  likewise  avail  us  nothing"  (L. ). — Ver.  4. 
"The  Holy  Spirit  is  properly  the  true  seal  and 
mark  wlierewith  believers  are  marked  by  God, 
and  then  the  cross,  so  long  as  they  are  still  in  the 
Church  militant"  (B.  B.). — "In  Rev.  xiii.  we 
find  also  a  mark  of  the  beast  on  the  riglit  hand  or 
on  the  foreheads!  "  (L. ) — How  many  a  man  beai-s 
his  mark  on  his  forehead  ! — We  are  not  to  make 
ourselves  partakers  of  other  men's  sins  by  our 
looking  on  with  indid'erence,  or  by  our  silence 
even. — And  yet,  what  power  the  example  of  a 
corruption  that  is  universal  exercises  ! — "  If  thou 
art  a  person  in  office,  cease  not  to  admonish  ;  if 
thou  art  merely  a  private  individual,  then  show 
at  least  thy  displeasure  at  what  is  evil !  Noah 
and  Lot  did  not  follow  the  fashion"  (L. ).— Fear 
of  man  and  desire  to  please  man  influence  many 
men.  —  First  the  eye  looks,  then  the  mouth  smiles, 
then  hands  and  feet  act.  —  0  what  a  characteristic 
mark  the  sighing  of  the  heart  is,  of  whose  child 
one  is  !  Comp.  Rom.  viii.  22,  23,  26. — But  how 
is  it  that  here  there  is  no  mention  of  prophesying, 
of  ( astmg  out  devils,  or  of  mighty  sims,  no  men- 
tion of  men  of  singular  sanctity  ?  Well,  in  the 
case  of  .such  it  may  happen  tliat  the  Lord  does  not 
know  them,  never  has  kno%vn  them,  as  He  knows 
His  own.  Mention  is  made  only  of  souls  who  are 
in  earnest  alarm  in  such  a  world  as  this,  or  even 
in  a  Jerusalem.  Let  these  be  comforted. — "When 
the  apostle  (2  I'et.  ii.  7,  8)  commends  the  patience 
of  Lot,  he  says  that  his  soul  was  vexed  so  long  as 
he  lived  in  Sodom.  He  could  not  as  a  single 
man,  one  who  was  besides  still  a  stranger,  bring 
those  who  were  so  thoroughly  depraved  to  bethink 
themselves.  He  did  not,  however,  himself  be- 
come hardened  amid  the  shamefulness  of  so  many 
horrible  deeds,  but  he  sighed  con.stantly  before 
God,  and  was  in  continual  sorrow.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  certainly  a  proof  of  great  lethargy 
when  we  see  that  the  holy  name  of  God  is  despised, 
and  yet  feel  no  pain.  Hence  it  is  no  wonder  if 
we  are  involved  in  the  punishments  of  those  sins 
which  we  foster  by  our  connivance.  For  that  ad- 
monition is  to  be  considered  well,  that  the  zeal  of 
God's  house  is  to  eat  us  up,  and  tliat  the  reproaches 
of  those  who  reproach  God  fall  on  us"  (C). — Those 
who  are  spared — a  picture  for  the  cabinet.  Their 
outward  and  inward  mark,  according  to  ver.  4. 

■Ver.  ,")  sqq.  Where  God's  grace  is  followed  by 
God's  judgment,  and  where  the  former  has  been 
turned  into  lasciviousne.ss,  there  the  discoveries 
which  we  must  make  in  ourselves  or  in  others 
have  something  exceedingly  strict,  harsh,  severe 
nbout  them.  Neither  the  remainder  of  life,  th 
helplessness  and  weakness  of  age,  nor  the  bloom' 


ing  freshness  of  youth  in  its  rigour,  nor  its 
grace  and  beauty,  nor  even  childiike  innocence  or 
honourable  appearance,  is  spared. — The  unsparing 
character  of  God's  judgments  on  the  despisers  ot 
His  grace,  of  His  word  (comp.  ver.  10). — "  The 
old  take  precedence  of  the  young  in  the  judgment, 
because  they  did  not  go  before  those  younger  ones 
in  good  example,"  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  17  (B.  B.). — 
But  the  beginning  is  made  with  the  temple,  which 
Christ  also  cleared  first,  before  the  Jewish  land 
was  cleared  of  the  Jews. — On  ministers,  princes, 
lords,  the  rich,  the  distinguished,  and  on  those 
whom  foolish  people  are  accustomed  to  regard 
with  most  envy, — on  these  God's  sword  of  justice 
when  drawn  falls  first  of  all,  or  even  most  of  all. 
— To  stand  near  the  house  of  God  is  a  blessed  and 
also  a  safe  position  ;  but  it  is  also  the  most  dan- 
gerous position  if  it  is  hyjiocrisy.  Certainly  in 
this  case  religion  is  no  lightning-conductor,  but 
what  the  tree  is  in  the  storm  ;  those  who  are 
under  it  are  sure  to  be  struck  dead. — A  lie  in 
God's  face,  or  under  the  name  of  truth,  is  a  lie  of 
the  worst  kind,  bringing  with  it  eternal  death. 
— Those  who  go  about  with  fire  lose  certainly  the 
dread  of  fire,  but  so  much  the  more  readily  perish 
by  the  fire. — "Ye  shall  not  touch  any  one  of  those 
who  have  the  mark  on  them,  is  certainly  no  small 
testimony  on  God's  part  and  no  small  privilege,  of 
which  one  stands  very  much  in  need  at  the  time 
of  visitation  in  general  judgments,  or  when  God 
in  a  special  way  strikes  all  around  us,  since  the 
heart  very  easily  becomes  desponding  and  timor- 
ous, distrustful  and  afraid.  But  believers  must 
not  use  it  for  self-exaltation  above  others,  but 
rather  for  true  humiliation  before  God,  and  tor 
joyful  confidence  toward  Him  in  trouble  and 
death"  (B.  B.).  —  Ver.  7.  "In  other  cases,  those 
who  hope  to  be  spared  flee  for  refuge  to  the 
temples  and  places  of  worship  ;  but  here  this 
avails  nothing  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  .slaying  ji-.st 
begins  there"  (L.).  —  "First  the  teachers,  then 
the  hearers"  (B.'B.). — Ver.  S.  "Ah,  Lord!  is 
the  voice  of  His  servants,  as  they  look  at  rampant 
ungodliness ;  at  the  ai)proach  of  God's  judgments ; 
while  they  call  to  repentance  ;  as  they  make  their 
daily  supplication  for  the  Church"  (Stck.). — 
"However  cruel  the  prophets  might  appear  vo 
the  Jews  because  of  their  threatenings  a..d  re- 
bukes, yet  they  were  anything  but  their  enemies, 
inasmuch  as  they  not  only  felt  intense  solicitude, 
but  also  made  fervent  intercession  for  their  people. 
Such  was  the  case  with  Moses,  with  Samuel,  with 
Jeremiah  (ch.  ix. )  "  (L. ). — "So  the  hearts  of  be- 
lievers are  full  of  love,  as  we  see  in  the  case  ot 
Paul  in  Rom.  ix."  (C.) — Ver.  9.  "  Ungodly  m.  n 
come  to  know  God  only  after  His  judgments,  but 
not  in  the  right  way  of  conversion  "  (Lange). — 
"  God  does  not  answer  all  his  doubts.  For  God 
does  not  free  us  from  all  the  difficulties  in  which 
we  are  involved,  but  puts  our  modesty  to  the  test. 
We  are,  however,  to  learn  here  not  to  weigh  the 
judgments  of  God  in  our  scales,  because  we  usually 
extenuate  our  sins  ;  it  is  God's  business  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  sin  "  (C). — "We  never  sufficiertly 
comprehend  the  justice  of  the  divine  judgments. 
AVe  always  overlook  something  in  God's  judging, 
however  just  and  right  it  is.  Here  the  secret  pro- 
vidence of  God  is  to  be  taken  into  consideration  " 
(L.). — When  the  cup  is  full,  it  runs  over. — Ver. 
11.   It  is  also  an  "  It  is  finished  "  that  closes  the 

e    priestly  as  well  as  the  judicial  work,  John  xix.  bO 

.  I  (ch.  iv.  34). 


120 


EZEKIEL. 


3.  The  Coals  of  Fire  on  the  City  (Ch.  x.). 

1  And  I  saw,  and,  behold,  on  the  expanse  that  was  above  the  head  of  the 
cherubim, — as  it  were  a  sapphire  stone,  as  the  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  % 

2  throne  was  seen  [appeared]  over  them.  And  He  spake  unto  the  man  clothed  in 
linen,  and  said.  Come  hither  between  the  wheels,  hither  under  the  cherub,  and 
fill  thy  two  hands  with  coals  of  fire  from  between  the  cherubim,  and  scatter  over 

3  the  city.  And  he  came  before  mine  eyes.  And  the  cherubim  stood  on  the  right 
of  the  house,  at  the  coming  of  the  man ;  and  the  cloud  filled  the  inner  court. 

4r  And  the  glory  of  Jehovah  rose  up  above  the  cherub,  over  the  threshold  of  the 
house ;  and  the  house  was  filled  with  the  cloud,  and  the  court  was  full  of  the 

5  brightness  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah.  And  the  sound  of  the  wings  of  the  cherubim 
was  heard  as  far  as  the  court,  the  outer  one,  as  the  voice  of  the  Almighty  God  when 

6  He  speaketL  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  His  giving  the  command  to  the  man  clothed 
in  linen,  when  He  said,  Take  fire  from  between  the  wheels,  from  between  the 

7  cherubim  ;  then  he  came,  and  stood  beside  the  wheel.  And  the  cherub  stretched 
fortli  his  hand  from  between  the  cherubim  unto  the  fire  that  was  between  the 
cherubim,  and  lifted  it,  and  gave  it  into  the  two  hands  of  him  clothed  in  linen ; 

8  and  lie  took  it,  and  went  out.     And  there  appeared  in  the  cherubim  the  form  of 

9  a  man's  hand  under  their  wings.  And  I  saw,  and,  behold,  four  wheels  beside  the 
cherubim,  one  wheel  beside  one  cherub,  and  one  wheel  beside  another  cherub ; 

10  and  the  appearance  of  the  wheels  as  the  look  of  the  stone  of  Tartessus.  And 
their  appearance  :  one  likeness  to  them  four,  as  it  were  a  wheel  in  the  midst  of  a 
wheel.  When  they  went,  they  went  toward  their  four  sides ;  they  turned  not  in 
their  going,  for  whither  the  head  turned,  they  went  after  it ;  they  turned  not  in 
their  going.  And  all  their  flesh,  and  their  backs,  and  their  hands,  and  their 
wings,  and  the  wheels,  were  full  of  eyes  round  about ;  they  four  had  tbeu- 
wheels.  As  regards  the  wheels  attached  to  them  [or:  as  legards  the  wheels,  ngaidint; 
ti.em],  it  was  cried  in  mine  ears,  0  wheels.  And  four  faces  were  to  every  one  : 
the  face  of  the  one  was  the  face  of  the  cherub,  and  the  face  of  the  second  the 
face  of  a  man,  and  of  the  third  the  face  of  a  lion,  and  of  the  fourth  the  face  of  an 
eagle.     And  the  cherubim  mounted  upwards  :  this  was  the  living  creature  that  I 

1 6  saw  by  the  river  Chebar.  And  when  the  cherubim  went,  the  wheels  went  beside 
them  ;  and  when  the  cherubim  lifted  up  their  wings  to  mount  up  from  the  earth, 

17  the  wheels  also  turned  not  from  beside  them.  When  the  one  stood  the  other 
stood,  and  when  the  one  mounted  up  the  other  mounted  up  ;  for  the  spirit  of  the 

18  living  creature  was  in  them.     And  the  glory  of  Johovah  went  forth  from  above 

19  the  thresliold  of  the  house,  and  stood  over  the  cherubim.  And  the  cherubim 
lifted  up  their  wings,  and  mounted  up  from  the  earth  before  mine  eyes,  when 
they  departed,  and  the  wheels  beside  them  :  and  it  stood  at  the  opening  of  the 
gate  of  Jehovah's  house,  the  east  [gate] ;  and  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  was 

20  over  them  above.     This  was  the  living  creature  that  I  saw  under  the  God  of 

21  Israel  at  the  river  Chebar ;  and  I  knew  that  they  were  cherubim.  Every  one 
had  four  faces,  and  every  one  four  wings,  and  the  likeness  of  the  hands  of  a  man 

22  under  their  wings.  And  [as  regards]  the  likeness  of  their  faces,  they  were  the  faces 
which  I  saw  by  the  river  Chebar,  [as  regards]  their  appearances  and  themselves; 
they  went  every  one  straight  forward. 

Ver.   2.  Sept. :  .  .  .  t.  iilihux.vtoL  njv  ^ ToAtri- — 

Ver.      6.    .    .    .    r.  ff-TCAtJV  T»5»  iLyiXV  — 

Ver.    9.     .  .  Aiflow  a.vBpctxK. 

Ver.  11.  .  .  .  ui  if  at*  TcTsv  i:ti^^i->i.iv  fi  lipxr  ft  fj-tix. — ad  quem  ire  declinahat  qumprima  erat — 

Ver.  12.  .  .  .  T/.r.fti!  i^BxXf/Mn  KiJxXtidty  T6t(  Ticffatpffiv  rfox6it  BtiiT. — plena  . .  .  oculis  in  circuitu  guat.  rot, 

Ver,  13.  £t  rotas  istai  vocavit  volubileji — 

Ver.  19.  .  .   .  K.  icTtiexy  Iti  to.  :rpoBvpoL — 

Ver.  31.  Sept.:  .  .  .  *.  exrm  mpvytt. 


11 

12 

13 
U 


15 


EXEGETICAL  RE.MARES. 

What  follows  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  second  act 
ia  thia  dratnatic  vision,  for  the  first  woe  closes 


with  the  report  in  ch.  ix.  11.  That  the  vision 
makes  a  new  start  is  shown  immediately  in  ver.  1 : 
And  I  saw,  and,  behold  (ch.  viii.  2);  and  we  shall 
be  preserved  from  manifold  perplexity  if  we  mil 


CHAP.  X.  2-8. 


np  nothing  from  the  previous  chapter  with  this. 
— Comp.  first  of  all  on  ch.  i.  22,  25.  By  this 
express  reference  to  chapter  i.  it  must  alrci.ly  be 
clear  (comp.  ver.  20)  that  D'313n  are  the  chajoth 

known  from  that  passage.  Comp.  farther  on  eh. 
i.  26.  The  throne  making  its  appearance  prepares 
for  the  command  of  Him  who  is  enthroned ;  but 
nothing  appears  except  the  throne,  for  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  is  conceived  of  as  above  the  cherub, 
from  which  it  moves  in  ver.  4.     Keil  (Klief.), 

following  the  punctuation,  takes  Qn'py  DSIJ  as 

an  independent  sentence  :  He  (Jehovah)  appeared 
above  them. 

Ver.  2.  Comp.  on  ch.  ix.  1,  2. — The  vision  in 
ch.  i.  corresponds  viith  the  temple-vision,  an  ap- 
plication of  what  was  seen  there  to  the  case  in 
hand  (Matt.   x.\ii.  7). — {<13>  **  usual,  in  contrast 

with  "T^n. — 7373?  ni3'3  'S  the  intermediate  space 

in  the  wheelwork,  hence  ;  between  the  four  wheels 

on  the  ground.     For  although  pjpj  does  not  mean 

"whirl,"  yet  neither  is  it  quite ^[sm  (wheel), 

but  it  combines  at  the  same  time  what  was  im- 
plied in  the  wheel  with  the  idea  of  swiftness  in 
rollint],  of  repeated,  frequent  motion.  Comp.  in 
the  meantime  for  illustration,  on  ch.  i.  15  sq. — 

2113?  nnn  vS  confines  within  nanower  limits 
the  more  general  expression  which  precedes;  hence 
3113  here  is  neither  the  double  cherub  on  the 
ark,  nor  the  whole  of  the  cherubim,  but  the  de- 
finite (ver.  7)  individual  cherub. — We  are  not  cer- 
tainly to  think  of  any  hearth  for  material  fire  as 
being  between  the  cherubim,  nor  is  the  altar  of 
incense  (Isa.  vi.  6)  to  be  dragged  in  for  explana- 
tion ;  but  it  is  the  wrath  of  God  (comp.  ch.  ix.  8), 
which  destroys  Jerusalcnj,  that  is  symbolized,  in 
accordance  with  the  description  in  ch.  i.  13. 
[Ew. :  the  punishment,  as  in  Gen.  xix.  24,  the 
worst.  Calv.  adopts  the  view  of  a  silent  antithe- 
sis to  Lev.  vi.  12,  13.]  Herewith  properly  every- 
thing is  already  said  as  regards  the  judgment  on 
the  city  ;  the  statement  XS'I  Dp'l  in  ver.  7  brings 

merely  in  addition  the  execution  of  it,  which  is 
immediately  followed  up  by  allusions  (also  to  the 
vision  in  ch.  i. ),  mostly  of  an  explanatory  charac- 
ter, which  are  meant  to  illustrate  the  matter  with 
all  fulness  and  circumstantial  exactness. 

Ver.  3  begins  to  supplement  by  telling  us  where 
the  cherubim  (vers.  1,  2)  in  this  second  act  ap- 
peared to  the  prophet  as  standing,  where  they  had 
taken  up  their  position  :  on  the  right  of  the 
hoose  [on  account  of  the  inner  court  (of  the 
priests)  which  follows,  to  be  explained  of  the 
temple  proper] ;  according  to  most :  on  the  south 
side  or  «o«(A-eastwards  (ver.  19,  ch.  xi.  23),  in 
contrast  with  ch.  viii.  5  sq. ,  1 4  (Ew. :  because  the 
south  is  the  place  of  fire  and  death,  just  as  the 
Indian  Jamas  dwells  there  and  comes  thence); 
according  to  others:  on  this  very  account,  and 
because  of  the  execution  of  judgment  by  the 
Chaldeans,  on  the  north  side.  Along  with  the 
cherubim  the  whole  vision  is  transferred  from 
ch.  i ,  although  first  of  all  it  is  merely  the  cloud 
that  is  mentioned,  which  is  certainly  also  the 
first  thing  in  ch.  i.  4  (comp.  there).  The  circum- 
■tance  that  it  fills  the  court  of  the  priests  is  an 
bapressive  contrast  to  1  Kings  viii.  10  sq. 

Ver.  4  is  almost  a  verbatim  repetition  of  ch. 


ix.  3,  and  accordingly  the  expression  anan  bVD 
is  to  be  understood  as  there  of  the  double  cherub 
on  the  ark,  so  that,  as  in  ch.  ix.  in  connecticu 
with  the  judgment  on  the  citizens,  so  here  in  con- 
nection with  the  burning  of  their  city,  the  aban- 
donment of  the  temple  on  the  part  of  Jehovah  is 
prefigured.  The  prophet  explains  how  the  con- 
nection in  the  latter  case  was  made  clear  to  him, — 
how,  namely,  outside  the  temple-edifice  the  cheru- 
bim (chajoth)  stood  ready  with  the  coals  of  fire, 
and  the  cloud  threateningly  filled  the  inner  court, 
when  at  the  same  time  in  the  most  holt/  place  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  rose  from  its  old  resting-place, 
which  the  worship  Sabbatically  celebrated,  so  that 

it  mounted  up  (DTl)  over  (^y,  which  may  of  course 

be  for  pXi  ^^^  rather  stands  here  in  contrast  with 

JX  in  ch.  ix.  3)  the  threshold  of  the  whole,  %'isible 

as  well  as  raised  high  above  all;  "cherubim"  and 
"  cherub"  balancing  each  other  in  this  way,  that 
the  house  (in  the  narrower  sense)  became  full  of 
brightness  from  the  cloud  which  filled  the  inner 
court,  the  (inner)  court  became  so  from  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  taking  its  departure  out  of  the 
most  holy  place.  Comp.  on  the  "  cloud  "  and 
the  "brightness,"  Doctrinal  Reflections,  p.  117. 
And  as  the  brightness  in  this  way  attended  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  visibly  through  the  court  of  the 
priests,  so  iu  Ver.  5  the  sound  of  the  wings,  etc. , 
ready  for  movement,  accompanies  it  audibly  ; 
comp.  on  ch.  i.  24.  The  mention  of  its  being 
heard  as  far  as  the  (outer)  court  proves  the 'cor- 
rectness of  the  exposition  given  of  ver.  4,  as  beinj; 
parallel  to  ch.  ix.  3.  Comp.  besides  on  ch.  i.  24 
(Ex.  xix.  16,  19,  XX.  1,  18  sq.). 

Accordingly,  after  the  adjustment  of  the  rela- 
tion of  cherab  and  cherubim  (the  explanations  of 
ver.  3  sq.  are  attached  to  the  latter),  Ver.  6 
returns  to  ver.  2,  resuming  the  command  to  the 
man  clothed  in  linen.     The  execution  of  what  is 

there  commanded  is  described  as  it  began.     TVN 

JBISn,  i.e.  beside  the  one  definite  wheel  to  which 

he  went  ;  not  "  an  ideal  combination  of  the 
wheels,"  as  Hengst,  or  =  plural  (Sept.  [Exg. 
Vers.]). 

Then  Ver.  7  tells  us  how  he  obtained  the  fire 
(the  coals  of  fire  of  ver.  2).  The  cherub  next  to 
that  wheel  (ver.  9)  took  it  and  gave  it  to  him. 
Thus  the  band  of  avengers  (ch.  ix.)  under  his 
leadership,  in  whom  we  recognised  a  setting  forth 
of  the  divine  glory,  is  parallel  with  the  cherubs  of 
the  vision  ;  one  hand  grasps  the  other  (Rev.  xv. 
7,  viii.  5).  The  character  in  which  the  priestly 
man  appears  as  mediating  exemption  from  judg- 
ment (ch.  ix.)  has  thus  (quite  in  accordance  with 
the  departure  of  Jehovah  on  the  throne  of  grace 
out  of  the  most  holy  place,  where  ilso  no  sacrifi- 
cial mediation  is  possible  any  longer)  assumed  the 
form  of  a  mediation  of  pure  judgment.  This 
abandonment  of  the  temple  on  the  part  of  Jehnvsh, 
which  is  much  more  prominently  connected  with 
the  judgment  on  Jerusalem  than  in  ch.  ix.  3,  pre- 
figures the  KV^I  of  the  man  (comp.  ch.  ix.  7),  who 
thus  takes  his  departure  from  the  court  of  the 
priests  for  the  city.  But  the  mention  of  the 
hand  of  the  cherub  in  ver.  7,  as  well  as  of  the 
wheel  in  ver.  6,  gives  occasion  for  the  continua- 
tion of  explanatory  additions  which  follows. 

First  comes  Ver.  8.     Ch.  viii.  3;  comp.  OD  cli. 


122 


EZEKIEL. 


i.  8. — Tlien  in  reference  to  the  wlieel,  Ver.  9;  comp. 
on  ch.  i.  15  sq.,  i.  4,  16.  A  distributive  repeti- 
tion of  the  statement. — Ver.  10.  Comp.  on  ch.  i. 
5,  13,  16.  As  the  appearance  of  the  wheels  is 
aescribeil  in  two  aspects,  the  expression  is  re- 
peated, just  like  nxno  in  ch.  i. — Ver.  11.  Comp. 
on  ch.  i.  17,  8,  9.  The  head,  according  to 
Hengst.,  is  :  "  what  is  upmost,  highest,  most  ex- 
cellent, i.e.  the  wheel  which  for  the  time  liad 
the  direction,  and  wliich  the  others  required  to 
follow."  HiTZ. :  "This  is  also  the  case  with 
ordinary  vehicles  ;  but  where  each  wheel  has  a 
fourfold  movement,  there  are  also  four  heads, 
consequently:  the  head  which  begins  the  move- 
ment and  carries  the  other  three  heads  along  with 
it."  Keil:  "  whither  the  foremost  turned."  All 
these  explanations  keep  aloof  from  any  reference 
to  the  clierubim,  while  in  ver.  9  the  wheels  stand 
beside  them,  ami  tlie  following  ver.  12  mentions 
the  cherubim  first.  Comp.  ver.  14.  CXIH  is 
therefore  ^0'3B  in  ch.  i.  15,  to  which  also 
ilJS'  seems  to  point.  Consequently  it  is  the 
primus  viotor,  the  face  of  the  cherub  giving  the 
direction,  which  they  followed  as  their  head 
(comp.  on  ch.  i.  11). 

Ver.  12.  And  all  their  flesh,  etc.,  can  only 
refer  to  the  cherubim,  wliich  accordingly  are  de- 
scribed  (Rev.    iv.    6)   additionally   to   ch.   i.    IS 

(comp.  there).  Dn"3S1N  Dnyiisi'  expressly 
specifies  the  connection  between  the  cherubim 
and  wheels  thus  characterized. — Ver.  13.  Hengst. 
translates  in  a  meaningless  way.  "the  wheels 
were  called  the  whirl  in  my  hearing."     Comp.  for 

53^3,  ver.  2,  and  for  '3JX3,  ch.  ix.  1.  The  verse 
does  not  so  much  wind  up  as  prepare  for  what 
follows.     The   call  (n,  the  sign  of  the  vocative) 

is  not,  however,  addressed  to  the  wheels,  as  Keil: 
"  to  the  wheels,  to  them  it  was  cried  in  my  hear- 
ing, 0  whirl "  ;  but  it  contains  what  was  cried,  as 
giving  the  signal  for  departure,  in  reference  to 
them  (as  Ver.  14  also  shows),  with  a  view  to  the 
cherubim,  which  are  described  according  to  their 
faces,  which  give  the- direction  (comp.  ver.  11). 
Comp.  first  on  ch.  i.  6,  10.  The  description  of 
the  faces  in  detail  makes  prominent  only  one  of 
each  of  the  four  cherubim.  (Is  it  that  which  is 
directly  in  front  of  the  prophet? — Keil.  )  [Kimchi 
incorrectly;  the  first,  second,  etc.,  of  the  four  faces 
of  each.]  The  face  of  the  one  (first)  was  «3a 
311311,  ie.  simply  of  the  one  definitely  referred 
to  in  vers.  2,  7  (Klief.).  That  it  is  the  ox's  face 
is  proved  from  the  connection.  If  the  north  side 
is  taken  for  it  (see  on  ch.  i.  10),  then  the  defini- 
tion in  detail  of  the  faces,  significant  as  it  is  for 
the  quarter  from  which  the  judgment  breaks  forth 
(ver.  3),  may  possibly  be  according  to  the  quarter 
of  the  heavens,  and  not  according  to  the  stand- 
jxjint  of  the  beliolder,  so  that  on  all  four  sides  of 
the  vision  as  a  whole,  one  face  would  be  made  pro- 
minent. [Hence  it  is  vain  to  connect  with  this 
the  etymology  of  the  word  3113,  which  is  still 
upoken  of  as  worthy  of  notice  by  Kurtz,  and  ac- 
cepted by  Schmieder,  viz.  ana  =  aralor,  accord- 
ing to  the  Syriac ;  which  would  lead,  as  Umbreit 
assumes  on  grounds  purely  conjectural,  to  an 
"  ox-form  as  specially  prominent  in  the  whole 
phenomenon  of  the  cherub,  particulirly  on  the 
»rk  of  the  covenant."  Hitz.,  following  the  Sept., 
Kakei  the  whole  verse  disappear  as  a  gloss.] 


Ver.  15.  Now  comes  the  soaring  aloft  of  thi 
cherubim,  thus  prepared  for(lsa.  xxxiii.  10);  and 
in  this  connection  already  (ver.  20)  we  have  the 
identification  with  the  vision  in  ch.  i.  Comp.  there, 
ver.  20. — Ver.  16.  The  connection  of  cherubim  and 
wheels  in  their  harmonious  movement,  repeated 
just  as  in  ch.  i.,  with  the  mention,  however,  here 
-f  thtir  wings,  which  were  not  mentioned  there. 
Comp.  ch.  i.  19  (x.  11).-  Ver.  17.  Ch.  i.  21,  20. 

Ver.  18.  nv'1  corresponds  with  XV'I  in  '"'^-  ?• 
It  was  really  the  last  moment  before  the  coniijleto 
departure  from  the  temple !  The  glory  of  JeLo^'ah, 
after  it  had  risen  up  "from  above"  the  cherub  in 
the  most  holy  place,  had  shown  itself  aloft  above 
the  threshold  of  the  temple-edifice  as  a  whole 
(ver.  4)  ;  now  it  betakes  itself  thence,  so  as  to  be 
over  the  cherubiiu  (ver.  3) ;  and  in  Ver.  1 9  the  now 
(as  in  ch.  i.)  united  (lt33;'l)  whole— cherubim, 
wheels,  and  glory  of  Jehovah  —  completes  the 
abandonment  of  the  temple  as  a  whole. — DnXS3 
(comp.  their  standing-place  in  ver.  3),  correspond- 
ing with  XVI  ii  ■yer.  18.— '{}>  nns— where  the 
court  of  the  people  opened  toward  the  city,  at  the 
east  gate  of  the  temple-edifice. — ('JlDTpH.  comp. 
Gen.  ui.  24  :  DlpD-) 

Ver.  20.  A  repetition  in  completed  form  of  ver. 
15.  There  the  cherubim  were  the  living  creature  ; 
here  the  living  creature  is  the  cherubim.  The 
recognition  of  the  chajoth  as  being  cherubim  is  the 
explanation  of  the  vision  of  ch.  i.  as  referring  to 
Jerusalem,  and  it  was  brought  about  by  means  oj 
the  double  cherub  on  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  The 
cherubim  must  certainly  have  been  well  known 
to  the  ^j»-ies(- prophet  from  that  quarter.  The 
circumstance  that  they  had  appeared  to  Ezekiel 
(ch.  i. )  as  the  living  creature,  threatened  there- 
fore alike  the  dead  worship  in  the  most  holy 
place,  and  the  service  of  the  dead  idols  everywhere 
in   Israel,    with   the   wrath   of    the    living    God 

('{^-^n7S)>  with  infalUbly  certain  judgment. 
Their  appearance  by  the  Chebar  predicted  already 
the  departure  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  from  the 
most  holy  place,  and  the  abandonment  of  the 
Holy  City  ;  it  had  predictions  at  the  same  time 
for  those  who  were  in  exile,  as  ch.  xi.  will  show. 
Thus  it  appears  important  to  Ezekiel  to  recn/itulate 
in  vers.  21,  22  the  common  features  which  serve 
as  proof. 

DOCTRINAL  UEFLECTIONS. 

1.  It  is  much  less  to  the  judgment  on  the  city, 
of  which  the  account  is  a  very  brief  one,  that  the 
prophet  directs  his  attention,  than  to  the  showing 
of  the  coincidence  with  ch.  i.  If  the  vision  there 
was  that  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  as  Ezekiel  ex- 
pressly says  in  summing  up  (ch.  i.  2S :  KIH 
'hKID),  its  relation  to  the  glory  of  Jehovah 
above  the  cherubim,  in  the  most  holy  place  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  remained  an  open  question. 
Has  the  glor}'  of  Jehovah,  therefore,  forsaken  the 
temple,  or  will  it  ?  is  it  about  to  depart  from 
thence,  that  it  appears  by  the  Chebar  amid  the 
misery  of  the  exile  ?  We  know  from  the  Intro- 
duction to  our  book  how  important  this  matter 
is  for  Ezekiel's  mission  and  labours.  The  ques- 
tion, then,  which  had  remained  open,  is  answered 
by  ch.  X. ;  and  this  the  prophet  does  not  merely 
by  repeated  allusion,  running  throughout  the 
whole  of  ch.  x.,  to  ch.  i.  in  the  description,  but 
also  by  the  quite  definite  atatement  in  Ter.  15| 


CHAP.  X. 


12a 


uid  still  more  expressly  iu  vea  20  :  nTin  NTI- 
Tlie  removal  of  the  presence  of  Jehovah  (vers.  4, 
181  from  the  ark  of  the  covenant  (already  in 
.;li.  ix.  3),  the  corres;  oaJiug  manifustatious  iu 
vers.  1  sq.,  5,  etc.,  to  the  well-known  vision  of 
ch.  i.  (alreiidy  in  eh.  viii.  4),  form  the  exceed- 
ingly dramatic,  and  at  the  same  time  the  charac- 
teristic element  of  our  chapter,  which  consists  in 
the  identity  of  the  symbol  of  the  divine  presence 
for  purposes  of  worsliip  in  the  most  holy  place  of 
the  temple  with  that  seen  in  vision  by  the  Chebar, 
having  so  important  a  bearing  on  the  downfall  of 
Jerusalem  as  well  as  on  the  prophetic  task  of  Eze- 
kiel  and  the  prospects  of  his  companions  in  exile. 
2.  Bunsen  remarks  :  "  Hence  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  temple  was  none  other  than  that  which  is 
reflected  on  the  spirit  of  the  pious  man  from  the 
created  universe.  But  this  implies  also  that  to 
the  prophet,  the  law,  or  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
in  the  most  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
afterwards  of  the  temple,  was  a  temporary  pheno- 
menon, and  that  the  time  for  the  spiritual  know- 
ledge and  worship  of  God  was  approaching.  It 
is  a  foreshadowing  of  what  is  announced  in  John 
iv.  21,  shortly  before  the  destruction  of  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem.  But  this  latter  already  wanted  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  and  the  glory  of  the  Eternal 
bound  up  therewith.  We  must,  moreover,  com- 
pare the  departure  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  (ch. 
xi.  22  sq. ),  and  the  entrance  into  the  new  temple 
(ch.  xliii.  2  sq.)."  Cocceius  says:  "God's 
proper  dwelling-place  is  not  between  the  cheru- 
bim made  of  gold,  in  which  there  is  no  life,  no 
energy,  no  motion,  but  between  the  cherubim 
which  are  chajoth,  i.e.  living  creatures,  who  have 
eyes  to  see,  who  possess  the  light  of  truth  and 
the  fire  of  love  in  themselves,  God's  life  in  them, 
and  who  therefore  glorify  God  :  where  this  is  the 
case,  there  is  God's  dwelling,  His  holy  temple, 
His  glorious  presence." 

3.  If  (ver.  14)  it  is  just  to  the  ox-faced  cherub 
that  the  dispensing  of  the  fire  (vers.  7,  2)  is 
assigned,  then,  in  fact,  we  have  an  approxima- 
tion to  Lange's  interpretation  of  the  bullock  as 
the  "suffering  and  bleeding  life  -  form  "  {Leheris- 
gebild),  the  "tragic-sacrificial  animal."  Ligiit- 
TOOT  :  "  When  the  high  priest  approached  the 
ark  in  the  holy  of  holies,  the  cherub,  which  of 
necessity  first  met  his  eye  on  his  right,  was  turned 
to  him  with  its  ox-face." 

4.  The  approach  of  the  man  clothed  in  priestly 
linen  garments  has,  according  to  the  representa- 
tion of  the  prophet,  not  only  something  which 
r»minds  us  of  the  entrance  of  the  high  priest  into 
the  holy  of  holies  on  the  great  day  of  atonement, 
but,  in  the  fire  of  the  divine  wrath  being  handed 
out  to  him  here,  has  a  significant  Christological 
feature  in  it,  where  the  aspect  of  eternity  at  the 
fearful  moment  and  the  noble  simplicity  of  the 
transaction  have  an  overawing  etiect.  Comp. 
Dent,  xviii.  15,  16. 

5.  "The  holy  fire  of  God  cleanses  every  crea- 
ture which  it  touches  ;  but  in  the  case  of  the 
pious,  the  burning  coal  is  a  gracious  power  of 
cleansing,  as  in  Isa.  vi.  ;  for  those  who  are 
thoroughly  corrupt,  it  is  a  consuming  fire  of  judg- 
ment "  (SCHMIEDEK). 

6.  In  the  harmony  wherewith  the  glory  and 
cherubim  and  wheels  are  represented  as  moving, 
there  is  mirrored,  as  Havernick  remarks,  the 
ideal  character  of  the  heavenly  world. 


(For  the  rest,  see  Doctrinal  Reflections  en  oh. 
ix.  and  i. ) 


HO.MILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.    1   sq.   "  By  this    it  was  meant    to   be 
shown  that  Christ's  majesty  and  power  are  higher 
than  the  heavens  (Heb.  vii.  2ti), — not,  indeed,  in 
respect  of  a  residence  in  space,  but  in  respect  of 
the  greatness  of  His  glory  "  (.St.).  — "  How  great 
is  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  the  great  God,  and  how 
terrible  is  His   majesty,   when    He   rises   up   to 
punish  sinners!  Nah.  i.  2  "  (TtJB.  B.).— He  who 
formerly  made  the  mark  for  sparing,  behold,  ha 
now  scatters  coals  of  fire  upon  the  city.     So  the 
Son  of  man  is  likewise  the  Judge  of  the  world 
(John  v.  22,  27).— "Christ  the  Messiah  was  the 
Judge  not  only  in  the   destruction   of  the   last 
Jerusalem,  but  also  in  the  destruction  of  the  first 
(Luke  xix.  44) "  (Tdb.  B.).— The  exact  counter- 
mart in  the  New  Testament  to  this  judgment  with 
hre  on  Jerusalem  in  the  Old  Testament  is  the  day 
of  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem,  fiery  though  it  also 
was  :  instead  of  the  coals  of  fire,  tongues  of  lire. 
— Ver.  3.    "So  oughtest  thou  also  to  be  prepared 
and  to  stand  prepared  to  execute  the  divine  will ; 
as  in  heaven,  so  on  earth  ought  it  to  be  "  (Stck.  ). 
— "  That  every  one,  therefore,  should  execute  his 
olEce  and  calling  as  willingly  and  faithfully  as  the 
angels  do  iu  heaven  "  (Heiuel.  C.iT.  124).  —  "For 
the  last  time,  when  the  glory  is  already  on  the 
way  to  take  its  departure.     But  also  a  beautiful 
type  of  the  incarnation  of  the  Word  "  (B.  B.). — 
Ver.  4.  This  is  to  be  forsaken  indeed,  when  God 
prepares  to  forsake  us.     Lo  !  then  more  than  ever 
darkness   comes   over  all    the   powers   of    man's 
spirit  and  over  his  life,  and  even  trusted,  loved 
countenances  of  friends  go  into  shadow.      Good 
thoughts  grow  ever  fewer,  impulses  to  prayer  ever 
more  rare  ;  admonitions  of  conscience  cease  ;  the 
holy  of  holies  in  the  man  becomes  empty  down 
to  the  four  walls  and  the  usual  pious  furnitiu'e, 
etc. — Ver.  5.   "The  wings  of  the  cherubim  were 
heard  in  the  confession  of  believeis  and  in  the 
executionary   troops"   (B.    B.).— So  also  in   the 
announcement  of  the  shepherds  (Luke  ii.  15  sq.), 
as  well  as  in  the  declaration  of  the  wise  men  from 
the   East,   and  then  later   and   specially  in   the 
preaching  of  the  apostles,  was  this  rushing  to  lie 
heard. — The  thunder  of  the  Almighty  will  make 
itself  be  heard  more  distinctly  at  the  end,  where 
He   has   hitherto   spoken   tenderly  to   draw  the 
miserable  out  of  the  world. — Ver.  6  sq.    "In  the 
execution  of  important  works,  one  ought  to  offer 

his  hand  to  another  (Ex.  iv.   28,  30)"  (St.). 

"Willingness  and  ability  to  perform  the  divine 
will  is  the  meaning  of  the  man's  hand  ;  its  being 
concealed  under  the  wings  shows  the  servants  o" 
God  in  their  mysterious  dependence  on  God's 
beck  and  command"  (St.). —Ver.  9  sq.  Comp. 
Homiletic  Hints  on  ch.  i.— "  By  this  repeated 
and  still  plainer  description  the  '  galgal  is  to 
be  made  very  clear  to  us"  (Cocc). — Ver.  10. 
"  In  the  kingdom  of  Christ  everything  stands  in 

a  close  union  and  beautiful  h.armony  "  (St.). 

Ver.  11.  "Now  so  ought  it  al.so  to  be  among 
God's  children  and  servants.  Not  the  one  thing 
here,  and  the  other  out  there.  At  the  same 
time,  one  may  be  in  front,  whom  the  othera 
follow  ;  this  detracts  nothing  from  the  equality" 
(B.  B.). — "Dear  friend,  take  no  Ion.;  counsel 
with  flesh  and  blood,  but  follow  after"  (St.).- 


124 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.  12.  "  Tae  ekpression  :  '  full  of  eyes, '  points 
to  the  enlightenment  for  looking  to  the  ways  of 
the  Church,  for  watching  that  the  church  wheels 
may  always  be  on  the  way  of  righteousness '' 
(Lampe).  — Ver.  13.  It  may  also  be  cried:  Revo- 
lution !  that  everything  must  be  turned  topsy- 
turvy. Evolution  is  bitter.  But  if  the  people, 
princes,  and  potentates  will  not  themselves  turn, 
then  the  Spirit  of  God  in  judgment  causes  them 
to  be  turned  in  manifold  ways,  so  that  the  fore- 
most comes  to  be  hindermost. — "  Oh,  revolution 
and  change  of  all  things  in  the  world,  until  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  of  His  Christ  1"  (B.  B.)— "The  be- 


liever is  always  in  motion  ;  there  is  no  standing 
still  in  the  Christian  life,  but  continual  pro- 
gress in  virtue  and  purity"  (Stck.).- — Ver.  14. 
"  Laboriousuess,  humdnity,  heroic  courage,  and 
depth  of  insight  into  the  mysteries  of  God  are 
especially  the  gifts  of  grace  wherewith  God  is 
wont  to  endow  men  for  the  spread  of  His  king- 
dom" (Lange).— Ver.  15.  "So  ought  it  to  be 
with  us  also,  Col.  iii.  1  sq." — "Where  God  de- 
parts, His  angels  go  with  Him"  (B.  B.). — Ver. 
16  sq.  Repetition  makes  it  the  more  certain. — 
Ver.  20  sq.  The  prophet  also  grew  in  knowledge. 
— Ver.  22.  "  Like  them  ought  we,  none  the  less 
keeping  our  goal  in  view,  to  go  after  Him." 


4.  The  Leaders  of  the  People  (Ch.  xi.). 

1  And  the  Spirit  lifted  me  up,  and  brought  me  unto  the  gate  of  the  house  of 
Jehovah,  the  east  one,  which  looketh  eastward  ;  and  behold,  in  [  at  ]  the  open- 
ing of  the  gate  five-and-twenty  men  ;  and  I  saw  in  their  midst  Jaazaniah  the 

2  son  of  Azur,  and  Pelatiah  the  son  of  Benaiah,  the  rulers  of  the  people.  And 
He  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  these  [are]  the  men  that  devise  mischief,  and 

3  that  counsel  evil  counsel  in  tliis  city ;     That  say,  [it  is]  not  "  near,"  "  building 

4  of  houses  " ;  it  [  is  j  the  caldron,  and  we  [are]  the  flesh.     Therefore  prophesy 

5  upon  them,  prophesy,  son  of  man.  And  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  fell  upon  me, 
and  He  said  unto  me.  Say,  Thus  saith  Jehovah  :  Thus  said  ye,  0  house  of 

6  Israel,  and  the  things  which  rise  up  in  your  spirit,  I  know  it.     Ye  have 

7  multiplied  your  slain  in  this  city,  and  filled  its  streets  wth  slain.  Therefore 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Your  slain,  whom  ye  have  laid  in  its  midst 
[the  city's],  they  [are]  the  flesh,  whUe  it  [i»]  the  caldron,  and  one  brings  you 

8  forth  out  of  its  midst.     A  sword  ye  feared ;  and  I  cause  a  sword  to  come 

9  upon  you  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  I  bring  you  forth  out  of  its 
midst,  and  give  you  into  the  hands  of  strangers,  and  execute  judgments  on 

10  [among]  you.     By  the  sword  shall  ye  fall ;  on  Israel's  border  will  I  judge  you  ; 

1 1  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.     It  will  not  be  the  caldron  for  you,  so  that 

12  ye  should  be  the  flesh  in  its  midst ;  on  Israel's  border  will  I  judge  you.  And 
ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  ye  that  walked  not  in  My  statutes,  neither 
executed  My  judgments,  and  [but]  did  after  the  judgments  of  the  heathen 

13  which  were  round  about  you.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  I  prophesied,  that 
Pelatiah  the  son  of  Benaiah  died ;  and  I  fell  upon  my  face,  and  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  and  said.  Ah,  Lord  Jehovah  !  art  thou  making  an  utter  end  of  the 

14, 15  remnant  of  Israel  ?  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying  :  Sor 
of  man,  thy  brethren,  thy  brethren  [are]  the  men  represented  by  thee  as 
kinsman,  and  [yea]  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  it  wholly,  to  [  of  ]  whom  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  say.  Be  far  from  Jehovah  ;  unto  us  was  it — the  land 

16  — given  for  a  possession.  Therefore  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Because  I  removed  them  to  a  distance  among  the  heathen,  and  because  I 
scattered  them  in  the  countries,  I  become  [became]  to  them  for  a  sanctuary  for 

17  a  little  in  the  countries  whither  they  came.  Therefore  say,  Thus  saitL  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  And  I  gather  you  out  of  the  nations,  and  assemble  you  out  of 
the  countries  in  which  you  were  scattered,  and  give  you  the  land  of  Israel. 

18  And  they  come  thither,  and  they  take  away  all  its  detestable  things  and  all 

19  its  abominations  out  of  it.  And  I  give  them  one  heart,  and  a  new  spirit  will 
I  give  in  your  inward  part,  and  I  take  away  the  heart  of  stone  out  of  their 

20  flesh,  and  give  them  a  heart  of  flesh.  That  they  may  walk  in  My  statutes, 
and  keep  My  judgments,  and  do  them,  and  may  be  to  Me  for  a  people,  and 

21  I  may  be  to  them  for  a  God.  And  [as  for  them]  whose  heart  walketh  after  the 
heart  of  their  detestable  things  and  their  abominations,  their  way  give  I 

22  upon  their  head :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  the  cherubim  lifted 
up  their  wings,  and  the  wheels  [wei»]  beside  them,  and  the  glory  of  the  God 


CHAP.  XI.  1-2. 


125 


23  of  Israel  over  them  above.     And  the  glory  of  Jehovah  rose   up  from  over 
the  midst  of  the  city,  and  stood  over  the  mountain  which  is  on  the  east  o( 

24  the  city.     And  the  Spirit  lifted  me  up,  and  brought  me  to  the  land  of  the 
Chaldeans,  to  the  exiles,  in  the  vision,  in  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  and  the  vision 

25  which  I  had  seen  rose  up  from  above  me.     And  I  spake  to  the  exiles  all  the 
words  of  Jehovah  which  He  showed  me. 


Ver.    1.  Sept. :   .  .  .  t.  ifxyot/iMvou;  rou  Xotau. 

Ver.    3.  .  .  .  vjx*  "rpoirpotTu;  iiK«hau.riMT(ti  eti  oixtiu ; — Sonne  dudutn  xdificatx  sunt  domusf 

Ver.    7.  Anoih.  read. :  K'VIN.    Sept. :  K.  ifuti  ij"!*— and  all  the  Versions. 

Ver.  13.  'jn^;    anoth.read. :  '833113. 

Ver.  15.  The  second  ■]'nX  is  omitted  by  some  Codd.,  Sept.,  and  Arab. — Sept.:  .  .  .  iwtj  oi  »vipt;  r.  euxfA^>^'^'*t  *■ 

Ver.  16.  .  .  .  lis  i>j«(r,(*at  tuKpot — in  sanctifieationem  modicam — 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  at/Tflyf—  .  . 

Ver.  19.  .  .  .  xacphav  sripecv  K.  Tttuf*»  Kxt*or  .  .  .  if  awToiy  —  (Anoth.  read.:    D3?  'nnjV — SJnn  3?»  Syr.— 

D3lp3,  Dn3"lp3,  Syr.,  Sept.,  Arab.,  Chald.,  Vnlg.— D3"lB'3D>  D3?  in  some  Codicea.) 

Ver.  21.  Instead  of  37"7i<1i  there  is  a  reading  73  PKV 
Ver.  2i.  .  .  .  «.  ivijSr.if  arsry^i  opxirtaK — 


EXEGETICAL  BEMARKS. 

The  execution  of  judgment  on  the  guilty  in- 
habitants of  Jerusalem  is  followed,  as  a  second 
act,  by  the  fire  of  wrath  on  the  city,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  departure  of  Jehovah  from  the 
temple  (ch.  x.).  The  vision  is  brought  to  a  close 
by  means  of  a  striking  occurrence.  But,  as  in 
oh.  ix.  in  the  midst  of  destruction  there  was  at 
the  same  time  the  exercise  of  forbearance,  so  here 
also  comfort  and  promise  are  joined  with  it.  In 
the  outset  we  have  in  Ver.  1  (comp.  at  ch.  iii.  12, 
14,  viii.  3)  a  new  ecstatic  commencement  as  re- 
gards the  prophet.  The  locality  to  which  (from 
where  it  is  not  said,  and  ch.  viii.  16  is  not  the 
rule  for  it ;  comp.  on  the  other  hand,  ch.  x.  5)  he 
is  transported  is  that  mentioned  in  ch.  x.  19. 
As  in  ch.  viii.  16  we  have  nOlp  from  Dlpi  so 

here  nO'lp  i'^om    Qnp.     The  express  repetition 

of  the  quarter  of  the  heavens  has  something 
which  points  to  ch.  viii.  16,  without  thereby 
identifying  the  five-and-twenty  here  with  those 
mentioned  there  ;  it  is  only  the  similar  turning 
away  from  the  God  of  Israel  towards  an  east,  rich 
in  hope,  as  they  imagine,  that  can  be  hinted  at 
therein.  Comp.  on  ch.  viii.  16.  "At  the  opening 
of  the  temple  "  is  not  =  at  the  opening'  of  the  gate. 
Moreover,  those  mentioned  in  ch.  viii.  16  cannot 
(in  accordance  with  ch.  ix.  6  sq. )  be  conceived  of 
as  any  longer  alive.     The  Jaazaniah  (n"3tS'  = 

^n'JiX')  in  their  midst,  who  is  first  mentioned 

by  name,  accords  in  name  and  appositional  state- 
ment with  ch.  viii.  11  :  "  and  Jaazaniah  .  .  .  stand- 
ing in  their  midst,"  but  without  the  possibility  of 
their  being  the  same  person,  as  their  fathers  are 
different  ;  only  their  parallel  disposition  (we  shall 
be  able  here  also  to  notice  it)  might  have  been 
meant  to  be  hinted  at.  There  is  some  allusion  to 
ch.  viii.  in  tlie  expression.  We  know  nothing 
more  otherwise,  either  of  the  first  named  or  of 
the  second.  [Hengstenberg  extracts  symbolically 
from  the  names  of  the  men  themselves  and  of 
their  fathers  the  concentration  of  their  thoughts : 
"  all  was  full  of  joyous  music  to  them."  "God- 
bears,  the  son  of  the  Helper,  and  God-helps,  the 
sna  of  God- bull  Is,"  are  to  him  "excellent  names 


for  men  who  promise  themselves  salvation  with- 
out  repentance,  the  direct  opposite  of  the  name 
Jeremiah:  God-casts-down."]  The  fact  that  the 
two  who  are  named  are  designated  as  "  princes  of 
the  people,"  as  it  is  commonly  translated,  does  not 
at  the  same  time  assign  this  position  to  the  remain- 
ing twenty-three,  as  the  expositors  admit ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  appear  thereby  to  be  distinguished 
above  the  rest  of  the  men  ;  and  the  reason  for  it 
seems  to  be  given  in  their  importance,  which  imme- 
diat«ly  follows  (ver.  2).     The  nj;,i  nty,  however, 

are  by  no  means  myn  '8L"J  ;  but  the  more 
general  meaning  of  -\\ff  admits  of  the  sense  dema- 
gogues, those  having  sway  over  the  people,  rather 
than  of  elders  (O'Jpt).  or  presidents  of  parts  of  the 

city,  or  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  or  presidents 
of  the  classes  of  priests,  or  of  our  thinking  of  the 
twelve  princes  of  tribes  and  the  twelve  royal  offi- 
cials (colonels),  with  the  king  himself  (Klief.) 
or  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  lu  their 
quality  as  bearing  sway  over  the  people  they 
come  into  consideration,  not  as  repre.senting  the 
civil  authority  of  Israel,  as  those  in  ch.  viii.  16 
represent  the  spiritual  chiefs  of  the  covenant- 
people  (Keil).  In  this  way,  also,  it  might  be 
explained  why  the  two  are  mentioned  by  name. 
The  number  given  (25)  may  be  intended  to  ex- 
press a  parallel  with  ch.  Wii.  16,  just  as  a  paral- 
lelizing tendency  to  ch.  viii.  seems  to  belong  to 
the  expression  here  at  the  close  of  the  vision. 
With  the  patriarchically  representative  constitu- 
tion of  Israel,  where  the  influence  of  the  elders 
and  heads  of  families  easily  pervaded  the  whole 
nation  (Saalschutz,  Archdol.  ii.  432,  §  4),  the 
two  individuals  named  may  nevertheless  also 
be,  if  not  princes  of  tribes,  yet  elders  of  the 
people,  although  they  are  not  here  designated  as 
such  officially.  It  is  no  ordinary  sitting  of  a 
college,  as  Hitzig  alleges,  but  an  assemblage  of 
persons  like-minded  (officials,  notables,  indivi- 
duals out  of  the  mass)  that  is  represented  ;  per- 
haps, however,  in  order  to  represent  the  "house 
of  Israel "  (ver.  5)  amply,  designedly  in  the  form 
of  two  for  every  tribe,  and  one  more  besides. 
Ver.  2.  Son  of  man,  ch.  ii.  1. — px,  with  m 


126 


EZEKIEL. 


fixed  bouiidarj'  between  cause  and  effect,  stretch- 
ing from  the  moral  to  the  physical,  from  the  sub- 
jective to  the  objective, — mischief,  as  it  results 
from  injustice.  Tlieir  evil  counsel  turns  out  ill. 
Their  manner  of  speaking  in  Ver.  3  is  the  popular- 
rhetorical,  ivliii;h  makes  an  impression  on  the 
sensuous  mass  by  its  striking,  figurative  charac- 
ter, and  is  easily  remembered.  How  they  think, 
and  what  corresponding  counsel  they  give,  is 
shown  first  of  aU  by  the  statement :  It  is  not 
near,  building  of  houses, — their  reply,  namely, 
to  the  prophets  of  this  period,  who  supplement 
one  another,  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah.  The  distinc- 
tive expression  in  the  case  of  the  former — comp. 
ch.  vii.,  especially  vers.  7,  8  (3i"l|30  HPIV) — '^ 
met  by  the  bold  denial  3i^p3  {<"),  and  at  the 
same  time,  Qip^  0133  (building  of  houses)  ridi- 
cules the  letter  of  Jeremiah  to  the  exiles  (ch. 
xxix.   5),  beginning  with  D'Hl  133  ("build  ye 

houses "),  which  threatened  those  at  Jerusalem 
with  sword,  famine,  and  pestilence,  etc.  [Other 
explanations  of  these  words  are  either  hardly 
justifiable  linguistically, — such  as  Luther's,  those 

of  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  (Ewald  takes  }{^  as  a 
question,  Gram.  324a), — or  give  a  far-fetched 
sense,  such  as  Hitzig's.]  Positively  their  mean- 
ing is  expressed  to  this  effect,  that  Jerusalem  will 
keep  its  inhabitants,  as  the  caldron  keeps  the 
flesh  ;  and  therefore  their  counsel  is,  to  remain 
and  to  trust  to  the  secure  walls,  instead  of  trust- 
ing the  word  of  the  prophets.  [According  to 
Havernick,  with  allusion  to  Jer.  i.  13  ;  according 
to  Kliefotli,  alluding  to  Jer.  xix.  ?]  BuNSEN  : 
"  We  sit  here  in  Jerusalem  warm  and  protected, 
like  the  flesh  in  the  caldron." 

Their  reply  to  the  prophetic  word  is  answered 
in  Ver.  4  :  therefore— the  repeated  prophesy;  and 
in  Ver.  5  we  have  Ezekiel's  immediate  carrying 
out  of  the  command  in  virtue  of  the  divine  equip- 
ment; comp.  ch.  viii.  1.  The  Spirit,  in.stead  of  the 
hand  of  Jehovah,  because  of  the  revelation  in  word 
("I'DN).     Jehovah  knows  what  rises  up  in  their 

spirit  (ch.  xx.  32),  as  His  Spirit  also  goes  forth 
to  meet  their  spirit.     Thus  there  is  a  return  to 

their  saj-iug.     [  n'-  refers  to  TlbvO  (Deut.  xxxi. 

21 ;  Hos.  y.  3 ;  Ps.  cxxxix.  2 ;  John  ii.  25),  or  it 
is  a  collective  feminine.]  The  expression  :  house 
of  Israel,  emphasizes  almost  ironically  the  con- 
trast of  what  they  pretended,  what  they  also 
ought  to  be.  Their  mischievous  devising,  their 
bad  counsel  (vL-r.  2),  is  set  before  their  eyes  in 
Ver.  6  in  its  idtimate  effect  in  actual  fact,  by 
means  of  the  result  to  which  it  will  lead  wheii 
they  are  brought  forth  (ver.  7).  Not  that  their 
deed.s  hitherto  are  to  show  the  wickedness  of  their 
plots, — neither  from  "the  epoch  of  Jeconiah  " 
(HlTZ.),  nor,  in  accordance  with  a  more  general 
:nterpretatir]n,  of  murder  in  a  refined  and  gross 
tense  ^HAV.),— which  would  lie  outside  the  con- 
text,  hut  the  slain  (f)^n,  properly:   "to  pierce 

through,"  as  happens  in  the  case  of  those  who 
are  put  tn  the  sword)  are  those  to  be  slain  by  the 
Chaldeans,  already  slain  from  the  standpoint 
taken  up  in  the  discourse  of  God.  They  are  by 
their  wicked  counsels  the  authors  of  their  death 


(Hengst.  ).  ppn,  comp.  ch.  vi.  7  ;  Ew.  Gram 
278a. 

Ver.   7.    A  retributive    (p^)  interpretation  ol 

their  proverb  in  accordance  with  such  a  result  of 
their  counsel.  It  is  fulfilled,  but  how  ?  Not  for 
themselves.  Inasmuch  as  they — in  contrast  with 
their  remaining  in  the  city,  which  they  have 
strongly  asserted  (ver.  3)— are  brought  forth,  they 
remain  alive,  as  distinguished  from  those  slain  as 
the  result  of  their  counsel.  Yet  comp.  ch.  v.  2. 
(Like  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  [Kng.  Vers,  also], 
Ewald  reads  {<'ViN    instead  of   }{'Vin.)     [J-   D. 

Mich.:  "Many  citizens  misled  by  you  shall 
perish  in  the  city,  for  whom  it  will  be  the 
caldron,  and  they  the  flesh  which  is  cooked 
therein  ;  only  ye  yourselves  shall  not  be  the  flesh 
in  this  caldron,  but  shall  be  dragged  forth  and 
cut  in  pieces  elsewhere."] 

Ver.  8.  From  fear  of  those  who  are  able  to  kill 
the  body  (Matt.  x.  28),  but  not  from  fear  of  God 
(otherwise  they  would  have  hearkened  to  the 
word  of  His  prophets),  they  took  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem  as  a  "caldron,"  which  was  to  enclose 
them  securely  as  the  "flesh."  ("Ye  would  not 
give  yourselves  up  to  the  Babylonians,  as  Jere- 
miah advised  you,  because  ye  were  afraid  of  being 
put  to  death  by  them,"  etc.,  A  Lap.  "  Theii 
revolt  from  the  Chaldean  king,  the  coalition  and 
Egypt,  will  not  save  them  from  the  sword  of  Baby- 
lon, on  the  contrary  will  bring  it  upon  them," 
Hengst.)    Ch.  vi.  3.     Comp.  also  at  ch.  v.  11. 

Ver.  9.  Now  comes  the  question  how  it  will 
be  with  the  bringing  c.f  them  forth  (ver.  7). 
First  of  all,  Jehovah  (not  Babylon,  as  it  may 
appear  outwardly)  is  He  that  brings  them  forth. 
Then  farther,  there  is  along  with  that  His  design, 
His  aim;  comp.  ch.  vii.  21,  v.  10,  15. — Ver.  10. 
Ch.  V.  12.  Comp.  the  fulfilment,  2  Kings  xxv. 
18  sq.  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  6,  lii.  10,  24  sq. — ijiaj-^y,  or 

'a  ?N,  in   Ver.   11   (Ew.    Gram.   351a),  removes 

the  judgment  not  merely  outside  Jerusalem, 
which  was  to  be  a  "  caldron  "  for  them,  but  out- 
side Israel,  which  they  have  represented  so  badlv 
(ver.  5). — Ver.  12  explains  more  definitely  what 
is  meant  by  the  experimental  knowledge  of  Je- 
hovah in  ver.  10, — that  where  they  have  not  made 
themselves  known  before  the  heathen  as  Israel 
by  doing  what  is  right.  He  will  make  Himself 
known  to  them  as  Jehovah  by  means  of  His 
judgment,  which  deprives  them  of  city  and  land. 
Comp.  ch.  vi.  7,  13,  v.  7. 

The  sudden  dying  of  Pelatiah  takes  place 
literally  within  the  sphere  of  the  vision  merely, 
although  in  his  case  there  may  htve  been  a  corre- 
sponding reality  at  the  same  time,  or  at  least 
about  this  time.  As  the  prophet  had  to  predict 
to  the  individual  in  question,  as  well  as  to  his 
fellows,  their  being  brought  forth  out  of  Jeru- 
salem for  judgment  by  the  sword,  but  not  their 
immediate  death  (ver.  4  sq.),  this  incident,  whose 
awful  character  (Acts  v.  5)  is  attrsted  to  us  by 
the  impreasion  upon  Ezekiel,  symbolizes  propheti- 
cally the  certainty  in  actual  fact  of  the  judgment 
of  death  on  the  othei'S  also  (comp.  besides,  Jei. 
xxviii.  17).  And  so  Ezekiel  sees  them  all  already 
dead,  and  ch.  ix.  8  repeats  itself.  Comp.  there. 
.Inst  as  there,  so  here  also  it  is  the  portion  of 
the  people  still  remaining  at  Jerusalem,  in  the 


CHAP.  XI.  14-19. 


T27 


land  of  Israel,  and  the  standpoint  of  feeling  is 
likewise  (as  against  Hengst.)  that  of  the  exiles. 

For    nt'J?  n^3,    comp.    Jer.   iv.   27,   v.    10,    18  ; 

Ezek.  XX.  1".  According  to  Havern.  :  a  juridi- 
cal term  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  final  sen- 
tence. [Havern.  and  Hengst.  find  an  allusion 
besides  to  the  name  of  the  individual  in  question, 
— that  the  "  help  of  Jehovah  "  is  at  an  end,  that 
with  him,  as  it  were,  all  salvation  for  Judah 
tell  to  the  ground  (?).] 

But  while  ch.  ix.  9  sq.  emphasized  guilt  only, 
and  God's  justice  only  as  confronting  it,  Ver.  14 
intrO'luces,  and  that  solemnly,  God's  mercy. — 
Still  Ver.  15  does  not  on  that  account  form  any 
"antithesis"  (as  Havernick),  but  rather  confirms 
what  is  announced  in  ch.  ix.  9.  For  those  in 
reference  to  whom  remark  will  be  made,  and  not 
merely  of  their  being  spared,  but  more  positively 
even  of  their  being  preserved  in  an  extraordinary 
manner,  are  different  from  those  for  whom  Eze- 
kiel  interceded.  He  did  so  from  a  brotherly 
heart,  and,  because  speaking  from  the  stand- 
point of  feeling  of  the  exiles,  characterized  these 
also  at  the  same  time,  in  accordance  with  Jer.  xxiv. 
Thy  brethren,  thy  brethren,  namely,  those  who 
are  so  in  truth,  and  not  merely  according  to  the 
flesh  (Matt.  .xii.  48  ;  Rom.  ix.  3).  The  lepetition 
in  the  first  place  lays  emphasis  on  this,  but  then 
farther,  at  the  .same  time,  puts  in  his  right  place 
the  prophet  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  midst'  of 
the  exile,  as  we  have  seen  Ezekiel  to  be  (see  the 
Introd.)  in  this  his  calling.     For  the  designation 

of  the  exiles  as  "  men  of  thy  n^S3  "  (predicate, 

not  subject)  is  not = thy  kinsmen  (Gesen.),  which 
after  such  emphasizing  would  be  equivalent  to  a 
weakening  of  the  idea,  but  it  reminds  the  prophet 

of  his  duty.  [The  Sept.  read  lin^ij.l  HjiXJ 
embraces  the  whole  duty  of  the  pxil  (the  brother 

or  nearest  kinsman) :  redemption  of  goods  and 
property,  of  liberty  and  life,  the  avenging  of 
blood,  the  marriage  obligation,  and  thus  the 
entire  representation  of,  giving  of  assistance  to, 
and  attorneyship  for  him  who  was  reduced  to 
poverty,  slain,  or  dead.  The  expression  ;  and  the 
whole  house  of  Israel,  just  as  little  adds  "  the 
laity  "  (HiTZiG)  to  the  others,  as  by  the  expres- 
sion :  the  men,  etc. ,  is  meant  the  priests  only,  as 
Havernick  also  understands,  in  accordance  with 
his  view  of  the  twenty-five  in  ver.  1 ;  but  the  dis- 
course sets  over  against  the  title  (ver.  5)  the  thing 
itself,  over  against  the  name  the  reality,  and  at  the 
same  time  deals  with  the  (as  in  ch.  ix.  8,  so  here 
in  ver.  13)  so-called  "remnant  of  Israel,"  inas- 
much as,  corresponding  to  the  repetition  ("thy 
brethren,"  etc.)  at  the  beginning  of  our  verse, 
the  whole  house  of  Israel  (cli.  ix.  8),  by  being 
repeated  through  means  of :  it  wholly,  is  made 
emphatic.  (Ch.  xx.  40  ;  Rom.  xi.  26. )  Hengst.  : 
"The  contrast  is,  of  course,  such  only  on  the 
whole ;  otherwise  Jeremiah  even  would  be  no 
true  Israelite.  According  to  ch.  ix.,  even  in 
Jerusalem  there  is  an  election  under  the  Lord's 
sheltering  protection,  although  it  cannot  prevent 
the  downfall  of  the  city  ;  and  according  to  eh. 
xiv.  there  is  also  among  the  exiles  much  refuse." 
[Johni.  47  (ch.  xlviii.);  Rom.  ii.  28,  29,  ix.  6; 
Jer.  vil   4;  1  Tim.  iii.  IS;  1  Cor.  iii.  9.]    The 


idea  which  is  expressed  by  n^g  .'itanda  forth  still 

more  prominently  by  means  of  the  contrast,  so 
far  a^  appearauces  go,  to  which  those  wlio  are 
still  for  the  moment  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
(ch.  iii.  19)  give  expression,  in  accordance  with 
their  Pharisaic,  hyjiocritical  self-exaltation.  Their 
characteristic  dictum  is  quoted.  For  the  impera- 
tive ipm,  comp.  on  ch.  viii  6  and  John  ix.  22. 

What  they  themselves  are  inwardly  in  reality, 
the  appearance  of  that — its  outward  realization — 
they  cast  to  those  in  exile.  "They  fall  into  a 
kind  of  holy  zeal.  In  this  position  which  they 
assumed  toward  their  brethren,  they  themselves 
bear  witness  that  they  are  not  in  the  true  sense 

brethren"  (Hengst.). —rrj-liD^,  Ex.  vi.  8. 

Over  against  such  a  saying  (ver.  15)  on  their 
part,  Ver.  16  places  the  retributive  saying  oi 
Jehovah :  Therefore  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
etc.  And  what  is  retribution  towards  Jerusalem 
is  at  the  same  time  promise  towards  the  exile. 
But  there  are  two  things  said  and  therewith  pro- 
mised by  God.  The  first,  which  is  in  reply  to 
that  saying  :  "Be  far  from  Jehovah"  (ver.  15), 
which  made  a  declamatory  use  of  their  being 
outwardly  far  from  the  temple  at  Jernsalem,  is 
the  declaration  so  rich  in  promise ;  I  become  a 
sanctuary  to  them,  —  a  thought  which  must 
from  the  first  in  ch.  i.,  along  with  other  things, 
have  been  indicated  by  the  vision  at  the  river 
Chebar,  but  which  especially  the  vision  in  ch. 
viii.  sq.  has  brought  as  a  compensation  for  the 
symbol  of  the  presence  in  the  outward  temple  of 
Jerusalem.  The  older  Jewish  expositors  think  of 
the  synagogues.    »3,  not  before  the  direct  speech, 

like :  Yea,  etc.,  and  therefore  impressively  re- 
peated (HiTZ.) ;  but  in  fact  granting  the  reality, 
although  tracing  it  back  to  Jehovah  expressly,  it 
begins  like  a  protasis  which  gives  the  reason,  or 
at  least  in  the  sense  of:  "if,"  "although,"  or 
the  like,    [yripo,  according  to  Gesen.  "asylum," 

which  is  too  narrow.]    t3VD,  either  the  length  o( 

time,  or  in  the  sense  of  measure  (in  some  mea- 
sure), which  does  not  suit  the  context  so  well, 
and  a  promise  of  God,  as  here,  still  less. — (Isa. 
viii.  14  ;  John  ii.  19;  Rev.  xxi.  22.) 

The  second  answer  to  the  saying  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Jerusalem  has  reference  to  the  statement : 
"  to  us  was  the  land  given  "  (ver.  15).  Hence 
Ver.  17,  with  therefore,  parallel  to  ver.  16,  and 
continuing  the  promise  by  means  of  i,   in  the 

oratio  directa.  I  gather  you  (Jer.  xxiii.  3) — comp. 
John  xi.  52 — for  which  the  return  from  Babylon 
was  merely  the  outward  substratum.  In  how 
spiritual  a  sense  the  return  is  conceived,  namely, 
as  at  the  same  time  an  inward  return  to  Jehovah 
(Jer.  xxiv.  7),  and  therefore  into  the  land  pro- 
mised by  Him,  is  shown  immediately  by  Ver.  18. 
And  they,  etc.,  i.e.  the  parties  addressed,  the 
parties  mentioned.  The  history  of  the  Jews  after 
the  exile  proves  the  purification  of  Palestine  from 
the  previous  idolatry  (eh.  v.  11). — To  the  gather- 
ing corresponds  the  divine  bestowal  in  Ver.  19, 
just  as  it  explains  the  reformation  (ver.  IS). 
[HiTZiG  :  ins,   "another"  heart,  like  the  Sept.] 

The  one  heart  (Acts  iv.  32)  and  the  new  spirit 
in  the  inward  part  are  parallel.     The  old  spini 


128 


EZEKIEL. 


irhu-h  ruled  them  inwardly  did  not  permit  the 
iiarmony  and  concord  which  now  ensue.  But 
with  the  gilt  of  a  new  spirit,  the  heart  of  stone, 
the  unnatural  element,  is  at  the  same  time  re- 
moved out  of  the  Hesh,  and  the  natural  element 
— an  heart  of  flesh — is  given.  It  is  therefore  no 
antithesis  of  Holy  Spirit  and  flesh,  as  elsewhere,— 
not  the  contrast  of  nature  and  grace,  but  "  a  new 
spirit "  arid  the  opposite  of  the  "  one  heart  "  that 
is  to  be  given,  i.e.  the  old  spirit,  that  confront 
each  other, — nature  and  the  unnatural.  The  man- 
ner of  expression  is  peculiar  to  Ezekiel.  As  they 
take  away  (^TDH)  all  the  detestable  things  and 

abominations  out  of  the  land,  so  Jehovah  takes 
away   ('n^D^)    the  heart  of  stone  out  of  their 

flesh.  The  "stony  heart"  stands  in  relation  to 
the  idols  ;  so  also  the  "  heart  of  flesh,"  "the  new 
spirit, "  the  ' '  one  heart, "  stands  in  relation  to  the 
only  true  God  (1  Kings  xviii.  21  ;  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  11 ; 
James  i.  8,  iv.  8).  Comp.  the  opposite  in  ver.  21. 
[Commonly  the  heart  of  flesh  is  taken  as  a  soft 
heart,  receptive  of  the  impressions  of  divine 
grace,  and  the  stony  heart  as  the  human  heart  in 
its  natural  condition.]  Comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  26  ; 
Jer.  xxxi.  33,  xxxii.  39  ;  Ps.  li.  12  [lOJ.  Israel, 
by  her  apostate,  polytheistic  conduct,  has  fallen 
entirely  out  of  what  was  natural  to  her  as  a  people, 
— that  she  should  be  the  people  of  the  one  true 
God,  the  people  of  His  holy  law.  This  unnatural 
element  of  her  conduct  as  a  nation  is  to  cease 
by  means  of  the  divine  gift  and  working,  and  so 

tVch  ^  ^6r.  20  fits  in  quite  simply  aa  defining 

the  purpose.     Comp.  besides,  ver.  12. 

Ver.  21.  In  contrast,  either  those  at  Jerusalem 
TV-ho  have  filled  the  land  with  their  idolatry  (ver. 
18),  or  those  among  the  people  of  God  to  be  re- 
stored who  shall  prove  worthless  (comp.  ch.  xiv. 
3),  or  the  latter  as  well  as  the  former.  (In  a 
grammatical  point  of  view,  comp.  Ew.  Gr.  333, 
p.  820.)  Just  as  one  may  take  up  idols  into  his 
heart,  so  a  heart  may  be  ascribed  to  them.  It  is 
only  the  practical  side  of  his  becoming  one  with 
them,  so  that  one  is  represented  as  one  heart  (ver. 
19)  and  one  soul  with  them,  when  his  heart 
walketh  after  their  heart,  instead  of  walking  in 
Jehovah's  statutes  (ver.  20).  Comp.  besides  on 
ch.  i.x.  10. 

Ver.  22.  The  closing  scene  of  the  vision  of  ch. 
\'iii.-xi,  Comp.  the  previous  scenes  connected 
with  the  movement  and  departure  of  the  glory  of 
God  out  of  the  most  holy  place  of  the  temple,  as 
equivalent  to  and  parallel  vnth  the  vision  of  glory 
inch,  i.,  viii.  4,  ix.  3,  x.  3,  4,  18,  19.— Comp. 
ch.  X.  19. — Ver.  23.  The  expression  :  from  over 
the  midst  of  the  city,  points  at  the  same  time  to 
this  circu  Tistance,  that  the  execution  of  judg- 
ment and  the  exercise  of  forbearance  within  the 
lity  (ch.  ix.),  as  well  as  the  throwing  of  the  coals 
of  fire  over  the  city  (ch.  x.  2),  were  a  manifesta- 
tion of  glory.  The  position  in  ch.  x.  19,  xi.  1 
("inasmiich  as  the  city  stretches  to  the  north 
and  south  beyond  the  temple,"  HiTZ.),  indicates 
also  the  middle  of  the  city.  Such  an  abandon- 
ment of  the  temple,  therefore,  is  at  the  same  time 
an  abandonment  of  the  city  (Hos.  v.  15).  While 
the  vision  still  lasts,  the  glory  of  Jehovah  stands 
over  the  Mount  of  Olives  (2  Sam.  xv.  30  ;  Zech. 
lir.  4),  as  is  the  view  of  ancient  and  modern  ex- 
Dositors  alike.     Its  situation  and  height  are  suit- 


able ("the  commanding  point  in  reference  to 
Jerusalem,  which  is  overlooked  from  it  in  ita 
whole  extent,"  Hengst.).  (Comp.  Luke  xix. 
37,  41  sq.,xxi.  37,  xxii.  39  ;  Acts  i.  12.)  Comp. 
ch.  xliii.  2.  Whether  for  the  purpose  of  there 
presiding  over  the  judgment  on  Jerusalem  and 
the  temple,  or  whether  for  the  purpose  of  going 
back  from  thence  to  heaven,  it  is  not  said.  This 
is  objectively  the  end  of  the  vision,  but  likewise 
subjectively  as  regards  the  prcphet,  Ver.  24 ; 
comp.  on  ver.  1,  ch.  viii.  1,  i.  1,  iii.  11  (Acts  x. 
16).  Tlie  fulness  of  the  description  lays  emphasis 
on  the  divine  superhuman  as  well  as  non-human 
character  of  the  revelation  made  to  him,  with  a 
view  specially  to  those  to  whom  he  in  Ver.  25 
communicates   it.      '^31,    as   throughout   Holy 

Scripture.  Yet  the  word,  in  a  pre-eminent  sense 
(John  i.),  is  finally  the  deed,  the  Word  of  God 

DOCTBINAL  KEFLECTIONS. 

1.  Demagogism  in  Israel  is  characterized  in 
Num.  xvi.  as  a  laying  stress  on  the  universal 
priesthood  of  Israel,  as  opposed  to  the  special 
office  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  In  our  chapter  its 
seductive  skill  in  words  is  turned  against  the  pro- 
phets of  the  period,  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  inas- 
much as  the  popular  orators  harangue  their  public 
on  the  possession  of  Jerusalem  and  the  dwelling 
in  the  promised  land.  If,  therefore,  in  Num. 
xvi.  the  argument  is  borrowed  from  the  idea  of 
Israel, — what  she  is  to  be  according  to  Ex.  xix.  6, 
— it  is  argued  in  our  case  from  the  existing  reality 
of  Jewish  aflairs  at  the  moment ;  hence,  in  com- 
parison, also  a  degenerate  demagogism,  just  as 
everytlung  in  Israel's  case  points  downwards. 
Perhaps  we  may  compare  the  relation  of  social 
demagogism  to  the  old  republican  demagogism, 
which  latter  at  least  still  inscribed  the  ideas, 
liberty,  equality,  fraternity,  on  its  red  banner, 
while  socialism  agitates  merely  in  reference  to 
the  actual  relations  of  society  for  the  moment. 

2.  Havemick  admits  the  "remarkable  literal 
fulfilment "  of  vers.  9-11,  but  refuses,  on  the 
other  hand,  with  Grotius,  to  tmderstand  them  as 
"  a  prediction. "  The  idea  of  the  threatening  in 
our  prophet  here  "lies  much  deeper,  in  the  nature 
of  the  subject  itself ;  the  extent  of  its  application 
accordingly  is  also  much  wider."  Hengstenberg 
remarks  :  "  The  prophecy  cannot  have  been 
framed  merely  after  the  event ;  Ezekiel  laid  his 
book  before  his  contemporaries,  who  were  able  to 
put  him  right.  And  the  guarantee  for  the  pre- 
dictions which  were  fulfilled  in  the  lifetime  of 
the  prophet  lies  in  those  which  did  not  come  to 
be  fulfilled  till  long  after  his  death.  The  confi- 
dence of  Ezekiel  is  a  suflicient  proof  that  there  is 
a  supernatural  element,"  etc.  Certainly  neither 
the  canon  of  Nitzsch,  that  the  prediction  must 
not  destroy  the  history,  nor  the  limitation  of 
Tholuck,  that  the  detailed  prediction  must  not 
be  expressed  before  the  subjects  who  are  actors  in 
the  history,  can  suffice  lor  regulating  the  pro- 
phetic gift  of  divination.  Alike  the  psychologico- 
anthropological  and  the  specifically  theological 
elements  are  deprived  of  an  adequate  scientific 
basis. 

3.  "It  is  lamentable  if  we  must  gain  the  know- 
ledge of  God  (vers.  10,  12)  by  our  own  destruc- 
tion— if  He  in  whom  we  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being,  is  known  only  by  the  stroke* 


CHAP.  XI. 


123 


which  break  our  own  head.  The  knowledge  has 
in  this  ease,  moreover,  no  moral  import.  It  is  a 
Biere  passive  knowledge,  forced  also  upon  the  un- 
godly, unconnected  with  repentance  "  (Hengst.). 
4."  Although  the  prospect  which  the  divine 
promise  (ver.  16  sq. )  opens  up  regarding  the  cap- 
tives of  Israel  is  expressed  everywhere  in  forms 
of  Old  Testament  life  as  it  appears  under  the 
law,  yet  the  New  Testament  background,  the 
"Messianic  salvation"  (Ewald),  shows  itself  be- 
hind it.  The  realization  uf  the  covenant  into 
which  God  entered  with  Israel  for  the  humau 
race,  that  they  should  be  to  Him  a  people  and 
He  should  be  to  them  a  God,  remains  a  theme 
down  even  to  Rev.  xxi.  3.  With  this  the  fulfil- 
ment also  coincides,  as  it  brought  the  return  from 
[he  e.xile.  The  e.xiles  were  gathered  out  of  their 
banisliment  to  be  a  people  again,  and  that  on  the 
"recovered  soil  of  Israel,"  under  Zerubbabel,  Ezra, 
Nehemiah  ;  just  as  those  who  had  continued  to 
dwell  in  the  heathen  countries  solemnly  professed 
by  their  visits  to  the  feasts  at  Jerusalem  (Acts  ii. ) 
that  they  belonged  to  the  nation  of  the  Jews. 
The  reformation  of  the  religious  condition  was  an 
energetic  one,  as  directed  against  the  heathenish 
lusts  after  idolatry  on  every  hand  which  pre- 
vailed before  the  exile.  Comp.  also  the  period 
of  the  Maccabees.  Monotheism  became  the 
purifying  fundamental  dogma  of  the  Jewish 
nation.  And  there  was  also  developed  a  scrupu- 
lous legality,  down  even  to  Pharisaism,  iu  the 
trivial  actions  of  life.  It  was  "a  new  spirit," 
and  proved  to  be  in  general,  and  in  comparison 
with  the  previous  "stony  heart,"  which  God's 
judgment  had  broken  in  pieces,  an  "heart  of 
Hesh  ; "  but  yet  it  was  merely  an  heart  of  Uesh. 
The  New  Testament  interpretation  must  not  as 
a  matter  of  course  be  put  upon  ver.  19  sq.,  as  is 
done  by  Cocceius  and  the  most  of  believing  ex- 
positors. The  prophetic  words  do  not  affirm  this  ; 
out  the  prospect  into  the  New  Covenant  does  not 
open  till  at  the  close,  where  God  gives  the  assur- 
ance that  He  will  make  Himself  known  as  their 
God  to  those  who  have  become  His  people.  For 
this  took  place  when  He  i.',-  rit  ;'S/a  Hxti,  John  i. 
11.  Only  diroi  hi  i^at&av  ttvrov^  iSa/«tv  aitToTs  i^ouriitv 
«.T.  X.  (ver.  12).  The  renewal /or  that  is  not 
contained  in  ver.  19  sq.  Cocceius,  indeed,  in- 
terprets tjyo  Ehpo   (ver.  16)  by  :  sancttiarium 

paucorum,  i.e.  Deum  per  inhabilationem  Kuam 
in  aliquihus,  pnu^'is,  eos  sanct[fit:ar€t  and  hnds 
therein  the  antithesis  to  Isa.  liii.  12  and  Rom. 
viii.  29 ! 

5.  What  the  vision  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  which 
Ezekiel  had  at  the  Chebar  already  signitied,  but 
Rtill  more  in  accordance  with  its  supplementarj' 
confirmation  as  well  as  renewal  by  means  of  ch. 
Nnii.  sq.,  that  obtains  in  the  statement;  "  I  become 
to  them  for  a  sanctuary  "  (and  that  not  merely  in 
a  rhetorical  sense,  as  it  may  be  understood  in  Isa. 
viii.  14,  and  hence  as  an  emblem  of  protection 
and  also  of  blessing),  its  retrospective,  but,  at  the 
game  time,  preparatory  (as  regards  ch.  xl.  sq. ) 
expression,  and,  in  general,  one  that  is  pre- 
dictive and  rich  in  promise.  The  saying  in 
ver.  15  does  not  indeed  affirm  anything  expressly 
of  the  temple,  but  would  make  the  presence  of 
Jehovah  be  decided  as  a  matter  of  fact  by  the 
possession  of  the  land.  But  so  much  the  more 
does  the  divine  reply,  in  contrast  with  the  mate- 
rial possession  of  the  land,  draw  attention  to  the 


"sanctuary,"  by  means  of  which  Jehovah's  pie- 
sence  in  the  land  is  brought  about,  and  iu  which 
one  is  able  to  draw  near  to  Jehovah  (3'lp,  as  op- 
posed to  pm).     Since,  then,  Jehovah  promises 

to  be  to  them  a  sanctuary,  i.e.  a  temj>'e  in  this 
connection,  the  priestly-prophetic  office  of  Ezekiel 
is  brought  .specially  to  fight,  by  means  of  which 
the  exiles  approach  God,  and  God  makes  Himsell 
known  to  them,  and  in  addition  to  which  there 
is  the  glorifying  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  in  and 
through  Daniel  ;  but  along  with  that  in  general, 
there  is  promised  a  presence  of  God  in  spirit  and 
in  truth,  as  John  iv.  20  sq.  expresses  it  in  respect 
of  worship.  Thus  the  exue  might  be  to  the  Jews 
a  school  as  regards  the  indwelling  of  the  Word  in 
flesh  among  men  full  of  grace  and  truth,  as  re- 
gards the  revelation  of  glory  as  of  the  Only-Be- 
gotten (John  i.  14),  as  regards  the  temple  w^icl 
appeared  in  Jesus  Christ  (John  ii.  19  sq.). 

["The  dispersion,  besides  being  a  just  chas 
tisemeut  on  account  of  sin,  and  a  salutary  disci- 
pline to  lead  the  heart  of  the  people  back  to  God, 
had  an  important  end  to  accomplish  as  a  prepara- 
tory movement  in  Providence  for  opening  the 
way  for  Messiah's  kingdom.  It  was  very  far  from 
being  an  unmixed  evil.  As  a  mere  external 
arrangement,  it  was  destined  to  be  of  great  ser- 
vice in  diffusing  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  pro- 
viding materials  for  the  first  foundations  of  the 
Christian  Church,  by  giving  the  bearers  of  God's 
tnith  a  place  and  an  influence  in  many  of  the 
most  commanding  positions  in  the  heathen  world. 
But  still  more  important  and  necessary  was  the 
end  it  had  to  serve,  in  spiritualizing  the  views 
of  the  better  part  of  the  Jews  themselves,  and 
training  them  to  the  knowledge  and  service  of 
God,  without  the  help  of  a  material  temple  and 
an  eartldy  kingdom.  Practically  it  had  the  efl'ect 
of  indefinitely  widening  the  bounds  of  Canaan,  or 
of  giving  to  the  world  at  large  somewhat  of  its 
distinctive  characteristics,  since  the  devout  wor- 
shipper at  Babylon,  Alexandria,  Rome,  or  wher- 
ever he  might  be  placed,  found  himself  a  jiartaker 
of  God's  presence  and  blessing  as  well  as  in  Jeru- 
salem. What  a  mighty  advance  did  the  kingdom 
of  God  tlius  make  toward  the  possession  of  the 
world  !  And  in  rendering  tlie  dispersion  of  His 
people  instrumental  to  the  attainment  of  sucli  a 
result,  how  strikingly  did  the  Lord  manifest  His 
power  to  overrule  a  present  evil  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  an  ultimate  good  !  Nor  were  it, 
perhaps,  too  much  to  say,  having  respect  to  the 
issues  of  things,  that  the  dispersion  of  the  Israel- 
ites among  the  nations  was  fraught  with  as  much 
blessing  for  the  Church  and  the  world  as  even 
their  original  settlement  in  Canaan." — Fair- 
BAlRii's  Ezekiel,  p.  114. — W.  F.j 

"Fur  a  little,"  it  is  said  in  ver.  16,  Jehovah 
Himself  will  be  a  sanctuary  ;  in  view  of  the  des- 
tiny of  the  Jewish  people,  the  state  in  exile  could 
only  be  of  a  provisional  character,  only  prepara- 
tory. For  salvation  is  of  the  Jews,  and  the  des- 
tiny of  the  people — and  this  must  be  upon  its 
own  soil — is  the  building  of  the  temple  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  (ch.  xl.  sq. ).  Palestine  became 
the  cradle  of  the  incarnation  of  God  in  Christ, 
and  thus  of  the  Church  on  earth.  But  now,  when 
the  exile  of  the  Jews  has  become  a  long  period, 
the  Jews  must  have  fallen  out  with  their  destiny, 
as  iu  such  a  case  they  have  neither  recogniam) 


530 


E7.EKIEL. 


tlieii  temple  in  Clirist,  nor  1)11111  themselves  as  a 
people  for  a  tem[ile  of  God  (Eph.  ii.  21 ;  1  Cor. 
iii.  16  sq.;  2  Cor.  vi.  16;  comp.  Jehu  xvii. 
19  sq.). 

6.  "  How  different  the  Babylonian  exile  from 
the  present !  In  the  latter  case,  no  proof  of  the 
present?  of  God  ;  the  people  can  keep  only  feasts 
of  comniemoration,  and  dream  of  the  future  ; 
hefn-eeu  the  distant  past  and  the  distant  future 
an  immense  empty  space,  a  complete  Sahara.  In 
the  former  case,  for  liim  who  looks  more  deeply, 
in  the  deepest  humiliation  there  are  everywhere 
traces  of  the  loving  care  of  God,  pledges  of  the 
enduring  election,  of  the  future  glorification " 
(Hengst.  ). 

7.  As  against  Keil,  who  quotes  Hengstenberg 
for  his  view,  we  must  assert  that  the  passage 
Deut.  XXX.  6  does  not  Lie  at  the  foundation  of 
the  promise  in  ver.  19,  as  was  held  already  by 
Cocceius,  who  quoted  in  addition  Col.  ii.  11  sq., 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The  "  one  " 
heart  can  only  mean  in  the  case  of  the  individual 
a  xmittd  heart, — a  heart,  therefore,  which  does  not 
in  its  thoughts  go  from  one  thing  to  another, 
which  does  not  through  its  lusts  scatter  itself  on 
outward  things,  but  is  held  together  by  the  fear 
of  God  in  its  bent  towards  Him  ;  which  comes  to 

the  same  thing  as  Q^ti*  3^,   i.e.    a  whole  heart, 

not  dirided  between  God  and  any  other  (Deut. 
vi.  5,  X.  12).  But  here  it  is  the  people  as  a  whole 
and  generally  that  are  spoken  of.  Their  trxknpo- 
xecfiia  is  well  known  (Matt.  xix.  8);  it  has  come 
to  light  by  means  of  their  history,  that  even  the 
best,  tlie  noblest  of  this  people  shared  in  it  (Mark 
xvi,  14).  We  call  attention  to  the  passages  in 
cur  prophet,  ch.  ii.  4,  iii.  7.  Comp.  Isa.  xlviii. 
4  (and  this,  too,  with  reference  to  idolatry) ;  Jer. 
V.  3.  They  have  hardened  themselves  in  such  a 
way  (Deut.  x.  16,  like  Pharaoh  under  the  plagues) 
in  opposition  to  the  law,  that  God's  law,  which 
was  written  on  tables  of  stone,  is  written  as  it 
were,  with  its  penalties  and  its  curse,  upon  stony 
Israel.  But  whatever  their  hardness  may  be, 
there  is  confronted  with  it  (Deut.  ix.  27)  what 
they  are  in  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ;  in 
other  words,  that  they  are  as  flesh,  that  is  their 
nature,  and  hence  to  be  the  Lord's  servant.  And 
that  God  saj's  He  will  give  back,  restoring  what 
originally  belonged  to  their  nature  ("an  heart  of 
flesh  "),  in  contrast  with  the  unnatural  and  that 
which  is  against  nature  which  has  grown  up  in 
them  ("the  heart  of  stone").  Comp.  on  the 
other  hand,  John  i.  13. 

8.  There  is  generally  more  said  than  ought  to 
be  said  according  to  God's  word,  that  ' '  in  its 
natural  state  man's  heart "  t*  "  hard  as  a  stone  " 
(Hengst.,  Keil).  It  becomes  the  "heart  of 
stone "  only  by  hardening.  By  nature  it  is 
rather  "  an  heart  of  flesh,"  which  gi'ace  confronts 
withspiritof  Spirit  (John  iii.  6).  Even  in  the  case 
of  Pharaoh  there  comes  forth  on  repeated  occasions 
the  fleshy  element  of  his  heart  (Ex.  viii.  4,  21, 
24  [8,  25,  28],  ix.  27,  etc ).  And  with  the  fleshy 
state  of  the  heart  manifold  gifts  of  God  are  con- 
ceivable, as  was  the  case  with  Israel  from  their 
fathers  (hereditary  blessing). 

9.  The  "  heart  of  stone,"  which  has  become 
such  by  hardening,  God  breaks  in  pieces.  Thus 
it  ha]ppened  to  Pharaoh.  He  does  not  break  it ; 
in  that  case  it  must  have  been  an  "heart  of 
6e«h. "     But  thli  is  done  in  Zeoh.  Kii.  10.     Or, 


as  in  our  chapter,  God  takes  away  the  "  heart  ol 
stone,"  and  gives  "an  heart  of  flesh.'  The 
keeping  apart  of  flesh  and  stone  is  as  important 
as  that  of  flesh  and  spirit. 

10.  "In  a  threatening  (ver.  21)  the  whole  ter- 
minates in  a  remarkable  way.  The  idols  are  in 
themselves  dead — mere  reflexes  and  objective 
representations  of  the  popular  spirit ;  but  even 
as  such  they  exercise  an  enormous  power  over 
individuals.  What  power  has  Mamnron  now,  as 
a  Jewish  (?)  national  god,  over  Jewish  mind.i, 
although  he  is  in  himself  a  mere  shadow  ? — 
Jehovah  even  may  be  an  idol.  With  the  idol- 
images  the  idols  themselves  do  not  yet  disappear 
from  a  land  "  (Hengst.  ).  "  Little  children,  keep 
yourselves  from  idols,"  the  disciple  of  love  still 
says  to  us  (Umbr.  ). 

11.  The  Messianic  significance  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  which  is  not  denied  by  the  Jews  even, 
has  its  Christological  fulfilment  in  the  Gospels; 
but  in  addition,  the  whole  movement  of  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  in  ch.  x. ,  xi.  has  its  meaning  for  the 
life  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  flesh.  Jerome 
remarks ;  "  By  degrees  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
takes  its  departure  from  Jerusalem.  After  it 
leaves  the  temple,  it  stands  flrst  on  the  threshold, 
thereafter  at  the  entrance  of  the  east  gate,  finally 
over  the  Mount  of  Olives,  whence  the  Saviour 
ascends  to  the  Father."  Comp.  the  beginning 
in  Luke  ii.  46,  the  continuation  in  John  ii.  14 
sq.,  along  with  the  New  Testament  passages 
already  quoted  in  the  exposition ;  and  for  the  end, 
still  farther.  Matt.  xxi.  12  sq.,  xxiv.  1  sq.  (ch. 
xxvii.  5,  51).  One  might  say,  Ezekiel  has  seen 
beforehand  the  life  of  Jesus  in  its  elements  of 
judgment  in  reference  to  the  Jewish  people. 

12.  Baumgarten  (The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  on 
ch.  i.,  Clark's  Trans.)  remarks  on  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  in  relation  to  the  Mount  of  Olives :  "  It 
was  therefore  a  departure,  and  yet  a  remaining  in 
the  neighbourhood ;  if  the  outward  protection 
and  blessing  of  Jehovah  should  be  withdrawn 
from  His  people,  the  invisible  power  of  His 
Spirit  will  remain  near  them,  and  perhaps  mani- 
fest itself  the  more  gloriously.  It  is  the  very 
same  Ezekiel,  who  has  afterwards  brought  vividly 
before  us  this  side  of  promi.se  and  hope  even  in 
the  departure  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  ;  it  is  just 
Ezekiel  who  has  beheld,  represented,  and  de- 
scribed in  the  most  impressive  way  the  awaken- 
ing, creative  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  for 
the  whole  nation  of  Israel  (ch.  xxxvii.).  In  like 
manner,  Jesus,  in  whom  dwelleth  the  divine  glory 
bodily,  withdraws  from  the  Jews  (John  viii.  21) ; 
but  His  standing  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  is  a 
sign  that  He  remains  invisibly  and  blessedly 
near  them,  Acts  iii.  26." 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Vers.  1-3.  "Do  thou  also  give  thyself  up  to 
the  drawing  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Wherever  He 
may  lead  thee,  it  will  be  to  a  joyful  end  at  last. 
But  beware  of  the  leading  of  the  evil  spirit " 
(Starck). — When  those  who  bear  sway  over  the 
people  are  not  able  even  to  master  their  own 
wicked  thoughts  and  words,  but  rather  strive 
against  God's  thoughts  and  words,  it  must  cer- 
tainly turn  out  ill  both  for  themselves  and  for 
the  people.  The  beautiful  names  of  such  leaders 
avail  nothing,  just  as  little  as  the  voice  of  th« 
people  is,  as  is  said,  the  voioe  of  Gofl,  nii'c3S  it 


CHAP.  XI. 


be  that  God's  judgment  is  made  known  by  it. — 
"  We  leain  from  this  chapter  how  great  a  ble.ss- 
ing  from  God  it  is  for  a  people  to  have  pious 
le.'iders. " — "That  the  prophet  names  only  two 
may  show  us  how  it  is  the  few  who  draw  so  many 
ai'ter  them  ;  so  it  is  in  the  senates  of  princes,  so 
it  is  in  the  free  states"  (Luther). — Thus  God 
reveals  the  thoughts  of  men,  2  Cor.  v.  10. — Ver. 
3.  "  They  allude  to  Jer.  i.  13,  and  insinuate  that 
the  prophet  contradicts  himself.  What !  thou 
threatenest  us  with  captivity,  and  yet  thou  sayest 
this  city  is  the  caldron,  and  the  Chaldeans  will 
be  the  tire !  If  it  is  God's  pleasure  to  cook  us, 
then  we  shall  remain  in  the  caldron  !  Just  as 
abandoned  and  profane  men  are  always  in  quest 
of  subtleties  wherewith  they  may  put  down  the 
heavenly  doctrine,  so  they  turned  what  was  said 
by  the  prophets  into  the  opposite  :  Well,  then,  we 
shall  be  thoroughly  cooked,  and  shall  therefore 
remain  in  Jerusalem  onwards  to  extreme  age " 
(Calv. ).  —  "Impenitent  sinners  delight  them- 
selves in  their  sins,  and  do  not  suffer  themselves, 
in  the  midst  of  their  ungodly  conduct,  to  dream 
of  anything  but  pure  good  fortune,  Jer.  v.  12  " 
•  (0.). — "In  this  way  reason  is  accustomed  always 
to  drive  all  judgments  out  of  the  mind,  or  to 
comfort  itself  with  the  thought  how  it  is  quite 
able  to  withstand  them  b}-  means  of  the  flesh" 
(Berl.  Bib.). — "  Now-a-days  still  there  are  cer- 
tain men  who  love  to  make  the  word  of  God 
contradict  itself"  (Lutheh). 

Ver.  4.  They  are  against  the  prophets,  and 
therefore  prophecy  is  against  them,  and  that 
without  regard  of  their  persons,  or  of  the  multi- 
tude at  their  back.  Our  prophet  mentions  the 
ringleaders  even  by  name.  How  indelicate  !  liow 
imprudent !  how  defiant !  Is  it  not  ?  But  with 
God's  word  at  our  back,  we  have  the  Almighty 
Himself  at  our  back,  and  God's  servants  are 
neither  to  be  dumb  dogs  nor  flatterers  of  men. — 
"  Son  of  man  "  the  prophet  remains  notAvith- 
standing  ;  his  is  the  weakness,  the  power  is  God's. 
—  "God  does  not  suft'er  Himself  to  be  mocked. 
Gal.  vi.  7"  (Starck).— Ver.  5.  "It  is  not  the 
commissioned  servants  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit 
of  their  Father,  Matt.  x.  20.  He  is  the  Preacher, 
they  are  merely  the  voice,  John  i.  23  "  (Berl. 
Bib.). — What  rises  up  out  of  the  heart  of  man 
(Matt.  XV.  18,  19)  is  of  such  a  nature  that  God 
must  put  a  bridle  on  it  ;  and  this  is  just  God's 
bridle,  that  the  darkness  is  dragged  to  the  light, 
and  reproved  by  the  light,  Eph.  v.  13. — "  Itisoi 
no  use,  therefore,  to  make  a  show  in  the  theatre 
of  the  world,  even  if  the  matter  obtains  the  ap- 
plause of  men,  because  it  goes  at  last  before  the 
heavenly  tribunal,  where  God  alone  will  be  Judge. 
He  knows  our  thoughts,  and  will  not  accept  our 
subterfuges,  nor  allow  Himself  to  be  mocked  by 
our  subtleties.  What  men  have  held  to  be  the 
highest  wisdom,  God  will  show  them  to  be  a  vain 
conceit,  and  worthless  "  (Calv.  ).  —  Ver.  6  sq. 
God  is  in  word  and  deed  a  righteous  Judge.  To 
that  very  point  to  which  the  counsel  of  the  un- 
godly brings  those  who  follow  them,  God  brings 
the  ungodly  themselves  in  the  end.  He  judges 
them  according  to  their  words,  although  not  as 
they  meau  them.  — The  irony  in  the  divine 
retribution. — The  "  caldron,"  the  coflin. — The 
"flesh"  is  slaughtered:  the  "caldron"  broken 
in  pieces. — The  retribution  of  God  (1)  attaches 
Hself  to  the  form  of  the  sin,  but  (2)  changes  the 
substance  of  the  sis  into  the  substance  of  the 


punishment.  — Ver.  8.  "The  sword,  therefore,  dues 
not  come  by  chance  where  it  comes,  but  God's 
hand  is  in  the  matter"  (Berl.  Bib.). — Vers. 
9-12.  "  He  who  will  not  bend  his  heart  before  Goil 
must  'rend  his  head  to  strangers"  (Starck). — 
"  They  had  not  chosen  to  know  God  from  His 
word,  and  so  they  were  now  to  learn  to  know 
Him,  according  to  His  word,  from  His  works.  II 
God's  law  does  not  enlighten  so  as  to  impart  a 
knowledge  that  is  saving,  then  must  God's  right- 
eousnes.?  in  judgment  enlighten  so  as  to  impart  a 
knowledge  which  is  not  saving"  (Luther). — 
Vers.  13,  14.  "If  one  will  not  listen  to  words, 
then  God  must  speak  by  means  of  examples, 
which  in  that  case  call  to  us,  Luke  xiii.  3,  5  " 
(Berl.  Bib.). — "A  sudden  death  in  the  case  of 
the  ungodly  is  the  most  terrible  thing  that  can 
happen,  1  Thess.  v.  To  the  pious,  on  the  other 
haud,  who  are  always  living  in  sight  of  death, 
even  the  most  sudden  death  does  not  come  unex» 
pected"  (LuTH.). — "Although  the  pious  do  not 
find  fault  with  God's  sentence,  yet  they  look  on 
the  ruin  of  the  ungodly  with  a  sigh"  (0.). — 
"  When  an  angry  father  is  going  about  in  the 
house  with  a  rod,  even  a  dutiful  child  is  afraid, 
falls  at  his  feet,  and  pleads  for  his  brothers  ami 
sisters  :  this  a  believer  also  does  for  the  ungodly 
when  God  punishes  them,  Ex.  xxxii,"  (Starke). 
Ver.  15.  It  is  not  the  word  "brother"  that  is 
of  consequence,  but  what  the  word  expresses,  and 
therefore  it  is  repeated  ;  and  just  as  little  is  it  the 
dwelling  together  that  is  of  consequence,  but  their 
being  one  with  each  other  (ver.  19)  is  the  reality 
of  brotherhood. — 1  John  v.  16  :  There  is  a  sin 
unto  death,  for  which  one  is  not  to  pray.  — What 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  say  reminds  one  of 
the  manner  of  speaking  of  many  in  the  "only- 
saving  "  Church,  as  well  as  of  many  who  fancy 
that  they  are  "the  community  of  the  faithfuL" — 
Comp.  the  Pharisee,  Luke  xviii.  11. — But  the 
meek  shall  inherit  the  land.  Matt,  v.^"  There  is 
a  pa.ssage  here  which  is  worth  noting,  that  we 
may  learn  not  to  estimate  the  state  of  the  Church 
according  to  the  common  judgment  of  men,  nor 
according  to  the  glitter,  which  for  the  most  part 
dazzles  the  eyes  of  the  simple.  For  thus  it  comes 
about  that  we  suppose  we  have  found  the  Church 
where  there  is  no  CTiurch,  and  are  in  despair 
when  it  does  not  present  itself  before  our  eyes. 
Rather  are  we  to  hold  fast  by  this,  that  frequently 
the  Church  is  preserved  in  a  wonderful  way  in 
secret ;  and  farther,  that  members  of  the  Church 
are  not  those  puffed-up  people  who  impose  upon 
fools,  but  rather  the  common  people,  wliom  no 
one  regards"  (Calv.).  —  Ver.  16.  The  exile  a 
Jewish  school,  in  which  the  Jews  (1)  may  learn 
the  spirit  of  the  temple,  (2)  may  be  prepared  for 
the  Spirit  of  Christ,  (3)  might  have  been  educated 
in  the  spirit  of  true  Christianity. — Vers,  17-20. 
True  return  home  is  return  to  the  true  God. — 
Ver.  18.  "The  true  cleansing  of  the  Church  la.'! 
taken  place  under  the  New  Covenant ;  the  per- 
fect cleansing  will  take  place  on  the  day  of  har- 
vest, at  the  last  judgment." — "True  reformatio 
of  life  must  show  itself  bv  earnest  hatred  of  what 
is  evil,  Ps.  cxLx.  128"  (Starck).— Vers.  19,  20. 
"  To  the  one  heart  belonged  the  outwaid  union 
of  the  tribes  under  one  name  (Jews),  the  unity  o( 
endeavour  on  the  part  of  all  to  return  to  Canaan, 
the  unity  in  the  doctrine  of  Moses,  their  unani- 
mity against  all  idolatry,  etc.  From  the  stone 
we  may  take  the  following  properties  :  that  it  ic 


J32 


EZEKIBL. 


hard,  deaf,  tixel,  etc.  The  flesh,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  Boft,  moveable,  receives  impressions,  feels 
pain  and  blows  "  (St.\kck). — The  grace  of  God 
makes  man  again  natural,  human  ;  before  he  is 
unnatui-al,  inhuman.— "  For  true  Christianity  it 
is  not  enough  to  perform  this  and  that  other  act 
of  outward  worship,  at  times  even  to  do  what 
is  good,  but  one  must  become  another  man  " 
\Starke).  — "  It  is  not  merely  gross  idolatry 
fiat  is  to  be  rejected,  but  everjahing  that  is  at 
variance  with  the  word  of  God  "  (Luther). — 
7er.  21.   "  The  walk  after  the  heart  of  the  idols 


stands  opposed  to  the  walk  after  the  hearl 
of  God"  (Hengst.). — "  The  fountain  of  all  evil 
is  to  be  sought  nowhere  else  but  in  tlie  inner- 
most depth  of  the  heart,  Matt.  xv.  19  " 
(Starke). 

Ver.  22.  Jesua  lifts  up  His  hands  (Luke  xxiv. 
50),  and  departs  in  the  act  of  blessing  ;  here,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  uplifted  wings  announced  the 
outpouring  of  the  curse.  The  Mount  of  Olives 
on  both  occasions,  the  contrast  and  the  predictive 
type. — The  life  of  Jesus  in  decisive  moments,  an  1 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  in  Ezekiel. 


2.  The  Signs  (Ch.  xii.  1-20). 

1.  The  Sign  of  the  King's  Departure  (vers.  1-16). 

1,  2  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  sajdng,  Son  of  man,  thou  dwellest 
in  the  midst  of  the  house  of  rebelliousness,  who  have  eyes  to  see,  and  they  see 
not ;  and  they  have  ears  to  hear,  and  they  hear  not :  for  they  are  an  house  of 

3  rebelliousness.       And  thou,  son  of  man,  make  thee  [therefore  make  thee,  thon  son  of  man] 

baggage  of  the  emigrant,  and  remove  by  day  before  their  eyes.     And  thou  shalt. 
remove  from  thy  place  to  another  place  before  their  eyes, — perhaps  they  will 

4  see  1 — for  they  are  an  house  of  rebelliousness.  And  thou  shalt  bring  forth  thy 
baggage  as  baggage  of  the  emigrant  by  day  before  their  eyes.     Yet  thou  shalt 

5  go  forth  at  even  before  their  eyes,  like  the  removals  of  the  emigrant.     Before 

6  their  eyes  break  thee  through  the  wall,  and  bring  forth  thereby.  Before  their 
eyes  shalt  thou  lift  up  upon  thy  shoulder,  in  the  darkness  shalt  thou  bring 
forth  ;  thou  shalt  cover  thy  face,  and  thou  shalt  not  see  the  land  :  for  as  a 

7  wonder-sign  have  I  given  thee  to  the  house  of  Israel.  And  I  did  so  as  I  was 
commanded ;  my  baggage  brought  I  forth,  as  baggage  of  the  emigrant,  by 
day,  and  at  even  I  dug  through  with  my  hand  ;  in  the  darkness  brought  I 

8  forth,  I  lifted  up  upon  my  shoulder  before  their  eyes.     And  the  word  of 

9  Jehovah  came  unto  me  early  in  the  morning,  saying.  Son  of  man,  said  they 
not  unto  thee,  the  house  of  Israel,  the  house  of  rebelliousness,  What  doest 

10  thou  ?  Say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah :  The  prince  is  this 
lifting  up  [ver.  7]  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  whole  house  of  Israel  that  [are]  among 

1 1  them  [or,  therein].     Say,  I  am  your  wonder-sign ;  as  I  have  done,  so  shall  it  be 

12  done  unto  them;  into  banishment,  into  captivity  they  shall  go.  And  the 
prince  who  is  in  their  midst,  to  his  shoulder  shall  he  lift  up,  in  the  dark,  then 
shall  he  go  forth  ;  through  the  wall  shall  they  break  to  bring  forth  thereby  ; 
he  shall  cover  his  face,  because  he  shall  not  see  with  his  eye,  he  [shaii  not  see]  the 

13  land.  And  I  spread  My  net  over  him,  and  he  is  taken  in  My  snare;  and  I 
bring  him  to  Babylon,  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans ;  and  he  shall  not  see  it, 

14  and  there  shall  he  die.  And  all  that  are  round  about  him,  his  help  and  all 
his  forces,  will  I  scatter  toward  every  wind,  and  a  sword  will  I  draw  out  after 

15  them.     And  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  I  disperse  them  among  the 

16  nations,  and  scatter  them  in  the  countries.  And  I  leave  over  of  them  men 
of  number,  from  the  sword,  from  the  famine,  and  from  the  pestilence,  in  order 
that  they  may  declare  all  their  abominations  among  the  heathen,  whither  they 
come ;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 


2.  The  Sign  0/ Bread  and  Water  (vers.  17-20). 

17, 18       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying.     Son  of  man,  eat  thy 

bread  with  quaking,  and  drink  thy  water  with  trembling  and  with  anxiety 

1 9  And  say  unto  the  people  of  the  land,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  of  the 

inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  on  the  soil  of  Israel :  They  shall  eat  their  bread  with 

anxiety,  and  drink  their  water  in  pain,  that  her  land  may  become  waste 


CHAP.  XII.  1-5. 


20  from  its  fulness,  because  of  the  violence  of  all  the  dwellers  in  it.  And  the 
cities,  the  inhabited  ones,  shall  be  laid  waste,  and  the  land  shall  becom» 
desolate ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 


Ver.    2.  Sept. :   .  .  .  iv  fLiot  ran  ititxien  «ut«v— 

Ver,    3.  Sept. :  .  .  .  imt;  liatm  hoTi  — 

Ver,     6,  .    .   .  IT*  dSu^y  x<iac\*i$Snirr,  *.  xlxpviAlMiK  tlilXlur^^ 

Ver.    7.  ...  X  *ucp.  (£»]/$•►,  f*'  iiu..  iir(A»j^C»!» — 

Ver.  10.  Sept. :  .  .  .  -roL^t  ktyu  .  .  .  tlxov  nt  atpx"^*  *■  **<  ^fxy^fU^ai  ij  , 

Ver.  IL  .  .  .  £iV«»'  in  iyv  TtpBtTx  w»tBt  19  tj^rm  etj.'t.     (Another  reading:   DO?   nCJT,  Syr.) 

Ver.  X2.  .    .   .  £«■■  {MU*»  ecpdr,0-£T(ti  X.  xtxp.  lllXlvfflTa.1  Six  t.  Ta^x*"'  *•  iiepi'U'  «"  illXBlir  xuTO*  Zt'  XVTOV — 

Ver.  19.  For  nyiK  there  is  a  reading :  DITIS  and  ]1S  without  the  snffli.    for  'tDD  there  isareading:  clKpDI 


.  X.  wxrri  **xm 


EXECETICAL  REMAKKS. 

The  visions  in  cii.  viii. -xi.  have  the  connec- 
tion we  have  seen  with  the  vision  in  ch.  i. 
Ch.  xii.  now,  in  the  first  place,  takes  up  what 
is  said  in  ch.  ii.  and  iii.,  in  order  afterwards 
to  give  us,  in  close  connection  with  ch.  iv.  v., 
the  continuation  of  the  prophet's  discourse  iu 
the  language  of  signs.  If  we  take  ch.  viii.  sq. 
alfuig  with  ch.  iv.  sq.,  then  we  get  information 
about  the  siege,  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  and  we 
are  made  acquainted,  not  only  generally,  but  in 
detail,  with  the  destiny  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
fate  of  the  distinguished  popular  leaders  (ch.  xi. ) 
offers  the  most  natural  transition  to  the  person  of 
the  king  in  its  meaning  for  the  whole.  If,  more-  i 
over,  what  has  hitherto  been  referred  to  from  ch. 
iii.  24  onwards  was  transferred  inter  parities, 
then  so  much  the  more  strikingly  does  the  pro- 
phet now  step  abroad. 

Ver.  2.  Comp.  on  ch.  iL  5  sq.,  iii.  26  sq. 
The  description  of  the  state  of  the  exiles  is  kept 
in  accordance  with  what  they  have  seen  (espe- 
cially ch.  iv.  V.)  and  also  heard  (ch.  xi.  25). 
Thus  it  is  with  them  at  the  time,  while  at  an- 
other time,  which  the  promise  has  in  view,  it  is  to 
be  as  iu  ch.  xi.  16  sq.  Comp.  Isa.  vi.  9,  10 ;  Jer. 
V.  21.  The  reason  given  is  the  universal  and  all- 
pervading  rebelliousness  (different  from  Dent. 
xxix.  3  [4]).  Hence  in  Ver.  3,  "perhaps  they 
will  see  ;"  and  because  of  this  possibility,  which 
would  not  be  supposed  in  the  case  of  hardening 
in  consequence  of  judgment,  Ezekiel  is  to  perform 
the  sign  in  question  before  their  eyes  (repeated). 
''3  i5>  j'lst  because  of  the  parallel  close  of  ver.  2, 

not  to  be  rendered  by  "  that"  (HiTZ.).  The  thing 
meant  also  is  merely  "seeing"  (i.e.  in  the  sense 
of  hearing  how  it  will  happen  to  them),  and  not 
by  any  means  comprehending  what  they  are. 
We  are  to  think  of  a  question  implying  doubt, 
whose  doubtful  purport,  and  along  with  that  (or 
merely   in   general)    the    action   commanded,    is 

supported  by  a  reason.  —  npis,    "  emigration  " 

(Hengbt. :  "the  emigrants,"  an  ideal  gathering 
into  one  of  the  emigi-ants),  consequently  utensils 
such  as  are  usual  in  a  case  of  the  kind, — not  simply 
travelling  gear,  as  hat,  staff,  bag  (Matt.  x.  9,  10), 
but  rather  vessels  for  food  and  drink,  household 
furniture,  as  distinguished  from  personal  appa- 
ratus  for  a  journey.     Hence  nj^y  is  not:  "to 

make,"  or:  "to  furnish  oneself  with"  (Klief.), 
but  equivalent  to  :  "to  put  together  "  (comp.  ver. 
4'>.     npij  (Jer.  xlvi.  19)  is  immediately  explained, 

Imt,  as  the  more  detailed  definitions  which  fol- 


low show,  the  explanation  is  kept  general.  Comp. 
on  ver.  6.  The  emigration  is  specified  as  regardi 
its  starting-point  and  goal. — In  favour  of  the  ob- 
jective reality  of  the  action  to  be  performi-d,  the 
remarks  made  on  ch.  iv.  v.,  as  against  Haveen., 
HiTZ.,  Hengst.,  have  a  still  more  pointed  appli- 
cation in  the  present  case. 

Ver.  4.  The  bringing  forth  of  his  household 
stuff,  so  far  as  it  can  be  taken  with  him,  describes 
more  fully  the  "make  thee,"  etc.  of  ver.  3  ;  and 
it  becomes  clear  at  the  same  time  how  the  expres 

sion  there,  QOV  rhyi,  must  be  understood,    viz. 

of  the  beginning  of  the  emigration,  of  the  first 
preparation  for  it.     Lastly,  Qoi'  is  explained,  by 

means  of  2"ljf3,  as  meaning  the  daytime  in  its 

most  proper  sense  ;  and  the  prophet's  own  migrat- 
ing from  his  dwelling-place  is  characterized  in  the 
most  definite  way,  in  contrast  with  a  mere  jour- 
ney, by  the  expression  riTIJ  'SSiCS   (comp.  on 

ver.  6),  a  comparison  which  Hiivem.  considers 
applicable  to  the  time  of  departure  alone.  Comp. 
Hengst.  on  Mic.  v.  1.  His  rendering  here  is  . 
"  as  emigrants  go  forth, "  in  the  costume  and  garb 
of  emigrants,  combining,  as  he  does,  "bag  on 
shoulder,  staff  in  hand,"  with  their  being  "sad, 
and  their  heads  drooping "  (Num.  xxxiii.  2). 
— Ver.  5  describes  more  minutely  the  bringing 
forth  of  the  stuif  in  question  (ver.  4).  The  pro- 
phet is  to  break  for  himself  a  hole  for  the  purpose 
(nKVim,  as  in  ver.  4)  in  the  wall,  i.  e.  of  course, 

of  his  house,  perhaps  a  clay  wall ;  for  were  it  to  be 
the  city  wall  of  Tel-Abib,  as  Hengstenberg,  in  the 
interest  of  his  "  subjectivity "  of  the  symbolic 
action,  asserts,  thereby  throwing  into  confusion 
the  occurrence  and  the  text,  then  it  must,  espe- 
cially with  this  detailed  description  here,  have 
been  expressed  more  definitely.  Hengstenberg 
makes  Ezekiel  bring  his  baggage  as  far  as  the  city 
wall,  and  when  the  darkness  came  on,  break  a  hole 
through  it,  etc.  The  text,  on  the  other  hand, 
makes  the  breaking  through  of  a  hole  in  the 
house  wall  (instead  of  the  usual  exit  by  the  house 
door),  for  bringing  forth  the  stuff,  take  place,  like 
the  bringing  forth  itself  (ver.  4),  bffore  their  eyes, 
consequently  in  clear  daylight,  since  the  taking 
up  upon  the  shoulder  (ver.  6),  though  happening 
also  "  before  their  eyes,"  has  to  take  place  (comp. 
ver.   4)   "  at  even,"  both  as  distinguished  from 

nti^ya  (no?!?,  from  tJ^y,  the  restrained  light), 

in  thick  darkness  (Gen.  xv.  17).  It  may  be  taken 
for  granted    that  £zekiel,   with  this    breaking 


l:U 


EZEKIEL. 


through,  for  which  he  is  not  forbidden  to  use  a 
tool,  will  have  the  whole  day  to  do  it.  Neither 
Klief.  nor  Keil  has  correctly  apprehended  the 
couree  of  the  action.  As  Ver.  B  portrays  suffi- 
ciently the  departure  of  Ezekiel  him.self,  when  he 
puts  liis  goods  and  chattels  on  his  shoulder,  there 
is  no  need  for  understanding  the  Hiphil  S'Vin 

intransitively,  or  for  supplying  "JJt'SJ.  More- 
over, hy  the  e.-cpression  is  meant  the  emigi'ation 
with  bag  and  baggage  from  his  own  place  to 
"another"  (vcr.  3);  hence  the  complete  depar- 
ture, as  distinguished  from  nSVim,  like  KVD  and 

DKVini  in  ver.  4.  It  corresponds  to  the  dark- 
ness about  him  that  he  is  to  cover  his  face  be- 
sides ;  and  in  this  way  the  expression  n?ij  'SVi03 

(ver.  4)  is  explained  for  us,  ina.smuch  as  emi- 
grants' departures  usually  take  place  with  shame 
and  sorrow,  which  do  not  allow  themselves  to  be 
seen,  and  which  will  no  longer  cast  a  look  on  the 
home  that  is  to  be  forsaken  (2  Sam.  xv.  30). 
Yet  the  land  which  he  is  not  to  see  (comp.  vers. 
12,  13)  is  perhaps  still  more  that  to  which  he 
is   going   forth.     Hence  vers.   5   and  6   are  two 

parallel  (an'J^y? — QnTy^)  and  more  minutely 

descriptive  statements  as  regards  ver.   4. — 0310 

(either  from  ns',    "something  shining,"  .similar 

to  the  derivation  of  the  Germau  "  Wunder " 
(miracle),   or  from  an  assumed   root  nS'i    what 

is  suddenly  "  turned,"  singularly  "  twisted," 
"turned  away"  from  what  is  usual),  therefore, 
not  merely  niXi  simply  a  significant  sign,  but 
specially  a  sign  of  a  divine  sort,  and  that,  in  the 
sense  of  our  context,  equivalent  to  ruira,-,  Ps. 
Ixxi.  7.  In  this  word  there  meet  together  the 
superhuman  (miraculous)  character  alike  of  the 
purport  and  of  the  cause,  the  surprising  character 
of  the  spectacle,  as  well  as  the  manner  of  working 
of  the  astonishment  and  the  typical  object  in 
view. 

In  Ver.  7  Ezekiel  reports  as  to  his  execution 
of  the  divine  command,  whose  objective  reality 
Keil  admits  in  the  case  before  us.  The  report  of 
the  projjhet  is  a  recapitulation,  in  which  the 
points  of  time  (by  day,  at  even,  In  the  darkness) 
form  the  salient  points,  to  which,  without  keep- 
ing up  the  order  of  succession  as  to  the  rest 
(.since  this  is  certainly  contained  in  the  preceding 
command  of  God,  according  to  which  Ezekiel 
acted),  the  detail  with  reference  to  the  interpreta- 
tion (of  the  symbolical  action)  which  follows  is 
attached.  As  in  what  follows  the  double  refer- 
ence— to  the  people  as  a  whole,  and  to  the  prince 
in  particular — comes  out,  so  Ezekiel  makes  pro- 
minent in  his  report,  (1)  what  is  the  thing  which 
is  impending  over  them  in  general  (my  baggage, 
etc.,  as  emigrants'  baggage,  by  day),  and  (2)  in 
what  way  the  prince  personally  gets  out,  viz. 
by  breaking  through  in  the  night-time.  Accord- 
ingly, because  of  the  significance  attached  to  the 
digging  through  the  wall,  which  may  possibly  be 
indicated    even    in    ver.    S    by   the    expression 

1;  "nnn,    and    which    becomes    complete    only 

what,  the  prophet  himself  comes  through  the 
bolt  u  the  wall,  be  connects  his  day's  work  with 


his   own   departure   at   even.      1>3  is  meant  to 

express  in  general  the  idea :  with  my  own  hand, 
as  contrasted  with  the  help  of  others.  The 
emphasis  lies  on  the  personal  element  in  the 
action.  As  distinguished  from  :  I  brought  forth 
.  .  .  by  day,  the  expression ;  I  brought  forth  in 
the  darkness,  refers  to  the  removing  from  out  ol 

the  dwelling-place.      Dn'J'yij  at  the  close  adjusts 

the  execution  of  the  command  to  the  object  in 
view,  and  at  the  same  time  to  the  explanation 
which  follows;  and  for  this  reason  the  thing 
whicli  lies  neai-est  and  is  still  visible,  although 
occurring  before  the  complete  "darkness"  of  the 
departure  properly  so  called,  viz.  the  taking  up 
upon  the  shoulder  at  even,  is  mentioned.  The 
transaction  is  (and  this  is  also  Umbreit's  view)  to 
be  conceived  of  in  this  way  :  the  elders  (eh.  viii. ) 
might  have  left  the  house  of  the  prophet.  In 
accordance  with  what  has  been  remarked  at  the 
commencement  of  the  chapter,  the  impression 
made  by  Ezekiel's  disclosures  (ch.  xi.  25)  may 
have  been  but  slight,  or  not  lasting.  Just  then 
a  hole  is  opened  in  the  wall  of  his  house,  ever 
growing  wider  and  wider.  It  is  easily  under- 
stood liow  the  multitude  gathers  from  curiosity. 
Perhaps  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day,  what  a 
man  can  carry  of  household  furniture  is  brought 
out  through  the  opening  in  the  wall.  At  even 
the  prophet  himself  steps  forth,  loads  himself 
with  the  emigrant's  baggage,  and  takes  his 
departure,  with  his  head  covered,  in  the  midst  of 
total  darkness,  etc.,  from  Tel-Abib  for  some  other 
place. 

Ver.  8  assigns  the  divine  word  of  interpreta- 
tion to  the  early  morning  of  next  day.     Comp.  2 

Chron.    xxxvi.    15. — Ver.    9.     xpn    (as    against 

Klief.,  who  does  not  admit  a  question  at  all)  pre- 
supposes that  they  have  asked  Ezekiel  for  the 
meaning  of  what  he  has  done.  By  means  of  the 
expression  ;  house  of  Israel,  the  exiles  are  put  on 
an  equal  footing  with  those  in  .Jerusalem ;  just  a^ 
by  means  of  the  expression :  the  house  of  re- 
belliousness (see  on  ver.  2),  they  are  at  the  samt 
time  characterized  as  regards  their  disposition 
while  putting  the  question.  Therefore  Ezekiel 
is,  in  reply  to  wliat  they  have  said  unto  him,  in 
Ver.  10  to  say  unto  them  what  Jehovah  says. 
He  has  answered  them  the  evening  before  by 
silence  (ch.  iii.  27),  and  has  merely  done  as  he 
was  commanded  (ver.  7).  —  X'U'jn,  either  pas- 
sively: "he  who  has  been  lifted  up"  or:  "he  who 
lifts  himself  up." — Heng.st.  :  "one  on  whom 
something  is  laid,  who  is  burdened  with  the 
government,  which  he  bears,  as  it  were,  on   his 

shoiilder,"  Isa.  ix.  6  (?) — as  D?Bi"l'3  shows,  the 

king  (ch.  vii.  27)  Zedekiah.  There  is  an  unmis- 
takable play  upon  the  word  N'E'Sn   in  SEnsn, 

which   (likewise   derived  from  XC'J )  means :  the 

lifting  up,  and,  without  our  being  obliged  with 
all  the  expositors  to  think  of  the  meaning  "sen- 
tence "  (judicial  utterance  of  God)  or  "burden" 
(threatening    prediction),    as     elsewhere,    refers 

simply  to  the  statement  (ver.  7) :  'nNE'3  5)03  PJi 

which  paves  the  way  for  the  interpretation. 
Comp.  the  Syriac  translation.      Hence  the  mean- 


CHAP.  XII.  11-19. 


135 


ing  is  ;  this  lifting  up  on  the  shoulder  of  emi- 
giants'  stuff  on  my  jjait  means  tlie  prince.  The 
meaning  is  not  (as  Hengst. ):  "prince  and 
burden,  as  it  were,  cover  each  other,"  .so  that  he 
is  wholly  swallowed  up  by  misfortune,  the  crash- 
ing burden  leaves  nothing  of  him  remaining ;  but 
this :  the  prince  is  what  the  prophet  represents 
by  his  action.  The  exalted  pei-sonage  in  Jeru- 
salem, still  seated  on  a  regal  tlirone,  and  this 
lifting  up  of  mere  emigrants'  baggage,  impres- 
sively confront  each  other.  Thus  a  day,  an 
evening,  a  night  changes  everything!  [Com- 
monly (aud  so  Eng.  Vers.):  the  prince  is  the 
subject  of  this  burden  or  of  this  sentence. 
HirziG  refers  to  Jer.  xxiii.  33;  but  Kliefoth  : 
*his  burden -bearing,  undertaken  as  a  sign,  concerns 
the  prince  and  the  house  of  Israel  (as  accusa- 
tives!). EwALD  :  "  0  thou  crown-bearer  of  this 
burden  in  Jerusalem,  and  those  of  the  whole 
house  of   Israel  who  are  in  its  midst !  "  K'f'Sn 

being  imagined  to  be  in  the  construct  state  to 
what  follows.]  Because  emigration  is  to  be  the 
common  lot,  the  people  are  added  to  the  kiug, 
and  in  fact  the  whole  bouse  of  Israel  (according 
to  the  older  e.xpositors  ;  those  out  of  the  ten 
tribes  who  had  fled  to  Jerusalem),  among  whom, 
especially  as  having  already  emigrated,  the 
fellow-exiles   of    Ezekiel   are    included    (031113, 

like  1B?K,  referring  to  the  house  of  Israel)  ;   or 

better,  because  of  what  follows,  as  Hengstenberg 
does,  referring  the  suffix  to  Jerusalem  or  its  in- 
habitants, inasmuch  as  there  was  yet  another 
house  of  Isr?cl,  ch.  xi.  15. — Quite  evidently  he 
speaks  now  of  the  fate  of  the  whole  in  Ver.  11. 
With  the  expres.sion  :  "your  wonder-sign,"  the 
exiles  (in  conformity  with  ver.  6),  for  whom  it  is 
meant  in  the  first  place,   are   addressed  ;    while 

on?   refers   to  those   at  Jerusalem,    hence   also, 

perhaps,   nsn  in  ver.  10.  —  Qn^  ribV  |3  might 

also  mean :  so  will  it  be  done  by  them.  In 
any  case  it  is  an  explanation  of  what  precedes. 

'StS'S  npiSH,  iin  emphatic  asyndeton:  it  will  be 

no  voluntary,  but  a  compulsory  emigration. 
Ver.    12.    The    king   specially.     DSina  "IB'S, 

the  reference  being  undoubted,  confirms  the  in- 
terpretation   we    have    preferred    of    nsn'IC'X 

D3in3-  S"  also  Nt?*  Sin3"?K  confirms  our  view 
of  mn  SE^n  S'B'Sn.— SV'I,  then,  etc.,  linger- 
ing over  the  picture  of  the  moment.  Keil,  like 
Klief,  against  the  accents:  "he  will  lift  it  up 
in  the  darkness  and  will  go  forth. "     ^TniT,  '•«■ 

the  attendants,  his  suite.  (Rosekm.  :  in  order 
to  bring  him  forth.)  The  prediction  of  what  is 
recorded  as  having  happened  some  years  later 
(Jer.  xxxix.  lii.  ;  2  Kings  xxv.).  As  the  lifting 
up  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  baggage  does  not 
necessarily  indicate  any  selfish  giasping  at  the 
valuables,  but  may  symbolize  the  emigration,  so 
the  breaking  through  the  wall  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  this  in  a  literal  sense  but  the  haste 
and  hurry  of  the  flight  by  the  speediest  available 
route  ;  and  just  as  little  have  we  to  prove  the 
covering  of  his  face  to  be  historical      Besides, 


the  latter  was   among  the  circumstances,  as  is 
understood  of  itself,  suggested  by  prudence  even 
pain   or  .shame  is  not  to  be  thought  of  at  all. 
Comp.   on  ver.   6.     Certainly  there  was  yet  an- 
other object    in  view   beyond   that,   which   h.id 

influence,  a.s  is  expressed  in  Ver.  13.      py^  and 

the  xin  placed  after  it  draw  attention  to  some- 
thing peculiar,  and  }'^^C^"^i^<  is  the  land  of  the 

Chaldeans.  (Ver.  13.)  The  being  taken  prisoner, 
— in  addition  to  the  emigiation  (ver.  11), — which 
the  prophet  had  not  prefigured,  is  depicted  by 
means  of  the  figurative  mode  of  speech  borrowed 
from  the  catching  of  fish,  from  the  chase  (Isa.  xix. 
8  ;  Jer.  xvi.  16).  In  spite  of  his  hasty,  violent 
fliglit,  he  does  not  escape  his  fate  ;  like  the  dark- 
ness of  night,  the  holy  penal  order  of  the  Judge 
and  Avenger  in  heaven  is  laid  around  him. 
Umbreit,  who  views  the  breaking  through  the 
wall  as  a  breaking  forth  from  the  city  perforated 
by  the  enemy,  finds  in  the  circumstance  that  the 
king  shall  not  see  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans,  his 
full  and  complete  imprisonment  expressed. — To 
Babylon,  etc.,  is  the  "other  place  "  of  ver.  3. — 
In  how  far  the  king  would  not  see  the  land  where 
he  was  to  die,  must  remain  incomprehensible  for 
so  long,  until  the  blinding  (a  common  punish- 
ment with  the  Persians,  and  probably  also  with 
the  Babylonians,  for  the  dethroned)  of  Zedekiah 
at  Riblah,  after  he  had  been  caught  in  his 
nocturnal  flight  not  far  from  Jericho,  by  the 
Chaldeans,  made  it  palpable  to  the  senses. 

Ver.  14.  What  is  round  about  him  may  be  the 
attendants  fleeing  along  with  the  king,  and  hia 
help  may  perhaps  be  the  hoped-for  Egyptian 
help.  nhty  (PTV)  'S  a  play  upon  words  with 
mtX'     D'SJX.  only  in  the  plural,  and  peculiai'  to 

Ezekiel ;  according  to  Gesen. :  "wings  "  (I.sa.  viii. 
8);  according  to  Hitzig  :  "oands,"  the  whole 
military  power,  with  which  a  king  stands  or  falls. 
Comp.  Jer.  xl.  7,  12,  lii.  8.  We  may  compare 
besides,  ch.  v.  2,  10,  12.— Ver.  15.  Ch.  v.  13,  vi. 
8. — Ver.  16.  Ch.  vi.  8.  Men  of  number— 
HiTZiG  :  that  may  be  counted.  Few  in  com- 
parison with  ver.  14. — Comp.  on  ch.  v.  vi. — 
Narrators  of  their  guilt  with  the  knowledge 
gained  from  experience  of  the  holy  punitive 
justice  of  God.  [Roseum.,  Hitzig,  and  others 
refer  the  refrain  thus  repeated  to  the  heathen  ! 
Klief.  translates:  "count,"  that  they  shall 
ponder  their  sins  one  by  one  thoroughly  !] 

The  second  and  connected  sign  which  is  intio- 
duced  in  Ver.  17,  like  the  preceding  one  in  ver.  1, 
but  which  has  along  with  it  its  divine  interpreta- 
tion without  an  introduction,  as  is  the  case  in 
ver.  8,  depicts  (with  an  allusion  to  ch.  iv.  16)  the 
misery  of  the  inhabitants,  just  as  the  interpreta- 
tion by  the  word  of  Jehovah  (similarly  to  ch.  vi. 
14)  announces  the  misery  of  tlie  land  inhabited  by 
them. — Ver.  18.  Bread  and  water,  not  exactly 
scanty  food  (Klief.),  but  merely  the  food  that  is 
necessary.  The  significant  thing,  however,  is  the 
quaking,  trembling,  and  anxiety  which  the  pro- 
pliet's  expression  of  countenance,  appearauce,  and 
demeanour  must  have  expressed  during  tlie 
carrying  out  of  the  divine  command  (which  ia 
not  indeed  narrated,  because  understood  as  a 
matter  of  course).  The  people  of  the  land  in 
Ver.  19,  those  addressed,  are  the  poor,  wretched 
Jewish  people  in  Chaldea  (vers.  12,  13) ;  accord- 


.86 


EZEKIEL. 


ing  to  Cocc,  the  message  is  meant  for  the 
heathen,  that  these  might  not  ascribe  the  fate  of 
the  Jews  to  their  Bel,  inasmuch  as  Jehovah  has 
caused  it  to  be  represented  three  years  before  by 
EzekieL— Comp.  besides  ver.  10.  The  inhabit- 
knts  of  Jemswem  may  possibly  be  (in  accord- 
dance  with  ch.  xi.  15)  those  who  at  the  time 
were  still  there,  although  in  the  condition  during 
the  impending  siege  (so  Hengst. ).  But  in  con- 
nection with  the  preceding  sign  they  are  lather 
the  poorest  remnants  of  the  people  still  remain- 
ing on  the  soil  of  Israel  (nDHN,  comp.  on  ch. 

vii.  2)  after  the  flight  of  the  king  and  the  leading 
captive  of  the  people,  Jer.  sxxix.  10,  lii.  16. 
And  such  an  explanation  corresponds  also  with 

what  follows,  jyc^  (ch.  iv.  17)  is  meant  (ac- 
cording to  Hitzig)  to  be  a  particle  assigning  the 
reason  :  because  their  land,  stripped  of  its  fulness, 
will  become  stiff ;  that  is  .to  say,  their  torpid 
amazement  mirrors  forth  the  motionless  stiffening 
of  the  laud.  Certainly  with  more  correctness, 
and  more  in  accordance  with  the  context :  their 
misery  will   cause   the    land's  also   (nyiK,    i-e. 

Jerusalem's),  which  is  the  design  of  Jehovah  ; 
they  will  in  their  anxiety  and  anguish  content 
themselves  with  mere  necessaries  (bread  and 
water),  and  not  cultivate  its  fruitfulness,  etc. 
According  to  the  other  explanation,  the  invasion 
of  the  enemy  will  leave  the  land  waste  behind 
them.  Comp.  besides  ch.  vii.  23,  viii.  17. — 
A''er.  20.  Ch.  vi.  6. — Cocc.  (comp.  above)  refers 
the  clause:  "and  ye  know,"  etc.,  to  the  heathen, 
the  Chaldeans,  just  as  in  ver.  16. 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  When  Stephen  (according  to  Acts  vii.  51) 
brings  the  charge  against  the  Jews,  that  they  were 
always  resisting  (iyTiviTruv — using  this  strong 
and,  in  the  New  Testament,  unusual  expression) 
the  Holy  Ghost,  that  they,  like  their  fathers,  were 
stiffnecked  and  uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears, 
we  need  not,  with  the  expositors  since  Havernick, 
fall  back  upon  Deut.  xxix.  3  [4];  and  this  the  less, 
as  the  meaning  is  certainly  somewhat  different  in 
this  so-called  fundamental  passage.  In  Isa.  vi. 
9,  10  it  may  be  made  use  of  as  a  text ;  Ezekiel, 
like  Jeremiah  (ch.  v.  21  sij. ),  has  to  do  with  the  bad 
national  character  of  the  Jewish  people.  The 
"  perverse  will "  is  brought  into  special  promi- 
nence by  both  prophets,  as  Havernick  remarks, 
continuing  as  follows:  "a  feature  which  runs 
through  their  whole  history,  down  to  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Redeemer. "  But  who  will  be  able  to 
deny  that  in  this  way,  in  the  bad  character  of  the 
Jews  as  a  nation,  the  cornipt  nature  of  fallen 
humanity  as  a  whole  is  portrayed  ?  This  people 
have  merely  exhibited  it  carried  to  its  farthest 
consequences,  inasmuch  as  they  were  placed  in  a 
position,  by  means  of  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
and  lastly  God's  Son,  where  they  must  either  let 
their  wills  be  broken  or  rain  themselves.  But 
then,  farther,  as  the  Jews  are  a  standing  historical 
decision  with  respect  to  natural  men,  so,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  contrast  with  their  national  cha- 
racter (here  also  :  "perhaps  they  will  see?"),  we 
have  mirrored  forth  all  the  riches  of  divine  long- 
Buifering  and  patience.  "Yewould  not," — thison 
the  one  hand;  but  on  the  otlier  :  "how  often 
Woold  I  have  gathered  thy  cbildien  together ! " 


(Matt,  xxiii.  37.)  The  mirror  of  human  perversitj 
is  at  the  same  time  the  mirror  of  divine  grace, 
Eom.  V.  20. 

2.  "If  any  one  is  so  far  enlightened  that  he  is 
able  to  see  and  understand  what  is  necessarj',  then 
it  may  be  said  that  he  has  eyes  to  see,  etc.  The 
natural  (unregenerate)  man  perceiveth  not,  etc. 
(1  Cor.  ii.  14).  But  any  one  may  also  be  so  far 
enlightened  that  he  sees  much,  and  by  this  means 
he  may  be  brought  to  see  what  is  necessary  to  be 
seen  ;  and  especially  that  he  recognises  the  word 
which  contains  the  true  wisdom  as  being  God's 
word.  Those  who  have  come  this  length  may, 
however,  neither  see  nor  hear  what  is  necessary  to 
be  seen  and  heard,  in  so  far  as  they  cannot  rightl}' 
judge  of  what  they  see  and  hear,  through  the 
opposition  of  their  fleshly  wisdom,  which  perverts 
God's  words.  Such  parties  no  longer  err  in  the 
usual  way,  but  are  hardened,  so  that  they  fancy 
their  error  is  God's  word.  They  are  also  difficult 
to  cure.  The  cause  of  one's  not  understanding 
God's  word  is  disobedience.  For  fleshly  wisdom 
and  the  love  of  it  is  in  truth  disobedience  "  (Cocc. ). 

3.  From  the  importance  which  is  attached  in 
the  history  of  the  Jews,  in  a  good  as  well  as  a  bad 
sense,  yea,  in  the  highest  sense  {i.e.  the  Alessi- 
anic),  to  the  king,  in  asking  whom  (1  Sam. )  the 
people  at  first  expressed  their  wish  to  be  "like 
the  other  nations,"  we  can  understand  the  express 
symbolical  representation,  in  this  special  and  pre- 
eminent way,  of  the  fate  of  Zedekiah.  "The 
mass  of  mischief  is  concentrated  first  of  all  in  the 
king,"  for  which  Havernick  adduces  as  a  farther 
reason  "the  existing  circumstances, "  among  which 
' '  the  political  faithlessness  and  dishonesty  of  the 
king,  as  well  as  his  auti-theocratic  conduct,  his 
idolatry,  his  mockery  of  all  prophetic  warnings 
and  threatcnings, "  were  prominent,  "although 
he  was  in  Jerusalem  and  among  the  exiles  the  idol 
of  trust."  Hengst.  in  this  connection  designates 
the  king  as  "the  centre  of  their  dreams  of  the 
future,  which  were  preventing  repentance. " 

4.  The  prediction  in  our  chapter — of  which 
Tholuck  ( The  Prophets  and  their  Predictions,  p. 
108)  gives  the  following  estimate,  that  "  against 
the  prophetic  character  of  the  passage  no  critical 
objection  is  raised  from  any  quarter  ;  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  book  and  the  integrity  of  the  passage 
are  beyond  a  doubt ;  that  divergent  interjiretations 
found  no  place;  and  that  reference  is  made  merely 
to  its  fulfilment  according  to  the  authentic  testi- 
mony of  history  " — ought  properly  to  have  been 
removed  from  all  the  attempts  at  half  or  wholly 
naturalistic  interpretation,  by  the  repeated  divins 
explanation  that  it  is  a  "mopheth"  (see  the  ex- 
planation of  the  word  at  ver.  6).  Nevertheless, 
while  Eichhorn  and  Hitzig  decree  simply  a  pro- 
phecy after  the  event,  and  while  Ewald  makes  it 
out  that  the  prophet  had  happy  presages,  correct 
foresight,  Umbreit  attempts  as  far  as  possible  to 
keep  the  text  free  from  what  might  press  us  to 
the  acceptance  of  a  supernatural  prediction.  On 
the  other  hand,  Josephus  even  {Antiq.  x.  10.  11) 
has  in  his  mind  our  prophetic  testimony  when 
he  tells  us  how  Zedekiah  may  not  have  been  able 
to  give  credence  to  Ezekiel,  because  he  said  that 
the  king  would  not  see  Babylon,  whereas  Jeremiah 
had  prophesied  to  him  that  he  would  be  carried 
captive  thither.  To  Nitzsch,  the  prediction  of 
occurrences  resting  on  divine  communication  is 
neither  so  impossible  as  Cicero  asserted  it,  nor  so 
useless  or  even  hurtful  as  Kant  attempted  to 


CHAP.  XII. 


137 


show.  The  prediction  sustains  interest  in  this 
way,  by  announcing  a  result  which  could  not 
have  been  known  beforehand  by  any  human 
means.  Even  in  the  case  where  the  foreknowledge 
is  of  no  use,  it  may  yet  awaken  a  wholesome 
attention,  and,  confirmed  by  the  result,  it  may, 
bv  producing  a  testimony  for  persons  and  aflairs, 
come  to  serve  important  ends  in  other  directions. 
J.  D.  Miehaelis  holds  the  view  that  the  exact 
announcement  beforehand  was  of  service  against 
the  communis  seiisu^  of  polytheism  at  the  time, 
when  even  among  the  Jews  the  faith  in  one  God 
alone  kept  its  ground  only  in  a  sickly  way,  as 
being  to  every  one  an  easily  understood  and 
irrefragable  confirmation  of  the  true  religion. 
One  may  have  recourse  to  the  genius  of  great 
minds,  their  far  -  reaching  historical  glance  in 
certain  cases ;  may  lay  stress  upon  the  secret  power 
of  divination  in  the  human  mind,  the  connection 
of  the  human  conscience  with  the  judicial  steps  of 
the  moral  order  of  the  world  (Hekzog,  Realencycl. 
xvii.  640  sq.);  but  what  Ezekiel  here  expresses  in 
symbol,  he  knows  he  has  received  from  Jehovah's 
mouth,  and  every  criticism  of  this  consciousness 
runs  the  risk  either  of  accusing  the  prophet  of 
self-deception,  or  even  of  making  him  a  hypo- 
critical deceiver,  especially  where  a  chapter  like 
the  13th  follows. 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq. :  "  We  ought  not,  therefore,  to  allow 
ourselves  to  be  deterred  either  by  the  view  that  we 
ourselves  and  the  doctrine  which  we  teach  would 
be  rejected,  or  even  by  the  impression  that  we 
would  be  engaged  in  something  ridiculous " 
(Calv.). — "Rebelliousness  does  not  spring  from 
weakness,  but  from  wickedness  "  (Stck.). — "How 
many  there  are  who  are  sharjjsighted  in  earthly  and 
temporal  things,  and  who  know  how  to  turn  every- 
thing prudently  to  their  own  advantage,  but  who, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  what  is  spiritual,  are  found  to 
the  last  degree  blind  and  stupid,  as  well  as  incap- 
able of  faith  !  Hence  they  have  eats  likewise  to 
hearken  to  what  pleases  the  flesh,  and  to  the  talk 
and  lies  of  the  false  prophets,  but  they  have  no  ears 
to  hear  God's  voice.  They  hear  and  hear,  but  not 
with  obedience  and  faith"  (Berl.  Bib.).  —  "They 
had  ears  to  hear,  because  from  youth  up  they  were 
instructed  in  the  law  of  God,  and  the  threatenings 
were  held  up  before  them  by  the  prophets  " 
;C.\LV.). — The  natural  blindness  and  deafness  of 
man  in  spiritual  things  causing  God  to  proclaim  His 
word.  The  wilful  blindness  and  intentional  deaf- 
ness of  him  who  yields  to  God  with  sutl'ering  and 
atUiction.  The  blindness  and  deafness  which  God 
hangs  as  punishment  over  the  hardened  sinner. 
— Ver.  3  sq.  "Perhaps  they  will  see  ?  '  Thus 
God  leaves  nothing  untried  :  this  is  the  exercise 
of  His  long-suffering  and  patience. — "  When  we 
see  that  others  are  falling  into  misfortune,  trouble, 
adversity,  we  ought  to  reflect ;  This  is  a  sign  to 
me,  and  ought  to  apply  it  to  our  own  improvement, 
Luke  xiii.  2,  3  "  (Wortemb.  Bib.). — Ver.  6. 
"  What  fear  can  do !  For  it  no  door  was  high 
•Dough  or  broad  enough ;    in  their  flight  they 


ofttimes  squeeze  themselves  througli  the  most 
miserable  wietched  hole  "  (Stck.). — Ver.  6.  The 
earthly  mind  wUl  see  only  the  earth — nay,  such 
an  one  will  at  length  become  earth  ;  yet,  when 
the  eye  is  darkened,  and  the  gloom  of  death  covers 
everything,  he  will  no  longer  see  even  the  earth. 
—Ver.  7.  "Such  things  would  call  to  mind  the 
days  of  Noah  and  Lot "  ^CALV.). 

Ver.  8.  God's  grace  is  new  every  morning. 
They  who  seek  Him  early  find  Him  ;  and  those 
who  ask  after  Him  will  be  answered  by  Him. — 
Ver.  9.  There  is  something  precious  about  a  right 
question. — Ver.  10.  "  Princes  are  called  exalted, 
but  certainly  not  because  they  are  to  exalt  them- 
selves ;  for  He  that  is  enthroned  in  heaven  knows 
how  to  humble  princes  even"  (Stck.). — "Every 
ruler,  prince,  or  king,  however  little  he  may  have 
taken  up  upon  his  shoulders,  will  at  least  be  com- 
pelled to  bear  the  burden  of  his  sins  and  the 
wrath  of  Goii,  which  will  fall  heavily  enough  upon 
him,  provided  the  burden  of  his  duties  has  been 
sitting  easily  upon  him"  (Berl.  Bib.). — "God 
does  not  overlook  the  mighty  even  when  they  sin, 
but  makes  them  feel  His  heavy  hand  "  (Starke). 
— God's  judgment  on  a  laud  embraces  prince  and 
people  alike,  although  a  people  may  also  have 
God's  judgment  already  in  their  prince,  and  a 
prince  may  have  it  in  his  people. — Ver.  12.  "The 
ungodly  walk  about  with  a  bold  countenance, 
but  in  the  judgment  they  will  conceal  it  "  (Stck.). 
— Ver.  13.  First  the  net  of  pleasure  and  vanity, 
then  the  net  of  death  and  hell. — "He  that  lives 
wildly  is  hunted  and  taken  like  the  wild  beasts  " 
(Stck.). — God  a  fisher  and  hunter. — Ver.  14. 
"Of  what  avail  to  the  sinner  all  his  imagined 
succours  and  pretended  helpers?"  (Stck.) — We 
will  by  and  by  withdraw  our  confidence  from  all 
creatures. — The  Eternal  blew,  and  the  Armada 
was  scattered  to  all  the  winds  of  heaven. — "If 
God  is  oui-  enemy,  we  have  no  friend  in  heaven 
or  upon  earth"  (Stck.). — Ver.  15.  Alas  that  we 
should  become  wise  only  by  injury,  and  should 
come  to  know  God  only  from  experience  of  pun- 
ishment, instead  of  tasting  and  thus  seeing  how 
good  the  Lord  is  I  —  Ver.  16.  Thus  it  is  that 
God  receives  honour  because  of  His  righteousness, 
when  His  grace  is  despised. — "God  blesses  the 
chastisements  which  He  sends  forth  upon  His 
people  to  unbelievers  also  "  (Starke). 

Ver.  18.  "  Only  those  who  have  their  standing 
in  grace  can  eat  their  bread  without  fear  and 
carefulness"  (Starke). — It  is  not  in  vain  that 
Christ  has  taught  us  the  petition  ;  Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread. — "A  verse  which  we  may 
read  with  profit  in  the  midst  of  plenty  "  (Stck.). 
— Ver.  19.  "That  one  is  able  to  eat  and  drink 
in  rest  and  peace  is  a  great  benefit  from  God,  but 
one  that  is  not  known  by  the  thousandth  part  of 
men"  (Starke). — "Jerusalem  and  her  inhabit- 
ants are  eloquent  orators,  and  preach  with  unc- 
tion "  (Stck.). — Ver.  20.  "If  one  will  not  learn 
to  know  God  from  His  benefits,  then  he  must 
often  do  so  in  the  midst  of  punishment,  Dan.  iv. 
30,  31  "  (Starke). — Thus  the  wilderness  wa» 
Israel's  school,  and  became  Israel's  judgment. 


138 


EZEKIEL. 


3.  The  Near  Execution  of  the  Punishment  (Ch.  xii.  21— xxiv.  27). 
1.  The  Repeated  Preliminary  Announcement  (ch.  xii.  21-28). 

21,  22       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  what  [me»neth] 
this  proverb  of  yours  upon  the  land  of  Israel,  saying,   The  days  are  pro- 

23  longed ;  and  every  vision  comes  to  nought  1  Say  unto  them  therefore.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  I  will  make  this  proverb  to  cease,  and  they  shall  no 
more  use  it  as  a  proverb  in  Israel :  but  speak  unto  them,  The  days  are  at 

24  hand,  and  the  word  of  every  vision.     For  there  shall  be  no  more  any  vision 
2.5  of  deceit  nor  flattering  divination  in  the  midst  of  the  house  of  Israel.     For 

I,  Jehovah,  will  speak  whatever  word  I  will  speak,  and  it  will  [shaii]  come  to 
pass ;  it  shall  be  no  more  prolonged,  for  [but]  in  your  days,  0  house  of  rebel- 
liousness, I  will  speak  a  word,  and  perform  it :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 
26,  27  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying.  Son  of  man,  behold  the 
house  of  Israel,  who  say,  The  vision  that  he  seeth  is  for  many  days,  and  he 
28  prophesieth  for  [of]  times  afar  off.  Therefore  say  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah  :  There  shall  none  of  my  words  be  prolonged  any  more ;  the 
word  wliich  I  shall  speak  shall  be  done  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 


Ver.  24.  Sept.  t  ,  ,  ,  xai  /zxr-nvifurtf  ra  rp6i  x^P*^- — (Another  read, 
^  *33.  all  the  versions.) 


hn 


DDpOV  and  divination  shall  cease. 


EXEOETICAL  REMARKS. 

Aiinonncement  of  the  end  as  one  that  is  near, 
and  that  repeated  (ver.  26  sq. ).  For  after  the 
wind-up,  as  it  were,  which  precedes,  with  the 
miserj'  coming  upon  land  and  people,  there  re- 
mained only  the  announcement  of  the  same,  pre- 
liminary to  its  near  occurrence.  Hitherto  it  has 
been  a  going  back  upon  ch.  vi.,  now  we  have  a 
return  to  what  was  said  in  ch.  vii. 

Ver.  22.  Derived  as  it  is  from  a  verb  meaning  : 
to  go  before,  to  lead,  to  preside, — to  represent  some- 
thing, to  signify,— to  pronounce  a  sentence,  etc., 

JC'O  is  equivalent  to  "maxim,"  the  form  being 

always  that  of  similitude,  proverb,  derisive  verse 
(Isa.  xiv.  4).  Here  also  not  ivithout  the  derisive 
element.  The  common  saying,  in  which  the 
current  sentiment  among  those  still  dwelling  in 
the  land  of  Israel  (ver.  19)  had  found  for  itself 
suitable  expression  (beati  possidentes),  derided  the 
Eternal  in  His  prophets  by  means  of  the  comfort 
of  the  time,  that  the  time  is  passing  away,  and 
what  was  alleged  to  be  seen  in  vision  is  passing 
away  with  it ;  as  nothing  is  coming  out  of  it,  so 
neither  shall  there  be  anything  in  it.  The  days 
that  are  being  prolonged  may  refer  to  Jeremiah's 
long  ago  uttered  prediction  of  ruin  ;  comp.  too  on 
ch.  xi.   3. — D37  combines  the  prophet  with  the 

mockers,  as  being  his  people.  On  such  fellow- 
ship of  the  servants  of  God  with  their  people  is 
based  at  last  in  a  pre-emLuent  sense  the  relation  of 
the  incarnate  Son  of  God  to  the  human  race  (Ex. 
xvi.  28).— Ver.  23.  'nae^ri,  prophetic  preterite  : 

"to  bring  to  rest  ;'  after  the  trouble  they  give 
themselves,  their  inventive  labours,  comes  the 
Sabbath  of  Jehovah  (Gen.  ii.  1  sq.). — Are  at  hand 
(ch.  ix.  1,  xi.  3),  in  contrast  with  the  preceding  : 

"are  prolonged."— |^fn  h'Z  ini,  the  verbal  con- 
tents of  every  viision  of  His  prophets, — the  word, 
and  the  thing  meant '  y  the  word.     Keil  rightly : 


the  days  in  which  every  predicted  word  shall  be 
realized.  (Hengst  :  "as  against  a  merely  par- 
tial fulfilment,  as  if  the  prophets  had  exaggerated 
somewhat,"  etc.) — Ver.  24.  As  there  is  also  a 
false  (2  Pet.  ii.  1)  prophecy  (NIB'), — mere  divina- 
tion (DDpO),  which  deceives  in  the  way  of  flat- 
tery with  its  smoothness, — the  divinely  inspired 
prophecy  is  distinguished  first  of  all  from  it,  as 
the  following  contrast  shows,  and  as  will,  of  course, 
be  shown  still  more  in  ch.  xiii.  There  shall  bt> 
no  more,  etc.,  is  parallel  with  :  "and  they  shall 
no  more  use  it  as  a  proverb  in  Israel "  (ver.  23) : 
that  mocking  proverb  had  taken  shape  with  the 
help  of  the  false  prophecy  in  Israel.  Hence  in 
Ver.  25  a  co-ordinate  or  resumed  '3.  The  dis- 
junctive accent  (reJii)  over  nin*  makes  "  I  Je- 
hovah "  a  sentence  by  itself,  so  that  the  Author 
of  tnie  prophecy  sets  Himself  face  to  face  with 
the  false.  In  like  manner,  pashta  at  the  end  of 
131X  acts  as  a  disjunctive,  while  the  conjunctive 

lelisha-kethannah  with  'nx  connects  what  fol- 
lows. Jehovah  reserves  for  Himself  uncontrolled 
power  to  speak,  and  almighty  power  to  make  it 
good.  And  with  this  is  joined  the  statement 
that  there  will  be  no  farther  delay,  no  longer 
postponement  (with  reference  to  that  proverb)  : 
in  your  days  (Matt.  xvi.  28,  xxiv.  34),  there- 
fore with  a  subjective,  personal  application.  Such 
a  fulfilment  of  the  divine  prediction  will  at  the 
same  time  be  the  end  of  the  false  divination, 
which  by  this  very  means  is  covered  with  dis- 
grace. In  some  sense  also  the  I  Jehovah,  as 
being  Mtusianic,  is  contrasted  with  preceding  pn  • 
phecy  in  general.  Comp.  besides  on  ver.  2,  ch. 
xi.  8. 

In  Ver.  27  there  follows  the  more  objective 
application,  referring  to  the  matter  itself.  The 
statement  that  if  there  is  a  prophecy  at  all  that 
will  yet  be  fulfilled,  it  at  all  events  refers  to  tima 


CHAP.  XII. 


139 


that  are  far  off  (Dan.  riii.  26,  17),  is  rejected  by 
tlie  Lord  as  reg-.irds  Ezekiel.  Before  it  was  a  mock- 
ery of  Jehovah,  here  We  have  a  mockery  of  His 
prophet  rather  iu  the  words  quoted. — Ver.  28. 
See  as  to  the  feminine  TTK'Qf)  here,  as  in  ver.  25, 

Ew.iLD,  Gram.  §  295a. 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  The  significance  of  prophecy  and  its  fulfil- 
ment for  the  divine  credibility  of  the  prophetic 
testimonies,  and  thus  of  Holy  Scripture  generally, 
lias  been  understood  by  Apologetics  from  the 
beginning.  See  Keith's  Evidence  of  the  Truth  of 
the  Chrietian  Ri-ligion  derived  from,  the  Literal 
Fulfilment  of  Prophecy.  Besides,  already  in 
Deut.  xviii.  21,  22,  the  fulfilment  of  what  has 
been  predicted  is  put  as  a  characteristic  mark  of 
genuine  prophecy. 

2.  If  the  absolute  and  almighty  power  which 
God  attributes  to  Himself  in  the  section  before  us, 
as  contrasted  with  false  divination,  is  our  creed, 
then  the  word  of  prophecy  ranks  with  the  word 
of  creation,  and  what  serves  as  an  argument  for 
the  divine  sovereignty  in  the  latter  connection  is 
not  less  an  argument  iu  the  former.  By  the 
word  of  the  Eternal  were  the  heavens  made,  and 
all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath  of  His  mouth 
(Ps.  xxxiii.  6).  The  living  God  is  also  the  law 
ol  prophecy  as  regards  its  fulfilment. 

3.  What  is  accepted  as  true  of  the  divine 
power  in  Creation  comes  to  be  applied  for  the 
fulfilment  of  prophecy  still  more  by  faith  in 
Divine  Providence,  the  co-operation  and  govern- 
ment of  God.  The  Eternal  {"Jehovah,"  ver. 
25 1  is  not  nierely  the  God  of  the  beginning  and 
the  end,  of  the  origin  and  the  goal,  but  also  He 
who  is  co-existent  with  the  life  of  the  world  and 
specially  of  mankind.  It  is  the  divine  element 
in  and  mixed  up  with  the  history  of  the  world 
with  which  prophecy  has  to  do.  But  this  is  not 
nierely  the  eternal  idea,  which  is  continually 
realizing  itself  anew,  so  that  what  refers  to  time 
and  place  would  in  comparison  with  it  have  to 
l)e  regarded  as  the  mere  form  of  representation, 
but  this  divine  element  is  alike  the  real  which  is 
predicted,  and  the  necessary  which  is  prophesied. 
As  respects  the  divine  decree,  which  because  of 
sin  has  developed  itself  from  the  world-plan  of 
the  Creator  into  the  counsel  of  salvation  in 
Christ  for  the  world,  things  small  and  great  may 
be  distinguished  ;  but  because  both  are  serviceable 
in  carr\nng  out  the  decree  of  God,  both  alike  are 
divine,  and  therefore  suitable  for  prophecy. 

4.  It  is  of  importance,  however,  as  respects 
the  delay,  as  respects  the  postponement,  e.ij.  of 
the  realization  of  the  prophecies  of  judgment, 
that  there  is  a  correspondence  between  the  pro- 
longing of  the  days  and  the  divine  long-sulfer- 
ing  and  forbearance  (2  Pet.  iii.  9),  as  in  the  case 
before  us  in  Ezekiel.  The  prophecy  of  judgment 
is  besides  a  preaching  of  repentance,  so  that  if  it 
produces  the  repentance  which  it  preaches,  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  may  be  hindered. 
But  even  apart  from  such  conditionality  lying  in 
the  thing  itself,  other  circumstances,  always,  how- 
ever, willed  by  God,  may  give  to  a  prophecy  the 
character  of  perspective  foreshortening. 

5.  "  Prophecy  was  an  act  of  faith  ;  it  likewise 
demanded  faith.  And  as  what  true  prophecy 
iiisisted  on  above  all  was  conversion  of  heart,  it 


resisted  the  sinful  consciousness  and  life  of  unbe- 
lief, and  was  resisted  by  it  (Amos  vi.  3).  It  is  the 
nature  of  sin  to  reckon  itself  to  be  no  sin,  and 
hence  as  far  as  possible  to  break  up  the  connec- 
tion and  separate  between  sin  and  punishment  " 
(Hav.). 

additional  note. 

["We  cannot  but  think  with  wonder,  when 
we  look  back  upon  the  times  of  these  Old  Testa- 
ment prophets,  of  the  obstinate  incredulity  and 
measureless  content  in  which  so   many  of   the 
people  seem  to  have  shut  themselves  up,  alike  in 
defiance  of  the   most   solemn  warnings   of  God, 
and  in  apite  of  several  lowering  appearances  in 
Providence,    which  seemed  to  give   no  doubtful 
indications    of  a  coming  storm.   .   .  .   But  it  is 
well  for  us  to  bear  in  mind,  that  the  spirit  of 
unbelief  and  false  securitj',   which  prevailed  so 
extensively  then,  is  ever  springing  forth  anew, 
and   is   plainly   announced    in   New   Testament 
Scripture  as   destined  to   form  a  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  the  last  times.     It  was  a  signifi- 
cant question  of  our  Lord,  and  evidently  pointed 
to  the  great  defect  in  this  respect  that  should 
discover  itself  before   the   consummation   of  all 
things,  '  When  the  Son  of  man  comes,  shall  He  find 
faith  in  the  earth  ? '     Such  faith,  namely,  as  He 
had  been  speaking  of, — faith  realizing  in  iinn  con- 
fidence the  certainty  of  the  Lord's  manifestation 
to  put  a  final  end  to  the  erils  that  afflict  Hia 
Church,  and  in  this  confidence  waiting,  hoping, 
praying  to  the  last.     The  apostle  Peter  also  stSl 
more  distinctly  intimates  iu  his  second  epistle 
what  might  be  looked  for :    '  There   shall  come 
in  the  last  days,  scoffers,  walking  after  their  own 
lusts,  and  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of  His 
coming?      For  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all 
things  continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning 
of  the   world.'      It   will   readily   be   understood 
that  the  danger  from  this  source  to  this  faith  of 
God's  elect  will  always  be  the  greater,  the  more 
the  time  is  lengthened  out  that  is  to  intervene 
between  the  first  and  second  coming  of  the  Lord. 
For  time,  which  is  justly  said  to  try  all  things, 
in  this  respect  also  tries  faith,   that  it  silently 
impairs  in  men's  minds  the  foundation  on  which 
faith  rests — the  word  of  God.     In  common  with 
other  things  of  meaner  value,  this,  too,  seems  to 
wax  old  as  time   proceeds,   and  to  become,  the 
longer  it  is  in  use,  the  less  in  power  and  value. 
Even  already  it  is  looked  upon  oy  many  as  com- 
paratively antiquated,  out  of  date  ;  the  facts  of 
which  it  testifies  are  but  faintly  descried  in  the 
distant  past ;    centuries  have   rolled  away  since 
they  took  place  and  were  put  on  record ;  and  the 
record  itself  has  been  so  long  in  existence,   so 
freqiiently  handled,  and  so  fuUy  discussed,  that, 
with  those  to  whom  nothing  is  interesting  but 
what  possesses  the  freshness  of  novelty,  the  sacred 
volume,  so  far  from  being  able   to  nourish  and 
support  a  living  faith,  has  itself  become  stale  and 
dead. 

"  Thus  it  is  that  natural  men  judge  of  God's 
word,  as  if,  like  their  own  productions,  it  were 
subject  to  wasting  and  decay.  They  know  not 
that  this  word  of  God,  being  the  expression  of 
His  own  eternal  nature,  has  in  it  wVat  lives  and 
abides  for  ever, — what  is  as  new  and  fresh  to  the 
heart  of  faith  still,  as  the  very  moment  when, 
ages  ago,  it  proceeded  from  the  Ups  of  those  wh« 


HO 


EZEKIEL. 


?ake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
hen,  along  with  a  prevailing  ignorance  or  for- 
getfulness  of  this  great  tnith,  there  is  the  fasci- 
nating influence  which  is  apt  to  be  wielded  over 
men's  minds  by  the  onward  movements  of  society 
in  knowledge  and  civilisation.  Here  they  find 
an  attractive  contrast  to  the  stationary  character 
of  the  ground  and  objects  of  faith.  For  every- 
thing in  this  lower  field  seems  constantly  in  pro- 
fress,  and  big  with  hope  for  the  future.  It  is 
eemed  incredible,  that  while  such  vital  powers 
are  at  work,  and  such  a  career  of  advancement  is 
in  prospect,  God  should  lay  a  sudden  arrest  on 
the  vast  machinery,  and  wind  up  the  aft'airs  of 
the  world  by  bringing  in  the  fixed  and  final  issues 
of  eternity.  Nay,  the  belief  of  a  personal  God, 
separate  from  the  workmanship  of  his  own  hands, 
and  capable  of  suddenly  introducing  a  state  of 
things  altogether  new,  is,  in  many  quarters,  fast 
giving  way.  In  a  new  and  peculiarly  subtle  form, 
the  old  carnal  and  idolatrous  tendencies  are  reviv- 
ing, impiously  comminglingthe  divine  and  human, 
identifying  the  creature  with  the  Creator.  And, 
judging  from  present  appearances,  there  is  too 
much  reason  to  conclude  that,  precisely  as  before 
Christ  came  to  execute  judgment  upon  .Jerusalem, 
a  rage  for  worldly  saviours  was  one  of  the  reign- 
ing delusions  of  the  time,  so,  as  the  period  draw's 
on  for  His  coming  to  execute  judgment  upon  the 
world,  a  like  rage  wiU  prevail  for  a  worldly  gospel, 
— one  that  will  seek  to  confound  heaven  and  earth, 
God  and  man,  and,  in  a  manner,  possibly  even 
more  daring  and  presumptuous  than  in  the 
Papacy,  will  dispose  man  to  '  exalt  himself  in 
the  temple  of  God,  and  show  himself  that  he  is 
God.'  What  need,  then,  for  those  who  would 
escape  the  condemnation  of  the  wicked,  to  look 
well  to  the  foundation  of  their  faith,  and  to  see 
that  this  stands  not  in  the  \visdora  of  man,  but 
in  the  word  of  God  !  How  careful  should  each 
be  to  dwell  beside  the  fountain  of  Israel !  For 
times  of  trial  manifestly  are  coming,  in  which 


they  only  who  are  taught  of  God,  and  kept  by 
the  power  of  His  Spirit,  can  expect  to  resist  the 
swelling  tide  of  delusion,  and  maintain  even  the 
appearance  of  godliness." — Fairbairn's  £zekiel; 
pp.  124-126.— W.  r.] 


HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  22.  "  God  spares  the  ungodly,  and  thereby 
invites  them  to  repentance.  But  what  is  it  they 
do  ?  They  scoff  at  the  servants  of  God,  and 
reckon  their  words  to  be  idle  tales "  (Heim- 
HoFF.). — "Thus  they  despised  the  riches  of 
divine  goodness  and  forbearance  and  long-suffer- 
ing, and  instead  of  allowing  themselves  to  be 
led  thereby  to  repentance,  after  their  hardness 
and  impenitent  heart  they  treasured  up  unto 
themselves  wrath,  etc.,  Rom.  ii.  4,  5  :  2  Vet.  iii. 
4  "  (Cocc). — Ver.  23.  The  Sabbath  which  awaita 
the  proverbs  of  the  world,  when  every  tongue 
which  has  not  suffered  itself  to  be  hallowed  to 
the  Lord  shall  be  haUowed  to  the  Lord  by  the 
judgment  of  condemnation.  To  be  compelled  to 
confess  that  Jesus  is  Lord  is  indeed  a  terrible 
Sabbath,  if  one  has  not  otherwise  hallowed  Him. 
— The  lying  mouths  which  God's  word  cannot 
stop  are  removed  by  God's  deeds. — Ver.  24. 
"Prophecy  and  roughness,  these  go  hand  in 
hand  among  a  sinful  people"  (Hekgst.). — "If 
Jesus,  who  came  after  the  Babylonian  captivity, 
had  been  a  false  prophet,  or  His  disciples,  as  the 
Jews  assert,  then  must  the  promise  of  this  verse 
have  been  false"  (Cocc). — "And  so  also  shall 
all  flattering  representations  of  a  flourishing  state 
of  tlie  Church,  which  have  spnmg  from  reason  and 
fleshly  learning,  come  to  an  end"  (Berl.  Bib.). 
— Vers.  27,  28:  "WTiat  God  says  we  are  not  to 
separate  from  its  fulfilment,  because  God  who 
speaks  is  not  in  Himself  divided ;  when  He  opens 
His  mouth,  He  stretches  out  His  hand  at  the 
same  time  to  the  work,  so  that  the  hand  itself  is 
in  a  manner  included  in  the  word  "  (Calv.  ). 


2.   The  Discourses  against  the  False  Prophets  and  Prophetesses  (ch.  xiii.). 

1,  2       And  the  word  of  Jehovah   came  unto  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  prophesy 
unto  the  prophets  of  Israel  that  prophesy,  and  say  unto  the  prophets  out  of 

3  their  own  heart,  Hear  ye  the  word  of  Jehovah  :  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  : 
Woe  unto  the  foolish  prophets,  who  walk  after  their  own  spirit,  and  that  they 

4  have  not  seen !     Like  foxes  in  the  ruins  have  thy  prophets  become,  O  Israel. 
6  Ye  have  not  gone  up  into  the  gaps  [breaches],  nor  built  a  wall  round  the  house  of 

6  Israel,  to  make  a  stand  in  the  war  in  the  day  of  Jehovah.  They  beheld  deceit 
and  lying  divination  who  say,  Sentence  of  Jehovah, — and  Jehovah  sent  them 

7  not, — and  expect  confirmation  of  a  word.  Saw  ye  not  a  deceitful  vision,  and 
spake  ye  not  a  lying  divination,  and  [that  while]  saying.  Sentence  of  Jehovah,  and 

8  I  have  not  spoken  1  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Because  ye  speak 
deceit,  and  see  a  lie,  therefore,  behold,  I  am  upon  you  :  sentence  of  the  Lord 

9  Jehovah.  And  ]\Iine  hand  is  [comes]  upon  the  prophets  that  see  deceit,  and  that 
divine  a  lie  :  in  the  assembly  of  My  people  shall  they  not  be,  and  in  the  register 
of  the  house  of  Israel  they  shall  not  be  registered,  and  into  the  land  of  Israel 

10  shall  they  not  come  ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Because,  even 
because  they  seduced  My  people,  saying,  Peace  [salvation],  and  there  is  no  peace ; 
and  they  [i.e.  the  people]  build  a  wall,  and,  lo,  they  [•■.<■.  the  false  prophets]  daub  it  with 

11a  coating.  Say  unto  them  which  daub  with  a  coating  :  And  it  shall  fall :  there 
comes  a  pouring  rain  ;  and  ye,  0  hailstones,  sliall  fall,  and  stormy  wind  shall 

12  [tiioo,  0  Btonny  wind,  uhait]  break  forth.     And,  lo,  the  wall  falls ;  shall  not  one  say  unt« 


CHAP.  XIII.  1-2. 


141 


13  you,  Where  is  the  daubing  wherewith  ye  daubed?  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah  :  Aud  I  cause  stormy  wind  to  break  forth  in  My  fury,  and  pour- 
ing rain  shall  fall  in  Mine  anger,  and  hailstones  in  My  fury,  unto  utter  destruc- 

H  tion.  And  I  break  down  the  wall  that  ye  daubed  with  a  coating,  and  cast  it  to 
the  ground,  and  its  foundation  is  uncovered,  and  it  [Jerusalem]  falls,  and  ye  perish 

15  in  its  [Jerusalem's]  niidst ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  I  accomplish 
My  wrath  upon  the  wall,  and  upon  them  that  daubed  it  with  a  coating,  and  I  will 

16  say  unto  you,  The  wall  is  not,  neither  are  they  that  daubed  it;  The  prophets 
of  Israel  who  prophesied  upon  Jerusalem,  and  who  saw  for  it  a  vision  of  peace, 

17  and  there  is  no  peace ;  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  thou,  son  of  man, 
set  thy  face  toward  the  daughters  of  thy  people,  who  prophesy  out  of  their  own 

18  heart;  and  prophesy  thou  concerning  them.  And  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah  :  Woe  to  those  who  sew  together  for  themselves  coverings  upon  all  joints 
of  My  hands,  and  who  make  the  veils  upon  the  head  of  every  stature  to  hunt 
[catch]  souls !     Ye  will  hunt  the  souls  among  My  people,  and  ye  will  save  souls 

19  alive  among  you  !  And  ye  will  profane  Me  in  face  of  My  people  for  handfuls  of 
barley  and  for  bits  of  bread,  to  slay  souls  that  should  not  die,  and  to  save  souls 

20  alive  that  should  not  live,  by  your  lying  to  My  people  that  hear  lies  !  There- 
fore thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Behold,  I  am  against  your  coverings,  where- 
with ye  there  [where  je hunt]  hunt  the  souls  when  flying,  and  I  tear  them  out  of 

21  your  arms,  and  let  the  souls  go  that  ye  hunt, — souls  in  their  flying.  And  I  tear 
in  pieces  your  veils,  and  deliver  My  people,  and  they  shall  be  no  more  in  your 

22  hand  as  prey ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  Because  of  troubling  the 
heart  of  the  righteous  falsely,  and  [when]  I  did  not  make  him  sad,  and  that  ye 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  wicked,  that  he  should  not  return  from  liis  wicked  way, 

23  to  remain  alive  :  Therefore  ye  shall  no  more  see  deceit,  nor  divine  divinations  ; 
and  I  deliver  My  people  out  of  your  hand ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 

Ver.    3.  Sept.:  .  ,  .  Tpofr,THjnjriv  irr9  x^piixs  aurtn,  T.  wopivof^votf  xre  r.  mtviJUcTOi  xur- — 

Ver.  6.  .  .  .  x.  ev<ir,yxyoii  iroifjcviec,  e.  (T<  T.  e'lxat  t.  'Iff/),  oix  aiil0^i;ra(i'  at  ^tyevrls  ir  ijfupot  xuptou, —  Vulg. :  JVbn  («- 
ttndutia  ex  adeerso  negue  opposuistis  murum  pri)  domo — 

Ver.    6.  .  ,  .  ».  nplttvTo  Tou  i.*etrTr,ffaLt  K<iyt9,    Vulg. ;  et  perteveraverunt  confirmare  ttrrMntm, 

Ver.     9.    ...    IV  TetliuoL  T.  kttOU  ptCV  6UK 

Ver.  10.  Vu]|;.:  .  .  .  liniehanc  eum  luto  absque  pateis. 

Ver  11.  Sept.:  ...  a:,  iaiffat  XtSovs  irizpelio^tvi  ti{  T.  ititfffuve  nlraiy^  «.  Tfrouvrtel,  «.  mtvixa.  i^aeipon,  x.  pxyr.ff^rau. 

Ver.  14.  ...  M  fj^ifiixTt,  X.  vtfftiTxf  . . .  X.  ffvvTi>.i<r6y!rtffBt  puT  (Ai>;(wy, —  Vulg. :  . . ,  lintstts  absque  teinperatnemto 
.  .     tt  cadet  tt  consumetuf  in  medio  ywi~~ 

Ver.  15.  .  .  .  X.  TlffUTxt,  X.  t'lTX  rpof  ijuai — 

Ver.  18  .  .  .  ixi  9XV7X  ayicanx  x^'P°!  .  .  .  K.  xi  *^vxxi  iilffrpx^ffxt  r.  Xxev  fuv^  x.  ^u^xi  npitxuttviTe^  Volg. , 
.  ,  .  Et  cum  caperent  animoi  .  .  .  vivijicabant  animas  eorum, 

Ver.  19.  Another  read. :  2T3   ^^n — V^\l^,  audiettti  mendacium. 

Ver.  20.  .  ,  .  t.  "^uxxs  xIt'  Ct  hixffxcprtirfjjjv,  Vulg.:  anijnas  ad  votandum;  (Sept.,  Syr.,  Hexapl.,  the  Targnm 
read:   DC'BJ.) 

Ver.  21.  .  .  .  it  x^P"'  ^f^-  ^i  ffvffrpt^nf-  Vulg.:  .  .  .  ad  prtedandum;  (Other  readings:  D^^*D,  □^^*^ — TVtl} 
eril.-DDjn'l.) 

Ver.  22.  .  .  .  r0  xxSa\ou  pui  xxcrrpf^xi— 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Now  that  the  text  has  been  given  in  ch.  xii. 
24,  there  follows  in  two  parts  (vers.  1-16,  and 
17-23) — in  each  case  first  the  characteristics  with 
which  they  are  reproached  (vers.  1-7,  vers.  17-19), 
and  then  the  penal  sentence  (vers.  8-16,  vers.  20-23) 
— the  sermon  upon  the  text,  a  detailed  treatment 
of  the  theme,  viz.  false  prophecy  in  Israel,  as  the 
same  was  in  vogue  both  at  home  and  in  the  exile 
(comp.  Jer.  xxi.x.),  and  cannot  be  overlooked  as 
an  element  in  the  interchange  of  false  hopes  and 
expectations  in  either  case,  and  of  mutual  inter- 
course (Introd.  p.  9).  While  the  second  part  is 
usually  understood  of  false  prophetesses,  Hengst. 
makes  the  false  prophets  the  subject  here  also, 
merely  "on  account  of  their  feeble  nature,  like 
R^omen  "  H).     He  brings  forward  as  an  argument 


for  this  Oriental  and  poetic  exegesis  the  "design- 
edly interspersed  masculine  pronouns  (vers.  19, 
20),"  whereby  the  prophet  "all  but  expressly 
says  that  he  has  to  do  with  women  in  men's 
clothes  ; "  and  farther,  that  in  the  whole  of  the 
Old  Testament  "a  false  prophetess  is  nowhere 
mentioned,"  "so  that  so  serious  a  punish- 
ment as  we  have  here  would  have  been  out  of 
place."  Comp.  as  against  both  statements,  tlie 
exposition  of  the  section  in  question  below. 
Neteler  sees  in  the  prophetesses  "  striking  repre- 
sentatives of  the  synagogues, "  with  their  interpre- 
tations, sayings,  commentaries. 

Ver.  2.  ^x  indicates  the  destination  of  the  pro- 
phetic discourse  which  follows,  which,  aa  regards 
Its  tendency  and  contents,  is  directed  agairwt  the 
prophets  of  Israel.     Who  are  meant,    D'KjUn 


i42 


EZEKIEL. 


teUs  us,  viz.  tho«e  who  propliesy — who,  from  the 
fact  of  their  prophesying,  and  consequently  being 
in  authority,  are  (alas !)  the  prophets  of  Israel. 
"  Jeremiah  in  Jerusalem,  and  Ezekiel  among  the 
exiles,  stood  as  oddities  there,  and  had  the  govern- 
ment and  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  of  the  people 
absolutely  agaiuit  them"  (Hengst.  ).  A  more  exact 
definition  follows  as  regards  the  source  whence 
their  prophecy  flows  or  is  drawn  ;  out  of  their 
own  heart ;  and  thus  out  of  what  is  their  own 
(Neb.  vi.  8),  in  contrast  with  the  true  prophet,  who 
utters  God's  word  from  God.  And  in  this  way 
their  pretended  office,  their  dignity  in  Israel,  is 
already  gone,  and  an  ironical  light  falls  upon  the 
title,  prophets  of  Israel.  It  fits  into  the  contrast 
indicated  with  the  true  prophet,  that  they  are  to 
hear  the  word  of  Jehovah. — Ver.  3.  Woe,  already 
announcing  the  due  punishment  inevitably  await- 
ing them,  an  exclamation  of  grief  ;  telling  at  the 
same  time  with  mingled  pain  and  anger  (as  in  Isa. 
i.  4;  Matt,  xxiii.  13  sq.)  what  ought  not  to  be, 
but  is  the  case  with  prophets  of  what  is  their  own. 

Dv33n>  a  paroreojTMwia  with  Q> x'ajri-    Why  they 

are  called  fools  is  clear  from  Ps.  xiv.  1,  liii.  1. 
To  exhibit  themselves  as  prophets,  and  not  to  be 
so  from  God,  was  a  practical  denial  of  God, 
especially  of  His  avenging  justice  ;  was  ungod- 
liness, and  at  the  same  time  stupidity  in  the 
highest  degree.  Where  wisdom  is  wanting  in 
this  way,  and  where  God  is  not  the  source,  man 
"walks  after  his  own  spirit."  The  "heart" 
with  its  lusts  is  the  source,  the  spirit  the  guide, 
i.e.  instead  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  thoughts, 
which  take  shape  as  they  come  out  of  the  heart, 
make  themselves  master  of  the  man  ;  the  man 
goes  after  his  imaginations,  fancies,  himself  at 
last  believing  in  them.  According  to  Havern., 
therefore,  the  two  necessary  conditions  are  want- 
ing, the  right  starting-point  and  goal.  Tlp^i"! 
^K^,  usually  taken  as  a  relative   clause  :    "  and 

after  that  which  they  have  not  seen  "  (?).  For  the 
woe,  at  all  events,  a  positive  as  well  as  nega- 
tive reason  is  given.  Comp.  Doct.  Reflect, 
p.  54. 

They  are  compared  to  the  foxes  in  Ver.  4,  as 
destroyers  in  a  general  sense,  because  the  foxes 
are  hurtful  creatures  ;  and  there  is  no  need  for  us 
to  think  specially  of  the  undermining  of  the 
ground,  hence  of  the  "  sapping  of  the  moral 
foundations  of  the  state"  (Keil),  or  of  depastur- 
ing the  vineyard  (of  Israel,  Isa.  v.;  Jer.  xii.  10), 
Cant.  ii.  15  (Rosenm.),  or  of  injuring  the  game 
(Hengst.)  ;  and,  least  of  all,  have  we  to  think  of 
what  is  proverbial  with  us,  the  cunning  of  the 
fox.  Comp.  besides,  Luke  xiii.  31,  32  ;  Matt. 
vii.  15  ;  Acts  xx.  29.  The  ruins,  on  the  one 
hand,  indicate  the  favourite  haunt  of  foxes  and 
similar  animals,  and  on  the  other,  point  to  the 
ruin  of  Israel.  [Klief.  :  "The  ruins  of  the 
theocracy  are  undermined  by  the  false  prophets 
besides,  inasmuch  as  they  take  up  their  abode  in 
them."  Hengst.:  "At  no  time  were  the  false 
prophets  rifer  than  in  the  last  days  of  the  Jewish 
state."  KiMCHi ;  "  Thy  prophets,"  which  are  not 
Jehovah's.] — Their  conviction,  however,  in  the 
form  of  an  energetic  address  in  reference  to  Israel's 
welfare,  turns  in  Ver.  5  not  so  much  on  what  they 
have  done,  as  on  what  they  have  neglected  to  do 
u  regards  the  "  ruins."    As  prophets,  as  men  of 


God,  they  had  to  place  themselves  in  the  gjp,  or 
to  build  a  wall,  etc.  Both  images  are  chosen  with 
reference  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  (According 
to  Havernick,  the  thing  meant  is  the  watching  ol 
the  vineyard  against  thieves  and  vrild  beasts!) 
To  make  a  stand  in  the  war  has  reference  both 
to  what  is  required  of  the  person  and  to  what  the 
state  of  affairs  requires.  The  day  of  Jehovah  is 
the  time  fixed  by  Him  with  reference  to  the 
reckoning  to  be  given  in  to  Him.  Although  the 
case  is  only  as  yet  impending,  yet  it  is  spoken  ol 
as  if  it  were  an  accomplished  fact.  It  cannot 
happen  other\vise  with  them,  considering  what 
they  are  (ver.  5),  and  how  they  are  acting  (ver.  6) 
[EWALD  ;  "  But  what  foUows  from  such  internal 
perversity  has  already  taken  place  long  before, 
while  they,  when  wrath  breaks  forth  as  in  the 
divine  assault,  and  the  helpless  people  are  pant- 
ing all  the  more  after  prophetic  help,  withdraw 
from  cowardice,  speaking  flatteringly  where  it 
causes  them  no  danger,"  etc.]  Comp.  ch.  xxii.  30 
(Ps.  cvi.  23  ;  Isa.  Iviii.  12 ;  1  Sam.  xxv.  16) ; 
Amos  V.  18,  20;  Mai.  iii.  23  [iv.  5].  For  the 
meaning  of  the  figurative  language  in  ver.  5,  we 
must  think  with  the  older  expositors  of  interces- 
sory mediation,  of  the  awakening  of  Israel  to 
repentance,  the  putting  a  stop  to  their  wicked- 
ness, the  building  of  them  up  in  newness  of  spirit, 
etc.  In  the  day,  etc.,  and  in  the  war,  throw  light 
on  each  other,  so  that  he  who  wages  war  against 
Israel  is  Jehovah  in  the  day  of  His  wrath  (ch.  vii. 
19  ;  Isa.  Ixiii.  10  ;  Job  xxxviii.  22,  23).  The 
"  breach"  is  the  sinful  condition  of  the  people. 
(HiTZ.,  Hengst.)    [Hav.,  like  Cocc,  understands 

IbVP  of  the  house  of  Israel  (others :  of  the  wall). 

The  day  of  the  Lord  means,  according  to  Cocc, 
the  day  of  Christ's  appearing !]— Ver.  6.  Jer. 
xxiii.  XJTVX  according  to  others,  is  dependent 
on  oripB'  :  that  they  might  hope,  etc.  Inas- 
much as  they  believe  their  own  lie,  they  wait  (in 
vain)  for  its  becoming  true  by  being  realized,  that 
I  would  confirm  it.  Instead  of  this,  in  Ver.  7, 
just  as  in  ver.  5,  guilt  is  brought  home  in  a  direct 
address  on  God's  part.  Hengst.  :  a  question  of 
conscience. 

Ver.    8.    The   retributive   punishment,      ^jjn 

D3''7X  is  the  explanation  of  the  ^k  in  ver.   2. 

After  the  purpose  has  been  expressed  generally, 
there  follows  in  Ver.  9  a  carrying  out  of  it  in 
det-ail.      "nO,    abbreviated    from     lip*     (ID'), 

"a  taking  together,"  is:  an  assembly,  a  council, 
and  also  a  confidential  circle  ;  here  the  fonner. — 
2ri3,  the  roll  of  citizens,  and  that  the  new  one 

that  is  to  be  drawn  up. — The  exclusion  from  the 
people,  just  as  their  assembling,  taking  note  of 
their  condition,  and  afterwards  returning  home, 
— implying,  of  course,  an  advance, —refer  to  the 
(ch.  xi.  17  sq.)  promised  restoration.  Comp.  Ps. 
i.  6,  Ixxxvii.  6;  Ezra  ii.  62.  —  Yff^T^  (V,  iii  Ver. 

10,  formally  and  solemnly,  in  the  style  of  judg- 
ment (Lev.  xxvi.  43).  In  this  way  an  additional 
and  special  retribution  is  introduced;  the  un- 
authorized announcement  of  salvation  (Jer.  vi. 
14,  viii.  11;  Isa.  xlviii.  22),  which  is  expressively 
compared  to  the  daubing  of  a  wall,  beneath  whicfc 
the  slim  and  worthless  building  material,  as  wel 


CHAP.  XIII.  U-18. 


142 


IS  any  gaps  that  may  e.xist,  disappear  from  the  eye, 
is  to  be  punished  with  the  manifestation  in  actual 
fact  of  the  misleading  activity  of  the  false  pro- 
phets. And  they  build,  viz.  the  people,  not  the 
false  prophets.  Compared  with  ver.  5,  instead 
of  the  wall  which  the  prophets  were  to  build,  the 
people  left  to  themselves  in  their  self-help  are 
reduced  to  a  clay  wall  (f'n)  merely,  which  they 

erect  for  themselves  with  their  wishes  and  hopes. 
(Hengst.  :  the  political  effort  made  by  the  coali- 
tion, to  which  the  false  prophets  gave  the  appear- 
ance of  a  higher  sanction.)  The  daubing  which 
masks  the  unstable  handiwork  is  provided  by  those 
prophets  with  their  announcement  of  salvation. 

^Bn,  not  JVO,  as  in  rer.  12,  because  the  sense, 

the  meaning,  breaks  forth  from  the  figure. 
Ewald:  "ekewhere  what  is  absurd  intellectu- 
ally, what  is  inconsistent  with  itself ;  here  the 
mortar  that  does  not  hold  together,  clay  without 
straw,  or  dry  clay."  They  spread  their  dull, 
stupid  coating  of  words  of  salvation  over  it. 
Henqst.  :  absurdity  (Jer.  xxiii.  13;  Lam.  ii.  14). 
Comp.  also  Acts  xxiii.  3 ;  Matt,  xxiii.  27. — The 
fall  of  the  wall  in  Ver.  11  is  in  fact  the  special 

sentence  on  the  daubers,  pQ'  having  a  resem- 
blance in  sound  to  "Jsn.  —  iVH,  as  it  were  be- 

••   T  t  T 

ginning  a  narrative,  after  the  manner  of  a  parable 
(Ewald). — A  lively  address  (and  ye)  to  the 
powers  of  nature.  The  circumstance  that  the 
description  proceeds  in  this  physical  strain  is 
perhaps  intended  to  suggest  the  thought,  how 
much  as  a  matter  of  course  it  lies  in  the  very 
nature  of  such  a  wall  that  it  should  fall,  in  spite 
of  all   the   art   of  the   daubing   and   coating. — 

r'aj^K,  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  is  hail,  an  expan- 
sion of  tf'^33,  "something  stiffened"  (ice),  with 
K  prosthetic  and  dagesh  forte  following  B^'ajs 
=  E'^nji'Ki  *  Chaldee  form.  Ewald  ;  probably 
from  {{*'3J  7X,  "a  ™ist  of  haU,"  i.e.   thickest 

haU  frozen  together.  Gesenius  summons  to  his 
help  unnecessarily  the  Arabic  article  ;  Havemick 
regards  the  whole  word  as  Arabic,  as  the  crystal 
came  to  the  Hebrews  from  Arabia.  Comp.  Ex. 
ix.  18  ;  Josh.  x.  10  sq.  ;  Isa.  xxx.  30;  Ps.  xviii. 
13,  14  [12,  13];  Job  xxxviii.  22;  Matt.  vii.  25, 
27 ;  Rev.  xvi.  21.  Hail,  though  rare  in  Pales- 
tine, is  a  thing  well  known  in  its  devastating 
effects. — niiyO,  because  of  the  violent  rushings. 

jfpan  may  also  be  the  second  person,  but  can 

hardly  as  an  address  apply  to  God:  a  stormy 
wind  thou  shalt  rend  (!),  as  Hengstenberg. 
Expositors  have  also  thought  of  a  breaking 
through  the  wall.  [So  the  Eng.  Vers.:  "a 
stormy  wind  shall  rend  it"] — In  Ver.  12  now 
Ti5n,  which  it  ought  to  be,  the  wall,  instead  of 

|»<n  in  ver.  10.     The  daubing  was  meant  to  give 

it  the  appearance  of  a  solid  wall. — Ver.  13.  Ch. 
viii.  18,  xi.  13. — Ver.  14.  Breaking  down  to  the 
foundation,     naina,  the  feminine  /suffix  pointing 

from  the  figure  to  the  thing  itself,  the  city  to  be 


destroyed,  viz.  Jerusalert..  as  npBJ  already  dues.— 

Ver.  15.  The  discoui'se  plays  upon  the  n?3  ;  cd««j. 

vers.  13,  14.  There  is  a  bringing  to  an  end  icli. 
V.  13,  vi.  12,  vii.  8),  and  hence  an  application  in 
Ver.  16  to  the  false  prophets,  against  whom  lliii 
first  part  of  the  discourse  is  directed.  In  ver. 
15  we  need  not  read  with  Ewald  :   "lOSI,   "that 

it  is  said  of  you."  What  is  impending  will  be 
a  sermo  realis. — Ver.  16.  An  apposition  which 
brings  the  reference  to  the  false  prophets  to  an 
end. 

Ver.  17.  The  False  Prophetesses. — Peculiar  to 
Ezekiel,  and  so  much  the  more  interesting,  and 
none  the  less  accordant  with  the  actual  condition 
of  those  last  days  of  a  life  ever  more  and  mori; 
mixed  up  with  heathenisms.  The  prophetess 
Huldah  appears,  however,  in  2  Kings  xxii.  14, 
as  a  divinely  inspired  woman  on  the  side  of  the 
living  God.  In  caricature  of  her,  in  connection 
with  idolatries  like  ch.  viii.  14,  the  class  of  false 
prophetesses,  against  whom  Ezekiel  is  to  bear 
testimony,  may  have  been  formed.  Havemick 
mentions  the  old  Arabian  legendary  history. — 
Set  thy  face  toward,  etc.,  ch.  vi.  2. — ^aVt  **  '' 

were :  to  this  has  it  come  with  them !  Comp. 
on  ver.  2.  The  Hithpael  perhaps  more  sharply 
emphasizes  their  betaking  themselves  thereto, 
their  conducting  themselves  as  such,  their  female 

vanity,  py  indicates  therefore  the  correspond- 
ingly superior  prophetic  commission  of  Ezekiel, — 
Ver.  18.  Comp.  ver.  3.  Like  the  false  prophets, 
the  false  prophetesses  also  prophesy  out  of  their 
own  hearts,  but  quite  in  womanly  fashion  "sew- 
ing together  for  themselves  (Ew.  Gr.  §  V2(>h, 
with  bad  assiduity)  ktaathoth^  and  making  mis- 
pacholh."  (1)  The  literal  intei-pretation  of  these 
words:  Ewald  makes  both  things  be  placed  on 
the  body  of  these  divineresses  as  ornament,  so 
that  while  thus  employed  they  were  wont  to  look 
as  upon  a  magic  mirror  upon  the  "  knobs  "  which 
were  sewed  firmly  on  the  wrist  or  arm,  and  with 
their  mantles  hanging  over  their  heads  they 
imitated  the  mantles  of  the  prophets.  Far- 
fetched;  especially  "the  children's  heads,"  which 
Ewald  brings  forward  in  addition  to  the  sorceries. 
— According  to  Calvin,  a  kind  of  sleepy  condition 
was  aimed  at  in  this  way,  whereby  they  carried 
themselves  and  others  away  in  transport  from  the 
earth. — [Old  expositors  explained  the  expressions 
in  question  of  armlets  for  the  purpose  of  divina- 
tion ;  more  modern  ones,  like  J.  U.  Michaelis, 
explained  them  of  magic  fillets  on  the  hands  and 
head,  which  preserve  the  life  of  the  wearer,  hut 
which  bring  death  to  the  enemy.]  Havemick 
notices,  first  of  all,  the  contrast  of  the  luxurious, 
wanton  life  (Isa.  iii.  16  sq.,  xxxii.  9  sq. )  with 
the  pretence  of  being  prophetes.ses,  and  then  com- 
pares for  the  catching  of  souls,  Prov.  vi.  26 ;  ch. 
vii.  21  sq.  The  unusual  form  ninD3  is,  accord- 
ing to  him,  a  technical  term  for  a  definite  kind 
of  coverlets,  rugs,  which  are  sewed  together  for 
cushions,  sofas.     'T  he  takes  as  an  abbreviated 

dual  form,  and  understands  by  'TijfX  the  joints 

of  the  hand  in  the  wider  sense  (Jer.  xxxviii.  12), 
so  that  every  joint  of  the  arm  has  its  rug.  That 
they  lie  on  a  comfortable  couch  (Prov.  vii  16), 


144 


EZEKIEL. 


in  losurious  clothing  besides — insfar  omnium 
.n^riSDD,  *  word  which  ^Isa.  iii.    22  ;  Kuth  iii. 

15),  as  a  designation  of  the  upper  garments,  the 
large  shawls  of  the  women,  is  put  by  Ezekiel  for 
ninsaD,  with  an  allusion  to  nnSDD  (scab,  Isa. 

iii.    17);    taken   in    connection    with    E'XTPJ/, 

hence  coquettish  wearing  of  veils  over  the  head 
for  every  stature.  That  rugs  were  not  laid  over 
or  upon  (5)Jj)  thejoints,  elbows,  shoulders,  cannot 
certainly  be  maintained  by  Keil  as  against 
Havernick,  since  ^y  may  here  as  well  as  after- 
wards be  rendered  by  "for"  of  the  standard. — 
Hitzig  thinks  of  the  analogy  of  the  p^sn,  which 
one  fastened  during  prayer  on  his  left  hand, 
and  of  the    n»^D,    ^  long  ^^^  broad  piece  of 

cloth  with  which  the  suppliant  covered  his  head. 
(2)  The^jwraiiye  interpretation:  According  as  T 

is  referred  induectly  or  directly  to  God  ;  in  the 
former  case,  so  that:  "upon  all  joints  of  My 
hands  "  =  those  of  My  people,  hence  that  Jehovah 
regards  Himself  as  injured  in  His  people  ; — they 
impede  the  free  movement,  cover  the  eyes  of 
every  one  (Umbreit)  by  their  lies  and  flatteries 
(usually  ;  they  lay  the  people  in  a  bed  of  deceit- 
ful rest,  cover  them  with  all  sorts  of  excuses, 
high  and  low  alike) ;  in  the  other  case,  as  Klief 
has  it  :  it  is  brought  as  a  charge  against  the  pro- 
phetesses, that  they  cover  by  their  false  divina- 
tion the  word  of  God  and  the  threatening  hand 
of  the  Judge  therein,  and  that  they  veil,  exactly 
according  to  the  stature  of  the  individual,  men's 
hearing  and  seeing. — There  is  a  correspondence 
between  the  analogy  of  the  preceding  discourse  to 
the  false  prophets,  which  is  certainly  to  be  held 
fast,  and  the_/f(;«ra(ire  interpretation,  to  which 
Hengstenberg  and  Keil  also  have  given  in  their 
adhesion.  What  in  the  former  case  is  daubing 
with  a  coating,  is  here  covering   and  veiling. 

[nD3  is:  "to  cover;"  nSD,  to  draw  together,  to 
envelope    closely.       E'STpJ?,   however,    is    not 

meant  of  the  standard  by  which  one  is  regulated, 
but  is  simply  "over,"  inasmuch  as  they  know 
how  to  counsel  every  riDIp  (height,  stature)  of 

those  who  trust  them.] — Jewish  expositors  have 
unnecessarily  taken  niC'Bjn  as  a  question.     The 

contrast  with  n'n  shows  what  11 V  ^^^  in  view. 

Hence  what  tends  to  destruction  in  the  one  case, 
is  meant  to  turn  out  for  preservation  in  the  other. 
Such  a  result  cannot  possibly  occur  where  the 
living  God  and  these  women  confront  each  other 
(among  My  people  and  among  you),  and  where 

He  would  be  profaned.  [HXv.  :  p=  those  be- 
longing to  the  people — those  belonging  to  you, 
i.e.  your  own  souls.  Others  draw  the  distinction 
between  members  of  the  peo^jle  and  adherents  of 
the  false  prophetesses,  to  the  former  cf  whonj  they 
threaten  destruction :  to  the  latter,  on  the  other 
hand,  tliey  promise  prosperity.  Ewald  :  souls 
»f  hoDeat  men  they  render  gloomy  and  sickly, 
and  thns  they  bring  them  down  tc  death ;  soiUa 


o;'  sinnere  they  strengthen  in  their  sins,  in  ordci 
that  they  themselves'iilso  through  their  gratitud* 
may  be  the  better  able  to  live  along  with  them 
Luther  :  when  ye  have  caught  them  among  Mv 
people,  ye  promise  them  life.  Klief.  :  they  steal 
from  the  people  of  God  their  life,  and  take  care 
of  their  own.] — Ver.  19.  In  contrast  with  the  in- 
tended profanation  of  Jehovah,  specially  of  His 
name  by  their  lying  (in  face  of  My  people,  as 
afterwards  :  to  My  people),  the  price  is  empha- 
sized sharply,  the  wretched  life  of  the  body  (Mic. 
iii.  5  ;  Tit.  i._  11  ;  Kom.  xvi.  18).  Those  that 
should  not  die  are  the  souls  of  the  people  of 
Jehovah  (ch.  iii.  17  sq.)  ;  those  contrasted  with 
them  are  the  souls  of  the  prophetesses  themselves 
(Deut  xviii.  20).  According  to  others  :  the  for- 
mer are  the  pious,  the  latter  the  wicked.  Comp. 
ver.   18.      D33D3,   the  masc.  suffix,  embracing 

at  the  same  time  the  false  prophets  along  with 
them,  or  an  inaccuracy  of  Ezekiel's  (Hiiv. ). 
Comp.  on  ver.  20.     Comp.  besides,  Mic.  ii.  11. 

Thereafter,  in  Ver.  20,  thejudi/ment,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  false  prophets  (ver.  8  sq.).  There — 
the  coverings  are,  as  it  were,  the  ground  on  which 
the  hunt  takes  place,  according  to  Hengstenberg. 
According  to  others  :    there,  at  Jerusalem  (ver. 

16)-  —  nimbi'    (from   niS,  to    break    through 

(■]13),  like  ma,  to  flee)  is  rendered  by  Hiiv.: 

"to  rejoicings  (excesses)."  Prov.  vii.  18.  Nete- 
LER  :  "  in  their  bloom. "  Others:  "  to  blooming 
pleasure-gardens"  ;  others  still :  "  in  order  that 
they  may  blossom,"  according  to  your  prophecy. 
Philippson  :  "  to  flutter  in  the  net."  Hengst.  : 
"like  birds."  Ewald;  "as  if  they  were  birds 
of  passage."     nirnS,   Aramaic,   means  "flying 

ones";  so  it  is  acknowledged  by  most  in  what 
follows,  and  so  it  is  here  likewise,  only  that  the 
connection  makes  the  difl'erence, — that  here  they 
are  hunted,  caught,  a»  such,  but  instead  of  this, 
in  what  follows,  with  piquant  repetition,  they  are 
let  fly.  The  very  sameness  of  the  expression, 
amid  opposite  surroundings,  is  the  point.  Be- 
cause the  false  prophetesses  are  conceived  of  here 
(Ps.  xi.)  as  fowlers,  who  are  usually  men,  the 
masc.  suffix  preceding  the  comparison  is  easily 
understood.  The  souls  are  torn  out  of  the  arms 
in  question  ;  according  to  the  usual  interpreta- 
tion :  the  coverings  are  torn  away  from  the  arms 

of  the  false  prophetesses. — ^nn^tJ'l,  as  in  Deut 

xxii.  7  (Ex.  xxi.  26).— Ver.  21.  With  the  femi- 
nine suflix  the  address  returns  again  to  the 
women.  While  hitherto  ver.  18  was  kept  in 
view,  with  Vers.  22,  23  the  reference  is  to  ver. 
19.  While  they  threw  suspicion  on  the  pious 
among  the  exiles,  and  made  them  sad,  etc.,  they 
strengthened  those  in  Jerusalem  in  their  pride  of 
expectation.  They  did  evil  to  the  good,  and  to 
the  bad  they  did  no  good.  And  so  shall  all  their 
doings  come  to  an  end.  By  the  events  shall  they 
be  put  to  shame,  and  they  shall  perish  in  them. 

DOCTRINAL  BEFLECTIONS. 

1.  Cocceius  gives  the  name  of  false  prophecy  to 
the  doctrine  which  is  contrary  to  God's  word,  to 
the  false  exposition  of  Scripture,  as  weU  as  to 
prophesying  without  having  seen  and  heard  I'^ovl'a 
word,  as  well  as,  above  all,  to  the  imagination  ul. 


CHAP.  XIII. 


14S 


or  the  laying  claim  to,  possessing  such  divine 
revelation. 

[2.  "  Here,  then,  lay  the  graml  characteristic 
of  the  true  prophet,  as  distinguished  from  the 
fal^.  There  was  exhibited  objectively  to  his 
soul,  through  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
a  thought,  or  succession  of  thoughts, — an  action, 
perhaps,  revealing  the  mind  and  will  of  God  ; 
auid  tnen  taking  up  this  in  the  apprehension  of 
his  mind,  he  went  forth  to  declare  it  to  others, 
as  from  his  own  inward  consciousness,  clothed  in 
such  words  as  fitly  expressed  what  had  been  seen 
within.  With  the  false  prophet,  on  the  other 
hand,  even  supposing  him  to  be  perfectly  sincere 
in  what  he  uttered,  all  proceeded  from  the  im- 
pulse of  his  own  inflated  imagination  or  excited 
feelings ;  the  whole  was  from  witliin  merely, 
nothing  from  without,  from  above.  Yet,  with 
this  distinction  so  clearly  traced,  and  traced  for 
the  express  purpose  of  drawing  the  line  of  demar- 
cation between  the  tine  and  the  false  in  prophetic 
utterances,  we  are  still  presented  with  views  and 
theories  of  inspiration,  which,  in  the  case  of  is- 
spired  men  generally,  prophets  as  well  as  evan- 
gelists and  apostles,  if  they  do  not  altogether  dis- 
card the  objective,  render  the  subjective  alone 
prominent, — make  so  much  account  of  the  internal 
consciousness  or  intuitional  sense  of  the  subject 
of  inspiration,  as  necessarily  to  throw  into  the 
background  the  divine  communication  made  to 
him  from  above.  But  in  the  two  classes  of  pro- 
phets here  presented  to  our  notice,  the  one  could 
lay  claim,  as  well  as  the  other,  to  the  internal 
consciousness  of  some  spiritual  thought  or  idea  ; 
the  only  question  was,  whence  came  the  id'  a  ? 
Did  it  spring  up  from  within,  as  of  itself?  or 
was  it  presented  there  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ? 
Was  the  mind's  consciousness;  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  it  experienced  of  its  own  awakening, 
or  was  it  awakened  by  a  divine  and  formal  com- 
munication from  above  ?  If  we  lose  sight  of  this 
important  distinction,  we  virtually  make  no  ac- 
count of  what  constitutes  the  fundamental  element 
of  a  divine  revelation,  and  leave  ourselves  without 
a  fixed  landmark  between  the  movements  of  God's 
Spirit  and  the  capricious  workings  of  human 
fancy.  And  confounding  thus  things  that  essen- 
tially ditier  in  regard  to  the  origin,  of  a  revela- 
tion, we  lay  ourselves  open  to  the  farther  error  of 
disparaging  the  value  of  a  revelation,  when  made ; 
we  totally  change  it,  indeed,  and  lower  its  charac- 
ter, and  assign  it  only  a  kind  of  higher  room 
among  the  views  and  cogitations  of  men's  own 
imagining." — Fairbairn's  Ezekid,  pp.  133,  134. 
— W.  F.] 

3.  "  False  prophecy  does  not  believe  in  any 
day  of  judgment  of  Jehovah's"  (Haveknick). 

4.  "  Because  God  will  never  be  separated  from 
His  word,  while  He  is  in  Himself  invisible.  He 
manifests  Himself  only  in  His  word.  Hence  in 
the  case  of  false  prophecy,  making  constant  use 
as  it  did  of  the  expression  :  '  The  Lord  hath 
said,'  all  the  attributes  of  the  divine  nature 
necessarily  ran  the  risk  of  being  denied  or  pro- 
faned "  (Calvin). 

5.  Prophecy  in  Israel  was  a  gift  of  the  Spirit, 
and  already,  as  beingso,  had  no  restriction  as  tosex. 
But  when  it  came  to  be  upheld  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  in  whom  there  is  neither  male  nor  female 
(Gal.  iii.  28),  this  overlooking  of  all  sexual  dis- 
tinctions of  necessity  still  more  characterized  it. 

6.  It  is  a  symptom  of  dissolution  of  all  social 


bonds  when  women  are  in  power  in  such  f.ishion 
as  we  find  them  here  in  Ezckiel,  The  Krench 
Kevolution  and  the  most  recent  so-called  emanci- 
pation question  [emancipation  of  womeuj  are 
proofs  of  this. 

7.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  sister  of  Mosea, 
in  Deborah,  in  the  mother  of  Samuel,  during  the 
time  of  the  Old  Covenant  even,  we  have  illustra- 
tions of  what  was  to  be  set  forth  in  the  highest 
degree  by  the  blessed  among  women,  viz.  the 
religious  capabilities  of  the  female  sex.  The 
caricatures  of  the  holy  are  also  its  foil. 

8.  Inspiration  is  essentially  a  thing  belonging 
to  women.  If  the  apostle  (1  'Tim.  ii. ;  1  Cor.  xiv. ) 
prohibits  the  female  sex  from  teaching,  yet  he 
shows,  even  in  the  former  of  these  passages  (comp. 
2  Cor.  xi.  3),  how  receptive  woman  is  for  the 
spirit-world,  for  all  that  is  transcendental  in 
word  and  deed,  in  form  and  substance  ;  and  not 
less  must  we  take  into  account  the  influence  ol 
the  female  sex,  and  the  art  (so  easy  to  them)  iit 
deception,  of  seduction. 

HOMILETIC   HINTS. 

Ver.  2.  "  Prophecy  against  prophecy,  the  pro- 
phecy from  above  against  the  prophecy  from  be- 
neath :  this  is  the  everlasting  ordinance  in  the 
kingdom  of  God"  (Hexgst.). — "But  when  he 
says  that  God  is  coming  against  the  false  pro- 
phets, he  by  no  means  intends  to  excuse  the 
people.  For  the  people  had  the  law  and  likewise 
true  prophets.  In  Dent.  xiii.  the  distinguishing 
marks  of  the  true  and  false  prophets  were  given. 
Theirs  was  blindness  in  clear  day.  And  therefore 
God  suffered  the  aiTogance  antl  disobedience  of 
the  people  to  be  punished"  (C.iLV.). — "Satan's 
power  is  especially  very  great  in  the  case  of 
teachers  and  preachers,  1  Kings  xxii."  (Lange.) 
— "Thus  prophet  came  into  collision  with  pro- 
phet. And  now-a-days  still  God  will  in  this  way 
test  the  faith  of  His  own,  and  disclose  the  hypo- 
crisy of  many  (1  Cor.  xi.  19).  It  is  not  in  vain 
that  He  permits  the  servants  of  Satan  to  rise  up 
against  sound  doctrine,  and  that  the  Church  is 
torn  in  pieces  by  divergent  opinions,  aud  that 
vain  conceits  are  able  to  attain  such  strength  that 
the  truth  must  have  the  worst  of  it.  For  in  this 
way  the  stedfastncss  of  the  pious  comes  to  light, 
and  equally  the  lightmindedness  of  the  hypocrites, 
w  ho  suffei  themselves  to  be  cari'ied  away  by  every 
wind"  (Calv. ). — The  presence  of  false  prophets 
a  sign  of  dissolution,  as  well  as  of  the  judgment 
of  God. — The  false  prophets  involve  the  people  in 
guilt ;  the  people  are  to  blame  for  the  false  pro- 
phets, 2  Thess.  ii.  11.— The  word  of  God,  that 
which  is  to  be  heard  by  all,  in  all  things,  and  at 
all  times. — Ver.  3.  Self-deception  and  the  decep- 
tion of  others  go  together.—  "From  this  we  see 
how  it  stands  with  man's  spirit,  for  God  presup- 
poses here  a  standing  controversy  between  man's 
spirit  and  the  revelation  of  His  Spirit "  (Calv.  ). 
— And  yet,  for  the  most  part,  it  is  just  the  wise 
people  that  are  found  among  these  fool*. — The 
wisdom  of  the  world  and  folly  before  God. — 
"Whoever  will  open  the  eyes  of  others,  let  him 
see  to  it  beforehand  whether  he  himself  has  an 
eye  open  Godwards"  (Stck.).  —  Ver.  4.  "The 
spiritual  foxes  flourish  the  better,  the  more  de- 
graded the  condition  of  the  people"  (Hengst.). 
— "The people  in  the  wilderness  of  the  exile  were 
veiy  much  exposed  to  the  false  prophets  "  (Luth,). 


146 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.  5.  False  pro)ibets  cannot  pray. — The  in- 
tercession of  the  prophets  steps  into  the  breach. 
— "Right  doctrine  is  the  right  wall,  just  as  it 
also  teaches  right  living"  (Calv.)- — "There  is 
no  hettcr  wall  than  reformation  of  life  "  (Berl. 
Bib.). — Vers.  6,  7.  Without  being  sent  by  God, 
no  one  ought  to  enter  a  teacher's  office. 

Vers.  8,  9.  We  have  to  give  an  account  of  our 
words  even. — God  convicts  sinners  sometimes  out 
of  their  own  mouth. — Ver.  9.  "  It  is  a  fearful 
thi^ig  tc  fall  into  the  hands  of  God  ;  a  king's 
hauiis  we  may  escape,  but  not  God's  "  (Stck.  ).  — 
"Because  the  Jews  have  refused  to  become  Chris- 
tian.s,  they  have  not  been  enrolled  in  the  register 
of  Israel  "  (Cocc. ). — "  It  is  not  enough  that  men 
should  reckon  us  members  of  the  Church.  We 
must  know  in  our  own  hearts  whether  we  have 
the  inward  marks  whereby  the  children  of  God 
are  distinguished  from  those  who  do  not  belong 
to  His  family"  (C.\LV. ). — Ver.  10.  "Ungodly 
teachers  preach  to  their  hearers  of  good  days 
merely,  and  comfort  them  into  hell,  Jer.  viii,  11" 
(Stahke). — "The  wall  is  the  mere  external  ser- 
vice of  God  ;  and  yet  all  the  while  the  false  pro- 
phets flatter  them,  trnat  them  as  pious  persons, 
all  without  e-xception  saints  in  Christ"  (Beel. 
Bib.). — The  world,  too,  wishes  peace,  but  not  the 
peace  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ. — "God  pro- 
claims peace  to  us,  it  is  true.  But  we  must 
wage  war  with  ourselves  and  with  our  vices " 
(Calv.). — There  are  among  preachers  those  who 
build  without  a  foundation,  and,  alas !  also  mere 
outside-daubers. — [Scott  :  "  Some  teach  men  to 
expect  safety  from  a  comparative  decency  of  moral 
character  ;  some  on  account  of  formal  or  super- 
stitious observances  ;  some  because  they  belong 
to  an  orthodox  part  of  the  Church,  and  have  got 
some  notions  of  certain  important  doctrines  ;  some 
because  of  their  impressions  and  enthusiastic 
reveries  ;  and  others  even  by  a  direct  abuse  of  the 
gospel,  and  making  Christ  the  minister  of  sin. 
5Ien  of  learning  and  ingenuity  employ  themselves 
in  daubing  these  tottering  walls  with  ud  tempered 
mortar,  to  prevent  their  weakness  from  Ijeing 
discovered.  But  they  are  all  alike  distant  from 
Christ,  the  true  foundation  :  they  build  not  on 
Him  by  a  penitent  faith,  that  worketh  by  love, 
and  produceth  obedience  ;  they  either  leave  out 
His  merits  and  atonement,  or  the  work  of  His 
new-creating  Spirit,  or  the  substantial  fruits  of 
righteousness ;  and  in  different  ways  endeavour 
to  varnish,  paint,  and  repair  the  old  building, 
iusteail  of  erecting  a  new  one  on  a  new  founda- 
tion, for  '  an  habitation  of  God  through  the 
Spirit.'"  —  W.  F.] — "We  believe  much  more 
readily  those  who  preach  to  us  of  glory,  riches, 
and  peace,  than  those  who  promise  us  nothing 
but  the  cross.  And  yet  the  words  of  glory  are 
deceitful  words,  and  the  devil  can  very  easily 
mLx  himself  up  with  prophecies  of  that  sort,  and 
does  it  too  ;  but  the  cross  abides  and  remains  " 
(Berl.  Bib.). — False  hope  of  life  is  a  sign  of 
approaching  death. — Ver.  11  sq. :  "Every  build- 
ing of  which  faith  has  not  laid  the  foundation 
helplessly  gives  way  when  God's  storms  come" 
(Umbreit). — "No  doctrine  of  mere  human  rea- 
son can  stand  in  the  time  of  trouble  and  tempta- 
tion ;  but  he  who  is  built  upon  the  doctrine  of 
the  holy  apostles  and  prophets  has  built  his 
house  firm  and  sure,  Eph.  ii.  20"  (Cb.). — Man's 
work,  slim  work  ;  God's  storms,  bad  storms. — 
Vaiii  conceits,  hypocrisy,  and  deceit  do  not  stand 


in  the  divine  judgment.  —Ver.  14.  "  The  founda 
tion  is  the  important  thing  in  building,  and  even 
when  the  wall  falls.  For  one  may  (1  Cor.  iii. 
12,  15)  build  on  the  true  foundation  all  sorts  o( 
things,  which  are  consumed  in  the  fire,  yet  so 
that  the  builder  himself  is  saved.  Here,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  foundation  is  false,  and  therefore 
building  and  builder  alike  disappear"  (Cocc). — 
"It  is  besides  a  peculiarity  of  the  judgments  of 
God,  that  they  are  a  revelation,  and  make  mani- 
fest to  all  the  world  what  was  deceit  and  false- 
hood "  (Luther). 

Ver.  17  sq.  "  False  prophets  for  the  most  part 
rear  for  themselves  false  prophetesses"  (Cocc). — 
"The  woman  Jezebel  speaks  (Rev.  ii.  20),  alleg- 
ing that  she  Is  a  prophetess,  by  false  interpreta- 
tion, application,  and  perversion  of  Scripture, 
whereof  each  one  chooses  for  his  own  use  what 
suits  hiui  best.  Of  such  cushions  there  are  enough 
in  the  present  day  still,  and  God's  mercy  itself  is 
so  perverted.  But  whenever  one  would  hunt  and 
would  fain  catch  something,  it  is  cimmonly  the 
destruction  and  death  of  the  object  that  he  has 
in  view.  And  so  here  one  seeks  his  gain  and 
advantage  with  and  from  the  destruction  of  other 
people"  (Berl.  Bib.).  —  "What  Satan  cannot 
accomplish  by  means  of  the  male  sex,  he  attempts 
by  means  of  the  female,  Acts  xvi.  16  "  (Starke). 
— "  Effeminate  is  all  accommodation  theology. 
It  is  its  nature  to  set  aside,  as  in  general  all  that 
is  uncomfortable  for  the  old  Adam  and  gives  him 
pain,  so  especially  the  energy  of  the  requiring 
and  punishing  divine  righteousness — the  mveritij 
of  God,  Rom.  xi.  22.  Where  Ezekiel  puts  the 
cushions,  there  we  put  perhaps  the  icy  glove. 
Besides  the  cushions  for  the  hands  of  the  Lord, 
which  touch  [men  in  their  natural  state]  very 
ungently,  they  make  coverings  for  the  beads  of 
their  penitents,  that  the  hand  of  God  may  not 
touch  them  ungently,  and  indeed  for  heads  or 
people  of  every  stature,  always  according  to  the 
greatness  of  the  reward  to  be  expected — the  greatest 
for  the  king.  The  higher  any  one  is  placed,  the 
more  zealously  do  they  endeavour  to  clear  his 
conscience,  as  Jesuits  before  the  Jesuits,  differing 
from  their  successors  in  this,  that  the  latter  had 
in  view  the  interest  and  power  of  the  Church, 
while  the  former  serve  merely  their  own  belly" 
(Hengst.). — Ver.  18.  "It  is  a  stinking,  awful 
word,  that  a  lie  has  the  power  to  catch  and  to 
kill  souls"  (Umbreit). — A  heart,  indeed,  for 
every  head,  for  the  wrong-headed  even,  the  ser- 
vant of  God  ought  to  have,  but  not  pious  caps  for 
all  heads. — "  Satan  keeps  a  large  richly  fui'nisheil 
store  of  rugs  and  pillows,  such  as  cherished  habits, 
the  example  of  others,  the  way  of  all  the  world, 
church-going  even,  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Su[i- 
per,"  ete.  (Sti;k.)— "  God  is  angry  with  them, 
for  they  prop  up  souls,  hinder  them,  lay  under 
their  deeds  a  pillow  of  reward,  teach  them  to 
place  their  reliance  in  their  own  thoughts  and 
imaginings,  instead  of  in  the  truth.  But  they 
become  still  worse  through  a  certain  emotional 
power,  which  flatters  them  with  a  semblance  of 
life  in  the  midst  of  death.  The  prophets  who 
know  how  to  produce  this  feeling  of  life  with 
their  promises  are  more  readily  sccepted  as  tnie 
jirophets  than  those  who  cut  off  all  supports,  and 
bring  about  death.  A  tnie  prophet  announces 
nothing  but  destruction  —  war,  famine,  and  death 
(1  Kings  xxii.  8).  And  the  reason  is  this,  that 
the  prophesying  of  death  must  precede  the  pi  o- 


CHAi'.  XIV. 


]-)7 


phesying  of  life"  (Bf.kl.  Bib.).  — Ver.  19.  The 
prophetic  spirit  of  lying,  a  spirit  of  murder,  and 
also  of  blasphemy,  putting  an  end  alike  to  men's 
fellowship  with  one  another  and  to  their  fellowship 
with  God. — "God  is  the  truth  ;  with  it  He  too 
vanishes,  becomes  the  ghost  of  one  that  is  dead. 
But  it  was  a  special  pledge  of  His  love  that  God 
gave  them  prophets,  that  He  had  prouiised  the 
gift  of  prophets  to  Israel.  With  the  prostitution 
of  the  name  of  prophet  God's  own  gracious  name 
must  of  necessity  in  a  special  way  have  been  put 
to  shame,  and  that  anrong  His  own  people,  as 
distinguished  above  all  other  nations  "  (Calv.). — 
"  They  profane  God  among  His  people,  by  making 
Him  take  up  a  friendly  position  toward  sin'' 
(He.ng&t.). — To  cast  away  the  living  God  for  the 
means  of  sustaining  this  earthly  life,  what  self- 
murder  ! — "  Mark  it,  ye  brethren  of  Gehazi,  what 
hateful  leprosy,  2  Kings  v."  (Starke.) — "The 
true  and  faithful  servants  of  God  also  kill  souls 
and  make  them  alive  ;  for  the  word  of  God  is  life, 
and  brings  salvation  to  lost  men  ;  and  not  less 
does  it  become  a  savour  of  death  unto  death  to 
those  who  are  lost,  2  Cor.  ii."  (Calv.) — "Who- 
ever wishes  to  live,  let  him  betake  himself  to  the 
living  CJod,  to  whom  the  word  of  life  of  all  true 
]irophets  points  us.  Every  soul  must  die  that 
does  not  tread  this  way  of  life"  (C.iLV.  i.—  "  Those 
who  have  no  pleasure  in  the  truth,  must,  in 
accordance  with  the  righteous  judgment  of  God, 
believe  a  lie"  (0. ).  —  "They  would  so  fain 
have  it,  that  the  false  might  turn  out  truth" 
(Cocc.). 


\'er.  20  sq.  That  they  do  not  remain  unpun- 
ished is  no  special  act  of  judgment  on  God's  part, 
but  nothing  else  save  the  revelation  of  judgment 
contained  in  the  third  commandment. — The  ten 
commandments  are  tiiU  of  judgment-seats  for 
God.  — "  It  is  the  everlasting  comfort  of  the  poor 
human  race,  exposed  as  it  is  to  that  spirit  who  is 
a  liar  and  a  murderer,  that  the  almighty  God  of 
truth  rules  as  a  defender  and  protector  of  souls. 
The  Lord  will  also  save  and  set  free  captive  souh 
from  the  hands  of  their  deceiver  and  seducer  ;  for 
in  truth  they  are  not  irrational  birds,  destinetl  im 
fluttering  and  flying,  but  images  of  their  Divine 
Creator"  (U.MBRE1T). — "Pious  hearts  are  tilled 
with  fear  of  God's  name,  and  hence  they  are  easily 
vexed  and  taken  captive  with  false  doctiiue, 
delivered  to  them  in  God's  name"  (Randgl.  ). — 
Ver.  22.  "  It  is  nevertheless  sin  not  to  comfort 
or  to  trouble  still  more  those  who  are  troubled, 
as  well  as  to  strengthen  the  stitt'necked  in  their 
wickedness,  Isa.  v.  20"  (Cr.). — The  unlawful 
"  trouble"  caused  by  certain  preachers  of  repent- 
ance.—Rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  God,  a  gift 
and  distinguishing  mark  of  a  true  teacher. — False 
doctrine  makes  wounded  hearts,  but  also  hard 
hands. — Ver.  23.  False  prophecy  also  was  to 
cease  until  the  appearance  of  the  Great  Prophet, 
the  Son  of  God. — "  Thus  God  was  resolved  to  save 
His  people  under  the  New  Testament ;  so  that 
brother  should  no  more  need  to  teach  brother, 
because  the  fulfilment  would  be  in  their  midst. 
The  Word  Himself  would  in  very  deed  become 
flesh"  (Cocc). 


3.   TTie  Testimony  against  the  IJulatnus  Seekers  after  Oracles  (Ch.  xiv.). 

1       And  there  came  unto  me  men  from  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  sat  before  me. 
2,  3  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  sajdng,     Son  of  man,  these  men 
have  caused  their  filthy  idols  to  go  up  upon  their  heart,  and  the  stumbling- 
block  of  their  iniquity  have   they  given  before  their  face ;   shall  I  indeed 

4  allow  Myself  to  be  inquired  at  by  them  ?  Therefore  speak  with  them,  and 
say  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Every  man  of  the  house  of 
Israel  that  shall  cause  his  filthy  idols  to  go  up  to  his  heart,  and  shall  put  the 
stumbling-block  of  his  iniquity  before  his  face,  and  comes  to  the  prophet,  I 

5  Jehovah,  do  I  answer  him  in  that, — in  the  multitude  of  his  filthy  idols  ]  lu 
order  to  take  the  house  of  Israel  in  their  own  heart,  who  have  departed  from 

6  Me  in  all  their  filthy  idols :  Therefore  say  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  ;  Repent,  and  turn  from  your  filthy  idols,  and  from 

7  all  your  abominations  turn  away  your  face.  For  every  one  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  of  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  in  Israel,  if  he  shall  separate  him- 
self from  Me,  and  shall  cause  his  filthy  idols  to  go  up  to  his  heart,  and  shall 
put  the  stumbling-block  of  his  iniquity  before  his  face,  and  comes  to  the  pro- 

8  phet  to  inquire  in  Me,  I  Jehovah  answer  him  in  Myself,  And  set  My  face 
against  this  man,  and  make  him  desolate,  for  a  sign,  and  for  proverbs,  and 
cut  him  off  from  the  midst  of  My  people  ;  and  j'e  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 

9  And  the  prophet,  if  he  shall  let  himself  be  enticed,  and  speaks  a  word,  I 
Jehovah  have  enticed  that  prophet,  and  stretch  out  My  hand  upon  him,  and 

10  destroy  him  from  the  midst  of  My  people  Israel.  And  they  bear  their 
iniquity  ;  as  the  iniquity  of  him  that  inquires,  so  shall  the  iniquity  of  the 

11  prophet  be  ;  That  the  house  of  Israel  may  go  no  more  astray  from  Me,  and 
may  no  more  be  polluted  [desie  themselves]  in  all  their  transgressions ;  and 
that  they  may  be  to  Me  a  people,  and  I  may  be  to  them  a  God,— sentence  of 

12,  13  the  Lord  Jehovah.     And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,     Son 
of  man,  if  a  laud  shall  sin  against  Me,  ao  that  it  acts  very  treacherously,  and 


148 


EZEKIEL. 


16 


17 


I  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon  it,  and  break  for  it  the  staff  of  bread,  and 

14  send  upon  it  famine,  and  cut  oif  from  it  man  and  beast ;  And  there  are  ii- 
the  midst  of  it  these  three  men,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job, — they  shall  delivei 
their  own  soul  [iifej  by  their  righteousness, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

15  If  I  shall  cause  evil  beasts  to  pass  through  the  land,  and  they  bereave  it,  and 
it  becomes  a  desolation,  because  no  one  passes  through  because  of  the  beasts ; 
These  three  men  in  the  midst  of  it — as  I  live,  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah 
— they  shall  deliver  neither  sons  nor  daughters  ;  they  alone  shall  be  delivered, 
and  the  land  shall  be  a  desolation.  Or  if  I  shall  bring  a  sword  upon  this 
land,  and  I  say,  A  sword  shall  go  through  the  land,  and  1  cut  off  from  it  man 
and  beast ;  And  these  three  men  are  in  the  midst  of  it — as  I  live,  sentence 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah — they  shall  deliver  neither  sons  nor  daughters  ;  for  they 
alone  shall  be  delivered.     Or  if  I  shall  send  a  pestilence  on  that  land,  and 

20  pour  out  My  fury  upon  it  in  blood,  to  cut  off  from  it  man  and  beast;  And 
Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  are  in  the  midst  of  it — as  I  live,  sentence  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah — they  shall  deliver  neither  sons  nor  daughters ;  they  shall  deliver 

21  their  own  soul  [life]  by  their  righteousness.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah; 
How  much  more  when  I  send  My  four  sore  judgments — sword,  and  famine, 
and  evil  beasts,  and  pestilence — upon  Jerusalem,  to  cut  off  from  it  man  and 

22  beast!  And  [yet],  behold,  therein  is  left  an  escaped  portion,  who  are  brought 
forth,  sons  and  daughters;  behold,  they  come  forth  unto  you,  and  ye  see 
their  way  and  their  doings,  and  ye  are  comforted  concerning  the  evil  that  I 
have  brought  upon  Jerusalem,  all  that  I  have  brought  upon  it.  And  they 
comfort  you,  when  ye  shall  see  their  way  and  their  doings ;  and  ye  know  that 
not  without  cause  have  I  done  all  that  I  have  done  in  [upon]  it, — sentence  of 
the  Lord  Jehovah. 


19 


23 


Ver.  1.  Another  read. :  1K3^V 

Ver.  3.  Sept.:    .  .  .  iSivTO  tx  5*«»o»5f*ara  ttur.  IjTi  t.  xa-piixs  atv7.  a:.  Tvjv  xoXctffiv  t.  ctitjcttn  a.in.  \^nra.\ 

Ver.  4.  other  read.;    X3,   ^3?     Sept.:  .  ..  iTtfx^iflrff'o.twe*  «tJT«*  i»  «'?  iv£x(^«' ^  ^*«^«'*  "^^w, 

Ver.  5.  09r«;  fjut]  htccffTpf^affiv  to*  e'i»9y  r.  '\irp.  xxrcc  t.  xnpiiet?  otuT.  rati  a.jrviKXoTpiatfjUi/ets  i'r'  ifjtw— 

Ver.  7.  .  .   .  xxt  ix  7UV  ^pag-viXv.mv — otxexpitkiffouMi  oti/Ttt  it  w  iyt^treu  iv  etiiTtt, 

Ver.  15.  Sept.  read. :  n^n73d,  et  orbavero  iltam. 

Ver  21.  Sept. :  'E«»  2e  xm —    Vulg. :  quod  et  si. 

Ver.  '22.  .  .  .  itrB^iXti/aptivet  sv  ctirrt  o'l  u.vaLffifftiffpi.i'ioi  e|  tx.or%i,  et  i^xycvffit  viovs— 

Ver  23.  Some  add  :  ?K  ;   there  is  a  readii  g  :  Djn  ?N- 


EXEGETIOAL  KEMAKKS. 

Vers.  1-3.  The  Occasion.  The  outward  occa- 
sion for  the  divine  testimony  in  this  chapter  is 
first  mentioned,  and  then  the  inward  occasion  is 
set  forth  plainly. 

Ver.  ].  The  outward  occasion  is  famished  by 
a  deputation — in  this  way  we  e.xplain  the  singular 
of  the  verb  (Ki3>l),  which  surprised  the  old  com- 
mentators. More  certainly  is  meant  than  il  tnent 
des  hommes.  Grotius  supposes  ambassadors  from 
Palestine,  on  occasion  of  the  embassy  of  Zedekiah 
to  Babylon  (.Jer.  li. ).  They  were  certainly  from 
the  exiles  (Keil);  to  be  distinguished,  however, 
from  those  of  eh.  viii.  1.  Those  latter  are  already 
with  the  projihet ;  the  former  first  come  to  him. 
It  is  not,  however,  merely  because  of  the  different 
e.x])ressions  used,—"  elders  of  Judah,"  in  ch.  viii. 
1,  while  here  we  have  :  men  from  the  elders  of 
Israel, — but  rather  because  of  the  keeping  apart 
as  well  as  putting  together  which  follows  in  ch. 
xvi.,  that  we  shall  have  to  think  of  ambassadors 
from  the  exiles  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes 
(comp.  Introil.  pp.  7,  8) ;  whether  they  were 
themselves  elders  is  not  exactly  said,  but  simply 
that  they  came  from  the  elders  of  Israel,  out  of 
their  midst.     Comp.  ch.  xx. — That  they  Bat  down 


before  the  prophet,  seems  to  show  that  they  wera 
waiting  to  see  whether  they  might  not  hear  some- 
thing from  him,  of  course  concerning  Judah,  con- 
cerning Jerusalem,  for  in  this  direction  was  the 
interest  of  all  who  were  in  exile  turneii  (Introd. 
pp.  8,  9). 

["  For  what  purpose  they  came — whether  to  ask 
counsel  from  the  prophet  regarding  some  point  of 
difficulty  that  had  occurred  to  themselves,  or  to 
hear  what  he  might  be  prompted  by  the  Spirit  to 
communicate  of  seasonable  instruction — we  are 
not  expressly  told.  But  that  they  came  in  the 
character  of  inquirers  may  be  .ilmost  certainly 
inferred  from  ver.  3,  where  the  J^ord  at  once  pro- 
ceeds, through  His  servant,  to  repudiate  the  idea 
of  His  being  inquired  at  by  pereons  of  such  a 
character — persons  who  had  '  set  up  their  idols 
in  their  heart,  and  put  the  stimibling-block  of 
their  iniquity  before  their  face. '  After  this  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  doubt  that  they  came  in  the 
character  of  inquirers  :  though  what  might  be  the 
precise  object  of  their  inquiry  is  nowhere  indicated 
in  wliat  follows,  unless  we  can  suppose  (what  is 
in  the  highest  degree  probable)  that  the  message 
of  the  prophet  was  so  framed  as  in  some  part  to 
meet  the  proposed  subject  of  inquiry,  and  thus 
incidentally  to  discover  what  the  subject  itself 


CHAP.  XIV.  2-5. 


149 


really  was.  This  supposition  is  confirmed  by  the 
fivct,  which  strikes  us  the  moment  we  glance  over 
the  contents  of  the  chapter,  that  it  falls  into  two 
parts, — the  first  (vers.  3-11)  referring  to  the  pre- 
liminary point  respecting  the  character  of  the 
inquirers,  and  the  remaining  portion  addressing 
itself  to  a  subject  entirely  distinct— God's  method 
of  dealing  with  a  land  and  people  when  they 
have  reached  a  state  of  hopeless  corruption  and 
depravity.  It  is  more  than  probable,  therefore, 
that  while  God  refused  to  give  any  formal  answer 
to  such  inquirers  as  those  who  now  sat  before  the 
prophet,  He  yet,  in  this  latter  portion  of  the 
message,  gave  a  substantial  deliverance  on  the 
question  about  which  their  anxiety  had  been 
raised."  —  Faikbairn's  Eiekiel,  pp.  143,  144. 
— W.  F.] 

He  was  able  certainly  to  anticipate  their  ques- 
tion— as  is  actually  done  in  Ver.  2  .sq. — inasmuch 
as,  by  means  of  divine  revelation,  the  still  unex- 
pressed design  of  their  coming  is  made  known  to 
him,  and  in  this  way  they  are  made  manifest  be- 
fore him.  They  wish,  according  to  Hengst.,  "to 
make  an  experiment,  whether  they  cannot  obtain 
a  more  favourable  answer  through  the  prophet, 
whose  fearfully  threatening  announcement  they 
have  heard  not  without  shuddering"  (grace  with- 
out repentance)  ;  but  from  the  text  we  can  only 
learn  that  the  older  portion  of  the  exiles  put  them- 
selves in  an  exactly  similar  position  toward 
Ezekiel  as  that  which,  alike  in  the  exile  and  at 
Jerusalem,  the  people  assumed  toward  the  false 
prophets.  Hence,  Ezekiel  treated  like  the  false 
prophets, — that  is  the  immediate  connection,  the 
connection  with  what  precedes.  The  meaning  is 
not  (as  Hav.,  and  also  Cocc),  that  the  guilt  of 
the  people  in  general,  who  so  willingly  hearken 
to  the  lie  (ch.  xiii.  19),  is  to  be  brought  out  in 
det;iil,  by  way  of  supplement  to  the  guilt  of  tlie 
false  prophets  already  handled  ;  nor  does  Ezekiel 
intend  by  his  own  example  to  make  clear  and 
prominent  the  contrast  between  true  and  false 
prophets.  But  by  the  example  of  these  men  from 
Israel,  while  he  speaks  to  their  conscience,  he 
predicts  the  impending  divine  judgment  upon 
Judah  and  Jerusalem.  The  internal  necessity  of 
it,  from  the  connection  of  sin  and  punishment,  is 
justified  to  their  consciousness.  This  is  the  more 
remote  connection,  the  connection  with  what  fol- 
lows.    Hence  Ver.  3,  giving  what  forms  the  inner 

reason   for   the  divine   testimony. — On  DH'^^J, 

see  atch.  vi.  4. — The  statement :  these  men  have 
caused  their  filthy  gods  to  go  up,  etc.,  as  bearing 
on  the  object  of  the  discourse  we  have  just  indi- 
cated, is  expre.sseil  more  exartlv  by  what  follows  : 
and  the  stumbUng  block  of  tteir  iniquity,  etc. 
(see  on  ch.  vii.  1 9) ;  inasmuch  as  their  idols  are 
up  upon  their  heart  (ch.  .xi.  5),  the  occasion  taken 
theret'rom  (to  fall  into  sin)  is  given  or  put  before 
their  face  (ver.  4).  ["  Anything  which,  incon- 
sequence of  the  inward  disposition  of  mind  and 
will,  is  conceived  of  also  as  an  object  of  attention 
outwardly,  and  as  the  immediate  occasion  of  cor- 
resDonding  actions,  is  spoken  of  as  coming  up  or 
put  upon  the  heart,  Isa.  Ixv.  17  ;  Jer.  iii.  16,  li. 
50  ;  1  Cor.  ii.  9  ;  Jer.  vii.  31,  xix.  5,  xxxii.  35  ; 
2  Kings  xii.  5  [4] ;  2  Chron.  vii.  11  ;  Acts  vii.  23. 
—  Dan.  i.  8  ;  2  Sam.  vii.  3;  1  Chron.  xvii.  2 ; 
Acts  v.  3." — Beck.]  They  are  portrayed  accord- 
ingly aa  persons  whose  spirit  cleaves  to  the  old 


idolatrous  memories  ;  they  are  sinners  against 
Jehovah,  they  have  already  even  been  punished 
by  Him,  but  in  heart,  just  as  before,  they  are  not 
freed  from  their  idols.  Tiiis,  of  course,  is  the 
explanation  of  the  strongly  negative  character  of 
the    question.      BHINn,    inf.    abs.    Niphal,    lor 

K'mn,  n  being    changed    into  K,    according   to 

Kimchi,  because  of  the  doubling  of  the  J\.  In 
{j»Tn  there   lies   an   element  of  urgency  or  zeal, 

with  which  one  seeks  in  order  to  find — in  the  case 
before  us,  asks  in  order  to  get  an  answer. 

Vers.  4-11.  A  further  Disclosure  of  the.  Divine 
Mind,  with  a  more  general  reference,  and  in  ver. 
9  sq.  a  special  application  to  the  propliet. 

Idolatrous  oracle-seekers,  as  Ver.  4  a  second 
time  portrays  them,  generalizing  the  case  before 

us  (iaij'^N,  although  merely  to  the  heart  ; 
B^'N  C'^Si  without  exception),  have  therefore 
(p^,  see  ver.  4  at  the  end)  to  expect  what  corre- 
sponds to  their  state.     For  DrfS,  comp.  on  ch. 

ii.  1.  I  Jehovah,  in  emphatic  antithesis  to  the 
filthy  idols.  Hence,  as  well  as  because  of  ver.  3, 
where  an  answer  is  absolutely  refused,  TI'JW  is  •' 

question  without  any  particle  of  interrogation, 
which  after  ver.  3  is  unnecessary  (Hengst.  ).  The 
Niphal  of  njy  means  ;   to  be  inclined,  to   show 

oneself  willing  to  answer.  [Ewald  :  "  I  am  be- 
come bound  to  answer  him  in  Myself,  for,"  etc.. 
i.e.  I  can  no  longer  remain  in  a  mere  .state  of 
indifference  toward  him,  but  must  treat  him  at 
the  right  time  as  he  deserves  ( !).  Castel  also,  with- 
out the  form  of  a  question  :  1  answer  him,  as  is 
becoming  in  the  case  of  such  idols.  Coec.  refers 
to  this  category  such  an  answer  on  the  part  of  the 
prophet,  that  the  inquirer  remains  fixed  in  the 
multitude  of  his  idols,  does  not  repent,  1  Kings 
xxii.  23.]  ria  (Qeri,  X3),  because  of  the  anti- 
thesis to  Jehovah,  a  pregnant  announcement  be- 
forehand  of  what   follows ;    '3'-|2,  indicates   the 

condition  in  which  the  inquirer  is.  [Others  : 
according  to  it.  The  fem.  instead  of  the  plural  ; 
whUe  others  have  taken  it  as  n3,  referring  to  2h, 
or  as  a  neuter  :  for  it,  for  this  coming  to  the  seer, 
or  (like  Hitz.)  read  's  (Jehovah  will   answer  in 

actual  fact).] — Ver.  5  is  understood  by  most  of  a 
good  intention  on  the  part  of  God  in  such  answer- 
ing, which  is  to  correspond  to  their  idolatry,  and  is 
to  be  given  first  in  ver.  8.  Keil  :  not  merely  to 
move  and  to  benefit  them,  but  to  bend  their  heart 
by  means  of  judgments,  etc.  Hitz.  on  the  other 
hand  :  in  order  to  take  them  in  their  state  of 
mind,  as  their  acting  is  perhaps  legal.  According 
to  Hengst.,  giving  the  reason  for  refusing  an 
answer  :  in  order  that  they  may  attain  to  a  know- 
ledge of  sin,  to  touch  their  conscience.  Rather 
does  mc^  place  in  the  foreground  the  ruling  pur- 
pose in  the  call  which  follows.  It  is  their  heart 
God  means  to  reach,  just  as  it  is  there  their  idols 
live  (vers.  3,  4).  "IC'K,  a  pronoun,  not  a  con- 
junction.—infj,  as  in  Isa.  i.  4,  Niph.  reflexive  ol 


IM 


EZEKIEL. 


"Hf.  expressin ;  deliberatiou ;  where  we  have 
in  that  ease  -iinx  for  VlinSd  here  we  have 
•i'VD,  corresponding  to  what  follows :  ^yp  13'U'm. 
—  053  is  taken  by  others  as  a  repetition  of  the 
subject :  all  of  them  together. — Ver.  6.  13*t5'nii 
namely:  DiTJS ;   not:   your    heart,    as   Hengst., 

Rashi.  (Others:  your  wives,  children,  etc.) — 
Ver.  7.  Corap.  Lev.  xvii.  8,  10,  13,  xviii.  26, 
XX.  2.     If  it  is  the  rule  for  the  stranger,  much 

more  for  every  one  of  I.srael. — <3  ip'C'm?.  H.iv. ; 

to  apply  to  the  prophet  (as  organ)  tor  counsel  from 
Me  (so  that  at  bottom  he  iuquire.i  of  Me).  Simi- 
larly Hengst.:  to  inquire  of  him  in  Me^to 
inquire  of  Me  through  him.  KObEXM. :  inasmuch 
:is  he  pretends  faith  in  Me.     Keil  :  to  seek  Me 

for  himself  (i^  reflexively,  or  dat.  commodi  of  him 
who  inquires).  '3  forms  the  antithesis  to  '3^3  H3 

(ver.  4)  or  Dn'^I^JB  (ver.  5).     The  case  is — after 

the  demand  being  made  by  the  prophet  (ver.  6), 
as  is  presupposed — one  of  aggravated  hypocrisy, 
that  is,  no  longer  mere  coming  to  the  prophet 
with  idolatrous  hearts  (vers.  3,  4),  but  an  express 
appeal  to  the  Lord  in  spite  of  iuward  cleaving  to 
idolatry;  hence,  a  putting  of  tnist  in  Him,  although 
one  is  away  from  Him  (ver.  7).     Hence  '<3K  is  no 

longer  (as  Hengst.)  a  question,  a  refusing  to 
aiWTTer,  but  in  this  case  Jehovah  reveals  Him- 
self as  giving  an  answer.  But  how  ? — Ver.  8. 
Tlie  divine  answer  demanded  turns  out  to  be  one 
in  actual  fact ;  the  word  of  God  is  God's  judg- 
ment. Comp.  Lev.  xvii.  10,  xx.  3,  5,  6  ;  Deut. 
xxviii.  37.  In  the  face  we  have  the  revelation  of 
wrath.  In  the  individual  the  land  is  already  per- 
sonified   (ver.    13   sq.).      ^DTliDE'ni  from  QDtJ'. 

"to  be  desolate"  (ch.  xx.  26);  according  to 
others  in  the  meaning  :  to  put  in  a  state  of  dumb 
terror.  Ew. :  from  UVi',  "S  also  the  ancient  transla- 
tors [and  Eng.  Vers.]  (Ps.  xliv.  15  [14]).      'niS^, 

so  that  he  becomes  a  sign,  etc. — Comp.  on  ch. 
xii.  22. 

With  a  special  application  to  the  prophet,  Ver. 
y  sets  forth  the  case  of  one  to  whom  one  has  come 
to  inquire  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  (ver.  7).  That 
a  prophet  like  Ezekiel  was  thought  of,  is  not  to 
be  inferred  from  the  occasion  (ver.  1) ;  at  most  we 
may  say  with  Hengst.:  "Let  not  one  make  de- 
mands on  the  true  prophets  which  they  are  not 
able  to  fidfil,  appealing  to  the  utterances  of  the 
false  prophets."  Hitzig  certainly  maintains  that 
the  case  of  a  pro])htt  is  supposed  in  the  future  who 
really  has,  or  in  good  faith  imagines  that  he  has, 
a  word  of  God.  But  that  the  prophet  supposed 
is  a  false  prophet  is  shown  by  the  result.  First 
of  all,   nns  itself  means  :  to  talk  over  a  credulous 

person  ;  and  hence  the  person  meant  here  is  one 
who,  from  his  own  want  of  true  faith,  is  not  him- 
self acting  rightly  in  a  religious  point  of  view, 
and  therefore  cannot  judge  rightly  what  such  act- 
ing is,  and  what  is  not.  Of  a  desire  for  gain, 
honour,  or  such  like,  nothing  is  said  ;  we  are  not 
0  think  of  Balaam.     Then,  farther,  there  is  the 


expression:  13^  1311,  being  talked  over  he  gives 


himself  to  talk,  speaks  where  he  ought  to  have 
been  silent  (ch.  iii.  27),  or  was  at  least  bound 
to  demand  repentance  (ver.  6),  or  else  to  announce 
'judgment  —  consequently,  speaks  in  a  way  to 
Hatter  the  sinner.  The  ease  is  made  quite  evi- 
dent by  the  explanatory  ajiodosis ;  wliat  has 
already  happened  is  God's  judgment  on  the  piu- 
phet,  jiunishment,  since  Jehovah  rather  speaks  to 
His  prophets,  gives  them  His  word  ;  and  the  result 
which  follows  in  the  case  of  this  prophet  is  there- 
fore merely  the  completion  of  the  tlivine  judg- 
ment. Comp.  ch.  vi.  14.  (]  Kings  xxii.,  where 
we  have  demoniac  elements,  does  not  properly 
belong  to  the  category  before  us).  From  feiir  of 
man,  or  from  desire  to  please  man,  the  prophet 
suH'ers  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  speak.  BL-cause 
he  so  depends  on  men,  men  get  the  mastery  over 
him,  but  in  these  men  the  hand  of  God  shows 
itself  against  him.  His  leaning  to  men  is  his 
divine  judgment;  the  conjuncture  brouglit  about 
by  God,  the  prophet  in  this  conjimcture  left  to 
himself  and  to  men.  According  to  J.  H.  Mich- 
aelis,  Hengst.,  it  is  intended  in  this  way  to 
obviate  the  objection  drawn  from  the  solitary 
position  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel. — Ver.  10  com- 
biner vers.  8  and  9.  By  the  equality  of  punish- 
ment, the  equality  of  the  offence  is  proved.  The 
oracle-seeker  and  the  oracle-giver  thus,  by  means 
of  their  punishment,  expiate  their  guilt,  with 
which  they  have  burdened  themselves  in  conse- 
quence of  their  sin  ;  and  as  the  punishment  of  the 
one  offence  corresponds  to  that  of  the  other,  it  is 
thus  clear  that  the  guilt  in  both  ca*;s  is  alike  in 
God's  .sight.  The  divine  intention  therein— Ver. 
n — is,  in  respect  to  all  Israel,  to  prevent  their 
going  astray,  their  defilement  or  polluting  of 
themselves,  on  such  devious  paths  'in  all  sorts  of 
transgressions) ;  for  Israel's  ilestination  continues 
to  be  the  holy  one  of  being  Jehovah's  people, 
even  as  Jehovah's  promise  continues  to  be  the 
glorious  one  of  being  their  God.  Comp.  ch.  xi. 
20.  With  this  reference,  so  general  in  its  charac- 
ter, the  special  case  of  the  prophet  comes  to  an 
end. 

Vers.  12-23.  The  Application  (o  Jerusalem  (vei. 
21),  and  the  Justification  thereof  (vers.  22,  23). 
— In  accordance  with  wliat,  from  the  outset,  has 
formed  the  expectation  of  those  who  had  come  to 
Ezekiel,  viz. ;  that  they  should  know  the  fate  of 
Judah  (of  Jenisalem),  and  in  accordance  farther 
with  what  has  been  expressed,  in  a  general  way, 
by  the  divine  discourse  of  the  prophet  in  the 
shape  of  judgment  on  false  oracle-seeking  and 
false  oracle-giving, — in  accordance  therewith  the 
section  (ver.  12  sq. )  closes,  inasmuch  as  there  is 
an  application  of  the  judgment  pronounced,  first 
to  an  unfaithful  land,  and  then  to  Jerusalem  ex- 
pressly ;  an  application  which  is  seen  to  be  the 
more  justifiable,  as  the  going  astray  and  the  pol- 
lution, which  God  designs  to  put  away  for  the 
future  by  means  of  the  judgment,  still  charac 
terize  the  miserable  remnant  (vers.  22,  23). 

Ver.  13.  Aland,  indefinitely  ;  not,  however,  lor 
the  purpose  of  giving  utterance  to  a  general  pro- 
position as  a  rule  (Keil),  but  because  tlie  nearer 
definition  is  expressed  by  means  of  the  character 
of  the  land,  and  that  as  a  character  attaching  tc 
it   as   a   whole.      The   "sinning"  in   general  ia 

specialized  as:  hjHS'bvii'?'  which  is  to  be  under- 


CHAP.  XIV.   14,  15. 


151 


itooJ  therefore  in  the  strict  sense  which  it  every 
where  has  when  it  is  a  special  expression.  Comp 
Lev.  V.  21  [vi.  2] ;  Num.  v.  12  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  51 ; 
Josh.  xxii.  20  ;  1  C'liron.  x.  13.  There  cleaves  to 
the  word  a  contrast  between  the  inwani  and  the 
outward  ;  it  speaks  of  secret  unfaithfulness,  of 
concealed  acting,  and  the  like.  And  so  it  stands 
here  also,  quite  in  accordance  with  ver.  3  sq., 
where  the  subject  in  hand  was  the  duplicity  of 
iiracle-.-ieekers,  false  prophets,  and  at  the  same 
tiinepavingthe  way  for  ch.  xv.  8.     (Ewald  see.s  in 

7l'D  tbe  treachery  of  Zedekiah,  as  a  vassal  bound 

by  oath  to  his  liege-lord  of  Babylon,  by  his  lean- 
ing toward  Egj'pt. )  After  such  detinitene.ss  in 
tile  description  of  the  sin  of  the  land,  the  inde- 
liuiteness  of  the  land  itself  can  occasion  no  diffi- 
culty. What  is  thus  kept  indefinite  rouses  the 
hearers  the  more  to  think  for  themselves  what 
land  it  will  be.  The  indefinite  expression  pre- 
BUi)poses,  in  particular,  thac  those  "men"  (ver. 
1 ),  from  their  own  conscience,  might  easily  sup- 
ply what  was  wanting.  There  is  also  an  element 
of  retiibution — a  certain  measure  of  secrecy  (in 
the  part  of  God,  in  return  for  their  secret  state  of 
heart.  Would  that  they  would  only  ask  !  We 
Mud  ourselves  in  the  ait  of  applying  what  hiis 
guue  belore  to  that  land  for  which  Jerusjileni  is 
the  title  (ver.  21).  Hence  the  expression  :  and  I 
stretch  out,  etc.,  literally  the  same  as  in  ver.  9. 
As  to  the  rest,  there  is  a  retrospective  reference  to 
ch.  iv.  16,  V.  16,  17.  Cut  off,  as  in  ver.  8.— 
Ver.  14.  As  the  description  uji  to  this  point  is  an 
appeal  ad  hominem^  to  reflect  and  to  deterniine 
the  laud  for  themselves,  so  this  number  i  three, 
might  perhaps  draw  atteution  to  the  difference 
iit  Gen.  xviii.  32.  There  it  is  promised  that  there 
will  be  no  destruction  if  there  are  ten  righteous. 
Here  it  is  only  three  that  are  svipposed,  belonging 
to  quite  different  periods,  nay,  not  even  men- 
tioned in  chronological  order.  The  case  supposed 
is  therefore,  after  all,  an  inconceivable  one,  to 
show  at  once  the  impossibility  of  the  land  being 
delivered  ;  or,  if  the  thought  were  admitted  that 
three  men  like  these  were  in  it,  yet  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  land  is  meant  to  be  denied,  since 
the  three  would  save  their  own  life  merely.  The 
judgment  on  the  land,  and  that  as  a  juiigment 
that  is  all-embracing,  corresponding  with  the 
character  belonging  to  each  and  all,  is  to  be  set 
forth  in  all  four  directions  (comp.  ch.  v.  17t  in 
which  it  is  pronounceil,  as  one  that  is  unalterable, 
tliat  stands  fast  for  that  land.  That  is  the 
thought.  That  the  elders  wlio  had  come  to  the 
prophet,  as  well  as  the  people,  had  cherished  the 
liope  (Keil)  that  God  will,  for  the  .sake  of  the 
righteous,  avert  the  destruction  of  Judah  and 
Jerusalem,  is  certainly  nowhere  even  hinted. 
fTrue,  indeed,  there  is  no  express  statement  to 
that  effect.  But  why  is  the  prophet's  message 
thrown  into  this  particular  form  '?  Why  should 
!ie  so  emphatically  declare — once  and  agjiin,  .ind 
again,  and  even  a  fourth  time — that  the  presence 
of  these  three  righteous  men  in  the  land  could 
not  avert  its  destruction,  if  no  such  thought  was 
liu'king  in  the  minds  of  the  elders  and  of  the 
people  generally  ?  Keil's  view,  which  is  also  that 
of  Fairbaim,  is  of  course  a  conjecture,  but  a  con- 
jecture that  hiis  not  a  little  probability. — W.F.] 
As  the  diminution  in  number  from  ten  in  the  fall 
of  Sodom  to  three  liere  is  noticeable,  so  as  regards 
Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  personally,  a  lowering  in 


the  thing  itself  is  to  be  observed.  For  these 
parties  conie  into  consideration  here  neither  tts 
regards  their  nghteousne-ss,  as  being  patterns  of 
it,  nor  even  as  examples  of  those  who  hail  been 
themselves  spared,  as  is  commonly  supposed. 
DnplS3  (also  in  ver.   20)  gives   the  rea.-son   for 

their  deliverance  merely,  and  'oiap,  in  vers.  16 

and  18,  isolates  them  merely  for  the  ca.se  in  band. 
According  to  their  history,  which  is  related  to  us 
along  with  their  names,  all  three,  in  fact,  not 
merely  saved  their  own  lives,  but  exercised  in- 
fluence in  the  direction  of  saving  others  along 
with  themselves.  In  addition  to  Noali  himself 
(Gen.  vii.  13  sq. ),  his  family  was  .saved  in  the 
ark,  and  even  a  selection  of  the  creatures.  Daniel 
not  only  saved  himself  and  his  companions,  but 
also  arrested  the  execution  of  the  wise  men  of 
Babylon  (ch.  ii.  18).  The  representation  of 
Havernick,  and  of  those  who  follow  him,  is  in 
this  matter  as  incorrect  as  in  respect  to  Job,  to 
whose  intercession  for  his  friends  Jehovah  cer- 
tainly has  respect  (cli.  xlii.  8  sq. ).  Tlie  climax, 
also,  which  Klief.  and  Keil  still  concede  to  Haver- 
nick, has  therefore  no  existence.  In  the  parallel 
passage  in  Jer.  xv.  1,  Moses  and  Samuel  are  not 
supposed  to  be  inhabitants  of  the  land,  like  those 
here  named  :  who  are  also  not  so  specially  Israel- 
itish  personages,  but  of  a  more  general  historical 
character,  in  harmony  with  the  indefinite  mode  of 
conceiving  the  land.  (But  comp.  also  for  the  con- 
nection with  what  precedes,  Jer.  xiv. )  Daniel 
figures  between  Noali  and  Job,  not  certainly  in 
order  to  his  being  canonized  by  means  of  the  two 
primeval  personages  (Hengst.),  but — if  this  lift- 
ing into  prominence  of  a  still  youthful  contem- 
porary by  the  insertion  of  his  name  between  theirs 
is  not  to  be  reckoned  mere  flattery — because  of 
his  universally  (and  especially  by  the  exiles)  re- 
cognised real  and  high  importance  for  the  faith  of 
Israel  at  the  royal  court.  Comp.  also  ch.  xxviii. 
3.  According  to  ch.  viii.  1  (comp.  with  ch.  xx. 
1),  we  are  in  the  sixth  year  of  Jehoiachin's  cap- 
tivity. Thirteen  or  fourteen  years  earlier,  in  the 
reign  of  Jehoiakim,  Daniel  was  carried  into  exile 
in  his  youth.  The  divine  discourse,  therefore, 
makes  rhetorical  use  of  thein  as  three  personages 
universally  known  for  preservation  against  de- 
struction, in  order  to  lepresent  the  state  of  atfaii'S 
here  in  question  as  the  more  hopeless  ;  for  Noah, 
Daniel,  and  Job  will  save  nothing  but  their  own 
life,  i.e.  as  the  repeated  assurance  in  the  three 
following  cases  expresses  it  with  pathetic  em- 
phasis, neither  sou  nor  daughter,  not  to  speak  of 
othei's,  or  even  friends  ;  whereas  Noah  was  able  to 
save  beasts  even,  Daniel  Chaldean  magi,  Job  such 
as  were  actually  outside  the  community  of  Israel. 
The  apodosis  begins  with  'mBH. 

[F.\IRBURN':  ''The  two  most  powerful  and 
honoured  intercessors,  Moses  and  Samuel,  could 
not  prevent  or  rectify  the  evil  by  their  interces- 
sion, Jeremiah  had  said.  No,  responds  Ezekiel 
from  the  banks  of  the  Chebar  ;  nor  could  three  if 
the  most  righteous  men  that  have  ever  lived, 
either  in  past  or  present  times,  do  it  by  their 
righteousness.  Though  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job 
were  all  at  this  moment  in  the  land,  they  could 
not  stay  the  judgment  of  God  from  proceeding." 
-W.F.] 

Ver.  15.  ^p,  with  the  imperf.,  used  of  things  not 
now  actually  existing,    but  perhaps  possible. — 


.<J2 


EZEKIEL. 


The  will!  beasts  i  f  prey  conceivable  in  connection 
with  every  kind  of  devastation  (comp.  ver.  21), 
here  placed  between  famine  and  war.  (Hengst.  : 
"  In  the  usual  sense  or  in  human  form.")  Comp. 
ch.  V.   17;  Lev.  xxvi.  22;  2  Kings  xvii.   25. — 

Ch.  xii.  20. —  ''^3D,  because  of  the  want  of,  be- 
cause there  i%  not,  or :  so  that  there  is  not  =  Ver. 
16:  aSTDX,  they  shall  not  do  so,  quite  certainly. 

—Ver.  ir.  Ch.  vi.  3,  xi.  8.— Ver.  19.  Ch.  v.  17, 
ix.  8.  ma,  not :  because  of  blood  shed,  blood- 
guiltiness,  but:  so  that  the  outpouring  of  divine 
wrath  manifests  itself  in  the  shedding  of  human 
blood,  i.e.  either  generally:  through  dj-ing,  or 
more  specially:  through  violent  death,  hence:  as 
in  war,  or  that  (Hengst.  )  the  epidemic  is  repre- 
sented as  an  execution  as  it  were  with  the  sword, 
or  (HiTZ. )  that  a  peculiar  epidemic,  which  should 
make  itself  known  by  a  vomiting  of  blood  or  tlie 
like,  would  be  meant. — Ver.  20.  A  winding  up, 
and  therefore  a  repetition  of  the  three  in  the  form 
of  ver.  14. 

Ver.  2].   «3  does  not  introduce  the  application, 

for  all  that  precedes  was  already  that ;  but  gives 
the  reason  why  for  the  whole  deliverance  is  not 
to  be  thought  of,  only  destruction,  Jerusalem 
being  now  named,  as  we  shall  see,  in  order  to 
justify  such  procedure  with  it.    13  BX.  "■  climax, 

inasmuch  as  the  separate  judgments  given  above 
as  examples  are  now  all  four  together,  and  with 

definite  certainty  ('nn^B',  perf  )  pronounced  upon 

Jerusalem.  (Hengst.  :  How  much  more  must  it 
manifest  itself  in  the  servant  who  knew  his 
master's  will,  and  did  it  not !)  The  number  four 
may  possibly  symbolize  the  completeness  of  the 
judgment,  as  one  on  all  sides  (Klief.  ).  Formerly 
famine  was  first ;  here  it  is  the  sword,  because  the 
calamity  of  war  lay  immediately  before  them.  In 
consequence  of  it  the  other  three  judgments  came 
after  one  another,  and  side  by  side  with  one 
another.  War  brings  famine  into  the  cities, 
corpses  outside,  which  attract  the  beasts  ;  and 
from  all  there  follows  the  pestilence.  It  is  super- 
fluous in  Hengst.  to  point  to  ch.  xix.  2  for  figura- 
tive beasts.  Jerusalem  is  thus  the  "land"  for- 
merly spoken  of,  represents  it. — Ver.  22.  It  is 
exceedingly  striking  (njni),  that  after  all  a  num- 
ber escape  the  judgment,  who  are  carried  captive 
to  Babylon  (to  you)  ;  but  they  are  not  tltose  who 
save  tlieir  life  by  their  righteousness,  but  those 
who  are  to  justify  Jehovah's  righteousness  ad 
oculos  (D3n),  aud  that  by  means  of  tlieir  way  ; 

not  in  the  sense  of  lot,  or  what  happens  to  them, 
but  in  the  connection  here,  where  Dni^''^y  gives 
the  more  exact  explanation,  as  designating  their 
walk,  just  as  Dni^'i'V  itself  indicates  their  habi- 
tual actings,  and,  indeed,  their  bad  way  of  acting. 
Ye  shall  convince  yourself  with  your'  own  eyes 
that  these  escaped  ones  might  rather  be  regarded 
as  an  irony,  a  caricature  of  these  three  men. 
Isa  DK:  "  as  respects  all  that."     Still  more  clear 

is  it  in  Ver.  23  that  it  will  be  a  comfort  through 
the  persons  themselves,  and  that  it  will  consist 
in  thi  knowledge  that  such  corruption  had  de- 


served such  destruction.   Qjn  N^),  comp.  ch.  vi.  10. 

There  of  speaking,  here  of  acting.  Hence,  as  it 
is  there  said  in  reference  to  the  consequence,  the 
result,  so  here  in  reference  to  the  cause — not  with- 
out being  deserved.  Chap.  vi.  of  tlie  remnant 
themselves  ;  in  our  passage  of  those  to  whom  they 
are  added  as  exiles.  We  see  that  there  is  not 
much  hope  of  conversion  for  the  former  as  a  whole. 
That,  even  in  the  case  of  a  relentless  extermina- 
tion of  the  bad,  "  there  should  yet  be  left  a  rem- 
nant of  good  "  (Neteler),  is  certain,  but  is  not 
said  here.  It  is  thus  opposed  to  the  context 
when  Hitzig,  appealing  in  a  singular  way  to 
Num.    xiv.    31,  .understands   by    D'SilBH    the 

younger  race  who  had  not  grown  old  in  sin,  who 
shall  conduct  themselves  in  an  irreproachable 
way,  just  as  they  have  by  their  blamelessncss 
saved  themselves  merely,  not  their  parents  also  ; 
whereby,  however,  compassion  will  be  only  the 
more  stirred  ;  they  will  be  a  pleasing  spectacle  in 
their  inoffensive  and  God-pleasing  life.  The  right 
knowledge  is  therefore  to  be  this,  that  God  has 
exterminated  the  wicked,  has  saved  the  innocent, 
consequently  has  judged  righteously  (with  good 
cause).  Just  as  little  have  we  here  an  assevera- 
tion (really,  truly),  as  Havernick  understands 
'3  flS,  announcing  a  new,  unusual  judgment  be- 
sides the  four. 


DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  Not  merely  in  view  of  the  dangerous  posi- 
tion of  Israel  in  the  midst  of  the  heatlien  nations, 
but  as  flowing  from  the  jieculiar  relation  of  Je- 
hovah to  His  people  as  chosen  from  mankind, 
there  is  a  prophecy  under  the  Old  Covenant 
mediating  that  covenant.  For  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  not  yet  present,  John  vii.  39.  God  speaks 
and  manifests  Himself  in  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  power  by  the  mouth  of  His  holy 
prophets.  Extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit  assert 
a  p'ace  for  themselves ;  things  perceived  in  vision, 
disclosures  by  means  of  the  dream,  profoundly 
significant  iitterances  and  signs  occur  even  in  the 
service  of  individual  needs.  But  prophecy  be- 
comes a  prophetic  office  and  formally  an  order  of 
prophets,  and  that  especially  the  more  the  priest- 
hood sinks,  and  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  is 
secularized  by  means  of  the  kingdom.  Ever 
stedfast  to  Jehovah,  and  regulating  itself  by  His 
law,  this  prophecy  preserved  its  genuine  character 
and  proved  its  genuineness  ;  just  as  it  continued 
to  uphold,  with  the  force  of  constitutional  law 
and  with  a  reformer's  energy,  the  sovereignty  of 
Jehovah  against  every  power  which  rose  up  against 
it.  As,  however,  in  spite  of  this,  the  national 
life  sank  to  the  verge  of  dissolution,  tliere  ap- 
peared, in  opposition  to  the  divine  ordinance  of 
true  prophecy,  an  order  of  false  prophets,  de- 
voted to  idols  and  to  the  court,  which  enjoyed 
the  sympathies  of  high  and  low.  It  cultivated 
the  rhetoric  of  a  phraseology  at  once  yielding 
and  heroic,  in  other  respects  having  manifold 
affinities  with  the  journalism  of  the  presint  day 
as  it  is  exhibited  by  the  French  press.  In  itself 
thoroughly  ungodly,  it  afl'ects  outwardly  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  species  of  religiosity,  which  certainly 
desires  to  know  nothing  of  sin,  and  conse- 
quently also  nothing  of  punishment.  It  brands 
with  the  suspicion  of  fanaticism  and  hypocrisy 


CHAP.  XIV. 


153 


the  zealous  prophecy  of  the  law,  whii'h,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  ridicule  as  well  as  blandishments  of 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  has  to  proclaim  the  re- 
former's call  to  repentance,  and  along  with  that, 
in  ever  louder  tones,  the  prophecy  of  judgment. 

2.  As  Jer.  xxix.  ]3  explains  the  zealous  seek- 
ing (kH^)   with    the  whole   heart,   the  seeking 

(tfpa)  which  finds,  it  is  a  standing  requirement 

from  all  who  would  draw  nigh  to  God  that  they 
believe  that  He  is  (Heb.  xi.  6).  The  idolatrous 
practical  atheism  corresponds  neither  to  the  one 
nor  the  other.  Thus  there  cau  be  no  talk  of 
finding  or  letting  oneself  be  found.  The  answer 
of  God,  which  is  therefore  no  answer,  as  the 
parties  in  question  also  have  not  yet  inquired,  is 
consequently  a  declinature ;  and  that  of  a  special 
kind,  to  allow  of  its  being  got  by  inquiry.  But 
it  is  the  nature  of  idols  to  be  able  neither  to  hear 
nor  to  answer.  Accordingly,  if  Jehovah  is  not 
to  wear  the  semblance  of  an  idol.  He  must  not 
only  show  Himself  as  one  that  hears,  but  as  one 
who  tries  the  heart  and  reins,  and  understands  the 
thoughts  afar  off;  and  His  silence  will  have  to  be 
regarded  as  speaking,  in  the  same  way  as  His 
speaking  as  it  passes  over  into  the  virtual  answer 
of  punishment,  of  judgment. 

3.  In  the  heart  the  stream  of  our  life  is 
gathered  up,  alike  in  its  outflow  and  inflow.  To 
it  the  Bible  assigns  the  central  place,  both  in  a 
corporeal  and  spiritual  point  of  view.  Comp. 
Beck,  Umriss  der  bibl.  Seeltnkhre,  3  Aufl.  p. 
74  sq.  Its  hidden  depths  are  known  to  God 
alone,  who  at  the  same  time  takes  hold  of  man  in 
his  conscience,  when  He  takes  him  in  his  heart. 
In  this  way  He  makes  the  unanswerable  witness 
speak  of  guilt  and  punishableness  ;  and  alike  for 
faith  ami  for  love,  the  whole  lieart,  the  full 
activity  of  man's  reason  and  emotional  nature,  as 
it  has  its  sphere  in  the  moral  self-determinati  ii 
of  the  personal  con.sciousness,  is  claimed.  In  ac- 
cordance with  such  a  meaning  of  the  heart  must 
the  call  to  turn  from  their  idols  be  understood  as 
a  taking  hold  on  God's  part  of  the  heart  of  Israel. 

4.  The  case  of  the  prophet  who  allows  himself 
to  be  persuaded,  to  be  enticed,  illustrates  to  us 
the  course  of  pimishment.  It  is  not  merely  that 
God  permits  the  temptation,  the  misleading, — 
although  it  proceeds  originally  from  the  indwell- 
ing sin  (Jas.  i.  14), — for  every  following  sin  is  at 
the  same  time  a  punishment  of  that  which  goes 
before.  "In  virtue  of  a  divine  law,  the  man  is 
compelled  either  to  take  back  the  sin  with  re- 
giet,  repentance,  conversion,  to  its  commence- 
ment and  its  principle,  or  to  continue  in  its  path 
towards  his  punishment"  (Nitzsch).  "God  has 
no  inactive  part  in  the  development  of  sin  ;  He 
knows  how  to  guide  the  matter  throughout,  so 
that  sm  attains  its  full  maturity,  and  brings  on 
punishment.  He  takes  care  that  there  can  be  no 
standing  still,  no  halting  at  an  intermediate 
stage ;  He  makes  the  occasions  and  removes  the 
hindrances"  (Hengst.).  Thus  God  gives  up  the 
sinner  to  his  sin,  but  reveals  Himself  at  the 
same  time  in  His  power,  whereby  there  is  always 
given  along  with  the  sin  corruption,  and  that  as 
punishment ;  and  in  this  way  He  causes  the 
righteous  reward  to  come  upon  him. 

5.  As  the  false  prophets  appear  in  connection 
with  national  corruption  as  a  definite  stage  in 
the  development,  so  likewise  they  are  put  in  re- 
lation to  Jehovah,  and  in  this  relation  are  recog- 


nised as  a  dispensation  of  God,  as  a  divine  judg- 
ment, although  at  the  same  time  meant  tor 
separation  and  decision  in  Israel.  To  this  we 
must  refer  the  "testing,"  for  which  provision  is 
made  in  Deut.  xiii.  "The  fact  that  false  pro- 
phecy sprang  up  with  quite  peculiar  energy  about 
the  period  of  the  exile,  appears  accordingly  not 
to  be  accidental  and  devoid  of  significauce.  The 
process  of  separation  between  the  pious  and  the 
ungodly  was  thereby  accelerated.  But  that 
period  is  only  the  bringing  to  light  of  a  truth 
which  retains  its  import  onwards  to  the  end  ol 
the  world,  2  Thess.  ii.  9  sq."  (Hiv.)  ["The 
point  chiefly  to  be  noticed  in  this  deliverance  of 
the  mind  of  God  is  the  connection  between  the 
self-deceived  people  and  the  deceiving  prophet ; 
regarding  whom  it  is  said,  in  peculiarly  strong 
language,  '  1  the  Lord  have  enticed  (or  deceived) 
that  prophet.'  It  is  an  example  in  the  highest 
sphere  of  the  lex  talionis.  If  the  people  were 
sincere  in  their  desire  to  know  the  mind  of  God, 
for  the  purpose  of  obeying  His  will,  the  path 
was  plain.  They  had  but  to  forsake  their  idola- 
tries, and  the  Lord  was  ready  to  meet  them  with 
direction  and  blessing.  But  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  they  were  bent  on  playing  the  hypocrite, 
professing  to  inquire  concerning  Him,  while  their 
hearts  in  reality  were  cleaving  to  corruption, 
punishment  was  sure  to  overtake  them,  and  that, 
too,  in  the  first  instance,  after  the  form  of  their 
own  iniquity.  God  would  chastise  their  sin  with 
a  corresponding  sin  ;  and  as  they  had  rejected 
the  safe  direction  of  the  true  light,  he  would 
send  the  pernicious  delusion  of  a  false  one. 
Prophets  would  be  given  them,  who  should  re- 
echo the  deceitfulness  that  already  wrought  in 
their  own  bosom,  so  that  their  iniquity  should 
prove  their  ruin." — Faikbaikn's  Ezekiel,  p.  147. 
— W.  F.] 

6.  "In  the  juxtaposition  of  Daniel  with  the 
exalted  figures  of  Noah  and  Job,  we  have  a  solid 
support  for  the  historical  character  of  the  book 
of  Daniel.  Besides,  the  connection  with  eminent 
wisdom  in  ch.  xxviii.  is  exactly  the  characteristic 
feature  in  the  personality  of  Daniel,  as  it  is 
represented  in  his  book  "  (Hengst.). 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  :  "  Hypocrites  may  indeed  dec«ive 
men,  but  not  God,  Ps.  xii.  2,  3"  (C'R.).  Acts 
V. — "So  also  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  came  to 
Christ  in  the  gospel ;  not  that  they  wished  to 
learn  of  Him,  but  for  the  purpose  of  tempting 
Him  "  (Luther). — As  the  prophet  is  here  waraec 
of  God,  set  right  through  the  Spirit,  so  Je.nus 
knew  what  was  in  man  (John  ii.  24,  25). — ""iVe 
learn  from  this  how  false  men  are ;  for  who 
could  have  supposed  this  of  old  men,  who  we'c 
near  the  grave?"  (Luther. )— To  li.sten  to  God  is 
to  get  clear  insight  as  to  men.  —  "  It  is  not  wrong 
for  one  to  ask  counsel  of  teachers  in  doubtful 
cases ;  but  those  teachers  are  to  give  it  not  ac- 
cording to  tlie  imaginations  of  their  own  hea.t, 
but  according  to  the  leading  of  God's  word" 
(Starke). — "Those  parties  do  not  judge  rightly 
who  do  not  wish  to  put  the  images  out  of  the 
temples  until  the  idols  are  away  out  of  men's 
hearts.  We  ought  rather  to  give  testimonj 
against  both,  because  God  in  His  word  rejects 
images  and  idols  alike.  For  if  the  former  are 
not  removed  from  the  eyes  of  men,  there  remaiui 


tsi 


EZEKIET.. 


the  danger  that  one  may  again  worship  them. 
From  the  adulterous  woman,  the  clothes,  rings, 
letters  of  her  paramours  must  be  taken  away, 
that  she  may  not  again  be  reminded  of  her  lovers. 
This  holds  good  also  of  the  spiritual  adultery  of 
superstition"  (Luther).  —  "Such  a  filthy  idol  is 
one's  own  righteousness,  the  high  opinion  which 
a  man  has  of  his  own  works,  Phil.  iii.  7,  8  " 
(Cooc  ). — "Most  men  have  something  on  which 
their  heart's  dependence  is  placed,  and  in  this 
way  are  chargeable  with  a  refined  species  of 
idolatry.  Hence  it  is  no  wonder  if  God  does 
not  hear  their  prayer,  John  ix.  31  "  (Starke). — 
"  From  the  despisers  of  the  truth  the  word  of 
God  is  taken  away,  Acts  xiii.  46"  (0. ). — The 
speaking  and  silence  of  God  here,  as  in  the  c^ise 
of  Jesus  before  the  Sanhedrim  and  before  Pilate. 
— "Answering  as  well  as  greeting  is  a  sign  of 
good-will  and  friendliness ;  and  so  God  shows  His 
indignation  when  He  does  not  answer,  or  does 
not  answer  as  one  desires.  As  e.g.  happened  to 
Saul"  (Luther). — Ver.  4.  "God  leaves  sinners 
without  answer  and  help,  in  order  that  they  may 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  their  sin"  (Hengst. ). 
— Ver.  5.  God  aims  at  the  heart  of  man. — Ver. 
6.  Conversion  is  a  step  backward,  but  one  which 
is  also  a  step  forward,  and  that  from  idols  to  the 
living  God. — Vers.  7,  8.  As  with  respect  to 
whole  lands,  so  with  respect  to  the  individual 
man,  visitation  ends  at  last  in  utter  destruction. 
He  that  wooed  to  repentance  adjudges  to  perdi- 
tion. The  lieart  which  has  become  stone  is  re- 
jected.—Lot's  wife,  for  example,  is  a  sign  ;  pro- 
verbs are  such  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  Dathan 
and  Abiram,  Judas,  etc. — The  cutting  off  from 
Israel  often  takes  place  inwardly,  so  that  only 
the  individual  himself  knows  about  it.— "Al- 
though God  does  not  always  cause  hypocrites  to 
be  publicly  put  to  shame,  yet  the  testimony  of 
their  own  conscience  is  often  punisliment  enough  " 
(Cr.).  —  "Because  God  sees,  hears,  knows  all.  He 
will  one  day  also  give  an  answer  as  respects  all, 
not  only  to  pious  hearts,  but  also  to  the  ungodly, 
although  such  an  answer  is  long  delayed  "  (W.). 
— Vers.  9,  10.  "When  the  men  of  the  world  do 
not  hear  from  the  true  prophets  what  they  would 
like  to  hear,  they  are  wont  to  seek  out  the  false 
prophets.  In  this  way  they  have  already  fallen 
into  tlie  judgment  of  God,  for  there  are  no  false 
prophets  without  God's  will.  But  now  they  are 
e.x[)ressly  said  to  share  also  the  judgment  on  the 
false  prophets"  (Luther).  —  "Such  miserable 
men,  who  themselves  lie  under  the  destiny  of 
God,  are  led  by  Him  whither  they  will  not,  and 
are  hastening  to  meet  the  judgment,  cannot  pos- 
sibly furnish  a  staff  for  others  "  (Hengst.). — He 
WAo  does  not  wish  the  truth — and  truth  for  man 
consists  first  of  all  in  the  knowledge  of  sin — is 
Si  ought  to  ruin  at  last  by  the  lie,  notwithstand- 


ing all  his  asking  after  truth  and  speaking  of 
truth. — God  mairifests  Himself  therefore  to  liypo- 
crites  also,  but  as  righteousness. — "God  plants 
the  pious,  but  roots  out  the  ungodly,  hearers  and 
teachers  alike  "  (Starck). — Ver.  11.  And  yet  all 
at  last  turns  out  for  the  good  of  His  children. — 
"If  the  flourishing  of  the  false  prophets  serves 
to  test  the  faith  of  the  pious,  their  fidelity  in 
confession,  their  stedfastness,  the  judgment  on 
them  and  on  those  who  follow  them  confirms  the 
pious  in  their  piety  "  (  Luther).  — Even  the  burn- 
ing houses  of  the  wicked  are  a  light  on  the  way 
of  the  pious. — The  universal  approbation  which 
apostasy  from  God  enjoj's  in  the  world  would 
lead,  if  it  were  possible,  to  the  very  elect  being 
seduced  in  such  days  as  ours.  And  therefore  not 
only  must  the  world  pass  away  with  the  lust 
thereof  daily  before  the  eyes  of  those  who.  blessed 
be  God,  can  see,  but  striking  judgments  of  God 
as  well  must  confirm  to  those  that  hear  God's 
word  the  fact  that  it  alone  abideth  for  ever. — 
"  How  merciful  is  God,  who  reclaims  the  wan- 
derers, and  cleanses  the  polluted,  and  in  His 
judgments  still  fulfils  His  promises  !  "  (Luther,  i 
— Ver.  13.  Land  and  people, — the  former  suffer- 
ing for  the  sake  of  the  latter,  the  latter  through 
the  former. — Sin  the  destruction  of  the  people. — 
"Although  public  calamities  have  their  natural 
causes,  they  stand  under  God's  government  " 
(Starke). — Ver.  14.  "The  Jews  in  all  likelihood 
placed  much  reliance  on  the  commandments  and 
the  intercession  of  the  saints,  and  supposed  that 
on  this  account  they  need  not  be  afraid  of  the 
threatenings  of  the  prophets.  But  such  empty 
hope  Ezekiel  dismisses"  (Luther). — Ver.  15  sq. 
I  "  If  the  godly  in  such  judgment  cannot  be 
heard  when  they  pray  for  the  ungodly,  how 
much  less  will  the  latter  find  audience  for  their 
own  persons!"  (Luther.) — Godliness  has  the 
promise  of  this  life  also. — "  The  cause  of  wars  is 
sin,  which  God  means  to  punish  ;  but  He  means 
to  test  the  godly  also  in  their  patience,  and  to 
visit  them"  (Luther). — Vers.  21-23.  "In  a 
similar  relation  with  the  people  of  the  Old 
Covenant  stand  the  Christian  nations,  only  tliat 
in  their  case  the  responsibility  appears  enhanced  " 
(Hengst.). — God's  righteousness  is  clearly  mani- 
fested in  those  that  perish,  as  well  as  by  means 
of  those  that  escape. — "The  ungodly  man,  so 
long  as  he  remains  unconverted,  at  most  keeps 
in  check,  but  never  changes,  his  disposition " 
(Luther). — "Comfort  lies  in  the  justification  of 
the  ways  of  God.  Knowledge  of  the  greatness 
and  depth  of  sin — this  is  in  all  cases  the  chief 
foundation  of  the  theodicy"  (Hengst.).  — Even 
these  miserable  ones  may  be  an  apologetic. — 
"  So  long  as  we  do  not  understand  that  God  on 
just  grounds  acts  sternly,  so  long  are  our  soula 
distressed  and  tormented  "  (Calv.  ). 


4.   The  Parable  of  the  Vine  Tree  for  the  Burning  (ch.  xv.). 

1,  2       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  nie,  saying.  Son  of  man,  what  shall 
the  wood  of  the  vine  be  more  than  any  wood?  the  vine- branch  which  was 

3  among  the  trees  of  the  forest !     Is  wood  taken  thereof  to  do  any  work  ■!     Or 

4  do  they  take  a  peg  of  it  to  hang  any  vessel  thereon  1     Behold,  it  is  [was] 
given  to  the  fire  for  fuel  [food]  ;  its  two  ends  the  fire  consumed,  and  its  middle 

5  is  scorched  ;  is  it  fit  for  any  work  ?     Behold,  in  its  uninjured  state,  it  will  not 
do  for  any  work  ;  how  much  less,  when  the  fire  hath  devoured  iti>  and  it  ia 


CHAP.  XV. 


155 


6  scorched,  will  it  still  do  for  any  work  1  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  As  the  wood  of  the  vine  among  the  wood  of  the  forest,  which  I 
have  given  to  the  fire  for  fuel,  so  have  I  given  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem. 

7  And  I  have  set  iMy  face  against  them ;  from  the  fire  they  went  out,  and  the 
fire  shall  consume  them  ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  I  set  My 

8  face  against  them.  And  I  have  made  the  land  a  desolation  [a wilderness], 
because  they  have  committed  treachery  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.  2  Sept.:  .  .  .  t*  av  ^ivoiT» —  Vnlg. :  .  .  .  quidfiet. 
Vat.  6.  For  }'y2  there  is  a  plural  reading:  'SJ?3. 


EXEGETICAL  KE.MAUKS. 

A  figvire  (vers.  1-5)  and  its  application  (vers. 
6-8).  The  former  is  carried  out  in  detail  ;  the 
hitter  folloM's  in  the  shape  of  interpretation. 
With  much  plausilnlity,  Neteler  (conip.  ver.  7  with 
ell.  xiv.  22  sq. )  refers  what  follows  specially  to 
"the  remnant  left  over,"  in  support  of  whicli  the 
connection  with  what  precedes  might  be  pleaded  : 
but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  this  remuant 
are  the  justification  of  the  judgment  on  the 
whole  ;  and  hence,  that  the  reference  generally 
to  Judah  and  Jerusalem  is  to  be  maintained. 

Ver.  2.  The  figure  of  the  vine  or  vineyard  is 
in  current  use  for  Israel  ( Deut.  xxxii.  32  ;  Isa. 
V. ;  Hos.  X.  ;  Jer.  ii.  21  ;  Ps.  Ixxx.  9  [8]  ;  Matt. 
xxi.  33  sq. )  in  manifold  shades  of  meaning, — 
sometimes  the  noble  vine,  sometimes  the  degene- 
rate, sometimes  the  wild  vine.  The  latter  is  perhaps 
the  idea  lying  at  the  foundation,  no  stress,  how- 
ever, being  laid  upon  it ;  but  tlie  vine  in  general,  as 
compared  with  other  wood,  is  meant  to  be  spoken 
of,  so  that  the  figure  of  the  vine  furnishes  merely, 
as  it  were,  the  customary  title  of  Israel.  What 
superiority  has  Israel,  although  the  so-called 
"  vine,"  as  a  nation  over  other  nations "  Culture 
makes  the  vine  a  vine,  just  as  it  causes  it  to 
bear  noble  fruit.  Now,  however,  instead  of  the 
despised  cultuit,  there  manifests  itself  the  judg- 
ment of  God  !     Hence,   also,  Vy :    the  wood  of 

the  vine.  —  nTTTID.  not  so  much  :  what  supe- 
riority has  it  ?  as  ratlier :  what  will  be  its  fate  ? 
how  will  it  fare  with  it?  as  judgment  is  hinted 

at.  —  fypSD-     Every  other  wood  can  be  maile  use 

of ;  the  vine,  on  the  contrary,  is  of  no  service 
except  for  its  fruit.  The  answer  supposed  for 
the  question,  therefore,  not  merely  denies  the  claim 
to  a  better  fate,  but  even  makes  the  wood  of  the 
vine  inferior  to  other  wood,  that  is  to  say,  when 
it  fails  of  its  aim.  This  is  the  intermediate 
thought,  which  the  apposition  (corres]ionding  as 
it  does  with  the  accents):  '-|t;'X  midn,  explains. 

Differently  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.    miDT  (commonly 

so  called  from  paring  or  pruning;  according  to 
others,  from  intertwining;  or,  "that  wldch 
shoots  ;  "  lof  is  used  to  express  a  process — that 

of  nipping  off — derived  from  vine-culture)  is  the 
plant  of  the  vine  (Isa.  xvii.  10),  which  accord- 
ingly has  been  removed  from  its  original  habitat 
in  the  wilderness,  in  order  to  be  planted,  to  be 
cultivated.      The  masc.  n*n  refers  to  wood,   as 

being   the   connection    in   which   the    miOT    '^ 

thought  ot     So  also  in  what  follows.     If  it  has 


I  not  repaid  the  ;Janting,  and  this  is  the  case  here 

— but  it  is  not  expressly  said  that  it  had  become 

I  degenerate,  had  borne  no  fruit  at  all  or  bad  fruit 

i  (HEXGsr. ;  "  the  vine-shoot  which  is  among  the 

j  trees  of  the  forest "  =z  the  vine  which  corresiionds 

with  the  forest-trees  in  barrenness,  as  it  is  mere 

wood  ;    the   wild  vine   does   not  occur  at  all  in 

Scripture), — the  questions  that  follow  n:iturally 

suggest  themselves  in  this  connection.  —  Ver.  3. 

For   use  its   diameter  even  unfits   it   (Hitzig)  ; 

while  its  appearance  is  too  paltry  for  ornament, 

and  it  is  too  weak  to  bear  anything  excejit  fruit. 

i  — Ver.  4.  Useless  as  wood,  because  it  is  of  service 

I  merely  for  its  fruit,  it  falls  of  right  to  the  fire 

I  (John  XV.  6  ;  Matt.  vii.  19).      Hut  still  less  is  to 

be  thought  of  it,   ami   therefore,  just  as  at  the 

beginning  (ver.  2)  a  question  was  put  as  to  its 

fate,  the  question  is  renewed  in  view  of  the  effect 

of  the  fire.     The  two  ends  are  in  the  application 

perhaps  not   so  much   the   kingdom   of  the   ter 

tribes  and  Judah,  as  rather  these  tribes  of  Israe. 

j  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other  ;  so  that  tie 

I  middle  piece,  which  may  still  come  in  question, 

:  is  Judah  with  Jerusalem,  or  the  latter  alone.    -inj 

'■■  partic.  Niph.  of  ^^^•     Figure  and  reality  run- 

:  ning  into  one  another.  What  is  in  prospect  is 
]  in  part  realized  fact,  on  the  ground  of  wliiidi  a 
]  further  question  is  put  (Matt.  iii.  10  ;  Heb. 
I  vi.  8). — Ver.  5.  njn  resumes  the  parallel  njn   of 

ver.  4.  What  could  not  even  be  in  its  uninjured 
state,  can  much  less  be  when  the  case  stands 
with  it  as  in  ver.  4. 

The  carrying  out  of  the  figure  already  indicated 
its  reference  generally;  the  application  now  inter- 
prets it  expressly  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem. — 
Ver.  6.  I'nnj'ntJ'K,  suchadestiny  as  has  just  been 

made  to  tivke  effect.  Hengst.  :  "which  I  give" 
by  a  law  of  nature  with  regard  to  the  vine. — Ver. 
7.  Ch.  xiv.  8. — From  the  fire,  etc.,  that  is  to  say, 
in  the  sense  of  vers.  4,  5.  Already  burnt,  they 
would  have  required  to  be  on  their  guard  against 
the  fire.  But  in  this  way  that  is  only  "  tlie  begin- 
ning of  the  end"  (Hengst.).  Many  expositoi-s 
point  specially  to  the  experiences  of  the  divine 
wrath  under  Jehoiakim  and  Jehoiachin.  But 
comp.  on  vers.  4,  5.  (Grot,  proverbially  :  coming 
out  of  the  one,  the  other  will  fall  upon  them. ) — 
Ch.  V.  4,  X.  2.— Ver.  8.  Ch.  xiv.  15,  16,  13. 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  The  temple  of  Herod  even  was  decked  oil 
with  the  "distinguishing  mark"  of  Israel,  th« 
vine  and  its  clusters  (Josephus,  Wars  of  the  Jewa 
T.  6.  4). 


156 


EZEKIEL. 


2.  What  is  here  called  the  "wood,"  Paul  would 
express  by  the  words  :  "  after  the  flesh." 

3.  *'  The  chosen  people  of  God,  if  they  deny  and 
profane  the  Holy  Spirit  of  heavenly  fruitfuhiess, 
who  works  in  them,  are,  as  regards  the  barren 
wood  of  their  original  stock,  less  than  all  other 
nations  "  (Umdkeit). 

4.  "A  nation  or  an  individual  to  whom  God 
has  made  Himself  known,  and  who  turns  His 
grace  into  lasciviousness,  sinks  far  beneath  those 
who  have  not  known  God.  Heb.  vi.  4  sq." 
(Hengst.) 

5.  "  The  Church  is  not  to  be  a  wUderness,  but 
a  vineyard ;  is  not  to  bear  flowers  only,  or  leaves 
and  twigs  merely,  but  fruit.  She  is  not  an  apple- 
tiee  or  fig-tree,  but  a  vine.  Wine  cheers,  inspirits, 
enlivens.  Outwardly  insignificant,  there  is  the 
noblest  power  within.  The  grace  of  Christ  work- 
ing through  poor  apostles  "  (a  Lapide). 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  2  sq.  The  question  as  to  superiority  was 
called  forth  by  the  vainglory  and  self  -  compla- 
cency of  Israel.  They  boasted  of  being  superior, 
and  therefore  what  they  are  to  become  is  held 
up  before  them  ;  for  it  is  not  what  we  seem  to 
ourselves  to  be  that  constitutes  our  superiority 
over  others,  but  it  is  what  has  come  out  of  us 
that  will  ultimately  show  whether  we  are  to  go 
to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left.  The  end  decides 
the  matter.  It  is  not :  the  beginning  good, 
everything  good.  —  ' '  Our  faith  constitutes  our 
Buperiority,  proving  itself  as  it  does  in  our  conduct 


and  edifying  others  "  (Starck). — If  thou  hast,  why 
boastest  thou  thyself,  seeing  thou  hast  received 
it  ?  Keep  what  thou  hast,  that  no  man  rob  thee  ol 
thy  crown. — "  The  intention  of  the  prophet  is  to 
humble  the  foolish  self-confidence  of  the  people, 
who  boasted  themselves  of  the  gifts  of  God's 
grace,  as  if  they  were  mere  natural  e.xcellences. 
On  the  ground  of  His  benefits  they  took  a  stand 
against  God"  (Calv.). — "The  comjiarison  with 
plants  and  trees  is  in  many  respects  a  suitable 
one  for  man  "  (Stakck).  —  "  Believers  have  but  a 
mean  appearance  before  the  world ;  but  in  Christ, 
the  True  Vine,  they  are  fruitful,  John  .xv." 
(Stauke.) — "He  who  looks  at  the  vine  as  re- 
gards its  wood  will  scarce  reckon  it  among  the 
trees.  It  lies  at  the  feet  of  the  trees  of  the  forest. 
Their  wood  far  surpasses  its  wood.  But  because 
God  had  planted  Israel,  he  came  forth  from  the 
wilderness  of  all  the  nations.  Out  of  Egypt  God 
brought  him  (Ps.  Ixxx.  9  [8]  sq.).  Other  nations, 
on  the  contrary,  flourished  by  means  of  arts, 
riches,  population,  capacity  for  war,  etc.  The.se 
were  lofty  forest  trees,  which  drew  the  eyes  of  all 
upon  them.  Israel  stood  and  fell  witli  God'a 
grace"  (Calv.). — To  the  Jews  the  law  was  given 
very  much  as  a  vine-dresser's  knife,  that  they 
might  bring  forth  more  fruit. 

Ver.  6  sq.  "God  is  always  punishing  ;  but  the 
punishment  is  unto  destruction  when  He  sets  Hia 
face  against  the  sinner"  (Luther).  —  "The  fact 
that  one  evil  is  past  makes  men  secure  without 
reason,  for  another  comes  after  it "  (Starck). — 
"  Let  us  learn  from  this  chapter  to  beware  of 
fleshly  security  "  (Luther). 


5.  The  Story  of  the  Lewd  Adulteress  (ch.  xvi.). 

1,  2       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,    Son  of  man,  cause  Jeru 

3  salem  to  know  her  abominations  ;  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  unto 
Jerusalem  :  Thy  origin  [estraction]  and  thy  birth  is  of  the  laud  of  the  Canaanite ; 

4  thy  father  was  the  Amorite,  and  thy  mother  a  Hittite.  And  [as  regards]  thy 
birth,  in  the  day  that  thou  wast  born,  thy  navel  was  not  cut,  neither  wast 
thou  washed  with  water  for  cleansing ;  and  thou  wast  not  rubbed  with  salt 

5  at  all,  nor  wast  thou  wrapt  in  swaddling-bands  at  all.  No  eye  had  pity  upon 
thee  [looked  upon  thee  compassionately],  to  do  One  of  these  things  for  thee,  to  bend 
over  thee  ;  and  thou  wast  cast  out  upon  the  face  of  the  field  [upon  the  open  fltw], 

6  in  contempt  of  thy  soul  [life],  in  the  day  that  thou  wast  born.  And  I  passed 
by  thee,  and  I  saw  thee  stamping  [or,  trampled]  in  thy  blood,  and  said  unto  thee, 

7  In  thy  blood  live  !  and  [yea]  said  unto  thee,  In  thy  blood  live  !  Ten  thousand 
[myiiada]  like  the  bud  of  the  field  I  made  thee  [to  be,  to  become] ;  and  thou  didst 
increase  [di ist  grow  up]  and  wax  great,  and  earnest  to  most  excellent  ornament; 
thy  breasts  became  firm  [lose  ui.],  and  thy  hair  grew,  yet  thou  wast  naked  and 

8  bare.  And  I  passed  by  thee,  and  saw  thee,  and,  behold,  [it  was]  thy  time,  a 
time  of  movements  of  love,  and  I  spread  My  wing  over  thee,  and  covered 
thy  nakedness ;  and  I  swore  unto  thee,  and  entered  into  covenant  with  thee 

9  — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — and  thou  becamest  Mine.  And  I  washed 
thee  with  water,  and  rinsed  thy  blood  from  off  thee,  and  anointed  thee  with 

10  oil.     And  I  clothed  thee  with  broidered  work,  and  shod  thee  with  tachash, 

1 1  and  wrapped  thee  round  with  byssus,  and  covered  thee  with  silk.     And  I 
decked  thee  with  ornament,  and  put  bracelets  upon  thy  hands,  and  a  chain 

12  about  thy  neck.     And  I  put  a  ring  in  thy  nose,  and  earrings  in  thine  ears, 

13  and  a  splendid  crown  upon  thy  head.     And  thou  didst  adorn  thyself  with 
gold  and  silver,  and  thy  clothing  was  byssus  and  silk  and  broidered  work 
fine  flour,  and  hoi  ey,  and  oil  didst  thou  eat ;  and  thou  wast  [tecameit]  exceed 


CHAP.  XVI.  15-, 

ingly  beautiful,  and  didst  prosper  into  [attain  unto]  a  kingdom  [kingly  authority  oi 

14  dignity].  And  thy  name  went  forth  among  the  heathen  for  tliy  beauty ;  for 
it  was  perfect  through  My  adornment,  which  I  put  upon  thee — sentence  oi 

15  the  Lord  Jehovah. — And  [yet]  thou  didst  trust  in  thy  beauty,  and  didst  play 
the  harlot  upon  thy  name,  and  didst  pour  out  thy  fornications  upon  every 

1 6  one  that  passed  by ;  his  it  was.  And  thou  didst  take  of  thy  garments,  and  didst 
make  for  thyself  high  places,  spotted  [patched]  ones,  and  didst  play  the  harlot 

17  upon  them:  they  should  not  come,  neither  should  it  be.  And  thou  didst 
take  articles  of  thy  splendour  [thy  splendid  jewels]  of  My  gold  and  ]My  silver, 
which  I  had  given  thee,  and  didst  make  for  thyself  images  of  men,  and  didst 

18  play  the  harlot  with  them.  And  thou  didst  take  thy  broidered  garments, 
and  didst  cover  them  ;  and  My  oil  and  My  incense  thou  didst  set  before  them. 

1 9  And  My  bread  which  I  gave  thee,  fine  flour,  and  oil,  and  honey  I  gave  thee 
to  eat,  and  thou  didst  set  it  before  them  as  a  sweet  savour :  and  it  was  so — 

20  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  thou  didst  take  thy  sons  and  thy  daugh- 
ters, whom  thou  barest  unto  Me,  and  didst  sacrifice  them  to  them  to  devour ; 

21  was  it  less  than  thy  whoredoms  "i  And  thou  didst  slay  My  sons,  and  gavest 
them  up,  in  causing  them  to  pass  through  [the fire]  for  them  [if.  for  the  idols]. 

22  And  with  all  thy  abominations  and  thy  whoredoms  thou  didst  not  remember 
the  days  of  thy  childhood  [youth],  when  thou  wast  naked  and   bare,  wast 

23  stamping  [trampled]  in  thy  blood.     And  it  came  to  pass  after  all  thy  wicked- 

24  ness — woe,  woe  unto  thee  !  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — That  thou  didst 
build  for  thee  a  vault,  and  didst  make  for  thee  a  high  place  in  every  street. 

25  At  every  head  of  a  way  [crossway,  parting-way]  thou  didst  build  thy  high  place, 
and  didst  put  to  shame  [dwst  abhor]  thy  beauty,   and  didst  spread  out  thy 

26  feet  to  every  passer-by,  and  didst  multiply  thy  whoredoms.  And  thou 
didst  whore  after  the  sons  of  Egypt,   thy  neighbours,  great  of  tlesh,  and 

27  didst  multiply  thy  whoredoms,  to  provoke  Me  to  anger.  And,  behold,  I 
stretched  out  My  hand  over  thee,  and  diminished  thy  allowance,  and  gave 
thee  to  the  soul  of  them   that  hated   thee,  the   daughters  of  the    Philis- 

28  tines,  who  were  ashamed  of  thy  lewd  way.  And  thou  didst  whore  after 
the  sons  of  Asshur  for  want  of  being  satisfied  ;  and  thou  didst  whore  with 

29  them,  and  still  wast  not  satisfied.  And  thou  didst  increase  thy  whore- 
dom unto  the  land  of  Canaan,  Chaldea,  and  even  with  this  wast  not  satis- 

30  fied.  How  exhausted  [spent  with  longing]  is  thy  heart — sentence  of  the  Lord 
Jehovah — when  thou  doest  all  this,  the  doing  of  an  imperious  whorish  woman. 

31  When  thou  didst  build  thy  vault  at  the  head  of  every  way,  and  madest  thy 
high  place  in  every  street,  thou  wast  not  like  the  harlot,  to  scorn  the  hire. 

32  The  woman  that  committeth  adultery  under  her  husband  receiveth  strangers  ! 

33  To  all  harlots  they  give  [are  accustomed  to  give]  a  present  [a  gift],  and  [yet]  thou 
gavest  thy  presents  to  all  thy  lovers,  and  didst  make  presents  to  them,  to 

34  come  to  thee  on  every  side  for  thy  whoredoms.  And  there  was  in  thee 
the  contrary  of  women  ;  in  thy  whoredoms  they  did  not  follow  after  thee  for 
whoredom,  and  in  thy  giving  of  hire  when  no  hire  was  given  to  thee ;  and 

35  [so]  thou  wast  the  contrary. — Therefore,  0  harlot,  hear  the  word  of  Jehovah. 

36  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Because  thy  brass  was  poured  out  [emptied  out], 
and  thy  nakedness  uncovered  in  thy  whoredoms  with  thy  lovers,  and  with  all 
the  filthy  idols  of  thy  abominations,  and  according  to  the  blood  of  thy  sons, 

37  whom  thou  hast  given  unto  them ;  Therefore,  behold,  I  am  gathering  all 
thy  lovers,  to  whom  thou  wast  pleasant,  and  all  whom  thou  hast  loved,  with 
all  whom  thou  hast  hated ;  and  I  gather  them  against  thee  from  round  about, 

38  and  uncover  thy  nakedness  unto  them,  and  they  see  all  thy  nakedness.  And 
I  judge  thee  wth  the  judgments  of  adulteresses  and  of  those  who  shed  blood 

39  and  I  make  thee  into  blood  of  fury  and  jealousy.  And  I  give  thee  into  their 
hand,  and  they  throw  down  thy  vault,  and  demolish  thy  high,  places ;  and 
they  strip  thee  of  thy  clothes,  and  take  the  articles  of  thy  splendour  [thy  spiendw 

10  Jewels],  and  leave  thee  naked  and  bare.  And  they  bring  up  a  company  against 
thee,  and  cast  at  thee  with  stones,  and  hew  thee  down  with  their  sworda 


Ifi8  EZEKIEL 


41  And  they  burn  thy  houses  with  fire,  and  execute  judgments  upon  thee  before 
the  eyes  of  many  women  ;  and  I  make  tliee  cease  from  being  a  harlot,  neither 

42  shall  thou  give  hire  any  more.  And  I  make  My  fury  rest  in  thee,  and  My 
jealousy  departs  from  thee  ;  and  I  take  rest,  and  I  will  no  more  be  angry. 

43  Because  thou  hast  not  remembered  tlie  days  of  thy  childhood  [youth],  and 
didst  rage  against  Me  in  all  this,  behold,  I  also  have  given  thy  way  ujion  thy 
head — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — and  hast  thou  not  committed  lewdness 
above  all  thy  abomination.s  1 

44  Behold,  every  one  that  deals  in  proverbs  shall  utter  a  proverb  against 

45  thee,  saying.  As  is  the  mother,  so  is  her  daughter.  Thou  art  thy  mother'.? 
daughter,  that  spurneth  [castcth  oft]  her  husband  and  her  children  ;  and 
thou  art  the  sister  of  thy  sisters,  who  spurned  their  husbands  and  their 

46  children ;  your  mother  is  a  Hittite,  and  your  father  an  Amorite.  And 
thy  great  sister  is  Samaria,  she  and  her  daughters,  that  dwell  at  thy  left ; 
and  thy  smaller  sister  than  thou,  that  dwelleth  on  thy  right,  is  Sodom  and 

47  her  daughters.  And  [yet]  thou  didst  not  walk  in  their  ways,  nor  didst  after 
their  abominations  ;  as  only  a  little,  thou  wast  more  corrupt  [d<ist  act  more  cor- 

48  rnptiy]  than  they  in  all  thy  ways.  As  I  live — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — 
if  Sodom  thy  sister  hath  done,  she  and  her  daughters,  as  thou  hast  done  and 

49  thy  daughters  !  Behold,  this  was  the  iniquity  of  Sodom  thy  sister :  pride, 
fulness  of  bread,  and  rest  free  from  care  [tianquu  security],  were  to  her  nnd  her 
daughters ;  and  the  hand  of  the  poor  and  needy  she  did  not  take  hold  of 

50  [strengthen].     And  they  were  haughty,  and  committed  abomination  before  Me  ; 

51  and  I  removed  them  when  I  saw  it.  And  Samaria  hath  not  committed  the 
half  of  thy  sins  ;  and  thou  didst  multiply  thy  abominations  more  than  they. 

52  and  didst  justifj'  thy  sisters  by  all  thy  abominations  which  thou  didst.  Thou 
also  bear  [take  upon  thee]  thy  disgrace  [shame],  which  thou  didst  adjudge  to  thy 
sisters  ;  by  thy  sins,  whei'ein  thou  hast  done  more  abominably  than  they,  they, 
will  be  more  righteous  than  thou  ;  and  [yea]  also  be  thou  ashamed,  and  bear 
thy  disgrace,  because  thou  didst  justify  thy  sisters. 

03  And  I  turn  back  their  misery,  the  misery  of  Sodom  and  her  daughters,  and 
the  misery  of  Samaria  and  her  daughters,  and  the  misery  of  thy  miseries 

54  in    the    midst    of   them.      That   thou   mayest   bear   thy   disgrace,   and   be 

55  ashamed  of  all  that  thou  hast  done,  in  that  thou  comfortest  them.  And  thy 
sisters,  Sodom  and  her  d  lugliters,  shall  return  to  their  first  estate,  and  Samaria 
and  her  daughters  shall  return  to  their  first  estate,  and  thou  and  thy  daugh- 

56  ters  shall  return  to  your  first  estate.     And  Sodom  thy  sister  was  not  for  a 

57  report  in  thy  mouth  in  the  day  of  thy  haughtinesses,  Before  thy  wckedness 
was  discovered,  as  at  the  time  of  the  scorn  of  the  daughters  of  Aram,  and  of 
all  her  [.lemsaiems]  surroundings,  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines,  who  despised 

58  thee  round  about.     Thy  lewdness  and  thy  abominations,  thou  hast  borne 

59  [beai est]  them — sentence  of  Jehovah.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  And 
I  did  with  thee  as  thou  hast  done,  who  didst  despise  the  oath  to  break  the 

60  covenant.     And  [yet]  I  remember  My  covenant  with  thee  in  the  days  of  thy 
€1  childhood   [youth],    and   establish  unto  thee  an  everlasting   covenant.     And 

thou  rememberest  thy  ways,  and  art  ashamed,  when  thou  receivest  thy  sisters, 
those  greater  than  thyself  along  with  those  smaller  than  thyself;  and  I  give 

62  them  to  thee  for  daughters,  and  not  by  thy  covenant ;     And  I  establish  My 

63  covenant  with  thee  ;  and  thou  knowest  that  I  am  Jehovah.  To  the  end  thou 
mayest  rememl)er,  and  be  ashamed,  and  there  may  be  no  more  opening  of  thy 
mouth  because  of  thy  disgrace,  when  I  cover  for  thee  all  that  thou  hast  done  : 
sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.   4.  Sept ;  .  ,  .  oix  Hrffeti  r,  fj,xffToui  ecu  .  .  ,  ouK  iXevFOrtt  Tw  xP'^'^^"  a«!^—    Vulg. :  tiott  es  Ic'a  in  salutem^ 

Sept.,  Syr.,  hei..  a^d  Al-ahlc  read:  "^IC,  ubera  tua. 

Ver.    .*>....  i^BatifJ^s  AWV  itrj  ffei  .  .  ,  Tevrtn,  roti  rxQtit  n  izi  crei  .  .  ,  Ttt  ffxoXt9Tr,rt  rr?  ^^t/^*^f  ffw — 

Ver.    6.  .  .  .  xifufiurm  i>  ■">  cu/t. . . .  i«  r«/  a-ifmrn  reu  V  im[  rni,  «.  ^>.^l>lnm  (ver.  7.)_For  "D,  there  is  a  reading 

"l"n,  tUa  tua. 


CHAP.  XVI.  2,  3. 


169 


Ver.    "....».  unxSt!  tU  «>.iif  «Ai««—    VuIk.  :  tfulliplicatam  ipuMi  germm  .  .  .  el  ingrasa  a  et /trvnitlt  »i 
inm  muliebrem;  .  .  .  nuda  et  eonfmiom  plena.— Vov  D^HC  there  Is  a  leading  :   ^^^K^. 
Ver.    8.  .  .  .  aii  xettf/oe  xttTBtXtjovTW.     Vulg. :  tempus  tuum^  ttmpus  amantium. 
Ver.  12.  «.  iiitxa.  <*»rie>  ETJ  T«v  utjKTrpet  fftit  .  .  .  x  rn^xvoi  xxux^^cs — 

Ver.  13.  For  "[tJia^DI,  ihere  is  a  reading  :  TCiaTOI,  el  nestimenla  tua;  Sept.,  Syr. 

Ver.  15.  .  .  .  ii  lilx  iffTKi  —     Vulg.:  .  .  .  ul^usjieres — Sept.  reads:  ^m^TD,  in  the  sing. 

Ver.  16.  .  .  .  «.  «i  ur.  tlffUSr,^  oil'  ov  f^v  yitrtriLt.     Vulg.:  .  .  .  sicut  nan  eit /actum  neque  futurum  est. 

Vers.  19,  20,  21.   .    .   .  x.  .yivtro  ^ET*  T-ai/Ta  .    .    .  ».  IXxfiit  .    .   .   '(ts  f^ixpat  ilETOfittVff-xf,  x,  iffCccZx;  r.  Tlxr»  .    .    .    i»  »» 

i TOT/>oTii?iir8«i  rt  airai  iv  cti™;.    (Many  Ci  dices  and  the  Complat.  have  the  plural:  TTlljtriD;  see  also  vers.  25,  2«  1 

Ver.  27.  'Ea»  Se  fXTdvtt  Tr.f  ...  as.  i^xpai  .  .  .  «.  TxpecivffV  ffi  lii  ^J-f^af  .  .  .  TflEf  ixx^tvovffate  fft  tx  T.  eiw  rcu  nt 
iirt$r)<rxi.     Vulg.:  et  auferam  justifUationem  tuam — (Another  reading:  iH^NT) 

Ver.  28.  .  .  .   Biiya.Tip«.s  ' Arireup  ...  *    ilivopnviru^  at.  aix  ivipcmXiu, 

Ver.  29.  x   i-rXiife'^f  ^v  5i«St;«>i>  rm  ^fx  ■y,"  X«».  «.  X«iJ —    Vulg. :  ...  in  Urra  Chan,  cum  Chaldsds— 

Ver.  30.  Ti  2(«8ft*  rr.v  Svyxrepx  ffcu  .  .  .  u  rtu  ^oinffau  ct  .  .  .  x.  iilrropvlt/axs  rptffffvi  iv  vixis  8t/ystTpa.<m  am—  Vnlg.  ■ 
In  quo  mundaho  cor  luum  .  .  .  cum  facias  omnia  hsec  .  .   .  ? 

Ver.  31.  .  .  .  as.  iyfvav  wf  repvvi  trvvoLyoufft  fiAffdvtLoL-rtx..  Vnlg.:  .  .  .  nee  facta  es  quasi  meretrix  /astidio  augem  pre- 
tiumy  sed  (ver.  Si)  quasi  ii.utier  adultera — 

Ver.  32.  'H  yt>nj  .  .  ofMia.  cot,  Tfle^ae  T.  i.vZpK  «WTtj(  >.apt^xvgurx  puff6mptacTet  voLffit  (ver.  33)  T.  hcvepvluavfiv  uvtrt 
wportiinou  fjuffSattLcLTOi.      K.  ru  ctZaixtr;  .   .   . 

Ver.  34.  .  .  .  iztrrpi^fi,^it6v  ^xpac  T.  yvtxixai  tr  T.  Topvtt*  «'«',  X.  fjt*r»  gm  rVf*pgluXKCit  in  vm  rp«fiii**eu  ri  fitrBoiputrm 
K.  St.  fUffS  euK  'tlo9vi —    Volg. :  et  post  te  non  etnt /omicatio — 

Ver.  36.  For  'Dn31,  the  Sept.,  Chald.,  Arab.,  Volg.  read :   '0^3^ 

Ver.  37.  .   .   .  x,  axtfut^v^at  t.  x<txiats  rev  irpos  xvTOus^ 
Ver.  40.  .  .  .  It^ourtv  ttrt  ri  ox>^evi — 
Ver.  42.  .   .  .   as.  «y  t**i  pLtptu-vxcei  oixtrt. 

Ver.  43.  .  .  .  x.  ikvrtu  t*^  .  .   .  x.  ouiut  irumrxi  T.  a.nSei'^t  tf^u  i*<  rauretsi  r.  ivtfutuf  cov.     Vulg.:  .  .  .  provocasU 
e  ...  el  non  frci  juxta  xcetera  lua  in  omnibus  abomtKationittus  tuis.    (For  B*K"13,  there  iB  a  reading:  ^K^fcClQ,  which 
«l8o  that  of  Syr.  and  Arab  — Sept.,  Syr.,  and  Arab,  read :  ^JV^Vt  without  the  negation.) 
Ver.  46.  .  .  .  i]  trptafiiiTtpx  .  .  .  r  ¥fntpec — 

Ver.  47.  K.  til'  us  .  -  .  tilt  xxtm.  .  .  .  vttptt  puxpn  x.  Iripxtm-xA—  Vulg. :  fetuti  pauxitluw  mimue;  pfn«  tceiera- 
iorafecitli.    (Another  reading :  DHO) 

Ver.  49.  .    .  .   X.  iy  lidrivix  oj'vow  iCTetTctXjtn  oeiyTt)  — 

Ver.  60.  VulK. :  sicut  ridisti.    (Another  reading:  JVH"^  ICtO.) 
Ver.  51.  Another  reading:  T]^J212,  prx  ilia. 

Ver.  53.  Vulg.:  Et  converlam  retlilueni  eat  canversione  Sodomoi-um  c.  Jiliabut  .  .  .  et  conversione  Samarim  .  .  .  ft 
eomertam  retersionem  luam— 

Ver.  65.  .   .   .  OLirtXKTxfrxdriffOVTXt  KttBttf  iiCeu  iT*  ^px^f — 
Ver,  66.  *.  It  ftri  ijv  Idlo/JM — 

Ver.  57.  rpo  tw  . . .  hv  tpa^av  vt/»  tfyuSof  u —    Vuig. :  PaUtitimarum —    (Another  reading :  DTX  ni33  (Edom) ,  Syr.) 

Ver.  61.  «.  ittaw  xirxf  vat  li'f  6ixtief*.r.v — 


EXEGETICAL  KEMARKS. 

The  humbling  prophetic  discourse  passes  from 
the  designation  of  the  vine  to  that  other,  where 
Jerusalem  specially  is  spoken  of  as  the  "daughter  " 
of  Zion.  At  the  basis  of  such  a  conception  of  the 
people,  i.e.  of  Judah  as  a  woman  in  their  still 
standing  capital  city,  the  leader  of  fashion,  there 
lies  the  mystery  of  Jehovah's  covenant  as  a  mar- 
riage.    To  the  course  of  sinning  stretching  over 

centuries,  and  with  special  reference  to  "jyo  IJJJD 

in  ch.  XV.  8,  there  corresponds  the  detailed  picture, 
which  borrows  its  colours  and  therewith  obbiins 
its  justification  from  the  thoroughly  sensual 
idolatry  into  which  the  people  had  fallen.  It 
is  spoken  after  the  manner  of  the  East,  and  must 
be  translated  into  the  language  of  the  West, — in 
other  words,  traced  back  to  its  spirit  and  the  ideas 
lying  underneath.  The  story  which  is  therein 
related  is  in  so  preponderating  a  degree  a  story  of 
sin  (vers.  2-34),  and  the  ]>unishment  of  .sin  (vers.  35- 
52),  that  the  glimpse  of  grace,  with  which  the  long 
chapter  concludes,  only  occupies  the  verses  53-63. 
("The  whole  representation  runs  on  like  a  pro- 
gressive drama,  which  in  an  earthly  picture  sets 
forth  so  rividly  the  conflict  of  the  holy  love  of 
God  with  man's  unfaithfulness,  that  many  a 
reader  certainly,  with  feelings  of  shame,  will 
ex<  laim  :  My  soul  has  been  the  faithless  spouse  of 

God  ! "— SCHMIEDEE.) 


Vers.  2-14.   The  Grace  at  the  Beginning. 

In  this  way  (comp.  Deut.  xxxii.)  the  abomina- 
tions (ch.  vii.  3,  4,  9)  of  Jerusalem — representing 
the  people  in  their  own  land — are  to  be  the  more 
alfectingly  brought  home  to  her  consciousness, 
are  to  be  held  up  before  her  in  so  much  the  more 
shameful  a  light  ("  the  abominations  of  Canaan," 
Hav.).  "  He  first  loved  us,"  is  the  golden  back- 
ground for  the  dark  and  gloomy  picture  which 
follows,  but  which  even  in  Ver.  2  is  kept  in  view, 
and  already  in  Ver.  3  hints  at  Jerusalem's  Canaan- 
itish  origin.  Of  such  a  nature  are  those  abomina- 
tions of  hers  which  the  prophet  is  to  make  known  to 
Jerusalem,  that  such  an  inference  seems  justifiable, 
and  one  that  may  be  drawn.  (Kimchi,  Grotius, 
have  supposed  an  announcement  by  means  of  a 
letter  !) — As  in  the  figurative  expression  :  mWC 

(from  niS,  to  dig),  the  reference  is  to  the  place 

TT 

where  metals  are  found  (comp.  Isa.  U.  1),  or  to 
the  source  (Hav.  compares  ch.  xxi.  35  [30],  and 
understands  :  "place  of  generation, "corresponding 
to  the  father,  just  as  the  place  of  birth  corre- 
sponds to  the  mother),  so  also  nilTiD,  which  ie 

likewise  in  the  plural,  means  something  belonging 
to  the  sphere  of  nature.  The  higher  divine 
origin  of  the  people  is,  in  fact,  lost  sight  of ;  thej 
are  conceived  of  as  regards  the  land  of  thei} 


l60 


EZEKIEL. 


nstural  development,  where  their  capital  city  is 
situate.  The  intermediate  thought  is  the  implied 
accusation,  that  they  have  not  dealt  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land  in  accordance  with  the 
promise  (corap.  Ex.  xxiii.  32  sq.  ;  Deut.  vii.  1 
sq. ),  but  have  become  degenerate  like  them,  and 
therefore  themselves  ripe  for  extermination.  Just 
as  in  John  viii.  44,  in  contrast  with  Abraham, 
"  the  devil "  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  father  "  of  the 
Jews,  so  here  the  Amorite  (Gen.  xv.  16  ;  Josh.  x. 
5),  who  by  himself,  or  also  along  with  the  Hittite, 
is  elsewhere  named  instead  of  the  Canaanite  in 
general,  either  because  these  two  were  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  Canaanitish  nations,  or  be- 
cause with  them  more  than  the  rest  of  the 
Cjuaanites  the  earliest  reminiscences  of  the 
fathers  of  the  Jewish  people  were  connected  (Gen. 
xxiii. ,  xxvi.  34,  3.^,  xxvii.  46,  xxviii.  1,  6,  8). 
Where,  as  here,  the  reference  was  to  the  land,  it 
was  the  Canaanite  (in  Greek  :  the  Phoenician) 
who  principally  came  into  consideration  with  the 
Jews  (Gen.  xxxviii.  2).  What  is  implied  in  the 
expression  Canaanite  might  be  seen  already  in 
Gen.  ix.  25,  were  not  the  Hamitic  corruption  of 
this  people  (comp.  in  what  follows  the  different 
hints  of  this)  a  fact  established  from  profane 
literature  even.  The  close  intercourse  with  tlie 
Semitic  tribes,  already  carried  on  in  earliest  times, 
is  reflected  especially  in  the  Semitic  character  of 
the  language  of  Canaan  ;  it  was  the  overpowering 
spirit  of  the  Semitic  to  which  almost  all  the 
Hamitic  dialects  have  succumbed  :  so  much  the 
more  ignominious  must  the  spiritual  dependence 
of  the  degenerate  Jews,  with  which  Ezekiel  charges 
them,  appear.  (Comp.  Zeph.  i.  11.) — Ver.  4. 
The  circumstances  connected  with  the  birth,  of 
which  the  description  is  still  continued  in  ver.  5, 
point  to  Egypt,  where  the  nation  first  saw  the 
light  of  day. — rnplH,  inf. :  the  being  born.     The 

dagesh  after  shurek  is  unusual. — ^ni3  and  Tj'ruj!, 

both  times  1  with  dagesh  :  shorrech,  chorrath. — 
The  bandaging  and  cutting  of  the  navel-cord,  as 
is  necessary  after  the  birth  for  the  independent 
life  of  the  child.  And  just  as  in  this  way  there 
is  expressed  what  is  necessary,  so  in  the  washing 
with  water  we  have  what  is  customary  and  fit. 
'1?5^  only  here  ;  probably  a  Chaldaic  form  for 

n'l'C'D-     Other  derivations  from  yy^i  or  nVB': 

ad  Unimentum,  Jakchi  :  "for  brightness, "Cocc.  : 
ad  jucundum  aspectum  meum. — What  was  done 
elsewhere  to  new-born  infants  (according  to  Galen), 
and  is  still  done  in  the  East  down  to  the  present 
day,  in  order  to  harden  the  tender  skin,  according 
to  Hiiv.  and  Hitz. ,  because  of  the  symbolic  mean- 
ing of  salt,  in  order  to  express  the  hope  and  wish 
for  a  vigorous  life. — Augusti  derives  from  this 
the  usual  sprinkling  of  salt  in  baptism, — is  perhaps 
at  the  same  time  intended  to  serve  for  a  more 
thorough  cleansing,  or  (according  to  others)  for 
healing  the  wound  of  the  navel.  It  was  not 
fostering  care  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  Israel's 
national  life  in  the  times  that  succeeded  Joseph, 
wlien  they  grew  from  a  family  into  a  nation,  but 
envy,  persecution,  contempt  on  the  part  of  the 
Egyptians  ;  so  that  they  must  have  looked  like 
m  exposed  Bedouin  female  infant  (foundling) 
abandoned  to  its  misery  (a  heathen  custom  pre- 
»aiUug  in  many  quarters),  given  over  to  perish. — 
Ver.  5.  Those  who  had  looked  up  to  Joseph  did 


not  even  look  down  with  compassion  on  thee. — 
"The  existence  (soul)  of  Israel  as  a  nation  was 
an  object  of  abhorrence  to  the  Egj'ptians.  The 
image  of  a  child  the  more  suitable,  as  Moses, 
the  type  of  his  people,  was  actually  exposed,"  etc. 
(Hengst.)  [Others  ;  inasmuch  as  thou  wast  to 
them  an  object  of  loathing  ;  or :  in  the  loathing 
which  thou  hadst  of  thine  own  life.]  Such  out- 
ward misery  is  not  conceivable  without  a  cor- 
responding inward  misery.  Hengst.  makes  the 
WTetched  condition  in  Egypt  to  be  a  punishment 
of  the  e^'il  tendencies  dwelling  in  Israel  from  of 
old  (Gen.  XV.  13,  14). 

In  contrast  with  such  neglect  (ver.  4)  and  such 
treatment  (ver.  5)  on  the  part  of  man,  the  divine 
compassion  rises  up  into  greater  prominence  in 
Ver.  6.  Jehovah  is  portrayed  after  the  simili- 
tude of  a  king  (as  so  often  in  the  German  legends 
a  king's  son  finds  a  deserted  maiden),  who  passed 
thereby,  perhaps  on  the  chase. — In  the  blood  still 
adhering  from  the  time  of  birth  (Jnv.  Sat.  7  : 
adhuc  a  matre  ruhentem).  But  by  this  expression 
is  at  the  same  time  meant  to  he  signified  the 
danger  to  the  life  of  the  chUd,  and  not  merely  its 
impurity  (quanqiiam  fceda  es  sanguine,  voto  te 
vivere).  ['Targum  and  Easui  :  of  the  blood  of 
circumcision  and  of  the  passover  lamb  ;  the  verse 
Blessing  in  the  ritual  of  circumcision.]  As  in 
this  way  from   the  very  commencement  Tj'ma 

is  connected  in  thought  with  the  desperate  move- 
ment or  situation  of  the  child,  in  like  manner  it 
is  afterwards  to  be  joined  both  times  with  <»n. 

It  is  from  the  first  the  word  of  promise  ("ip  IDKI 

twice),  but  as  being  seriously  meant  and  certain, 
and  hence  continued  without  interruption,  ren- 
dered more  vivid  by  means  of  the  repetition. 
riDDianO,  Hithpalel  of  d^3,  Ges.  :  given  up  to 

be  trodden  under  foot.  The  root-meaning  is  "  to 
tread  down,"  "to  trample."  ("This  child  was 
able  to  survive  such  trampling,"  Hengst.) 
Hav.  :  "despised,"  in  a  derivative  signification. 
The  continued  promise  of  life  in  the  midst  of 
danger  continually  threatening,  makes  us  think 
besides  of  Ex.  iii.  2. — In  Ver.  7  there  follows 
the  mightilj'  efficacious  blessing  in  the  increase  of 
the  people,  a  visible  confirmation  and  realization 
of  the  word  of  promise  (Ex.  i.  7,  12).  Accord- 
ing to  Hitzig,  we  have  by  this  means  a  transition 
from  the  figure  to  the  thing  signified.  According 
to  Hengst.,  the  subject  in  hand  is  an  ideal  child, 
that  comes  to  view  in  a  multiplicity  of  separate 
existences ;    n33">   is    not    one    myriad,    but   a 

numerical  measure,  an  ideal  unity,  embracing  a 
multitude  of  actual  myriads  (Num.  x.  36  ;  Deut. 
xxxiii.   17).— D"iy  'iP3i  "t^er  ;    into   the   age 

when  maidens  think  of  dress  and  finery  (when 
would  that  be  ?),  or,  from  the  fact  of  her  being 
naked,  of  the  highest  charm  of  youthful  beauty, 
which  would  quite  fit  into  the  context.  [Hav.  : 
"the  most  distinguished  morning- time  of  life, 
the  most  beautiful  season  of  youth."  And  jmt 
as  he  appeals  in  support  of  this  view  to  Ps.  ciii.  5 
[4],  so  Hitzig  at  the  same  time  appeals  to  Ps. 
xxxii.  9  for  an  explanation  in  the  sense  :  "and 
thou  wentest  along  in  the  ornament  of  cheeks. "] 
— The  sprouting  hair  about  the  pudenda  as  a  sign 
of  becoming  marriageable.  Indecent  (Hiv.) 
nakedness  is  not  the  subject  in  hand,  but  merely 


CHAP.  XVI.  8-n. 


161 


Dakedness  in  contrast  with  clothing  and  orna- 
ment. 

Ver.  8  brings  to  view  a  sigTiificant  act  of  grace 
on  Jehovah's  part,  parallel  to  that  in  ver.  6.  The 
parallel  is  not,  that  after  "  the  foun<ling  of  the 
city"  there  comes  now  "its  passing  into  the 
hands  of  Israel,  and  that  for  the  dwelling-place  of 
Jehovah;"  nor  that  in  the  one  case  we  have 
"the  wandering  horde,"  and  in  the  other  "the 
covenant  at  Sinai"  (HiTZ. );  but  it  consists  in 
this,  that  as  Jehovah's  mercy  was  shown  to  the 
people  by  their  preservation  and  increase  in  E^ypt, 
so  it  was  shown  by  their  deliverance  from  Egypt, 
which  reached  its  immediate  close  in  the  giving 
of  the  law  at  Sinai ;  in  the  former  case  more 
outwardly,  in  the  latter  for  the  most  part  in  an 
inward  way. — Thy  time,  connected  by  means  of 
the  "seeing"  with  what  goes  before,  is  defined 
by  the  following  m'-q  nU  (wooing-time),  as  mean- 
ing that  the  marriageable  one  has  become  ripe 
for  love. — The  spreading  of  the  corner  of  the 
upper  garment  and  the  covering  of  the  nakedness 
symbolize  in  general,  that  He  took  the  miserable, 
helpless  one  under  His  protection,  interested 
Himself  in  her ;  specially,  however,  with  the 
thought  of  conferring  the  honour  of  betrothal, 
mari'iage — comp.  Ruth  iii.  9  (in  which  connection 
Cocc.  makes  mention  of  the  covering  cloud  at  the 
departure  from  Egypt  and  the  pas.sage  through 
the  Red  Sea) ;  a  thought  which  is  solemnly  carried 
out  in  the  swearing  and  entering  into  covenant, 
by  means  of  which  Israel,  grown  into  a  nation, 
now  became  the  peculiar  people  of  Jehovah. 
Comp.  ch.  XX.  5,  6  ;  Ex.  xix.,  xx.  2,  5,  xxiv.  ; 
Dent.  v.  2  ;  Eph.  v.  32. — Ver.  9  in  part  resumes 
ver.  4,  in  order  to  make  the  cleansing  appear  as 
thorough  as  possible  ;  even  what  still  cleaved  to 
Israel  from  his  birth  was  to  be  put  away,  the 
reason  being  that  they  were  sanctified  by  God  to 
be  wholly  and  entirely  His  people,  to  occupy  a 
priestly  place  among  the  nations.  This  peculiar 
destiny  of  Israel  as  a  nation  is  symbolized  by 
the  washing.  [HXv. :  cleansing  in  the  solemn 
covenant-sacrifice,  Ex.  xxiv.  Hitz.,  as  already 
older  expositors  :  of  the  laws  of  cleansing,  e.g. 
Lev.  XV.  19.]  At  the  reception  into  the  royal 
harem,  lengthened  preparations,  especially  puri- 
fications, are  customary  in  the  East ;  comp.  Esth. 
ii.  12  ;  Ruth  iii.  3.  To  the  same  category  belongs 
also  the  anointing.  We  are  not  debarred  from 
thinking  of  spiritual  benefits — the  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  in  Israel. — Ver.  10.  After  the  cleansing 
and  anointing  comes  the  clothing,  in  view  already 
of  the  kingly  character  of  Israel  generally,  Ex. 
xix.  6  ;  Ps.  xlv.  The  Egyptian  colouring  of  the 
painting  is  at  the  same  time,  perhaps,  not  unin- 
tentional.—  riDpl.  '™ni  Dpi  (to  puncture),  isem- 

iroidered  work,  specially  of  variegated  colours  ; 
here  with  gold  and  silver,  figures,  flowers,  etc. 
The  art  of  working  in  various  colours  is  even  at 
the  present  day  very  much  developed  among  the 
Egyptians. — B'nn.  elsewhere  only  in  the  Penta- 
teuch, of  the  outemiost  covering  of  the  tabernacle 
and  of  the  sacred  furniture  ;  here  manifestly  an 
article  of  luxury.  Some  have  thought  of  the  seal, 
the  dolphin,  the  fox,  a  species  of  hyena,  etc. 
(WixEE,  Realw.  ii.  p.  596  sq. ),  of  whose  skin 
the  shoes  were  manufactured.  The  old  transla- 
tions, on  the  contrary,  leave  out  of  view  the 
mi'.terial,  and  lay  sti'ess  upon- the  colour  of  the 


leather  ;  not  exactly  blue,  but  of  a  dark  colour, 
red,  violet.  ByNjEUS,  De  Calc.  Hehr. :  scarlet 
Hengst.  :  morocco.  Niebuhr  heard  in  Arabia, 
from  a  learned  Jew,  that  tachash  is  the  red 
coloured  skin  of  the  ram.  To  tanning  and  colour- 
ing the  root-meaning  of  the  word  may  possiblj 
have   some   reference. — {J'{^,   Egyptian    aliens    oi 

shenti  (comp.  ch.  ix.  2),  means,  like  /Bi/Viroj,  cotton, 
of  which  splendid  garments  were  worn,  but  also 
linen,  which  is  fine  like  cotton.  Here  the  finest 
linen  headband  (turban)  must  be  meant  (C'^n), 

Ex.    xxviii.    39. — 'HDSSl  (comp.    ver.    8)  in  no 

way  necessitates  the  meaning  of  covering  with  a 
veil  (Hitz.),  but  ver.  13  uses  the  word  i;j>o  of  the 

clothing,  which  is,  according  to  the  tradition  of 
the  Jewish  commentaries,  silk.  {Tpi^nTTct  =  thresnia 
fine  like  hair),  but  according  to  Hitzig,  coloured 
cloth.  Comp.  Braunius,  De  Vest.  etc.  At  all 
events,  it  is  meant  to  be  the  highest  degree  of 
splendour,  where  the  clothing  even  is  like  orna- 
ment.— Vers.  11  and  12.  Plainly  the  bride's 
ornaments,  by  the  detail  of  which  the  rich  and 
splendid  era  of  Solomon  is  still  more  vividly  set 
before  us.  Comp.  besides,  Gen.  xxiv.  22,  30,  47 
But  if  even  the  chain  about  the  neck  is  something 
peculiar  (Gen.  xli.  42),  so  above  all  is  the  crown 
(Lam.  i.  1  ;  Isa.  Ixii.  3  ;  Jer.  xiii.  IS).— Ver.  13. 
In  consequence  of  the  divine  adorning,  Israel 
could  adorn  herself  ('yrQl  'E'B',  one  of  Ezekiel's 

paronomasias),  and  nothing  was  too  costly  ;  and 
to  such  riches  corresponded  the  maintenance,  the 
rest  of  the  liring,  as  the  husband  has  to  provide 
it  for  his  wife,  above  all  in  the  East.  The  choice 
delicacies  appear  to  form  the  contrast  to  the  usual 

food  of  the  people  in  Egypt.    By  the  word  navD^ 

there  is  now  expressed  wl-.at  was  hinted  at  ilready, 
along  with  the  priestly  elements  in  what  goes 
before.  By  means  of  their  kingdom  the  kingly 
character  of  the  people  in  general  was  suitably 
represented  before  the  heathen  nations  also,  but 
so  much  the  more  gloriously  as  the  ilessianic 
idea  was  symbolized  thereby.  Besides,  there  is 
also  a  preparation  for  ch.  xvii.  Comp.  in  addition, 
Cant.  vii.  7  [6] ;  Lam.  ii.  15. — The  extraordinary 
beauty  of  Israel  is  their  law  (Deut.  iv.  6  sq.)  and 
their  Messiah  (Ps.  xlv.  3  [2]). — Ver.  14.  Already 
exemplified  in  Ex.  xv.  14  sq.  ;  still  farther  in 
1  Chron.  xiv.  17  ;  1  Kings  x.  Let  it  be  noted 
that  Israel  is  thus  spoken  of  as  perfect  through 
Jehovah,  of  grace,  not  by  nature  or  by  rc^ason  oi 
merit.  Faithfulness,  therefore,  would  have  kept 
them  in  this  glory.     (Hos.  ii.  10  [8] ;  Mic.  ii.  9.) 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE. 

["The  second  stage  of  this  allegorical  history, 
exhibited  in  vers.  8-14,  represents  the  singular 
honour  and  glory  conferred  on  the  ideal  virgin  in 
her  exaltation  to  the  rank  of  a  spouse  to  the  King 
of  Zion,  and  her  decoration  with  apparel  suitta 
to  her  elevated  station.  .  .  .  The  descriptiim 
presents  a  vivid  and  impressive  im»ge  of  the 
singular  goodness  of  God  to  Israel,  fronT  tau  time 
that  He  visited  them  in  Egypt,  and  rais&l  them 
from  the  low  and  depressed  condition  which  they 
held  there,  to  the  nearest  fellowship  with  Himself, 
and  the  highest  place  among  the  kingdoms  of  the 


162 


EZEKIEL. 


earth.  The  relation  formed  between  Jehorah  and 
Isriel  at  that  interesting  period  had  already  been 
more  than  once  rejiresented  under  the  image  of 
the  marriiige-nnion."  See  Isa.  1.  1,  liv.  1  ;  Hos. 
i. -iii.  ;  Jer.  ii.  2.  "Indeed,  no  earthly  relation 
could  so  fitly  have  been  employed  as  that  of 
maiTiage  to  exhibit  the  nature  of  that  hallowed 
union,  in  virtue  of  which  the  Lord  not  only  con- 
ferred upon  them  the  rich  dowry  of  temporal 
good,  but  also  graciously  condescended  to  main- 
tain with  them  a  most  intimate  and  endearing 
interchange  of  love.  ...  It  is  the  internal  re- 
lationship established  between  them  and  God, 
and  the  spiritual  blessings  immediately  growing 
out  of  it,  which  are  here  primarily  and  chiefly 
referred  to.  Even  the  outward  temporal  blessing 
secured  in  the  covenant,  and  in  part  also  realized, 
should  never  have  been  viewed  as  an  ultimate 
and  independent  good,  but  rather  as  the  expres- 
sion and  emblem  of  something  higher  and  better. 
They  were  not  properly  blessings  at  all,  except  in 
so  far  a.s  they  were  held  in  connection  with  the 
favour  of  Heaven,  and  bespoke  the  fellowship  of 
love  that  subsisted  between  Jehovah  and  His 
people.  .  .  .  But  considering  the  state  in  which 
they  were  found  in  Egypt,  tliey  much  needed  to 
undergo  a  process  of  purification,  to  fit  them  for 
bearing  aright  so  high  and  ennobling  a  character. 
That  many  rites  of  cleansing  should  have  been 
prescribed  to  them,  and  a  long  course  of  prepara- 
tory discipline  appointed,  only  betokened  the 
Lord's  earnest  desire  to  have  them  qualified  for 
the  exalted  state  and  destiny  He  wished  them  to 
fill.  And  throughout,  nothing  was  wanting  of 
tender  compassion  and  faithful  dealing  on  His 
part.  From  the  first  He  crowned  them  with  marks 
of  His  goodness.  A  fulness  of  power  and  glory 
rested  on  them  far  surpassing  what  their  numbers 
alone  might  have  warranted  them  to  expect.  And 
when  the  kingdom  at  last  rose  to  meridian  splen- 
dour, and  received  the  confirmation  and  enlarge- 
ment given  to  it,  especially  in  the  days  of  David 
and  Solomon,  the  surrounding  heathen  were  com- 
pelled to  own  that  there  is  a  great  reality  in  the 
favour  and  blessing'  of  Heaven.  They  saw  in 
Israel,  as  a  people,  living  monuments  of  the 
mighty  efficacy  of  divine  grace,  how  it  can  exalt 
the  feeble,  and  lay  the  powers  of  the  world,  as  well 
as  the  bounties  of  nature,  under  contribution  to 
the  lurtherance  of  its  beneficent  designs." — Fair- 
nAiKti's  Ezekiel,  pp.  166-168.— 'W.  P.] 

■Vers.  15-3i.    The  Horrible  Unfaithfulness. 

Ver.  15  is  in  the  form  of  an  introduction,  which 
announces  two  parts  of  what  follows  :  (1)  the 
nature,  (2)  the  extent  (ver.  23  sq. )  of  the  people's 
sinning.  The  inmost  nature  of  it  is  represented 
as  being  a  trusting  (nD3)  in  the  gift,  conceived 

of  apart  from  the  Giver,  hence  as  self-righteous- 
ness, pride,  security.  The  way  in  which  such  a 
self-pleasing  disposition  expressed  itself  is  por- 
trayed, in  accordance  with  the  image  of  a  wife,  as 
fonucation,  alike  in  a  political  and  in  a  religious 
point  of  view,  from  the  time  of  Soloroou.    TO5^'^V 

(in  connection  with  ver.  14),  on  the  ground  of 
the  report,  the  fameof  thy  beauty ;  on  that  ground, 
relying  thereupon  as  upon  a  charter,  that  thou 
certainly  hadst  the  name  above  others,  as  if  no- 
thing could  rob  thee  of  thy  privilege  (Jade  4; 


Rev.  xviii.  7).  [Others  :  "because  of"  (so  Eng. 
Vers.);  or:  "notwithstanding,"  forgetting  the 
name  which  thou  hadst  received  from  thy  hus- 
band ;  or:  against,  i.e.  against  thy  hu-sband,  so 
that  adultery  would  be  specified,  which  is  dragged 
in  from  ver.  32.]  Ueut.  xxxii.  15;  Hos.  xiii. 
6, — The  flowing  forth  of  unrestrained  desire, 
the  extent  to  which  the  degeneracy  reached,  is 
expressed  in  the  strongest  way  in  the  words  . 
and  didst  pour  out,  etc.   (ch.  xiv.  19). — 'n'  Sb- 

Hengst.  :  "his  be  it,"  as  if  the  words  of  thi> 
adulteress,  that  is  to  say,  to  him  will  1  yielJ 
myself     Hitz.  :  ig',  though  at  some  distance,  if 

the  only  possible  subject ;  properly  iri'V  t"t  *!•* 
copula  has  fallen  away  because  of  ip  going  before. 
Klief.  :  his  it  became,  indefinitely :  what  thou 
hadst  to  bestow.     A  contrast  to 'p  <»nni :  "and 

thou  becomest  mine,"  in  ver.  8.  (Comp.  Ps.  xlv. 
12  [11].) 

Ver.  16.  A  description  in  detail  of  the  idolatry 
and  the  idolatrous  woi-ship  as  an  abuse  of  the  gifts 
and  blessings  of  Jehovah,  and  a  more  and  more 
heinous  robbery  of  Him. — The  worship  of  the 
high  places  was  still  a  worship  of  Jehovah,  but 
was  already  a  self-willed  degeneracy  from  the 
command  that  there  should  be  one  sanctuary 
(Deut.  xii. ),  a  divergence  according  to  fancy  and 
foreign  examples.      The  niD3  are  in  themselves 

high  places,  natural  heights  set  apart  for  worship, 
meant  as  they  were  to  help  the  lacking  elevation 
of  heart,  afl'ecting  as  they  did  the  high  flight  of 
the  imagination  ;  here,  in  connection  with  the 
garments  :  tents,  made  of  variegated  stuffs  for 
garments,  or  provided  with  curtains  of  the  same, 
or — shall  we  say  ? — laid  out  with  variegated 
carpets,  seeing  that  such  things  were  woven  by 
women  for  the  Punic  Venus  ^2  Kings  xxiii.  7). 
Hengst.  :  "small  idol-temples  for  domestic  use." 
Ew.\LD  :  small  altars  (vers.  24,  31).  The  worship 
of  Astarte  (?).      Because  of  the  epithet :  niX^D, 

Hitzig  makes  mention  of  "  smaller  pieces  of  cloth 
also,"  but  rejects  the  interpretation  :  "patched  ' 
high,  places  ;  referring,  hov;ever,  to  Gen.  xxx.  35 
sq.  ("  the  sensuous  piety  became  wanton  over  the 
party-coloured  rags  !  ") — DD^i'V)  masc,  referring 
to  "ija,  the  by  pointing  to  the  "high  places,"  i.e. 

to  the  high  places  thus  clothed.  [Hengst.  :  to 
be  referred  to  the  paramours,  in  the  sense  of : 
"with  them."  Others  :  on  the  carpets  (?)  in  the 
tent-temples.] — riiK3i  *  paronomasia  with  niD3- 

niN3  N?,  i-fi-   according  to  the  law  of  Israel. 

They  ought  not  to  find  entrance.  [Cocc. :  which 
do  not  come  from  God  to  you,  like  the  ark  and 
the  temple,  but  are  inventions  of  your  own  heart .'] 
n^n'  N71,  in  reference  to  the  clause  :   "and  didst 

play  the  harlot  upon  them."  [Others  :  the  like 
has  not  come  to  pass,  nor  will  it  ever  be.  Hengst.  : 
the  like  shall  not  come  nor  happen,  as  denoting 
unprecedented  shanielessness.] 

Ver.  17.  A  contrast  between  what  was  taken 
and  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  taken.  At  the 
same  time  there  now  comes  into  view  (<npm  in 

ver.  18  for  the  third  time)  the  robbery  of  Jehovah. 
Images  of  men — (idolatry  in  general)  beca\ise  of 


CHAP.  XVI.  18-27. 


K.J 


the  figure  of  a  woman  tlie  idols  are  represented 
as  men.  [Hav.  :  images  of  the  membrum  virile 
{phallus).  EwALD  :  penates  (tei-aphim),  covered 
with  ornament,  set  up  in  the  house,  honoured 
with  lectititernia.]  —  A'er.  18.  The  "covering," 
according  to  Hitzig,  is  meant  of  the  clothing  of 
the  idols  with  splendid  drapery  ;  Movers  :  of  the 
wrapping  up  of  the  phalli,  when  they  are  placed 
in  the  shrine.  The  "setting  before"  them  took 
place  in  sacrifice  (Lev.  ii.  1,  2). — My,  not  only  as 
being  from  God,  but  still  more  as  being  destined 
for  Him  (Ex.  xxx.  23-25).  Ch.  vi.  13,  viii.  11.— 
Ver.  19.  As  for  the  erection  of  sanctuaries  (ver. 
16)  and  the  making  of  idols  (ver.  17),  so  for  the 
honour  paid  to  the  same,  Israel  deprived  herself 
not  only  of  her  clothes,  but  even  of  the  divine 
food  (ver.  13).  The  rich  heathen  worship  of 
Hither  Asia! — <ri>1,  not  interrogatively,  but  the 

simple  shocking  fact. — Ver.  20.  The  last  step  of 
apostasy,  even  their  own  children  ! — "Rpni  once 

more,  as  in  vers.  18,  17,  16. — The  worship  of 
Moloch,  as  it  existed  from  the  time  of  Ahaz.     nST 

is  :  to  slay  in  sacrifice  ;  and  the  same  thing  is  ex- 
pressed by  7i3S^,  with  which  tin"'  in  ver.  21  is 
to  be  connected,  in  order  to  explain  to  us  TayriH 

as  a  lustration  in  the  shape  of  burning ;  2  Kings 
xxiii.  10;  Jer.  xxxii.  35,  vii.  31.  Hexgst.  : 
"The  passing  through  was  the  mode  of  slaying, 
and  the  devouring  was  the  consequence  of  it. 
The  idol  was  supposed  to  be  present  in  the  fire. " 
— To  the  question :  'd  DJJOn,  a  negative  answer  is 

expected,  as  in  ch.  viii.  17;  Was  it  (the  sacrificing 
of  the  children)  less  than,  etc.?  On  the  contrary', 
it  far  exceeded  them.  [Hiv.  :  Was  there  still 
too  little  of  your  whoredom  ?  namely,  to  stop  with 
vers.  15-19.  Hesgst.  :  Hadst  thou  too  little  of 
thy  whoredoms']  Instead  of  :  "  th}',"  we  have  in 
Ver.  21 :  My ;  what  was  in  the  former  relation 
inhuman,  was  in  the  latter  not  only  a  robber's, 
but  also  a  murderer's  outrage  against  God. — Ver. 
22.  Where  there  is  now  a  transition  to  the  extent 
of  the  idolatrous  actings,  we  have  a  very  suitable 

retrospective  glance  in  recapitulation  (73),  and. 

corresponding  to  the  worst  degree  of  outward 
idolatry,  the  forgetfulness  of  God  in  the  inmo,st 
heart.  The  recollection  of  the  first  condition 
(vers.  6,  7)  would  necessarily  have  become  the 
remembrance  of  Jehovah.  Self-plea.sing  (ver.  15) 
did  not  allow  it  to  come  to  this,  but  such  non- 
remembrance  was  the  parent  of  such  gratitude. 

Ver.  23.  The  ej:tint  to  which,  with  such  aggra- 
vation, the  unfaithfulness  reached.  The  picture, 
hitherto  having  reference  to  religious  matters, 
now  assumes  a  political  hue.  It  appears  that  the 
representation  given  in  vers.  15-22  is  now  used 
as  a  clothing  for  the  thought  in  a  figurative  way. 
After  all,  etc.  Hengst.  underetands  the  expres- 
sion of  time :  with  the  oppression  by  the  world- 
fowers  the  aposta.sy  became  properly  national, 
n  that  case  the  'wickedness  would  require  to  be 
taken  as  calamity,  and  the  misery  that  has  come 
to  Israel  in  consequence  of  such  sins  against  Jeho- 
vah would  have  to  be  read  between  the  lines,  or 
the:  woe,  etc.  would  have  to  be  connected  ^\-ith 
7M.     IjUt  the  repeated  exclamation  seems  rather 


to  be  a  preparation  for  something  future,  th* 
judgment  stiT  to  come,  and  hence  to  be  coneeive-i 
of  as  a  parenthesis,  and  »n'1  t"  be  introductory  tc 

ver.  24 ;  and  therefore  it  seems  necessary  to  inter- 
pret "inK.  not  indeed  in  the  way  of  climax  (Hiv. : 

even  beyond,  etc.),  for  ver.  20  sq.  closed  with  the 
highest  degree  of  guilt,  but  rather  of  the  moral 
consequence.  Such  apostasy  from  Jehovah  could 
not  fail  to  be  followed  by  the  inner  (political) 
decline  of  the  theocracy,  and  the  falling  away  to 
all  possible  world-powers. — Ver.  24.  33,  in  a  col- 
lective sense,  related  to  nOI,  perhaps  as  altar  to 

temple-height.  Both  are  constructed,  and  thus 
nOT  is   distinguished   from   the   natural  riio3 

The  actual  idolatry,  or  the  national  decline  set 
forth  under  this  figure,  showed  itself  in  the  midst 
of  the  bustle  of  the  city.  (According  to  others : 
32  —fornix,  in  the  serrice  of  those  religions  ol 

nature ;  farther  defined  by  means  of  nci  as  in  an 

elevated  situation,  striking  the  eye.)  Comp.  ch. 
vi.  13. — A'er.  25.   Comp.   Prov.  viii.  2. — '3ynn'., 

as  if  thou  thyself  hadst  an  abhorrence  of  thy 
national  glory  (vers.  13,  14).  [Others  causa- 
tively :  to  make  an  object  of  loathing.] — Israel 
lay  on  the  path  for  manifold  intercourse  with  the 
world,  especially  between  the  Asiatic  and  African 
world-powers. — Ver.  26.  The  sons  of  Egypt  are 
not  its  gods,  and  therefore  the  reference  is  to 
political  whoredom.  Let  it  be  remembered  how 
in  express  terms  intercourse  with  Egypt  was  for- 
bidden to  Israel,  how  return  thither  is  threatened 
them  ratheras  the  worst  punishment  (Deut.  xxviii. 
68 1 ;  and  let  one  compare,  from  the  days  of  Solo- 
mon onwards,  1  Kings  iii.  1,  ix.  16,  x.  28 :  2 
Kings  xviii.  ;  Isa.  xxx.,  xxxi.  1,  xxxvi.  6  ;  Jer. 
xxxvii,  5,  7. — (2  Kings  xvii.)     But  it."3  >y^i  is 

characteristic  for  the  licentious  character  of  Egyp- 
tian  worship   (Mendes  !).     "IGO,   the   membrum 

virile.  Comp.  Hengst.  Authentie,  i.  p.  119  sq. ; 
Mos.  vnd  Egnpten,  p.  216.  This  expressive  mode 
of  designating  them  is,  according  to  Hengst.,  in- 
tended to  mean  great  of  power.  It  marks  rather 
the  brutal  lowness  of  having  dealings  with  a  state 
of  such  a  character,  religiously  considered,  of 
longing  after  it.  In  accordance  therewith  we  have 
the  provoking  of  Jehovah  to  anger,  and  what  fol- 
lows in  Ver.  27  (ch.  vi.  14,  xiv.  9,  13).  The 
"diminishing"  is  in  contrast  with  the  "increas- 
ing."— pn.  Hengst.:  "law;"  in  general :  what 
accrues  of  right  to  the  wife  in  respect  of  susten- 
ance, clothing,  lodging  (Ex.  xxi.  10) ;  here  in 
particular  :  what  is  destined  for  Israel  by  Jehovah 
in  respect  of  maintenance,  nurture,  adornment, 
increase  (ver.  9  sq. ) ;  only  not  exactly  with  Hav. : 
"  the  destined  inheritance."  As  regards  the  thing 
meant,  we  may  compare  what  the  nation  lost  in 
land,  and  people,  and  influence,  and  splendour,  or 
the  like,  especially  indeed  through  Egvpt,  1  King? 
xi.  18,  21,  40,  xiv.  25.  (Joel  iv.  "[iii.]  19.)— 
Gave  thee  to  the  soul,  etc.,  usually  interpreted, 
witli  an  unwarranted  quoting  of  such  passages  za 
Ps.  x.wii.  12,  xvii.  9,  xli.  3  [2],  Ixxiv.  19,  of  a 
giving  up  to  the  desire,  rage,  bloodthirstiness,  as 
if  it  were  like  T3  |n:,  whereas  he-e  at  least  the 


164 


EZEKIEL. 


disposition  of  soul  of  the  Philistine  cities  or  states 
is  expressly  said  to  be  ditferent.^"  Haters  "  they 
were  already,  but  they  became  despisers. — ^3^^D 

nST  is  kept  too  closely  to  the  figure   by  Hitz. : 

"because  of  thy  profligate  conduct,  which  is  a 
disgrace  for  her  also,  because  for  the  whole  female 
sex;"  while  Hiiv.  interprets  too  definitely  of  the 
thing  meant,  and  has  besides  mistaken  the  mean- 
ing; they  themselves  brouglit  back  the  ark  (1 
Sam.    v.,   vi.).  —  ntST,  craftiness,  baseness,  (Lev. 

xviii.  17)  most  shameful  uncleanness.  Either  a 
d'jscriptive  genitive  or  an  emphatic  apposition  ; 
thy  conduct  pure  lewdness.  The  Philistines,  who 
ai'e  iuiroduced  rather  as  spectators  than  as  parties 
actively  engaged,  to  whose  contempt  Israel  was 
given  up  by  Jehovah,  turned  away  with  shame 
P-ora  Israel's  heatlienish  policy,  inasmuch  as  they, 
la  pleasing  contrast  thereto,  stuck  by  their  gods. 
Oomp.  Jer.  ii.  10  sq.  (Grot.)  [Havernick's  view 
IS  that  the  Philistines  are  named  instar  omnium, 
in  the  sense  of  outward  violence  inflicted  by  fiercest 
enemies.  Hitz.  puts  out  of  view  the  period  of 
the  judges,  and  refers  to  2  Chron.  xxviii.  18;  Joel 
iv.  [iii.]  4,  5 ;  2  Chron.  xxi.  16;  comp.  besides 
the  article  in  Winer,  ii.  p.  252  sq.}— Ver.  28. 
Having  got  no  satisfaction  in  the  African,  they 
betake  themselves  now  to  the  Asiatic  world-power. 
Hitz.  lays  stress  rightly  upon  the  difference  be- 
tween px  njT  (already  in  ver.   26)  and  njT  "■'th 

the  ace,  where  in  the  case  before  us  the  two  are 
contrasted  with  each  other:  first  longing  after, 
and  then  no  satisfaction  even  when  the  longing  is 
realized.  (Comp.  2  Kings  xvi.  7 ;  2  Chron.  xxviii. 
16;  Jer.  ii.  18;  2  Kings  xxiii.  29.)  And  with 
this  Ver.  29  connects  the  Babylonians.  Ever 
more  and  more  (vers.  25,  26)  of  insatiable  lust. — 
jj;33  is  taken  by  most  in  an  appellative  sense,  as 

meaning  commerce,  trade ;  hence :  the  land  of 
traders,  Chaldea  (ch.  xvii.  4 ;  Isa.  xxiii.  8 ;  Job 
xl.  30  [xli.  6]).  a  view  which  is  suggested  by  no 
kind  of  hint  in  tlie  passage.  Then,  certainly,  to 
tran.slate;  "with  the  land  of  Canaan,"  and  to 
think  of  Canaanitish  (Phoenician)  idolatry  (Ps. 
cvi.  38)  "  as  far  as  Chaldea,"  or  "at  the  same  time 
turned  to  Chaldea,"  i.e.  while  taking  in  addition 
the  Babylonish  worship  of  Belus  and  Mylitta,  is 
still  less  suitable.     But  [yj3  means  simply :  "low 

groimd  "  (low  land)  ;  why  not  keep  by  the  proper 
name  in  this  sense?  With  an  allusion  to  this, 
this  downward  step  would  be  held  up  before  the 
elevated  Judah-Jerusalem,  when  in  Chaldea,  in 
the  longing  after  political  fellowship  with  the 
Babylonians,  it  hoped  at  the  same  time  to  get  the 
Land  of  Canaan,  i.e.  to  get  the  Promised  Land 
kept  through  such  help  of  Asia  herself  against 
Asia.    nO^^C'B,  with  n  parag.,  is  the  explanation 

which  is  added,  to  show  in  what  sense  jyjg  v-|K 

is  meant.  Hengst. ,  referring  to  ch.  xxiii.  and  Isa. 
xxxix.,  and  to  the  want  of  satisfaction  spoken  of 
here,  points  to  the  fact  that  they  had  at  this 
very  time  turned  back  again  to  the  Egyptians. 
Their  new  "  Canaan  "  came  to  stand  them  in  still 
worse  stead  than  their  intercourse  with  Assyria  ; 
Chaldea's  friendship  showed  itself  to  be  pure 
lelfishness. 

Ver.  30.  By  means  of  the  exclamation  (surprise, 
complaint  ?)  a  pause  is  introduced  ;  what  has  been 


said  (ver.  15 sq.) is  forciblysummarized. — Ew.\ld; 
"how  languishing  is  thy  heart !  "  biting  sarcasm  ; 
how  great  must  be  the  languishing  of  love  !  Simi- 
larly Ge.s.  :  "  How  thy  heart  "languished  from 
lust  I  "  Hengst.  :  "  how  withered, "  etc. ;  design 
edly  the  form  n3?,  not  elsewhere  occurring  in 
the  sing. :  a  womanish  heart,  which  has  lost  it? 
sap  and  vigour  in  the  world.      n^OX,  likewise 

only  here  as  partic.  Kal.  —  Imperious,  instcid 
of  being  under  thy  husband,  bold,  unruly. — Ver. 
31-  ';i'rii:33,  inf.   with   plur.   sutf.   for   7tni333. 

Comp.  vers.  24,  25.  The  "doing"  mentioned  in 
ver.  30  is  exemplified,  ami  then  its  imperiousnesa 
is  unfolded  :  thou  wast  not  like  the  harlot, 
namely,  in  that,  as  a  thoroughly  genuine  harlot 
does,  who  wishes  merely  to  play  the  whore  at 
any  price,  thou  thoughtest  little  of,  scornedst  the 
harlot's  hire.  Ver.  33  will  show  that  she  rather 
paid  such  hire  to  her  lovers,  purchased  some  for 

herself  therewith.  nn"n"N^1  is  to  be  taken  along 
with  'd?P?  =  thou  scornedst  not,  etc.  Com- 
monly :  in  that  thou  scornedst,  etc.  [Others  • 
not  like  the  harlot,  who  despiseth,  scorneth  hei 
hire,  that  is  to  say,  wishes  to  e.iitort  more,  because 
it  appears  to  her  too  small;  but  thou  didst  accept 
everything,  because  the  only  object  with  thee  was 
to  satisfy  thy  lust.  Others  still :  like  the  harlot 
who  boasteth  of  her  hire.] — As  the  people  are 
portrayed  from  ver.  8  onwards  as  the  spouse  of 
Jehovah  (comp.  nt^K  in  ver.  30),  we  have  in  Ver. 

32  very  suitably,  just  as  also  in  ver.  30,  the  ex- 
clamation (HXv. :  "0  adulterous  woman,  whc 
taketh  ! "),  which  lays  stress  upon  the  adultery 
involved  in  this  policy  with  the  foreign  world- 
powers,     nnn,  wMle  she  was  under  the  authority 

of  her  husband  (Eom.  vii.  2),  i.e.  was  legally  and 
morally  bound  to  be  faithful  to  him.  Others 
[as  Eng.  Vers.] :  "  instead."  The  horrible  un- 
faithfulness is  set  forth  as  the  whoredom  of  a 
married  woman.     Going  back  upon  ver.  31,  Ver. 

33  portrays  her  whoredom,  explaining  fully  the 

'DPP?  there.     TVM,  bere  merely  instead  of  [jns. 

Hav.  thinks  of  ITHJ,  »■««  foeda.     The  loveis  are 

not  the  heathen  gods, — although  not  without  re- 
ference to  them  (comp.  ver.  36),  in  contrast  with 
Jehovah, — but  the  strange  nations  (ver.  26sq. ): 
and  these  as  bought.  Comp.  2  Kings  xvi.  8 ; 
Hos.  viii.  9  sq.,  xii.  2  [1] ;  Isa.  x.xx.  5,  6. 
HiTziG  :  the  presents  through  ambassadors,  the 
yearly  tribute,  etc.  As  she  was  still  always 
drawing  upon  her  Husband's  resources,  she  might 
well  give  presents.  That  she  did  so  with  such  a 
view,  for  such  an  object,  how  horrible  ! — Ver.  34. 
The  contrary  or  the  reverse,  so  that  from  among 
all  women  thou  standest  forth  alone  of  thy  kind. 
What  nowhere  else  finds  an  imitator  among 
women,  when  a  woman  has  done  it  before  !  In 
general  there  was  no  following  after  thee  in  thy 
whoredoms ;  but  in  particular  (ver.  33)  there  was 
no  one  imitated  thee  in  such  giving  of  hire  for 
whoredom. 

Vers.  35-52.   Tlie  Punishment. 

Ver.  35/  As  if  in  a  public  judicial  process,  th« 
indictment  is  read  out. — Ver.  36.  To  pom-  out 


CHAP.  XVI.  37-46. 


IGc 


30mp.'  ver.  15  ;  here  brass  (Gesen.  :  copper,  the 
lit  of  tempering  which  was  known),  either  used 
for  metals  of  all  kinds  ;  or  goods  and  chattels 
generally  (comp.  Ter.  10  sq.,  ver.  16  sq. );  or 
money  in  particular,  in  which  case  it  admits  of 
question  whether  copper  money  was  in  use,  not 
to  speak  of  being  common.  (Matt.  x.  9  ;  Mark 
xii.  41.)  It  is  put  instead  of  the  "whoredoms" 
of  ver.  15,  because  according  to  ver.  33  these  were 
purchased  by  means  of  presents  ;  and  this  tlie 
more  appropriately,  as  in  Dcut.  viii.  9  (oomp.  this 
Comm.  in  loco),  and  in  ch.  xxxiii.  25  of  the  same 
book,  in  the  blessing  of  Moses,  the  richness  in  brass 
of  the  Promised  Land  is  significantly  referred  to. 
Hence  (1)  the  misuse  and  squandering  of  the 
dowry  of  the  people,  as  it  was  given  them  in  their 
own  land.  [Hav.  :  brass  as  an  ignoble  and  im- 
pure (?)  metal,  because  of  the  disposition  and  the 
use  made  of  it.  Buns.:  "  because  thy  kettle  ran 
over,"  to  denote  the  overflowing  of  lustful  desire.] 
— (2)  Shameful  self-prostitution  in  national  and 
religious  respects,  as  contrasted  with  ver.  8,  and 
visited  with  retribution  in  ver.  37.— Policy  led 
at  the  same  time  to  the  introduction  of  the  gods 
of  the  world-powers  (ch.   viii.   10).      Ver.  16  sq. 

5jn  is  taken  by  many  in  the  same  sense  as  ^y : 

"  and  because  of,"  unnecessarily  ;  but  <Ol31  must 

be  so  taken.  As  respects  idolatry,  the  sacrificing 
of  their  own  childreu  even.  Ver.  20  sq.  Hence 
(3)  murder.  These  are  the  separate  counts  of  the 
indictment.  —  Ver.  37.  The  public  judgment. 
First  of  all,  the  assembling  of  the  lovers  as  wit- 
nesses. She  who  has  dishonoured  and  brought 
herself  to  shame  becomes  now,  by  the  interposi- 
tion of  God,  to  the  one  party  an  object  of  loath- 
ing, to  the  other  an  object  of  mockery.  The  last 
attraction,  and  what  might  still  have  been  an 
object  of  regard,  vanishes.  Havemick  refers  to 
the  procedure  in  the  case  of  a  married  woman 
suspected  of  adultery.  Num.  v.  18. — Ver.  38.  The 
sentence,  which  is  one  of  death,  because  for  adul- 
tery and  murder  ;  the  jealousy  referring  to  the 
former,  the  fury  to  the  latter. — Into  blood,  i.e. 
so  that  thou  shalt  be  dissolved  into  that  in  con- 
sequence of  such  fury  ami  jealousy  ;  ch.  v.  13,  15. 
— Ver.  39.  Those  who  before  were  witnesses  now 
appear  as  executioners  of  the  sentence.  Grotius 
thinks  of  the  temple.  But  it  is  the  annihilation 
of  the  national  life,  which  had  fallen  away  from 
Jehovah,  and  not  so  much  the  plundering  of  Jeru- 
salem, as  generally  the  strijiping  of  Israel  of  all 
her  glory  as  a  nation,  that  is  the  thought,  ex- 
pressed figuratively  in  accordance  with  the  fore- 
going representation  (vers.  24,  7). — Ver.  40.  pnp, 

in  accordance  with  the  procedure  in  the  case  of 
adulteresses,  as  it  were  a  "local  community." 
Most  interpri'ters  make  the  stoning,  which  is 
merely  a  keeping  up  of  the  figure,  refer  to  the 
ballisUe  of  the  besiegers.  The  murder  (vers.  36, 
20  sq.)  is  punished  with  the  swords. — Ver.  41. 
Comp.  Deut.  xiii.  16 ;  2  Kings  xxv.  9.  The 
many  women  are  the  numerous  spectators,  and 
these  are  the  nations.  Israel  becomes  a  spectacle 
to  the  world.  The  opportunity  and  means  for 
political  intercourse  with  the  heathen  will  dis- 
appear with  the  political  independence. — Ver.  42. 
Comp.  on  ch.  v.  13.  The  divine  justice  comes  to 
KU  end  in  its  character  of  jealousy ;  in  other  words, 
ts  Ihe  injured  faithfulness  and  love  of  Israel's 


Husband.— The  departing  of  the  jealousy  might 
perhaps,  by  comparison  with  Isa.  xi.  13,  show 
grace  in  the  background  ;  but  the  connection  witl 
what  foUows  requires  rather  a  thought  like  Hos. 
ii.  4  [2].  Jehovah  gives  up  the  adulterous  whorisl: 
wife.  No  more — in  wrath  there  is  certainly  lovt 
stiU! 

Ver.   43.    <rn3J,  with  appended  ',  as   in   ver. 

22,  and  frequently  in  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah. — 2 
Kings  xix.  27  sq.  Hengst. :  "thou  wert  angry 
with  Me  in  all  this,"  i.e.  notwithstandini;  all 
the  benefits,  etc.  ;  Isa.  viii.  21.  Better  at  all 
events  than  :  "thou  didst  provoke  Me  to  anger 
by  all  this,"  for  the  Kal  stands  firm. — Ch.  ix.  10. 
— 'D'Cy  is  usually  taken  in  the  second  person, 
either  in  the  sense  :  "and  [that]  thou  shalt  not 
commit  a  deed  of  shame  in  addition  to  all,"  etc., 
that  is  to  say,  the  mea.sure  is  full,  and  in  the 
place  of  the  sin  the  punishment  shall  enter  ;  or 
in  the  sense  ;  "for  thou  hast  not  taken  thought 
(riDin)  to  thyself  =:  hast  not  repented  concerning 

all,"  etc.  ;  or  interrogatively  :  "  hast  thou  not 
committed  this  great  transgression  in  addition  to 
all,"  etc.  ?  Others  have  taken  the  verb  in  the 
first  person,  alleging  that  the  clause  was  to  be 
understood  as  meaning  that  Jehovah  repelled  from 
Himself  the  charge  of  having  borne  with  the 
whoredom  of  the  people,  and  hence  of  having 
Himself  committed  it,  inasmuch  as  he  had  not 
punished  it, — a  very  singular  thought,  surely. 
riD^n  i^  emphatic,  and  with  a  reference  back  is 

the  same  as  in  ver.  27  ;  and  the  clause  can  scarcely 
be  understood  otherwise  than  as  an  interrogation, 
inasmuch  as  certainly  the  peculiar  unfaithfulness 
of  the  people,  depicted  so  prominently  in  ver. 
30  sq. ,  is  elsewhere  distinguished  from  all  their 
abominations. 

Ver.  44.  Comp.  on  ch.  xii.  22.  The  poet,  per- 
haps also  he  who  makes  use  of  such  proverbs, 
takes  them  into  his  mouth,  utters  them,  for  he 
can  do  it  rightly. — nSSi  either  for  ex.  like  ,13^ 
for  27  'D  ^"^r-  30,  here  also  betokening  the  eH'e- 
minate,  womanish  character,  or  for  ntJS  :   "as  is 

her  mother,"  etc.  Not  the  Jerusalem  of  former 
days,  but  (comp.  ver.  3  with  ver.  45)  the  style  of 
Canaan. — Ver.  45.  The  husband  is  God,  who  can 
only  be  one  and  the  same,  either  with  reference, 
e.g.,  to  Melchizedek,  who  could  point  hack  to  a 
better  primeval  time,  or  generally,  because  all 
idolatry  is  adultery,  ajiostasy  from  God  ;  Acts 
xvii.  24  sq. ;  comp.  Isa.  Tiv.  5. — The  avei-sion 
for  their  chUdren  was  shown  in  the  worship  ol 
Moloch  ;  Lev.  xviii.  21,  24  ;  Deut.  xii.  30,  31.— 
TininX,  according  to  Ges.,  a  plural ;  according  to 

Rosenm.,  "the  dual,  comp.  ver.  46;"  according 
to  Hengst.,  an  ideal  person,  the  sisterhood.  —  Ver. 
46.  As  "  their  husbands"  were  spoken  of,  because 
the  relation  in  the  case  of  Samaria  was  certainly 
different  from  that  in  the  case  of  Sodom,  Jehovah 
in  the  one,  Eloliim  in  the  other,  so  Samaria 
and  Sodom — sisters  of  the  Jewish  kingdom,  be- 
cause belonging  to  the  same  mother-country,  and 
at  the  same  time  homogeneous  in  character — are 
still  farther  distinguished  as  to  their  size,  in 
respect  of  the  number  of  the  tribes  and  cities, 
which  are  the  daughters,  and  also  as  to  their 
northern  and  southern  position.  Both  come  sig- 
nificantly into  consideration  as  regards  Judah,  at 


166 


EZEKIEL. 


being  already  judged.  — Ver.  47.  tip  DPOS,  ac- 
cording to  Ges.  :  "  it  would  be  only  a  little;" 
Ewald  :  "only  a  little  while;"  Hengst.  :  "it 
wanted  a  little"  (a  softened  "almost")  ;  Hav.  : 
"for  a  short  time  it  caused  thee  loathing,  dis- 
gust "  (!  ?).  The  meaning  is  peihaps  :  as  if  it  were 
only  a  little,  how  Samaria  and  Sodom  have  con- 
dui:ted  themselves,  and  what  they  have  done, 
thou  even  wentest  beyond  them.  [So  Eug.  Vers.] 
Others  connect  it  with  what  goes  before  :  "  thou 
didst  not  walk,   etc.   a  little   merely,   but  thou 

wast,"  etc.  Some  have  even  taken  }{7=^S1^: 
"yea,  hadst  thou  only,  etc.,  but, "  etc.  Comp. 
besides,  Luke  xii.  48  ;  Matt.  xi.  24.— Ver.  48.  A 
solemn  denial,  as  regards  the  more  notorious  of 
the  two  sinners  (Sodom),  that  she  has  done  like 
Judah.  Hence  in  reality  her  acting  was  "  as  it 
were  only  a  little "  in  comparison  with  thee  ! 
For  she  had  neither  Moses  nor  the  prophets. — 
Ver.  49.  It  was  the  ordinary  natural  man  who 
in  Sodom  ripeneci  himself  for  judgment,  in  pre- 
sence certainly  of  the  riches  of  divine  goodness, 
but  not  of  the  clearest  revelation  of  truth.  For 
the  close  of  the  verse,  comp.  the  inhospitality  in 
Gen.  xix. — Ver.  50.  Comp.  Gen.  xviii.  20,  21. — 
Ver.  51.  The  specification  is  wanting  in  the  case 
of  Samaria,  not  only  because  the  remembrance 
too  readily  suggested  itself,  but  also  because  the 
thought  was  a  familiar  one  from  .leremiah  ;  Jer. 
iii.  11.  Jud;ih  had  the  temple,  the  royal  house 
of  David,  at  all  events,  with  a  longer  season  for 
repentance,  not  only  Soilom's,  but  also  Samaria's 
judgment  before  her  eyes. — The  justification  is  a 
comparative  one  :  in  relation  to  thee,  Sodom  and 
Samaria  must  appear  as  righteous.  There  is  per- 
haps also  the  thought,  that  this  relative  justifica- 
tion so  much  the  more  demands  the  divine  judg- 
ment upon . I  udah-Jerusalem. — Ver.  52.  The  men- 
tion of  the  judgment  upon  Samaria  is  wanting, 
as  well  as  the  mention  of  the  details  of  her  sin- 
ning ;  the  inference  is  immediately  drawn  in  its 
application  to  Judah.  The  disgrace  is  the  judg- 
ment, the  punishment,  to  those  with  whom  she 
agreed,  which  she  recognised  in  reference  to  the 
others  as  being  righteous.  Comp.  Rom.  ii.  1. 
[Ewald  ;  "thou  who  hast  called  in  question  thy 
sisters."  Hengst.:  "thou  who  didst  judge " 
[so  Eng.  Vers.].  Older  expositors  :  "because  thou 
hast  been  intercessor,"  hast  virtually  absolved.] 
She  reviled  them  ;  now  she  must  revile  herself,  or 
at  least  she  is  reviled,  and  this  all  the  more  as 
through  Judah 's  sins  they  are  more  righteous  than 
she. 

Vers.  53-63.   The  Return  of  Grace. 

Ver.  53.  Just  as  there  is  grace  at  the  beginning, 
so  the  end  is  grace. —For  myZ'  31B>  or  n'StJ', 

comp.  this  Coram,  on  Deut.  The  fundamental  pas- 
sage is  Deut.  XXX.  3.  A  standing,  as  it  were,  pro- 
verbial phrase,  but  not  necessarily  of  the  bringing 
back  from  exile,  rather  Messianic  in  sense;  for 
the  abstract  ni3t;',  f'om  nati',  means  in  general  ; 

destiny,  misery,  as  here  a  state  of  punishment. 
Of  an  exile  of  Sodom  certainly  nothing  can  be 
•aid  !  In  form  there  is  a  paronomasia,  but  we  are 
not  to  explain  in  this  way  the  putting  of  the  Kal 
for  the  Hiphil  ;  the  phrase  requires  a  meaning 
like  "  to  restore,"  a  putting  an  end  to  and  turn- 
ing of  the  misery   for  this  purpose.     See  Job 


xlii.  10.  The  transitive  use  of  3vj>  must  thus  be 
admitted  as  against  Hengst. — Before  Judah 's  resto- 
ration is  mentioned,  that  of  Sodom  and  Samaria 
is  promised,— of  the  former  as  being  the  greatest 
sinner,  of  the  latter  as  bi-ing  the  next  to  Judah. 
Thus  Judah  appears  in  the  middle  between  the 
punished  siuneis,— just  as  in  the  New  Testament 
publicans  and  Samaritans,  —  and  her  nusery  it 
not  superlative,  in  the  SL-nse  "  misery  of  miseries ' 
(Hengst.:  deepest  misery,  such  a  misery  as  dis' 
plays  itself  as  misery  even  in  the  midst  of  niiseiy 
Hav.  :  heaviest,  most  fearful)  ;  nor  is  the  expres- 
sion to  be  taken  as  a  pleonastic  explanation  in  the 
sense  of  "misery  which  is  thy  misery,"  in  order 
to  emphasize  the  idea  "thy  own"  (Keil)  ;  still 
less  as  =  the  captives  of  thy  captivity  [Ewald 
in  perplexity  reads :  V  'n3i^'1]  ;  but  summing  up 

(ver.  58) :  of  all  thy  great  and  manifold  misery, 
the  special  one,  that  which  is  wholly  and  entirely 
so.  Placed  in  the  midst  of  such  sianers  by  means 
of  such  penal  misery — Ver.  54 — Judah  shall  (this 
is  the  divine  intention,  the  object  which  it  is 
meant  to  serve)  amid  her  disgrace  be  compelled 
to  be  ashamed  of  all  her  sins,  while  she  "com- 
forts" the  others,  i.e.  because  restoration  was  the 
leading  thought  which  goes  before  in  ver.  53,  and 
which  is  immediately  resumed, — inasnmch  as  she 
furnishes  them  in  her  own  case  with  an  illustra- 
tion, real  tliough  only  in  the  third  place,  of  grace. 
[Rosenm.  takes  the  clau.se  ironically,  as  meaning 
that  Judah  has  been  found  still  worse  than  them- 
selves (ch.  xiv.  23).  Keil:  ina.smucli  as  they 
learn  from  the  punishment  endured  by  Jerusalem, 
God's  righteousness,  etc.  Others:  by  means  of 
fellowship  in  misfortune,  and  tliat  a  misfortune 
so  much  greater.  Ewalu  :  in  order  that  Jeru- 
salem may  never  again  reckon  herself  better,  but 
may  rather  through  her  suffering  with  them  com- 
fort the  others.] — Ver.  55.     noip  is  the  status 

ante,  but  is  not  to  be  more  closely  defined.  Not 
as  before  the  punishment,  for  then  Sodom  and 
Samaria  were  wicked,  and  Judah  full  of  pride 
(ver.  56) ;  in  that  case  the  idea  would  be  the  pos- 
sibility of  conversion,  so  that  they  might  be  con- 
verted. But  they  are  certainly  not  to  return  to 
the  state  before  punishment,  in  order  perhaps  to 
be  converted,  but  at  most,  conversion  might  per- 
haps be  conceived  of  as  the  implied  condition  of 
such  restoration.  Matt.  xi.  23  does  not  refer  to 
a  restoration,  but  to  the  possibility  of  Sodom's 
having  remained  in  the  state  in  which  she  was. 
Anearthlyand  physical  restoration,  alike  of  Sodom 
with  the  cities  and  inhabitants  of  the  Jordan 
valley  and  of  Samaria,  and  also  of  Judah-Jeru- 
salem,  has  been  thought  of,  just  as  in  Acts  iii.  21 
the  universal  renewal  of  the  world  to  its  original 
glory  before  the  entrance  of  sin,  the  palingenesia 
(Matt.  xix.  28  ;  Rom.  viii.  18  sq. ;  2  Pet.  iii.  13), 
has  been  thought  of ;  or  at  least  such  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead  to  life  has  been  taken  to  be  the 
clothing,  the  colouring  of  the  thought  of  their 
being  made  partakers  of  pardoning  grace.  But 
as  in  ver.  45  sq.  it  is  merely  moral  relations  that 
are  spoken  of,  which  of  course  have  to  do  with 
persons,  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  in  question, 
an  ethical  restitutio  in  integrum  suggests  itself  as 
the  meaning  of  the  text  (comp.  Mai.  iv.  6  ;  Matt. 
xvii.  11).  If,  therefore,  a  restoration  of  the  divine 
image  (in  Christ)  should  not  be  tliought  of,  then 
certainly  the  return  to  the  first  estate  must  b« 


CHAP.  XVI.  56-.i8 


167 


nnderstood  as  a  symbolical  way  of  expressing  the 
idea  of  bestowing  pardoning  giace.  Cocc.  fixes 
his  view  upon  the  descendants  of  those  who  had 
survived  the  destruction  of  Sodom.  So  also 
Neteler:  In  Gen.  xiv.  two  expeditions  against 
Sodom  are  spolien  of  ;  the  cajitives  of  the  first  ex- 
pedition came  to  Elam,  and  their  descendants  are 
destined  to  enter  the  Church  ;  just  as  also  it  was 
merely  the  descendants  of  the  captives  of  Samaria 
and  Jerusalem  that  could  return.  "The  begin- 
ning of  the  return  ensued  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
perhaps  even  earlier  through  those  that  sprung 
from  the  captives  of  Sodom  that  went  to  Elam 
(proselytes),"  etc.  Hengst.  suggests  "a  continua- 
tion of  the  means  of  grace  after  death  for  those  to 
whom  on  eartli  salvation  did  not  present  itself  in 
its  higliest  completeness,  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Sodom  swept  away  by  the  judgment,"  appealing 
to  1  Pet.  iii.  19,  20,  iv.  6.  (Matt,  xii.  41,  42.) 
Comp.  on  the  other  hand,  ver.  60  s<\.  The  sym- 
bolical view  (comp.  eh.  xxix.  14,  xlvii.  8  sq.;  Jer. 
xlviii.  47  ;  Amos  ix.  14  ;  Isa.  xix.  23,  24)  will  not 
certainly  commend  itself  by  such  assumptions  as 
that  Sodom  represents  the  two  and  a  half  tribes 
on  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  or  that  it  represents 
the  Ammonites  and  Moabitcs,  or  that  it  is  a  type 
of  that  heathendom  which  is  morally  allied  to  it. 
Against  such  assumptions  tliere  is  the  parallel 
with  the  two  definitely  historical  conceptions, 
Samaria  and  Jerusalem,  comp.  vers.  49,  50  ;  and 
the  Ammonites  and  Moabites  in  particular  are  just 
as  little  Sodomites  as  Lot  was.  But  this  much 
will  be  clear  from  tlie  way  in  which  Jerusalem  is 
placed  side  by  side  with  Sodom  precisely  and 
Samaria, — in  other  words,  with  tlie  most  notorious 
sinners  (Deut.  xxxii.  32  ;  Isa.  i.  10  ;  Jer.  xxiii. 
14;  Rev.  xi.  8);  sinners,  too,  from  whosejudgment 
in  long  bygone  days  Jerusalem  seemed  to  herself 
far  removed,  just  as  she  despised  those  most  nearly 
related  to  herself  in  lineage  who  had  been  carried 
into  exile  ; — this  much  will  be  clear,  that  over 
against  the  siu  and  the  judgment  spoken  of  here, 
grace  and  favour  are  manifestly  to  be  taken  in  a 
Messianic  point  of  view,  and  are  meant  to  be  set 
forth  in  a  way  that  is  full  of  promise.  Comp. 
Rom.  xi.  32.  The  promise  "soaring  far  above 
the  censure,"  as  Hitzig  says  of  the  section  vers. 
53-63.  The  solution  of  the  difiiculty,  as  it  is 
attempted  by  Calvin,  by  means  of  assuming  a 
comininatio  a  conditione  htipossibili  (John  xv.  20), 
—if  Sodopi  and  Samaria,  then  also  thou  ;  but  the 
former  not,  therefore  thou  also  not, — is  supported 
neither  by  the  letter  nor  by  the  connection  ;  we 
have  pronii.se  before  reaching  ver.  60  sq.  "The 
restoration  is,  as  in  the  case  of  Job,  a  lifting  up 
to  a  stage  of  existence  far  surpassing  the  former, 
— admission  into  the  kingdom  of  God  and  partici- 
pation in  all  its  blessings  "  (Hengst.). 

Ver.  56.  Such  a  prospect  stands  out  the  more 
prominently,  as  the  retrospect  hinted  at  in  ver. 
54  appears  by  its  side.     njflOC'  —  what  is  heard, 

and  ought  to  be  marked  ;  hence  ;  tidings,  report, 
what  may  at  the  same  time  serve  for  instniction, 
for  warning.  Sodom  had  not  been  taken,  either 
in  her  sins  or  in  her  punishment,  by  Lsrael  as  an 
intimation  to  herself,  which  is  to  be  heard  and 
pondered  whenever  the  topic  appeared  in  her 
mouth  ;  she  merely  talked  it  on  its  way,  without 
drawing  from  it  instruction  or  warning  for  herself, 

fiving  herself  up  as  she  did  at  the  time  to  her 
odom-Uke  (ver.  49,  ch.  vii.  20,  24)  proud  boast- 


ings. [Hav.  :  "was  not  for  instruction,  so  that 
thy  mouth  was  full  of  the  impression."  Others  ; 
"she  was  not  heard  in  thy  mouth  ;  thou  didst 
not  think  of  her,  didst  not  speak  of  her." 
RosENM. :  thou  didst  not  take  Sodom's  name  at 
all  into  thy  mouth  from  mere  pride  ( !  ?).  KeiL : 
"Sodom  was  not  a  discourse  in  thy  mouth,  that 
thou  didst  talk  of  her  and  lay  to  heart  her  fate. " 
EwALD  :  "  although  Sodom  had  no  reputation 
in  thy  mouth,  was  defamed  by  thee,  somewhat 
as  thou  thyself  now  art  by  thine  enemies,"  etc. 
Others  take  the  sentence  as  a  question.  So 
Hengst.:  "Was  not  Sodom  evil  spokeu  of  in 
thy  mouth?"  HiTZ. :  "Was  not  Sodom  a  dis- 
course in  thy  mouth  ?  a  theme  which  thou  didst 
handle  in  an  edifying  manner?"  Others  still,  a3 
Luth.,  Cocc,  Klief.,  take  it  as  a  future,  against 
the  grammar.] — Ver.  57.  A  more  exact  deter- 
mination of  the  time  of  'dV3-     It  was  before  the 

punishment,  to  which,  and  not  merely  to  the 
sin,  the  retrospect  is  directed,  just  .as  in  ver.  53 
"  miseries  "  are  spoken  of  in  the  plural.  By 
means  of  the  punishment  the  discovery  (vers.  37, 
36)  of  her  wickedness  took  place,  her  w'icked 
pride  came  to  shame  and  dishonour  ;  namely,  by 
means  of  the  impending  judgment  from  the  direc- 
tion of  Babylon,  which  can  be  looked  back  to  as 
a  thing  already  accomplished  in  the  past,  and 
that  all  the  more  as  Jeiiovah  speaks  from  the 
sbindpoint  of  the  promised  favour  following  there- 
upou.  [Ewald  translates  :  "just  as  thou  art  now 
the  scorn,"  etc.  The  expression  :  as  at  the  time, 
is  commonly  referred  to  Isa.  ix.  11  ;  2  Kings  xv. 
37,  xvi.  6;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  5,  18  sq. ;  Keil  add- 
ing 2  Kings  xxiv.  2.]  Her  own  experience  of 
punishment,  that  Sodom  in  reality  came  to  be 
heard  and  felt  by  her,  therefore  humbled  even 
earlier  the  pride  of  Jud:ih,  if  not. in  her  own  eyes, 
yet  in  those  of  strangers.  If,  therefore,  Sodom 
was  of  no  use  before,  if  her  own  experience  di.l 
her  harm,  yet  by  means  of  the  impending  dis- 
covery of  her  wickedness,  something  else  is  to  be 
brought  about.  (Hengst.:  "  By  that  which  she 
suffered  she  learned  what  she  had  done  ;  she  no 
longer  S]ioke  in  pride  of  Sodom  with  a  '  God,  I 
thank  thee,'  but  laid  her  hand  upon  her  own 
heart.")  The  Aramaic  (Syrian)  cities  and  nations 
are  to  be  looked  upon,  according  to  Hengst.,  not 
as  the  destroying  powers — "in  that  case  Asshur 
and  Babylon  would  be  mentioned" — but  as  mock- 
ing neighbours.  Hav.  takes  them  and  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  Philistines  to  be  instruments  of  the 
divine  avenging  justice, — but  not  with  reference 
to  any  single  occurrence,  but  in  regard  to  the 
whole  history  of  the  covenant-people,  as  the  north- 
eastern and  southern  neighbours  of  the  theocracy ; 
and  says  that  not  for  them  alone,  but  for  all  her 
BUiTOUDdings,  the  same  thing  lay  in  store,- — a, 
multitude  of  punishments,  which  corresponded  at 
the  same  time  to  their  hard-heartedness. 

Ver.  58  is  taken  by  others  as  future.  Hitz. : 
"  in  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  of  the  certain  future  : 
thou  must  bear. "  It  is,  as  already  remarked  on 
ver.  57,  the  standpoint  of  the  certain  bestowment 
of  grace,  from  which  the  last  punishment  also  is 
looked  upon  as  one  that  has  already  taken  place. 
The  aim,  the  divine  intention  of  ver.  54,  is  reached. 
Comp.  on  ver.  43..^With  the  mention  of  the  pun- 
ishments already  over  (ver.  57)  there  is  connected 
this  summary  sentence,  which,  pointing  to  the 
impending  culmination  of  punishment,  brings  the 


168 


EZEKIEL. 


matter  to  a  conclusion,  in  order  witli  Ver.  59  to 
make  the  transition  to  the  opposite.  — <3  gives 

the  reason  >vith  divine  attestation  why  it  must 
be  so,  that  it  is  according  to  righteousness;  not 
merely,  however,  in  reference  to  punishment,  but 
(ver.  60)  looking  beyond  to  grace  as  well.— fl'tyyi, 

the  1  therefore  (also  in  ver.  60)  a  continuation  of 
the  discourse  in  ver.  58.  Others:  "yea."  The 
Qeri  rightly:  in*E'J!1i  ^■^  ^''^ '^''^^  P^'^""'  Ot^^^rs 
take  it  as  the  second  person  :  thou  didst  to  thy- 
self what  thou  didst;  comp.  Rom.  ii.  5. — Oath, 
Deut.  xxix.  11  [12].— Comp.  ver.  8.— Ver.  60. 
Faithfulness  as  opposed  to  unfaithfulness.  Lev. 
xxvi.  42.  See  Ex.  xix.,  xxiv. — Comp.  Isa.  liv. 
8,  10;  Jer.  xxxi.  31,  xxxii.  40.— Ver.  61.  In 
addition  to  Jehovah's  remembering,  we  have  now 
the  people's  remembering.  He  remembered  His 
covenant.  His  faithfulness  ;  they  had  to  remem- 
ber their  ways,  their  unfaithfulness.  The  being 
ashamed  is  that  already  alluded  to  in  ver.  54  after 
their  experience  of  penal  chastisement;  here,  how- 
ever, still  more  expressly  in  view  of  the  grace  to 
be  experienced.  Israel  may  well  receive  what  is 
given  her.  Comp.  vers.  46,  53,  55.  The  plural, 
however,  stretches  beyond  Samaria  and  Sodom  to 
the  greater  and  smaller  national  communities  of 
mankind.  For  daughters  —  Rosen M.,  Hnz. : 
Jerusalem  therefore  the  metropolis,  the  capital  of 
the  new  theocracy.  Keil  :  "because  the  heathen 
nations  are  engrafted  in  Israel  as  their  stem." 
The  position  of  daughter,  as  it  regards  the  ma- 
ternal relation  of  Israel,  is  clear  from  John  iv.  22. 
Comp.  besides  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  —  The  expression  : 
and  not  by  thy  covenant,  is  made  perfectly  clear 
by  John  x.  16.  Hengst.  explains  the  short,  but 
BO  much  the  more  forcible,  addition  from  ver.  59; 
"  not  because  the  fuWlment  of  thy  coyena.nt  obli- 
gations gave  thee  any  claim  to  it."  Similarly 
most  expositors.  But  the  covenant  is  always 
God's  covenant ;  expressly  so  in  ver.  60,  as  also 
immediately  again  in  ver.  62.  Hence  "thy  cove- 
nant"—ify  covenant  with  thee  in  the  days  of 
thy  childhood,  ver.  60.  The  parties  in  question 
are  designated  as  "without  law,"  i.e.  as  not 
springing  from  the  law,  although  not  as  standing 
outside  the  promise.  Comp.  on  ver.  8  ;  Rom.  ii. 
12,  14.  And  so  in  ver.  62  the  everlasting  cove- 
nant, again  resumed  mth  emphatic  ^JX  from  ver. 

60,  is  represented  as  pure  go.spel,  as  a  most  gra- 
cious fulfilment  of  promise,  as  well  as,  of  course, 
of  the  law  of  Israel  ("My  covenant  with  thee," 
ver.  60).  But  the  relation  under  the  law  was 
always  temporary,  and  also  local,  national,  one  that 
passed  over  into  the  fulfilment;  which  indeed 
drew  forth  from  the  law  even  the  latent  gospel, 
and  realized  it,  but  which  in  divine  faithfulness 
brought  about  the  fulfilment  of  promise  in  a  more 
general  sense  (e.g.  Gen.  xii.  3),  and  which  accord- 
ingly stretches  from  eternity  to  eternity,  and  for 
this  reason  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah  is  signifi- 
cantly connected  with  it.     (Ex.  iii.  14.) 


Ver.  63.  lyoi)  reminds  us  of  ver.  54,  while  at 

the  same  time  ver.  62  is  resumed.  Bememher 
thy  "  ways,"  the  sins  thou  hast  committed. — Be 
ashamed,  comp.  ver.  52;  that  is  to  say,  instead 
of  her  former  pride,  which  .shut  her  eyes  to  her 
deepest  corruption  and  apostasy,  but  opened  her 


mouth  the  more  shamelessly  for  self-justification 
as  well  as  for  bringing  charges  against  God. — 
As  the  covenant  springs  from  pure  mercy  and 
faithfulness,  so  in  its  inmost  essence  it  consist* 
in  forgiveness  of  sins. 

DOCTRINAL  KEFLECTIOXS. 

1.  The  scene  with  the  adulteress  in  John  viii., 
whom  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  brought  to  Jesus, 
might  perhaps  appear  still  more  significant  rest- 
ing on  the  background  of  our  chapter.  Let  it  be 
supposed  that  Jesus  wrote  Ezek.  xvi.  with  His 
finger  on  the  gi'ound,  and  on  the  basis  of  that  put 
forth  the  well-known  challenge  of  John  viii.  7. 

2.  If  in  resp»ct  of  the  temporary  garb  this 
chapter  is  kept  to  the  Old  Testament,  it  is  essen- 
tially New  Testament  in  its  spirit  and  design. 
Paul  has  not  more  sharply  assailed  the  Jews,  nor 
more  thoi'oughly  stripjied  them  of  all  their  own 
righteousnesses.  Comp.  Rom.  ii.  3.  The  pro- 
phet does  not  even  once  bring  into  view  their 
descent  from  Abraham.  That  and  everything 
else  for  him  lie  sunk  in  pure  sin  and  misery. 
Justification  by  works  is  here  held  up  even  to 
irony,  inasmuch  as  the  greater  sinner  "justifies" 
the  lesser  ones  by  means  of  her  deeds  of  abomina- 
tion.    At  the  close  comes  salvation. 

3.  And  just  as  salvation  is  reached  at  the  close, 
so  our  chapter  shows  itself  at  once  as  a  way  of 
salvation,  from  the  fact  that  the  actual  sin  in  all 
its  ingratitude  and  inconceivability,  but  along 
with  that  the  natural  corruption  cleaving  to  the 
people  of  God,  is  disclosed.  For  in  what  blind- 
ness does  a  man  live  with  regard  to  himself,  so 
long  as  he  lives  to  sin !  The  greatness  of  my 
sin  and  misery  must  ever  be  the  first  thing  for 
me  to  know,  if  I  am  to  live  and  die  happily  in 
the  consolation  of  the  gospel. 

4.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  form  of  the  pro- 
phetic discourse  exhibits  in  detail  a  whore  and 
adulteress  of  the  most  abandoned  description,  in 
order  to  hold  up  before  the  people  in  the  picture 
a  mirror  of  themselves  inwardly,  we  are,  as  Coc- 
ceius  very  truly  remarks,  to  make  matter  of 
reflection  (for  this  is  the  object  of  the  description) 
the  much  more  shameful  spiritual  unchastity  as 
regards  God,  even  while  there  may  be  outward 
fleshly  decency  before  men.  And  this  all  the 
more  as  the  ordinary  judgment  of  mankind  falls 
so  unmercifully  upon  the  fleshly  fonn  of  manifes- 
tation, while  it  is  wont  to  form  a  liberal  and  toler- 
ant estimate  of  the  apostasy  from  God  and  the 
yielding  up  of  the  spirit  to  idols.  Cocceius,  in 
this  connection,  points  to  Rev.  xiv.  4,  and  ex- 
plains the  "virgins"  spiritually  of  the  true  and 
faithful  followers  of  Jesus. 

5.  "  Our  chapter  is,  by  the  keeping  up  through- 
out of  the  figure  therein,  one  of  those  Scripture 
passages  which  vindicate  for  ever  the  truth  of 
the  so-called  mystic  interpretation  of  the  Song  of 
Solomon  "  (Klief.). 

6.  For  the  Hebrew  nation,  which  is  more  essen- 
tially a  nation  than  any  other,  inasmuch  as  it 
"  does  not  consist  of  more  or  fewer  disparate, 
heterogeneous,  and  mutually  foreign  conglomer- 
ates, and  more  or  less  accidental  aggregates,  united 
by  accretion  from  without,  but  is  pre-eminentl) 
one  individual,  one  family"  (Ziegler).  Egypt 
was  the  heathen  foil,  and  still  more  the  proper 
birthplace.  There  it  grew  to  be  a  nation  from 
the  twelve  heads  of  tribes.    The  natural  potenciei, 


CHAP.  xvr. 


IVJ 


whicli  in  tliis  case  come  likewise  to  be  considered, 
Boch  as  the  great  fruitfulness  of  this  land,  its 
climate  so  extraordinarily  adapted  for  population, 
etc. ,  are  still  more  than  met  hy  the  antithesis — 
on  the  one  side  monotheistic,  on  the  other  side 
polytheistic  —  whicli  here  lay  open,  and  which 
prevented  a  dangerous  mixture,  and  by  what 
sprang  from  it  in  the  shape  of  a  "great  spiritual 
antipathy  and  idio.syncra.sy  of  the  two  nations," 
through  which  a  preparation  was  made  for  the 
pregnant  development  of  religio-moral  indivi- 
dua.ity  as  a  nation  at  Sinai. 

7.  Jt  is  worthy  of  notice,  and  the  after-effect  is 
always  visible  in  the  history  of  the  Jeivish  people, 
that  they  became  a  nation  in  a  foreign  land,  in 
misery,  and  hence  were  already  a  nation  before 
they  took  possession  of  the  Promised  Land. 

8.  It  is  one  thing,  Israel's  becoming  a  people 
(ver.  6) ;  it  is  another,  Israel's  becoming  the 
people  of  Jehovah  (ver.  8).  In  the  latter  respect 
the  introductory  declaration,  "I  who  have  brought 
thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of 
bondage,"  gives  the  right  key-note  for  the  law  of 
the  covenant.  In  accordance  with  that  it  was  to 
be  understood  as  the  will  of  one  who  was  gracious, 
whose  commandments,  rightly  understood,  cannot 
be  grievous.  They  led  to  grace,  even  when  they 
led  to  the  knowledge  of  sin. 

9.  Although  "  the  whole  of  the  development  of 
Israel"  (Hengst.)  is  surveyed  by  the  eye  of  the 
prophet  in  the  divine  discourse,  and  although 
Hav.  should  not  deny  that  regard  is  had  at  the 
same  time  "to  the  later  history  of  the  nation 
under  David  and  Solomon, "  yet  it  is  principally 
the  first  season  of  youth  that  is  here  apostrophized, 
so  that  we  get  a  pendant  for  what  is  said  in  Rev. 
ii.  4  about  the  "first  love."  (Comp.  especially 
ver.  8  in  our  chapter. ) 

10.  Hav.:  " 'fhe  departm-e  from  Egypt,  the 
giving  of  the  law,  the  covenant  of  God  with  Israel, 
are  facts  which,  compreliending  as  they  do  the 
choosing  and  preparation  of  the  people  to  be  a 
people  of  God,  are  of  such  a  kind  that  they  in- 
clude at  the  same  time  the  later  blessings  in  germ  ; 
these  are  only  the  farther  realization,  confirmation, 
and  development  of  those  divine  manifestations 
of  grace  there  deposited  in  germ  in  the  midst  of 
the  people." 

11.  Hengst.  asserts  that  "we  are  not  to  think 
of  spiritual  benefits,"  that  "the  prophet  abides 
by  what  is  palpable,  which  the  ungodly  even, 
whose  consciences  he  wishes  to  touch,  would 
ueccs.sarily  recognise,"  —  a  view  against  which 
Hav.  rightly  remarks,  that  the  material,  outward 
blessings  are  special,  just  because  they  "  have  in 
them  a  spiritual  significance," — because  they  are 
"symbols,  the  concrete  embodiment  of  spii'itual 
verities  and  heavenly  blessings."  This  "  is  clear 
even  from  the  nature  of  allegory  itself." 

12.  The  covenant-people  are  portrayed  for  us 
both  in  their  priestly  and  in  their  kingly  character 
as  a  people.  The  more  clearly  they  appear  in 
this  way  as  chosen  out  of  the  world— and  thereby 
in  their  task,  in  their  destination,  for  the  world — 
the  deeper  feeling  of  ignominy  and  pain  must 
their  Identification  with  the  world,  nay,  in  con- 
sequence of  that,  their  sinking  far  below  the 
heathen  world,  produce  as  a  warning  example  to 
Christendom  ! 

13.  Marriage  ami  religion  here  run  so  ranch 
into  one  another,  thit  the  vesture  of  the  thought, 
the  figure,  becomes,  as  it  were,  the  thing  itself ; 


and  from  this  ideal  hallowing  of  the  institution  of 
marriage  there  springs  a  religious  and  thus  a  very 
profound  conception  of  its  nature  on  the  Olil 
Testament  grouud  (comp.  Mai.  ii.  14),  just  as  ic 
Eph.  v.  32  we  have  the  New  Testament  view. 

14.  Israel's  identifying  himself  with  the  world 
is  thorough  unfaithfulness,  as  Israel  was  ofiered 
in  the  covenant  relationship  with  Jehovah  graet! 
to  withstand,  to  ward  otf,  temptation  through  the 
world-powers,  —  is  an  unfaithful  misapplication 
not  only  of  the  gifts  of  grace  and  blessings  which 
have  come  to  Israel,  but  of  his  state  of  grace. 
But  he  who  forgets  what  manner  of  man  he  was, 
he  who  has  a  high  opinion  of  himself,  has  no 
desire  for  gra«e  ;  and  the  more  he  trusts  in  him- 
self, the  more  quickly  will  he  squander  gifts  and 
blessings.  "  If  once  this  direction  is  taken,  the 
wickedness  advances  farther  and  farther,  unceas- 
ingly, with  unabashed  countenance  ;  it  spares  no 
gift  of  God  which  it  would  not  bring  as  an  offer- 
ing to  its  self-made  gods,  to  itself,  and  to  its 
sinful  lust"  (Hav.). 

15.  Self-exaltation  leads  from  grace,  just  as 
self-knowledge  leads  to  grace. 

16.  With  the  self-annulling  of  the  relationship 
to  God  is  bound  up  the  annulling  of  a  nation  s 
self  in  its  diBerent  relations.  Where  there  is  no 
religion,  there  may  be  manners,  but  no  morality  ; 
neither  is  there  any  historical  nationality,  how- 
ever much  of  self-praise  it  may  receive.  Godli- 
ness is  always  the  true  policy,  having  the  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  whii:h  is 
to  come.  With  its  religion  a  people's  nationality 
is  bound  up.  (The  honouring  of  God  and  the 
national  honour.  The  significance  of  the  reli- 
gious character  of  a  people  as  it  regards  their  ethi- 
cal and  national  side.) 

17.  "In  the  Hebrew  worship  there  was  found 
a  theocracy  elsewhere  unexampled.  Originality 
and  independence  in  the  domain  of  natural  reli- 
gion was  wanting  in  the  case  of  the  Hebrews  ; 
the  fundamental  bias  produced  by  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  left  room  merely  for  a  pressing  in  of 
natural  religion,  dependent  for  the  most  part  on 
outward  circumstances.  Striking  proof  how  ori- 
ginal and  deeply  rooted  monotheism  is  in  Hebra- 
ism "  (Hav.).  Comp.  the  development  of  this 
idea  in  Saalschutz'  Archaol.  ii.  p.  382  sq. 

18.  With  this  national  character  of  hers  as  a 
people  of  Jehovah,  Israel's  polytheistic  aberra- 
tions are  quite  as  much  sins  against  herself,  her 
true,  essential,  proper  self,  as  against  the  Lord 
her  God. 

19.  The  punishment  of  death  is  inflicted  by  the 
law  of  Moses  either  in  the  shape  of  burning  {'!  per- 
haps only  of  the  corpses,  after  previous  stoning), 
Lev.  XX.  14,  xxi.  9, — Gen.  xxxviii.  24  appears  to 
be  a  pre-Mosaic  legal  usage, — or  by  stoning,  or  by 
the  sword.     Hanging  is  not  a  Mosaic  punishment. 

20.  Grotius  drew  the  inference  from  our  chap- 
ter (vers.  38,  40),  that  after  Moses'  time  the 
severer  punishment  of  stoning  was  introduced  in 
the  case  of  adultery  ;  without  ground,  as  Meyer 
on  Jolin  viii.  rightly  decides.  It  was  the  legal 
Mosaic  punishment  of  adultery,  perhaps  in  gene- 
ral, as  Hiiv.  on  Ezekiel  in  loco  makes  very  pro- 
bable, and  not  merely  in  cases  like  Deut.  xxii. 
20  sq.,  23  sq.,  to  which  Meyer  limits  it ;  although 
the  figurative  language  used  by  our  prophet  in 
reference  to  the  punishment  would  have  its  em- 
phasis if  the  law  had  been  to  decree  stoning  only 
in  cases  so  peculiar.      (Israel  conceived  of   •■ 


ITU 


EZEKIEL. 


hetrothed  iu  marriage !  Her  obligation  as  a 
people  to  virgin-like  purity  !) 

'21.  It  is  a  fearful  development  that  of  Israel — 
the  more  groce,  the  more  sin.  And  yet  grace 
would  display  itself  the  more  mightily,  the  more 
mightily  sin  had  developed  itself.  "  What  a 
great,  free  kingdom  of  grace,"  says  Umbreit, 
••  which  the  prophet  builds  up,  in  which  Sodom, 
Samaria,  and  Jerusalem  stand  before  God  in  a 
line  connected  in  the  closest  way  !  " 

22.  The  key  to  the  interpretation  of  the  resto- 
ration held  out  in  prospect  for  Sodom  and  Samaria 
and  Jerusalem  is  the  undeniably  representative 
character  of  all  three.  As  this  representative 
character  of  Judah-Jerusalem  is  clear  in  our  pro- 
phet,— that  is  to  say,  the  Jewish  people  is  repre- 
sented in  this,  its  characteristic  remnant, — so  it  is 
no  less  to  be  admitted  in  reference  to  Sodom  and 
Samaria.  The  addition  at  the  outset  in  every 
case,  "  and  their  daughters,"  by  means  of  which 
three  groups  are  formed,  strips  the  cities  named  of 
their  individuality.  But  it  is  not  the  Jordan 
valley  and  the  land  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and 
just  as  little  is  it  the  respective  inhabitants,  that 
are  to  be  represented  thereby,  as  it  is  plain  from 
the  connection  that  no  special  reference  of  any 
kind,  either  to  local  circumstances  as  such,  or  to 
persons  as  such,  exists.  Both  Sodom  and  Samaria 
come  into  view  with  the  prophet  merely  as  regards 
sin  and  judgment,  and  with  respect  to  grace  and 
favour.  As  regards  sin  and  judgment,  they  be- 
long to  history,  and  are  specialized  as  regards 
this  historical  side  of  theirs,  especially  Sodom 
(ver.  49  sq.)  ;  with  respect  to  grace  and  favour, 
they  are  received  into  the  promise  concerning  the 
Jewish  people,  not  merely  to  throw  important 
light  on  that  promise,  but  to  characterize  it  Mes- 
sianically  as  a  world-wide  pros]iect  for  humanity 
in  general.  We  are  not  at  liberty  to  say  with 
Hengst. :  "  Sodom  represents  the  entire  heathen 
world  standing  in  similar  circumstances  with  her. " 
Forwhat  would  Samaria  represent,  as  distinguished 
from  her  and  from  Jerusalem  ?  But  if  sin  and 
judgment  indisputably  constitute  the  historical 
element  of  Sodom  and  Samaria,  we  shall  require 
to  e.xpress  ourselves  in  this  way :  Sodom  and 
Samaria  set  before  us,  symbolize  in  general,  two 
sinful  states  of  mankind,  which  are  specially  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other  in  this  way,  that 
Sodom  has  sinned  and  been  judged  without  having 
the  law  of  the  covenant,  while  Samaria  has  fallen 
away  from  the  law  of  the  covenant  and  exposed 
herself  to  judgment.  It  is  not  .as  representing 
heatliendom  that  Sodom  comes  into  view,  Init  as 
standing  outside  the  covenant  of  law  ;  and  the 
dilVerence  between  Samaria  and  Jeru.salem  in  re- 
spect of  the  covenant  of  law,  out  of  which  Samaria 
has  fallen,  is  attested  by  the  mercies  which  have 
maintained  within  Jerusalem  and  for  her  the 
covenant  and  the  law  so  much  longer.  If  Paul 
writes  in  Rom.  ii.  that  they  who  have  sinned 
without  law  perish  ahso  witliout  law,  and  that 
they  who  have  sinned  in  the  law  are  judged  by 
the  law,  the  statement  is  illustrated  by  Sodom 
and  Sarcaria  as  to  the  prospect  for  Jerusalem. 
But  because,  with  Ezekiel,  grace  and  favour  shoot 
up  tlieir  beams  behind  and  beyond  the  judgment, 
the  fact  that  Sodom  and  Samaria,  iu  connection 
with  their  sinning,  are  lost,  serves  indeed  the 
purpose,  in  respect  of  righteousness,  of  placing 
Jenisalem — exceeding  both  as  she  has  done  in 
till  and  corruption — even  lower  than  them,  and 


consequently  of  humbling  her  more  deeply  ;  but 
the  deeper  the  iiumiliation,  the  deeper  shall  be 
the  sense  of  shame,  since  grace  and  favour  form 
the  last  prospect.  A  thought  such  as  that  ex- 
pressed by  Hengst. ;  "  If  God  has  compassion  on 
the  most  notorious  sinners  among  the  heathen, 
how  should  He  not  have  compassion  on  all  ?  "  lies 
outside  our  text.  In  accordance  with  our  text 
the  thought  would  need  to  run  :  If  grace  lies  Id 
prospect  for  Jenisalem,  so  much  the  more  must 
this  be  the  prospect  for  Sodom  and  Samaria,  how 
greatly  soever  Jewish  Pharisaism  migl.'  set  its 
face  against  it.  The  fact  that  the  favot,  held 
out  in  prospect  is  expressed  as  a  "return  to  their 
first  estate,"  explains  the  "turning"  of  the  cap- 
tivity, or  more  generally  of  the  miserj-,  as  2V" 
ni3K',  as  a  "bringing  back,"  inasmuch  as  it  is 

a  "  returning,"  and  both  alike  are  figurative  modes 
of  speech.  As  the  one  takes  its  colour  from  So- 
dom's judgment,  so  the  other  takes  its  colour 
from  Samaria's  punishment.  Sodom  must  be 
restored,  since  she  is  destroyed  ;  while  Samaria 
would  have  to  be  brought  br.ck  from  her  njiser}', 
since  she  is  in  exile — if  favour,  notwithstanding 
judgment  and  after  judgment,  were  to  be  the  thing 
spoken  of.  But  it  is  just  such  favour  of  whicli 
God  means  to  speak  to  us  by  the  mouth  of  His 
prophet.  This  favour  is  in  the  case  of  Jerusalem 
assigned  indeed  to  the  last  time,  in  so  far  as  the 
Messianic  period  is  the  last  time  ;  nothing,  how- 
ever, being  said  of  transferring  it  to  the  world  to 
come  or  to  the  last  judgment,  nor  of  its  being 
delayed  till  the  general  restitution  of  all  things. 
The  same  must  hold  good  of  the  parallels,  Sodom 
and  Samaria.  But  ver.  61  makes  it  perfectly 
clear,  inasmuch  as  the  grace  lying  in  store  ia 
spoken  of  there  as  a  receiving  into  the  fellowship 
of  the  everlasting  covenant  with  Jerusalem  ;  and 
Sodom  and  Samaria,  just  as  they  appear  mani- 
festly as  ty])es  of  himianity  to  be  made  partakers 
of  grace,  so  far  as  they  themselves  are  concerned, 
step  into  the  background.  When  Stier  wishes  tr 
explain  Ezekiel  by  means  of  Matt.  xi.  24  in  refer- 
ence to  Sodom,  he  drags  into  the  words  of  our 
Lord  what  does  not  necessarily  lie  in  them.  The 
last  day,  which  according  to  Stier's  interpretation 
is  to  manifest  "ways  of  grace  still  open"  even 
"  in  the  world  to  come,"  does  indeed  make  mani- 
fest those  who  are  saved  by  grace  through  faith, 
as  it  likewise  justifies  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
its  judgments  before  the  whole  world.  That  it 
will  be  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  on  this  day  is 
explained  simply  enough  from  the  circumstance 
that  her  guilt,  as  also  that  of  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
when  compared  with  the  guilt  of  others,  will  aji- 
pear  as  less  heinous.  But  that  Sodom  will  be 
restored  is  not  said  by  our  Lord  in  Matthew,  any 
more  than  He  says  that  Tyre  and  Sidon  will 
repent.  Where  Kzekiel  speaks  of  Sodom  and 
Samaria  (just  as  also  of  Jerusalem),  as  cities, 
localities,  Sodom  is  removed  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  Samaria  lies  waste,  the  style  of  expression 
as  to  "returning  to  their  first  estate"  is  merely 
colouring.  .The  motto  with  the  prophet,  which 
runs  through  the  Old  Testament,  in  gospel  term? 
is  this  ;  I  am  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which, 
was  lost.  This  is  the  Messianic  world-wide  pro- 
spect for  mankind,  as  it  is  symbolized  iu  Sodom. 
Samaria,  and  Jerusalem. 

23.   "The  prosperity  and  safety  of  the  olden 
time  is  the  immediate  form  under  which  the  pro- 


CHAP.  XVI. 


ITi 


phet  beholds  also  the  future," — just  as  to  be  in 
paradise  =  to  be  in  heaven  ;  "but  presently  this 
future  .appears  also  in  so  ideal  a  splendour,  that 
that  very  form  bursts  asunder,  and  in  truth  a  new 
world  presents  itself  to  his  eye.  It  is  the  old  God, 
with  the  old  gifts  of  His  love  ;  but  the  subjective 
condition  has  become  a  different  one,  and  hence  the 
old  blessings  also  are  of  a  new  kind,  and  the  whole 
state  in  consequence  has  become  one  far  more 
exalted,  far  more  glorious  than  the  old"  (Hiiv.). 

["  It  is  as  if  an  assurance  were  given  to  a  child, 
«  hose  family  had  become  enveloped  in  misfortune, 
that  he  should  live  to  see  tlie  former  prosperity 
ivturn  again  ;  but  meanwhile  he  himself  springs 
up  to  ^lanhood,  and,  having  now  other  wants  to 
satisfy,  and  higher  relations  to  fill  than  fonnerly, 
the  revived  prosperity  must  bring  new  and  nobler 
gifts  within  his  reacli,  to  place  him  in  the  same 
relative  position  he  originally  occupied.  In  short, 
the  bringing  back  of  the  eaptivit)',  and  returning 
to  the  foiiner  st.ate,  as  applied  to  the  covenant- 
people,  indicates  nothing  as  to  the  outward  form  of 
things  to  be  enjoyed,  but  points  only  to  their 
iiniure  ami  cluiracter,  as  similar  to  what  had- 
already  been"  (F.iiliBAiKN). — W.  F.] 

24.  Hengst.  wishes  to  find,  iu  the  circumstance 
that  in  vei's.  53  and  55  (just  as  also  in  Isa.  xix. 
23,  24)  Israel  takes  only  the  third  place,  a  hint 
that  the  heathen  world  will  attain  sooner  to  sal- 
vation, and  a  preparation  for  Rom.  xi.  25  (?). 
Again,  the  "comforting"  of  ver.  54  is  to  be  ex- 
plained from  ver.  61,  and  is  meant  to  signify  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  (Isa.  .\1. ),  which  will  come 
at  fii'st  from  an  election  of  Jews  (the  apostles)  to 
the  hfatheu.  The  high  honour  of  this  mission 
to  the  heathen  wo'lil  will  fill  with  deep  shame, 
because  of  the  earlier  apostasy.  There  is  no 
i[uestion,  at  all  events,  .as  to  the  remark  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  "  can  only  for  a  time  be  limited 
to  a  single  nation,  and  the  limitation  must  be 
the  means  of  removing  the  limitation." 

25.  Hay.  :  (1)  "The  oM  covenant  appears  as 
the  foundation,  the  presupposition,  of  the  new,  so 
that  the  latter  rests  on  the  fomier.  The  new  in- 
stitute of  salvation  is  not  the  dissolution,  but  the 
fulfilment,  the  confirmation,  and  completion  of 
the  old.  (2)  It  is  characteristic  of  the  new  cove- 
nant that  it  is  to  be  an  everlasting  covenant. 
But  the  eternity  of  duration  already  promised  to 
the  old  covenant  nevertheless  stands  f:ist,  inas- 
much as  the  old  covenant  rises  into  aud  passes 
over  into  a  covenant  of  such  a  kind  that  its  dis- 
solution is  not  to  be  thought  of."  Comp.  besides 
our  exposition  of  ver.  61  sq. 

26.  "  Vain  is  the  boast  which  Rome  takes  up 
against  Jerusalem.  For  it  is  not  from  Kome  that 
the  gospel  has  gone  forth,  but  from  Jenisalem  ; 
just  as  it  is  also  not  to  the  Romans  alone  that  it 
lias  forced  its  way.  We  are  children  of  Jerusalem, 
but  not  of  Kome.  If  Rome  will  be  saved,  she 
must  become  a  daughter  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  this 
means  that  Rome  must  in  this  case  accept  the  law 
which  has  gone  forth  from  Jerusalem,  and  darf 
not  accept  or  deliver  aught  else.  But  Jerusalem 
has  begun  to  show  herself  as  a  mother,  inasmuch 
as  the  apostles  and  believei'S  from  Jerusalem  have 
preached  the  gospel  to  us  "  (Cocc). 

IIOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "As  a  physician,  when  he  wishes  to 
'leal  a  wound   ^''"rnughly,  must  probe  it  to  the 


bottom,  so  a  teacher,  when  he  wi-.hes  to  ?onve-l 
men  thoroughly,  must  first  seek  to  bring  them  to 
a  knowledge  of  their  sins"  (C'li.V  —  "The  man 
is  thoroughly  sick  who  does  not  wish  to  heaj 
how  sick  he  is,  lest  he  should  be  compelled  to 
know  and  believe  it.  But  such  is  the  sinner, 
who  reckons  himself  as  righteous"  (SrcK.). — 
"Without  the  knowledge  of  sin,  repentance  and 
conveision  are  not  to  be  thought  of.  We  know- 
indeed  already  by  nature  that  we  ought  not  to 
kill,  to  steal,  etc.;  but  because  through  inborn 
defect  our  natural  knowledge  is  very  much  ob- 
scured, God  has  given  the  ten  commandments, 
to  set  the  law  of  nature  in  a  clearer  light ;  aud 
the  prophets  are  the  expounders  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments. In  other  men  we  perceive  at  once 
the  sins  which  we  do  not  discover  in  ourselves. 
To  ourselves  we  are  indulgent,  especially  if  we 
err  in  the  service  of  God,  since  we  are  always 
clinging  to  the  view  that  what  we  did  with  a 
good  intention  cannot  possibly  displease  God. 
So  much  the  more  must  the  prophets  dr.ag  our 
sins  to  the  light"  (Luthek). — Ver.  2.  "  Tho.sc 
who  are  in  the  Church,  and  yet  live  an  ungodly 
life,  are  to  be  considered  the  same  as  the  heatheu 
before  God,  Matt.  xviu.  17"  (Tub.  Bib.).— Ver.  3. 
"  What  Jenisalem  had  to  listen  to  in  the  passage 
before  us  !  And  yet  what  would  have  to  be  said 
of  our  extraction,  as  to  who  we  are,  and  from  what 
heathen  we  are  sprung?"  (Jek. ) — Ver.  4.  The 
abuse  of  benefits  increases  guilt.  Hence  the 
preaching  of  those  confened  by  God  on  the  Jewish 
people,  as  here  by  Ezekiel,  is  a  thorough  carrying 
out  of  the  original  commission :  Cause  Jerusalem 
to  know  her  abominations. — Ver.  5  sq.  It  is  above 
all  as  seen  in  conti-ast  with  ou'  natural  corruption 
that  we  come  to  understand  the  giace  of  God  the 
Father  iu  Jesus  Christ,  His  only-begotten  Son, 
through  the  Holy  Spirit.  — ' 'How  did  it  stand  with 
ourselves,  before  God  stretched  forth  His  hand  to 
us,  and  brought  us  out  of  the  filth  of  our  sins? 
Wc  are  born  children  of  wrath  ;  we  lie  under  guilt 
for  our  sins  ;  we  must  have  died  eternally,  had 
we  not  been  quickened  through  Christ,  Eph.  ii. 
4,  5  ;  1  Cor.  vi.  12"(LUTHF,K). — Where  none  helps, 
God  is  our  help. — "  Priest  and  Levite  pass  by  ; 
God  does  not.  He  not  only  will,  but  He  also  can 
help.  His  looking  upon  ns  is  already  help " 
(SrcK.). — Remembering  a  good  preparation  (for 
the  table  of  the  Lord  also) :  (1)  let  us  i-emember 
what  we  are  by  nature  ;  (2)  let  us  remember  still 
more  God's  grace.  — Ver.  8  sq.  "  This  is  the  second 
gracious  visitation  of  God ;  the  first  is  in  ver.  6  sq. " 
(SCHMIEDEK. ) — Ver.  9  sq.  "With  such  giace 
God  comes  to  meet  us,  when  as  the  compassionate 
Father  He  comes  to  meet  His  prodigal  sons  (Luke 
XV. ),  embraces  them,  and  by  His  promises  and  .so 
many  proofs  of  His  love  takes  away  our  unbelief, 
and  enters  into  covenant  with  us.  This  takes 
place  when  He  forgives  us  our  sins,  imparts  to  us 
His  Spirit,  and  frees  us  from  the  bondage  of  sin. 
But  as  those  who  have  the  gift  of  freedom  be- 
stowed upon  them  change  their  clothes,  so  we 
put  on  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  numbered 
with  the  royal  priesthood  (Col.  iii.  12, 13)  "  (Heim- 
HoFF.). — "Observe  that  God  not  only  washed, 
but  also  anointed  ;  in  other  words.  He  not  only 
forgives  our  sins,  but  at  the  same  time  sanctifies 
us  by  His  Spirit"  (Cocc). — "Do  you  wish  to 
know  what  articles  of  clothing  these  really  are  ? 
Compassion,  kindness,"  etc.  (Jer. ) — "But  the 
adorning  of  godly  women  is  not  to  be  that  which 


172 


EZEKIEL. 


is  outward,  but  the  new  man  inwardly,  1  Pet.  iii. 
3sq. ;  Gal.  v.  •22"  (StakkeK — "The  kingdom  of 
glorv  is  reached  by  those  only  who  keep  the  faith 
to  the  end"  (Stck.). — Ver.  14.  "A  name  of 
renown  is  no  .small  favour  from  God,  but  one 
ought  not  to  pride  himself  in  it,  Matt.  iii.  9 " 
(0.).  —  "There  is  no  name  of  greater  glory  and 
renown  than  to  be  a  child  of  God.  Strive  to  bear 
this  name  with  truth,  Hos.  i.  10"  (Starke). 

Ver.  15.  "  The  divine  gifts,  so  soon  a.s  we  cease 
to  recognise  them  as  such,  inevitably  become  a 
snare.  The  heart  that  has  grown  proud  by  means 
of  tiiem  becomes  the  sport  of  all  lusts  and  pas- 
sions" (Heng.st.  ). — Ingratitude  is  the  reward  of 
the  world  ;  it  was  so  even  in  the  case  of  the  na- 
tion placed  in  so  splendid  a  position  in  the  heathen 
world,  and  that  in  reference  to  the  Lord.  What 
a  mirror  for  Christendom! — "How  many  a  one 
has  been  con'upted  by  beauty!  "  (Stck.)  — 
"  Beauty,  whence  comes  it  ?  is  it  not  also  a 
divine  gift  ?  Who  can  make  himself  beautiful  ? 
And  should  it  not  serve  to  keep  what  is  unbeauti- 
ful,  to  keep  vice  far  from  us  ?  And  how  soon  is 
beauty  gone!"  (Luther.)  —  Pro.spcrity  without 
piety,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  leads  to  coiTup- 
tion.  — "  This  is  a  worm  which  gnaws  and  destroys 
the  most  precious  souls,  and  renders  the  com- 
mandments of  no  effect,  when  the  man  is  content 
with  the  praise  of  men,  and  boasts  himself  as  if 
his  own  doings  were  enough  foi  him.  Beware, 
therefore,  of  trusting  in  thine  own  will,  because  it 
is  nothing  without  God's  assistance.  Wheu  you 
have  done  all,  say.  We  are  unprofitable  servants. 
'  It  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that 
runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy'  (Rom. 
ix.  16).  It  is  the  Lord's  will  that  we  should 
place  our  confidence  in  this,  that  our  names  are 
written  in  heaven"  (Heim-Hoff.,  after  Calv.). 
—  "  The  name  of  a  Christian  is  not  enough,  if  the 
walk  of  a  Christian  does  not  go  along  with  it " 
(Stck.).  —  "  The  more  distinguished  thou  art 
among  men,  the  more  watchful  over  thyself  thou 
shouldst  be  "  (Luther). — Ver.  16  sij.  "What  is 
there  that  men  do  not  spend  upon  sinful  objects, 
and  especially  upon  false  worship  ! — All  that  thou 
otferest  to  tlie  idols  :  tell  us,  then,  earthly-minded 
man,  what  hiist  thou  offered  in  thy  life  to  God  ? " 
(Stakke.  ) — New  patches  upon  an  old  garment; 
here,  as  so  often,  upon  the  old  idolatrj' ! — "  Ob- 
serve that  those  who  fall  away  from  the  true 
religion  are  accu.stomed  to  walk  at  the  head  of 
processions,  and  would  fain  even  excel  others 
througli  their  superstition,  so  that  the  latter  are 
even  displeased"  (Luthek). — Ver.  17  sq.  There 
is  a  systematic  theology,  professing  to  be  biblical, 
after  this  pattern,  where  the  gold  and  silver  of 
Holy  S('rii)ture  are  wrought  up  into  doctrinal 
statements  and  practical  inferences  according  to 
one's  own  liking,  under  splendid  wrapiiings 
(phrases),  and  by  means  of  an  eloquence  that 
reminds  one  of  better  times. — "The  true  God 
clothes  and  feeds  His  own  ;  but  the  false  gods 
mu.st  be  clothed  and  fed  by  their  worshippers, 
and  for  this  j)urpose  Ciod's  gifts  are  to  serve " 
(Stck.). — Ver.  20  sq.  "God's  right  not  only  to 
the  grown  up,  but  also  to  their  children,  is  not 
merely  in  virtue  of  creation  and  preservation,  but 
in  riitiic  of  the  covenant"  (Starke). — "The 
extent  of  the  grace  which  was  promised  to  Abra- 
ham must  be  recognised  in  the  Church  of  Christ 
»lso.  Cljrist  imparts  the  sparks  of  His  Spirit  to 
*aom  He  will ;  and  heuce  many  in  the  first  ycare 


of  childhood  have  a  purer  fear  of  God  than  those 
who  are  grown  up.  And  therefore  in  the  worship 
of  the  Church,  and  especially  in  baptism,  the 
grace  of  the  new  birth  for  chiliireii  of  God  is 
ascribed  to  little  children  even,  in  dependence  oc 
the  promise  :  I  am  thy  God,  and  the  God  of  thy 
seed"  (Heim-Hoff.).  —  "Thou  darest  not,  0 
false,  hypocritical  Christian,  hold  thyself  to  be 
righteous  as  compared  with  the  Jews,  because 
thou  hast  an  abhorrence  of  what  they  did  ;  for 
the  rearing  of  thy  children  for  the  devil  and  the 
world  is  certainly  not  better"  (Beui,.  Bib.). — 
"God  retains  His  right  over  our  children  ;  and 
so  He  does  thee  no  wrong  when  He  summons 
them  away  from  thee  into  heaven"  (Stck.). — 
Ver.  22  sq.  The  ungodly  and  idolatrous  have  a 
bad  memory.  It  is  the  memory  that  the  devil 
seeks  first  to  steal  from  man.  When  memory 
conies  back  to  us  through  grace,  how  our  eyes  are 
filled  with  tears !  Sometimes  the  dying  hour 
draws  aside  the  veil  from  our  memory.  Oh,  let  it 
not  come  so  late  ! — Ver.  25.  "  The  beauty  is  the 
national  honour,  a  noble  boon  bestowed  by  God, 
which  not  to  esteem,  but  to  prostitute,  is  a  sign 
of  deep  degeneracy  and  alienation  from  God" 
(Hexgst.).  — Ver.  26.  "  Ofttimes  neighbours 
entice  one  another  to  sin"  (Starke). — Ver.  27. 
Even  upon  Israel's  most  wicked  ways  God's  hand 
is  ever  discernible  still. — Ver.  28  sq.  There  is  an 
insatiable  hunger  in  sin.  —  "With  God's  word, 
on  the  other  hand,  men  become  so  quickly  sati- 
ated" (Stck.).  —  "Without  repentance  we  go 
from  sin  to  sin"  (Jek.).  —  "Our  heart  has  no 
rest  until  it  rests  in  God"  (Augustine).  —  "  If 
we  are  too  intimately  connected  with  the  ungodly, 
it  is  just  as  if  we  went  near  a  fan,  and  made  it 
blow  up  our  evil  desires,  which  without  that  are 
already  burning  sufficiently  in  our  soul.  It  ia 
difficult  to  keep  the  favour  of  those  with  whom 
we  are  on  terms  of  friendship,  if  %ve  do  not  agi'ee 
with  them"  (Heim-Hoff. ).  — Ver.  30.  "A 
withered  heart,  a  heart  that  has  lost  its  sap  and 
vigour  (Ps.  xxxii.  4),  is  the  heritage  of  those  who 
seek  in  the  world  what  God  alone  can  impart. 
Hope  always  disappointed  is  the  enemy  of  life." 
— Ver.  31.  Where  wickedness  has  grown  into  a 
habit,  everything  becomes  a  means  to  the  end, 
for  its  only  wish  is  to  gratify  its  lust. — Ver.  32. 
"Those  who  serve  God  and  Mammon,  Christ  and 
Belial,  are  in  the  same  condemnation"  (Stck.). 

Ver.  35  sq.  The  punishment  of  God  begins 
with  the  holding  up  before  us  of  our  sins  ;  and 
thus  our  evil  conscience  is  the  announcement  of 
yet  another  condemnation.  —  God's  word  an<l 
Spirit  never  flatter,  but  call  sinni-r  and  sin  by 
their  right  name. — Such  is  the  relation  in  which 
God  stands  to  whoredom  ;  how  ditferent  the  posi- 
tiou  taken  up  by  states  and  cities  toward  it,  that 
still  wish  to  be  called  Christian  ! — To  hear  while 
it  is  yet  time,  to  hear  the  voices  of  grace,  saves 
US  from  being  compelled  to  hear  the  sentence  of 
punishment. — Ver.  37.  False,  sinful  love  readily 
passes  over  into  fierce  hate,  whiidi  is  also  a  judi- 
cial sentence  of  God,  even  in  this  life. — Such  is 
the  case  also  with  boon  companionship,  gambling 
companionship,  and  similar  worldly  friendships 
— This  is  the  curse  of  sin,  that  those  with  whom 
we  have  sinned  make  common  cause  with  oui 
enemies  for  our  punishment. — "The  penal  un- 
covering of  the  nakedness  is  the  righteous  retri- 
bution for  having  done  so  voluntarily"  (Hekgst.) 
— Friends  may  in  certain  circumstances  be  th* 


CHAP.  xvn. 


173 


most  paiiilul  rods  in  God's  hand.—  Keep  me,  UGcd, 
from  friends  who  are  not  Thy  friends. — Ver.  38  sq. 
The  histiiry  of  tlie  world,  still  more  the  history  of 
the  Church,  most  of  all  tlie  history  of  the  Jewish 
people,  shows  a  retribution  at  work,  and  proves 
■it  the  same  time  the  e.xisteiice  of  a  Judge. — To 
be  in  the  enemy's  hand  does  not,  in  the  case  of 
faith,  exclude  the  comfort  of  knowing  that  we 
are  in  God's  hand  ;  but  for  the  ungodly  it  is  a 
sign  that  God  has  given  them  up. — Those  are  the 
mfist  awful  scenes  of  burning,  in  whose  ruins  we 
see  ourselves  pointed  away  beyond  man  altogether 
to  the  righteous  God.  In  this  way  Jerusalem  has 
become  a  parallel  to  the  Dead  Sea.  —  He  who 
refuses  to  obey  God  must  in  the  end  obey  men. 
— Ver.  40.  The  sin  public  ;  the  shame  public  ; 
the  judgment  public. — Ver.  41.  "God  can  easily 
bring  it  about  that  we  shall  sin  no  more  ;  in  other 
words,  that  even  if  we  wish  it  as  before,  we  shall 
be  able  to  go  no  farther"  (Stck.). — Ver.  42.  If 
the  sin  ceases,  the  wrath  cea.ses,  it  rests  over  the 
sinner  ;  and  so  the  nationality  of  Israel  has  ceased 
among  the  nations. — God's  resting.  His  being  no 
longer  angry,  may  be  hell. — The  extremity  of 
judgment  is  such  indifference  on  the  part  of  God. 
Ver.  43  sq.  All  sin  becomes  still  worse  from  its 
being  a  crime  against  God's  gi-ace.  "  Against 
Thee,  Thee  only,"  is  the  so  thoroughly  damning 
element  in  sin. — "  The  sins  and  bad  habits  of 
parents  do  not  e.xcuse  the  chUdren,  but  render 
them  the  more  guilty,  because  they  have  not 
shunned  ways  so  wicked"  (Stck.). — Ver.  47  sq. 
When  sin  has  grown  to  madness,  the  most  hor- 
rible depths  of  corruption  disclose  themselves  just 
in  the  case  of  those  who  have  had  most  to  do  with 
God's  word.  — A  man  of  the  world  cannot  possibly 
sin  like  one  who  has  fonnerly  been  a  "  Chri.stian." 
— What  sinner  in  Israel  did  not  reckon  himself  a 
pious  man,  if  not  a  saint,  as  compared  with  Sodom  ! 
How  different  is  God's  judgment  from  men's  judg- 
ment upon  others  and  upon  themselves ! — Ver.  49 
sq.  Good  days  may  become  had  weeks,  a  bad  eter- 
nity. —  Unmercil'ulness  shoR's  that  we  ourselves 
have  not  obtained  mercy. — If  we  are  to  be  ashamed 
before  Sodom  and  Samaria,  how  much  more  before 
the  penitent  thief  upon  the  cross ! — Ver.  51  sq. 
The  mote  and  beam,  as  in  Matt.  vii. — In  judging 
of  sins,  many  a  thing  has  to  be  considered  which 
God  alone  can  know.  Hence  we  should  not  wish 
to  judge,  but  should  leave  the  judgment  to  God. — 
Justification  before  men,  and  justification  before 
God  ;  justification  from  men  in  word,  through 
their  praise,  or  in  actual  fact,  through  their  greater 
guilt ;  and  justification  from  God,  in  His  word, 
through  Christ's  work. 

Ver.  53  sq.  "  Teachers  and  preachers  must 
preach  nol  only  the  law,  but  also  the  gospel "  (O. ). 
—  However  gieat  our  sin  and  misery  may  be,  there 
is  a  redemption  from  all.  —  "What  the  prophet 
here  predicts  has  been  fulfilled  in  the  Church,  and 


is  being  fulfilled  still  daily"  (jEn.V— The  gospel 
proclaims  and  promises  return  from  captivity,  and 
restoration  of  the  divine  image  alike  to  the  grossest 
sinners,  and  to  the  apostates  who  have  fallen  away 
from  the  truth,  and  also  to  those  who  boast  them- 
selves of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  yea,  of  Christ 
and  the  apostles,  but  who  shall  the  more  right- 
eously fall  under  judgment  if  they  do  not  repent. 
— "  In  the  case  of  spiritual  captivity  we  must  think 
of  the  jailor,  of  the  chains,  and  of  the  bondage. 
But  from  Satan's  yoke,  and  the  chains  of  dark- 
ness, and  from  wicked  works,  Christ  leads  us  to 
freedom  "  (Stck.). — Ver.  54.  "This  is  a  beautiful 
revenge  and  a  blessed  retribution  on  God's  part, 
the  shaming  of  the  sinner  by  means  of  grace  " 
(Cocc. ). — To  be  ashamed  of  salvation,  and  to  h» 
ashamed  because  of  so  great  salvation,  how  dif- 
ferent are  these  two  things  ! — Ver.  55.  It  is  a 
bringing  back,  the  restoration  of  the  nations  to 
a  united  humanity  in  the  Son  of  man,  the  new 
heavens  and  the  new  earth,  the  creation  of  re- 
demption.— Ver.  56.  "  How  many  rejoice  in  the 
calamity  of  others,  and  do  not  reflect  that  per- 
haps a  still  greater  one  hangs  over  their  own  head  ! 
I'rov.  x.xiv.  17"  (Sr.iRKE). — The  .stones  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  cry  loud  enough  in  the  ear 
of  Christendom  ! — Ver.  57.  The  day  of  judgment 
makes  bare.  —  "  In  this  life  much  remains  hidden, 
but  the  last  day  will  make  manifest  thoughts  as 
well  as  words  and  actions"  (Stck.). — In  the  end, 
and  —  if  one  looks  deep  enough  —  already  even, 
he  who  despises  God  and  is  cast  oft'  by  Him  is 
despised  by  men  likewise. — Ver.  5S.  "  He  who 
seems  to  bear  sin  lightly  will  find  the  j)unish- 
ment  so  much  the  heavier." — Ver.  59.  God  deals 
with  us  according  to  our  works,  and  He  does  not 
deal  with  us  according  to  our  w  orks  ;  both  already 
in  this  world,  but  thoroughly  only  in  the  world 
to  come. — God's  remembering  His  giace  produces 
the  everlasting  covenant.  —  "Believers  have  no 
right  to  assume  or  imagine  that  they  have  been 
reconciled  to  God  from  any  other  cause  than  from 
the  grace  of  the  covenant"  (Calv. ). — Ver.  Bl. 
Our  remembering  is  never  without  shame  on  our 
part. — God's  giace  awakens,  sharpens  memory 
also.  — "  The  remembrance  of  our  former  state  of 
sin  ought  to  humble  us  thoroughly,  but  at  the 
same  time  to  awaken  us  to  the  gratitude  we  owe 
to  God  for  having  shown  us  so  great  mercy,  1  Cor. 
XV.  9,  10"  (Stakke). — Ver.  63.  "God  is  willing 
to  remit  not  one  and  another  sin  merely,  but  all 
our  sins  "  (Luthek). — "  In  this  chapter,  as  in 
Rom.  i.  sq.,  God  makes  a  complete  disclosure  of 
the  abominations  of  sin,  but  for  the  purpose  in 
grace  of  also  covering  them  up  wholly"  (RiCHT. ). 
— "The  justification  of  grace  takes  away  from 
those  who  have  come  to  know  their  sin  thoroughly 
all  boasting  of  their  own  merits,  Rom.  iii.  24 " 
(Starke). — Our  being  struck  dumb  in  judgment, 
our  being  struck  dumb  from  grace. 


6.   The  Riddle  about  the  Royal  House  of  David  (ch.  xvii.). 

,  2       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  put  forth  a 

3  riddle,  and  speak  a  parable  unto  [for]  the  house  of  Israel.  And  say,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  The  great  eagle,  with  great  wings,  with  long  wing- 
feathers,  full  of  feathers,  which  had  divers  colours,  came  unto  Lebanon,  and 

4  took  the  topmost  branch  [leafy  cro»n]  of  the  cedar.  The  topmost  of  its  shoots 
he  cropt  off,  and  brought  it  to  the  laud  of  Canaan ;  in  a  city  of  merchants  he 


174  EZEKIEL. 


6  set  it.     And  he  took  of  the  seed  of  the  land,  and  put  it  in  a  seed  field ;  took 

6  it  to  many  waters,  set  it  as  a  willow.  And  it  sprouted,  and  became  a  spread- 
ing vine,  of  low  stature,  so  that  its  branches  might  turn  toward  him  [th« 
eagle],  and  its  roots  should  be  under  him ;  and  it  became  a  vine,  and  produced 

7  branches,  and  shot  out  leafy  twigs.  And  there  was  another  great  eagle  with 
great  wings  and  many  feathers  ;  and,  behold,  this  vine  turned  languishingly 
in  its  roots  toward  him  [the  other  eagie],  and  shot  forth  its  branches  toward  him, 

8  that  he  might  water  it,  from  the  beds  of  its  planting.  In  a  good  field  by 
many  waters  was  it  planted,  to  produce  leaves  and  to  bear  fruit,  to  become  a 

9  splendid  vine.  Say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Will  it  thrive  t  will  he 
not  pull  up  the  roots  thereof,  and  cut  off  the  fruit  thereof,  that  it  wither  ? 
In  all  the  leaves  of  its  shoots  it  shall  wither ;  and  not  by  a  great  arm  or  by 

10  many  people  will  it  have  to  be  lifted  up  from  its  roots.     And  [yea],  behold,  it 

is  planted,  will  it  thrive  1  will  it  not  utterly  wither  as  soon  as  the  east  wind 

II,  12  touches  iti — And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying.     Say  now  to 

the  house  of  rebelliousness.  Know  ye  not  what  this  is  1     Say,  Behold,  the 

king  of  Babylon  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  he  took  its  king  and  its  princes,  and 

13  he  brought  them  to  himself  to  Babylon.  And  he  took  of  the  royal  seed,  and 
made  a  covenant  with  him,  and  caused  him  to  enter  into  an  oath  ;  and  the 

14  rams  [strong  ones]  of  the  land  he  took  :  That  it  might  be  a  kingdom  of  low 
condition,  that  it  might  not  lift  itself  up;  that  his  covenant  might  be  kept, 

15  that  it  might  stand.  And  he  rebelled  against  him,  so  tliat  he  sent  his  mes- 
sengers to  Egypt,  to  give  him  horses  and  much  people — Shall  he  prosper? 
shall  he  escape  that  doeth  tins'!     And  he  broke  the  covenant,  and  should  he 

16  escape?  As  I  live — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — surely  in  the  place  of 
the  king  that  made  him  king,  whose  oath  he  despised,  and  whose  covenant 

17  he  broke,  with  him  in  the  midst  of  Babylon  he  shall  die.  And  not  with  great 
power  and  much  people  shall  Pharaoh  act  with  him  in  the  war  [battle],  in  cast- 

18  ing  up  a  mount  and  in  building  a  siege-tower,  to  cut  off  many  souls.  And 
[yea]  he  despised  the  oath,  to  break  the  covenant ;  and,  behold,  he  gave  his 

19  hand  :  and  all  this  he  did  ;  he  shall  not  escape.  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  As  I  live,  surely  My  oath  which  he  despised,  and  My  cove- 

20  nant  which  he  broke,  I  give  upon  his  head.  And  I  spread  My  net  upon  him, 
and  he  is  taken  in  My  snare,  and  I  bring  him  to  Babylon,  and  I  contend  with 
him  there  because  of  his  treachery  which  he  hath  committed  against  Me. 

21  And  all  his  fugitives  in  all  his  squadrons,  they  shall  fall  by  the  sword,  and 
those  that  remain  shall  be  scattered  to  every  wind ;  and  ye  know  that  I, 
Jehovah,  have  spoken. 

22  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And  I  take  of  the  topmost  branch  [of  the  le^fy 
crown]  of  the  high  cedar,  and  set  [give]  ;  from  the  topmost  of  its  shoots  will  I 

23  crop  off  a  tender  one,  and  I  plant  it  upon  a  mountain  high  and  exalted.  On 
the  elevated  mountain  of  Israel  will  I  plant  it,  and  it  bears  leaves  and  pro- 
duces fruit,  and  becomes  a  glorious  cedar  :  and  under  it  there  dwell  all  birds 

24  of  every  wing;  in  the  shadow  of  its  branches  shall  they  dwell.  And  all 
the  trees  of  the  field  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  brought  down  the  high  tree, 
exalted  the  low  tree,  made  the  green  tree  wither,  and  made  the  dry  tree  to 
flourish ;  I,  Jehovah,  spake  and  did. 

Ver.  3.  Sept. :  .  .  .  er  i^n  to  iij-sj^at  it(rix8u¥  its  7.  \i^ttv»» — 
Ver.  4.  .  .  .  Its  ire?^v  TtTHxio'M-f*^'* —    Viilg, :  .  .  .  in  urbe  negotiatoi-um — 

Ver.  5.  .  .  .  iri^>.fra//.ivov  trititi  otyro.     Vulg  :  .  .  .  et  poiuit  illud  in  terra  pro  icmim  ...  in  supprficie  potuit  illud 
Ver.  7.  .  .  .  rtoTtffttt  ecvT'rr  ffvf  TO.  fia)M  ryis  ^uruas  tLVTyis.     (Another  readlog:   nSJD,   alariLm  imlar  produxit 
n3*IJ?D,  ab  areola.    Syr.  and  Arab. ;  see  ver.  10.) 

Ver.   9.  Another  reading:  n^VriH,  Inteirog 

Ver.  10.    .    .   .  ffw  Tft*  Ba/Xv  ivxroA^s  etirn;  ^pt^iB^jfflTmi. 

Ver.  17.       .    .  T6t*)flt  vpts  ctvrar  ^xpatM  TtfXf/Mv —  .  , 

Ver.  20.  ,  .  .  *.  it-Xaifftrect  i*  t*j  rtpioxyi  aitriv. —    (Another  reading;  vVD3,  propter  tcelus  ^ut.    vVO    /V.  Syr.) 

Ver.  81'.    .    .    .    XttfihtotS  ttCTUV  CCTOKVIU  X.   XXTttfUTIUfftt    .    .    .    V'^^XOH, 

Ver.  2!).   K.  xpifjiMffti  cci/Tcr  tv  opit  fj-iTtupm  t«i>  '\fp.  *.  Ka-vm^uTHiffm  ,  ,  .  x.  »¥etircLvvtr»i  i/Wtxetrit  xiirtu  w»i  Btipimf  m 
i«  «ITV*«  Ik*  Trill  rxtar  ctijTcv  Kvct^Txt/fftTat  x.  T.  «At]u«T«  etvTm  kutxttTOLfTxBrrtTcu, 


CHAP    XVII.  1-7. 


176 


EXEGETIC.iL  KEMAKKS. 

After  the  preparatory  liints  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  e.g.  vers.  13,  26,  the  discourse,  as  in  ch. 
xii.,  turns  specially  to  the  subject  of  the  kingdom. 

Vers.  1-10.    The  Riddle. 

Ver.  2.  DTn  lin,   always  in  this   connection 

(Judg.  xiv.  12,  13,  16)  means  :  to  tie  a  knot  of 
speech,  which  is  to  be  loosed  ;  according  to  others : 
from  ITn,  ^  sharp  saying  ;  but  in  how  far  sharp  ? 

(Comp,  Doct.  Reflec.  1.)  What  requires  sharpened 
wits  to  understand  it,  is  certainly  too  remote  from 
the  connection.     n"I'n  is  'i  general  the  figurative 

speech,  and  therefore  used  in  parallel  with  •i^'J2 

(comp.  ch.  xii.  22) ;  which  may  be,  and  for  the 
most  part  is,  in  this  form,  especially  as  contrasted 
with  the  plain,  literal  statement.  Designedly 
veiled,  it  is  meant  to  rouse  us  to  remove  the  veil, 
and  thus  with  the  process  of  reflection  so  much 
the  deeper  an  impression  is  made.  As  the  dis- 
course is  to  be  addressed  to  the  house  of  Israel  (ver. 
12),  there  is  no  need  for  quoting,  as  Hitz.  does, 
ch.  xvi.  44. — Ver.  3.  The  great  eagle  is  Nebuch- 
adnezzar, as  ver.  12  shows ;  and  the  same  figure  is 
employed  in  Jer.  xlviii.  40,  xUx.  22,  so  majestic 
and  powerful  as  well  as  strikingly  appropriate, 
without  for  that  reason  being  a  specially  Baby- 
lonian title,  or  an  animal  form  appearing  in  the 
armorial  bearings  of  the  Babylonian  rulers.  Tlie 
points  of  comparison  are  the  royal  character,  the 
robber-conqueror  element,  the  power  of  rapid 
flight,  the  sharp  vision  from  which  nothing  can 
be  concealed,  the  power  of  atn  ke ;  perhaps  also 
Matt.  xxiv.  28.  With  great  wings,  points  to  the 
extent  of  dominion  ;  with  long  wing-feathers, 
to  the  energy,  especially  of  the  military  power  ; 
full  of  feathers,  to  the  multitude  of  subjects ; 
the  divers  colours,  to  the  diversity  of  the  sub- 
jugated nations  in  speech,  customs,  dress. — Le- 
banon, if  it  stands  for  Judah,  does  so  because  the 
latter  represents  the  whole  of  Israel,  and  in  this 
case,  according  to  Hengst.,  "because  the  moun- 
tains in  Scripture  language  mean  kingdoms  ; " 
but  rather,  perhaps,  inasmuch  as  for  the  king  of 
Babylon  Lebanon  is  the  boundary  of  the  land, 
the  first  sign  of  the  Jewish  land.  More  correctly, 
however,  in  connection  with  what  follows,  and  in 
accordance  witli  ver.  12,  it  is  taken  as  a  symbol 
of  Jerusalem ;  and  that  not  so  much  because  of 
the  temple  and  the  other  palaces,  as  because  of 
the  king  s  house,  constructed  of  cedar  beams,  on 
Mount  Zion,  for  which  comp.  1  Kings  vii.  2,  x. 
17,  21  ;  Jer.  xxii.  23. — mt3S.  a  word  peculiar  to 

Ezekiel  for  the  topmost  foliage  of  the  cedar,  by 
which  is  meant  in  general  what  stands  out  pro- 
minently, namely,  what  stands  out  prominently 
in  the  house  of  David ;  so  that  from  the  generality 
of  the  expression  we  may  include  in  the  exposi- 
tion "  the  princes"  of  vers.  12,  13.  Hengst.  hap- 
pily :  "  the  then  royal  court."  The  more  special 
statement  follows  in  ver.  4  :  the  topmost  of  its 
shoots,  etc.  The  tip,  the  highest  of  the  shoots 
which  together  form  the  topmost  branch,  with  an 
allusion  at  the  same  time  to  his  youthful  years, 
means  king  Jehoiachin.  Canaan,  here  the  same 
■8  in  ch.  xvi.  29.  Comp.  there.  Ironically  :  yea, 
into  a  new  Canaan  !  a  lew  land  as  contrasted  with 


the  lofty  Lebanon  !  Similarly  Hav.  The  city 
of  merchants  does  not  neoessitate  our  interpret- 
ing the  "  land  of  Canaan  "  .as  a  land  of  merchan- 
dise, as  most  expositors  take  it,  but  side  by  sidd 
with  the  ironically  so-called  "  Canaan  "=  Baby- 
lonia, there  is  placed  in  addition  a  special  feature, 
for  which  comp.  lutrod.  p.  19.  The  market  oj 
commerce  in  contrast  with  the  king's  house  !  As 
in  Babylon  all  possible  products  of  commerce  were 
huddled  together,  so  in  a  manner  also  were 
huddled  together  the  most  diveree  crowns  and 
princes.  Hengst.  supposes  that  the  Chaldean 
diplomacy  is  meant  as  being  a  policy  of  interests, 
as  we  also  speak  of  international  intrigues.  "  Self- 
interest  is  the  poini  of  comparison  between  poli- 
tics and  trade"  (Rev.  xviii. ). — Ver.  5.  The  seed 
of  the  land  denotes,  as  contrasted  with  a  foreign 
ruler,  and  specially  with  a  Babylonian  viceroy,  one 
of  the  native  royal'  family  (ver.  13),  namely, 
Zedekiah  (Introd.  p.  6).  But  in  the  diH'erence 
between  the  "top  of  its  shoots"  (ver.  4)  and  the 
"seed  of  the  land,"  there  is  set  forth  prominently 
a  diH'erence  between  Zedekiah  and  Jehoiachin 
(Matt.  i.  12).  It  is  not  so  much,  perhaps,  the 
policy  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  Hengst.  puts  it, 
"in  order  to  secure  for  him  the  sympathies  of 
the  people,"  as  rather  the  considerateness,  the 
clemency  of  the  procedure,  that  is  nie.ant  to  be 
brought  out. — jf-|f  mt;'3.  ^  *  seed  field,  which 

is  described  more  particularly  in  what  follows. 
What  is  meant  is  the  as  yet  favourable  circum- 
stances, as  Judah  was  neither  a  "  sterile  land," 
nor  even  an  exhausted  soil. —  np   with   kametz 

(Hos.  xi.  3),  see  Hav.  on  the  passage,  a  resum- 
ing of  the  preceding  np'l-     The  many  waters 

portray  the  fertile  situation,  in  harmony  with 
naVDV,  a  word  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,   which  Ge- 

senius  derives  from  the  inundated,  well-watered 
soil  which  the  willow  loves.  There  is  no  need  for 
supplying  a  comparative  g,  as  the  accusative  is 

an  apposition.     The   LXX.   derive  ^t  from  nsS: 

he  caused  it  to  be  watched  over.  So  also  the 
Syriac  Version. — Ver.  6.  If  a  humiliation  is  im- 
plied in  the  illustration  u.sed  :  "  as  a  willow,"  thf 
statement  that  it  became  a  'vine  may  possibly  be 
meant  to  make  up  for  this.  But  however  lu.xu- 
riantly  the  vine  stretched  out,  yet  it  was  no  longer 
the  Davidic  cedar,  as  is  specially  indicated  by  the 
low  stature  (ver.  14);  which  at  the  same   time 

forms  the  transition  to  the   intentional  '71130^5, 

that  it  was  to  continue  turned  toward  the  Baby- 
lonian iTiler,  and  subject  to  him  with  all  its  growth 
and  with  the  roots  of  its  existence  and  vigour. 
(Klief.  :  it  was  not  to  stretch  out  its  branches 

toward    its    own    post,    etc.)    wj^  «ri,  a  short 

repetition,  to  prepare  for  what  now  follows  (ver. 
7),  as  being  the  opposite  of  what  was  intended. 
The  "carefully  selected"  (Hav.)  form  of  expres- 
sion  (finz   and  nhNS)   brings    out   in    strong 

colours  the  overweening  self-conceit.  —  Ver.  7. 
inK~lB'J,  another,   as  distinguished  from   thf 

one  pointed  out  emphatically  in  ver.  3.  Comp, 
ver.  15.  The  description  is  similar  to  that  in 
ver.  3,  but  more  meagre,  corresponding  to  th« 


176 


EZEKIEL. 


inferior  position  of  the  Egyptian  Icing  in  respect 
of  power.      In  [53  there  is  a  certain  play  upon 

tlie  word  jsj.     The  meaning  is  (comp.  ver.  6) 

plainly  to  turn  strongly  in  some  ])articular  direc- 
tion,— is  it  to  wind  because  of  hindrance  from  the 
soil  in  which  it  had  been  planted  ?  or  is  it  to 
languish,  to  thirst  after,  portraying  the  vehement 
SLdf-willed  longing  ? — The  "  watering  "  is  probably 
not  without  allusion  to  the  process  of  irrigation 
peculiar  to  Egypt  by  means  of  the  overflow  of  the 
Nile. — From  tne  beds,  etc.,  i.e.  from  the  spot 
where  it  had  been  planted  by  Babylon,  went  forth 
its  leaning  toward  Egj^pt,  which  marks  already 
the  discontent,  the  ingratitude,  the  unfaithful- 
ness, and  thus  paves  the  way  for  Ver.  8.  Comp. 
besides  ver.  5. — miSi  according  to  some,  from  a 

root  "  to  be  wide  "  (to  have  it  comfortable)  ;  ac- 
cording to  others,  from  a  root  "to  be  strong." — 
Ver.  9.  The  difficulty  of  the  riddle  is  presented 
for  solution  ;  the  consecjuence  to  be  foreseen  from 
such  conduct  is  put  as  a  question.  According  to 
Hav.,  with  an  expression  of  displeasure  ;  accord- 
ing to  others,  ironically.  But  the  prophet  does 
not  in  this  case  utter  his  own  sentiment,  but  what 
the  Eternal  says.  The  divine  sentence  may  be 
learned  from  the  riddle.  From  the  additional 
question  annexed  to  it,  it  follows  that  the  first 
question   is   to    be    answered    in    the    negative. 

(Comp.  Matt.  xxi.  40  sq. ;  xx.  15  sq.)     n^V  is :  to 

force  a  way  in,  to  force  a  way  through,  to  come 
forward.  Keil  in  his  exposition  takes  it  as  a 
neuter  :  will  it  succeed,  prosper  ?  and  what  fol- 
lows, in  his  translation  also,  indeiinitely  :  will 
they  not  pull  up?  etc.,  instead  of  referring  it  to 
Nebuchadnezzar.  The  roots  have  respect  to  his 
existence  as  king  ;  the  fruit  is  the  produce,  the 
result  of  this  royal  existence  by  Nebuchadnezzar's 
grace  ;  there  is  no  special  allusion  to  Zedekiah's 
children  (2  Kings  xxv.  7).  AU  the  leaves  of  its 
shoots  =  the  whole  productive  energy  and  vital 
force  which  such  a  kingship  in  any  way  showed. 
The  subject  is  the  vine,  as  also  in  ver.  10.  The 
common  interpretation  is,  Nebuchadnezzarwill  not 
need  for  this  purpose  his  whole  power,  specially 

his  whole  military  forces.  But  DiSE'Op  (''■  femi- 
nine infinitive  form),  in  accordance  with  the  inter- 
pretation of  ver.  17,  is  rather  to  be  understood  of 
the  lifting  up  again  from  the  roots,  into  which  it 
has  sunk  down  withered.  [Hav.:  And  without 
great  power  and  without  much  people,  scil.  it  will 
parch  up  (?),  when  one  pulls  it  up  from  ts  root, 
that  is  to  say,  without  the  expected  help  of  Egypt 
he  will  sink.  Hengst.  :  Nebuchadnezzar,  who 
did  indeed,  according  to  Jer.  xxxiv.,  lead  a  numer- 
ous army  against  Jerusalem,  did  not  require  to 
make  so  great  preparations  (Dent,  xxxii.  30  ;  Lev. 
xxvi.  8).  The  taking  away  with  the  roots  =  the 
total  annihilation  of  the  national  existence,  Mark 
xi.  20  ;  Matt.  iii.  10;  Luke  iii.  9.]— Ver.  10.  A 
strengthening  repetition  (ver.  9)  to  produce  gi'eater 
attention.  Comp.  besides  ver.  8.  The  east  wind 
— very  appropriate  for  the  Babylonians,  dwelling 
in  the  east,  as  well  as  in  the  figure,  because  it  is 
dangerous  for  plants— is  employed  in  conclusion 
to  disguise  for  the  second  time,  quite  after  the 
manner  of  a  riddle,  the  instrument  of  punish- 
0)ent. — With  a  mere  touch,  and  on  the  spot  of 
his  ungrateful  oride,  he  will  find  his  judgment. 


Vers.  11-21.   The  Interpretation. 

Ver.  12.  Because  now  "the  house  of  Israel," 
to  whom  the  riddle  was  proposed,  are  to  know  tlie 
meaning,  are  in  any  case  to  have  the  riddle  inter- 
preted to  them  by  the  prophet,  although  they  are 
called  a  house  of  rebelliousness  (ch.  ii.  5,  (i),  the 
case  before  us  is  a  difl'erent  one  from  that  in  Malt, 
xiii.  10  sq.,  and  from  tliat  in  Isaiah,  to  whick 
Jesus  there  refers  back.  A'e  are  to  think  of  the 
exiles  as  favourably  distinguished  from  those  at 
Jerusalem. — For  the  intei'pretation,  comp.  ver. 
3,  and  2  Kings  .xxiv.  11  sq.  ;  Jer.  .xxiv.  1,  x.xix. 
2. — The  princes  of  Jemsalem  along  with  the 
king,  the  "topmost  branch"  in  the  riddle  of 
which  Jehoiachin  is  the  top-shoot  (ver.  4).  — Ver. 
13.  Comp.  ver.  5  ;  Jer.  xli.  1  ;  1  Kings  xi.  14  ; 
2  Kings  xxiv.  17  (Introd.  p.  6).  In  reference  to 
the  vassal's  oath  of  fidelity,  see  2  Chrou.  xxxvi. 

13. — The    '■>■){{    cannot    perhaps   be   taken   as   a 

simple  resumption  of  the  "princes"  of  the  pre- 
ceding verse,  yet  they  may  be  understood  as  in- 
cluded. But  the  expression  is  to  be  interpreted 
especially  from  2  Kings  xxiv.  14,  16.  Hnz. : 
the  owners  of  property,  rich  proprietors,  artisan.^, 
and  warriors.  The  intention  (ver.  6)  is  clearly 
expressed  in  Ver.  14  ;  the  parties  in  question  were 
not  so  much  meant  to  be  hostages. — Keil  :  "that 
he  might  keep  his  covenant,  that  it  might  stand. " 
— Ver.  15.  Comp.  ver.  7  ;  likewise  2  Kings  xxiv. 
20.  The  Egyptian  was  to  support  him  with  that 
which  was  peculiar  to  Egypt  (Deut.  xvii.  16), 
and  which  Zedekiah  needed.  Did  the  latter  wish 
to  appoint  the  riders  for  the  horses? — The  much 
people  refers  back  to  ver.  9,  and  likewise  to  the 
question  of  ver.  10,  which  is  at  the  same  time 
explained. — The  answer  is  given  in  Ver.  16  in  a 
divine  utterance,  such  as  we  have  in  ver.  9,  only 
that  the  terms  are  still  stronger,  taking  the  well- 
known  form  of  an  oath. — Comp.  ch.  xii.  13. — 
Ver.  17.  And  not  with  great  power,  etc.,  refers 
back  to  the  "horses  and  much  people "  of  ver.  1 5, 
and  is  meant  to  explain  the  statement  in  ver.  9. 
Pharaoh  is  the  subject.  The  meaning  is,  either 
that  he  will  not  be  willing  to  render  Zedekiah  the 
expected  help,  or  that  he  will  not  be  able.  Comp. 
Jer.  xxxvii.  5,  7.  The  "acting,"  on  whicli  it 
depends,  turns  out  iusignificant — nothing  more 
than  a  feeble  demonstration  on  the  part  of  Egypt. 
[Hengst.  :  Pharaoh  will  leave  his  protege  in  the 
lurch,  when  he  is  hard  pressed  by  his  enemies. 
That  the  Chaldean  needs  no  great  military  force 
against  Jerusalem  (ver.  9),  finds  its  explanation 
here  in  the  circumstance  that  the  Egyptians, 
against  whom  alone  such  a  force  was  necessary, 
do  not  come  to  its  help  with  such  a  force.] — The 
march  of  the  Egyptian  auxiliary  army  took  place 
when  Jerusalem  was  besieged  by  the  Chaldeans. 
Comp.  in  this  connection  on  ch.  iv.  2.  To  cut 
off,  etc.,  draws  attention  to  the  fact  of  how  neces- 
sary powerful  help  would  be  in  such  a  situation. 

Ver.  18.  The  riddle  is  interpreted,  but  the 
divine  discourse  lingers  still  over  the  breach  of 
oath  and  covenant,  because  such  acting  on  Zede- 
kiah's  part,  with  what  is  implied  in  it,  is  still  to 
be  judged  and  to  have  sentence  pronounced  upon 
it  by  Jehovah. — Ver.  19,  just  like  ver.  16.  It  is 
not  only  that  every  oath,  and  hence  also  this 
oath,  is  of  a  religious  character,  and  that  tht 
despising  of  it  necessarily  compromised  the  God 
of  Israel  in  the  eyes  of  the  heathen ;  bat  stiU 


CHAP.  XVII.  20-24. 


177 


farther,  considering  the  clemency  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar in  making  such  a  covenant,  as  Jehovah's 
instrument,  Jehovah's  goodness  was  turned  into 
lasciviousness. — Comp.  besides  ch.  xi.  21,  ix.  10. 
— Ver.  20.  See  on  ch.  xii.  13.  The  "contending," 
the  going  into  court  with  him,  involves  the  pun- 
ishment.— Ch.  XV.  8. — Ver.  21.   Instead  of  irPI^D 

(Qeri :  vmao),  fugitives,    the  Chaldee  reads  : 

1'"in30,   "chosen  ones"  (ch.   xii.   14).     So  also 

Hitzig.  He  who  thinks  to  save  himself  by  flight 
— hence  the  wliole  military  forces  of  Israel  are 
driven  into  flight — shall  be  slain  by  the  sword. 
But  for  the  people  left  over,  for  all  the  remnant 
generally,  the  fate  in  store  is  the  same  as  in  ch. 
V.  10,  12.  Bitter  experience  brings  them  to  know 
and  understand,  although,  alas !  too  late,  that 
God  had  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  His  prophet. 

Vers.  22-24.   The  Prediction. 

With  a  very  beautiful  variation  the  close  of  our 
chapter,  which  follows,  takes  the  form  of  the  theme 
of  the  riddle  at  the  beginning.  The  threatening 
colours  there  are  exchanged  here  for  those  rich  in 
promise. — Ver.  22.  1,  markingacontiuuation  ;  but 

as  the  npP  is  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  there  is 

rather  an  antithesis.  Ingeniously  Hitzig  :  "Jeho- 
vah, who  is  Himself  in  Dent,  xxxii.  11  and  Ex. 
xix.  4  compared  to  an  eagle,  appears  upon  the 
scene,  confronting  the  former  one  (ver.  3)."  And 
He  who  asserts  His  dignity  in  opposition  to  him, 
whom  neither  Jerusalem  nor  Egypt  is  able  to 
oppose,   can  really  do  so  :    'JXi  with  emphasis. 

He  does  a-s  Nebuchadnezzar  does,  and  yet  He  does 
so  quite  difl'erently  !  He  brings  low  that  which 
would  fain  be  high  ;  He  exalts  that  which  is 
apparently  reduced  to  nothing  (ver.  24).  Of  the 
topmost  branch,  etc.  Thus  the  illustrious 
original  house  of  David  (tlie  cedar)  is  still  in 
existence  ;  and  not  only  the  royal  family,  but  its 
royal  position  as  well  (the  topmost  branch).  And 
thus  the  statement  is  modilied,  that  (ver.  3)  the 
great  eagle  took  the  topmost  branch  of  the  cedar. 
The  nSD^n  here,  which  is  wanting  in  the  former 

case,  is  not  without  significance.  Thus  the  matter 
presents  itself  to  God  s  eye.  His  taking  is  really 
"giving"  ('nnjl).— In  ver.  4  we  have  {J*K-|-nN, 

here  {•'KID  ;  so  that  in  spite  of  the  taking  away 

of  Jehoiachin,  his  kingdom  is  still  supposed  to  con- 
tinue. The  definition  added  :  a  tender  one,  may 
be  interpreted  of  the  planting,  shoots  of  this  kind 
being  generally  used  ;  still  better,  perhaps,  of  a 
child  (Luke  ii.  12).  The  Chaldee  paraphrases: 
of  his  children's  children  a  little  child.  At  all 
events,  it  cannot  here  mean  a  thing  small  and 
insignificant,  as  Hengst.  supposes,  nor  something 
weak.  [Hitzig  takes  "  tender  "  as  =  youthful  ; 
but  this  idea  lies  already  in  the  word  "shoot." 
Comp.  on  ver.  4.  Tender  youth,  which  is  just 
childhood,  is  indicated  by  the  stronger  expres- 
sion.]— PlbpKi  decieio  signijicat  mortem,  Isa.  liii. 

8  ;  Dan.  ix.  26  (Cocc.).— The  contrast  lying  at  the 
foundation  is  a  twofold  one, — to  Jehoiachin  too 
(ver.  4),  but  much  more  to  Zedekiah  (ver.  5),  in 
whose  case  "planting"  is  spoken  of.  In  the 
•ame  direction  chiefly  the  contrast  of  the  mountain 


also  is  kept.  It  is  the  contrast  to  the  k  w  country 
generally, — on  the  one  hand  to  the  Canaan  of 
Babylon,  on  the  other  to  the  Canaan  of  Jerusalem 

^ch.  xvi.  3).     The  partic.  pass.,  piipn  (only  here), 

adds  to  the  natural  height  an  extraordinary  exal 
tation  besides,  whether  it  be  to  serve  as  a  power- 
ful counteractive  to  the  depression  that  has  taker 
place,  or  whether  it  be  to  hint  already  at  the 
approaching  glory  of  ver.  23.  A  farther  designa- 
tion of  the  mountain  is  given  in  Ver.  23.  The 
elevated  motintain  of  Israel  is  not  Zion  directly 
as  such,  nor  Zion  in  the  wider  sense,  as  embracing 
also  Mount  Moriah,  as  must  of  course  be  the  view 
taken  if  appeal  is  made  to  ch.  .\x.  40  (Isa.  ii.  2  ; 
Mic.  iv.  1)  ;  but  Jerusalem  is  here  meant,  in 
the  same  way  as  in  ver.  3  it  was  spoken  of  as 
"Lebanon."  Comp.  there.  (Ch.  xxxiv.  13,  14.) 
Hence  restoration  (in  accordance  with  ch.  xvi.), 
and  that  with  increased  splendour.  Because  such 
restoration  of  Jerusalem,  of  Judah,  is  brought 
about  by  means  of  the  royal  child  of  David's  line, 
in  thought  the  reference  to  Zion  may  predominate, 
Ps.  xlviii.  3  [2],  ii.  6,  Ixviii.  17  [16].  That  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  springs 
trom  the  Jews  for  the  whole  worhl,  is  aptly  sym- 
bolized by  the  planting  of  the  royal  shoot  in  the 
royal  city,  and  by  what  now  follows.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  mountain  is  a  mere  foil,  the 
typical  .substratum,  and  that  it  neither  "comes 
into  view  as  the  seat  and  centre  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,"  nor  does  it  even  "  denote  this  kingdom 
itself;"  but  the  kingdom  and  all  its  glory  are 
conceived  of  as  in  the  shoot  of  Davii/,  and  repre- 
sented as  proceeding  from  him,  behind  whom  all 
else  steps  into  the  background.  Klief.  alone 
correctly  :  '*the  person  of  the  Messiah  will  grow 
into  His  kingdom,  which  becomes  the  spiritual 
home  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world."  However 
historical,  yet  the  promised  personality  is  in  this 
respect  kept  in  an  ideal  shape.  Fulfilling  what  is 
typical,  becoming  the  full  embodiment  of  what 
was  shadowed  forth  by  Israel,  he  attains  to  what 
he  is  meant  to  be  ;  he  realizes  completely  his  idea, 
which  has  to  do  with  mankind  generally.  The 
foliage  is  in  order  to  the  shadow.  The  hiut,  as 
being  a  tree,  as  it  must  be,  perhaps  also  one  which 
yields  nourishment  to  those  to  whom  it  gives 
shelter  (Isa.   xi.  1).     As  in  ver.  8  we  had  riTIN, 

so  here  T^K  :  what  Zedekiah  had  not  become  as 

a  "vine,"  that  He  who  is  here  meant  is  as  a 
"cedar,"  so  as  to  fulfil  the  promise  given  to  David 
regarding  his  posterity.  For  the  clause  :  and  under 
it  there  dwell,  etc. ,  comp.  ch.  xxxi.  6  ;  Dan.  iv. 
9  [12] ;  Matt.  xiii.  32.  An  emblem  of  the  uni- 
versal sovereignty,  to  which  all  submit  thems(  Ives, 
but  in  which  also  they  rejoice  and  put  their  con- 
fidence (in  the  shadow,  etc.). — The  expression  : 
all  birds  of  every  wing,  points  to  Noah  s  ark  of 
safety,  Gen.  vii.  14.  The  meaning  is  :  all  the 
different  nations  and  families  of  men  upon  earth, 
ch.  xxxi.  6,  12  ;  see  also  Ps.  viii.  7,  9  [6,  8], 
Ixxxiv.  4  [3].  A  contrast  alike  to  ver.  6  and  ver. 
7  ! — Ver.  24.  All  trees,  etc.,  are  the  collectiva 
ruling  powers  of  this  world,  the  princes  and  kings 
of  the  earth. — mfeTl  looks  back  perhaps  to  v:t. 

5  (8) ;  other  than  mere  earthly  kingdoms  Ne- 
buchadnezzar and  his  compeers  are  able  neither  to 
found  nor  to  rule. — The  bringing  low  of  the  high 
tree,  just  as  correspondingly  the  exalting  of  th< 


178 


EZEKIEL. 


low  tree,  refers  specially  to  Jehoiacliin  ;  while 
the  making  the  green  tree  to  wither,  and  the 
making  the  dry  tree  to  flourish,  in  accordance 
■nil h  ver.  !)  sq. ,  point  back  to  Zedekiah,  inasmuch 
li  through  him  tlie  kingdom  in  Judah  came  to 
ruin.  The  revivification  of  this  kingdom,  the 
sending  forth  of  shoots  from  that  which  withered 
with  Zedekiah,  and  the  raising  up  again  of  the 
seed  of  David  from  the  humiliation  of  Jehoiachin, 
— all  this  is  accomplished  by  Jehovah  through  the 
Promised  One  (I,  Jehovah,  spake  and  did). 
Hitzig,  like  most,  takes  the  sentence  as  a  general 
thouglit  (1  Sam.  ii.  7).  In  form  it  is  kept  general, 
but  its  import  is  certainly  special,  referring  to 
what  lies  before  us.  Only  the  thing  to  be  con- 
sidered is  the  right  interpretation.  According  to 
Heugst.,  of  course,  the  high  tree  is  the  worldly 
sovereignty  ;  the  low  tree,  David  or  his  family  ; 
the  green  tree,  Nebuchadnezzar's  sovereignty  of 
the  world  at  the  time. 

DOCTKINAL  nBFLECTIONS. 

1.  The  form  of  the  discourse  here,  just  as  in 
the  case  of  our  Lord,  who  has  developed  the 
parable  into  one  of  His  ordinary  modes  of  teach- 
ing, is  to  be  e.xplained  chiefly  from  the  object  in 
view, — partly  as  it  was  designed  for  a  circle  of 
hearers,  or  rather  oi  readers,  which,  although 
mixed  up  in  all  sorts  of  ways  with  higlier 
interests,  is  yet  to  be  thought  of  as  living  mainly 
in  the  world  of  sense,  and  especially  as  bound 
fast  in  the  misery  of  the  exile,  and  sympatliizing 
in  the  false  and  faithless  policy  prevailing  at  the 
lime  in  Jerusalem  ;  partly  as  it  might  recommend 
itself  to  the  prophet  in  the  political  circumstances 
by  which  he  was  surrounded.  The  nWshal  before 
us  in  Ezekiel  goes,  therefore,  far  beyond  mere 
popular  illustration.  Still  less  is  it  to  be  ex- 
plained away  from  the  aesthetic  standpoint,  as 
merely  another  rhetorical  garb  for  the  thought. 

2.  As  in  the  parable  the  emblematic  form  pre- 
ponderates over  the  thought,  so  also  here.  What 
the  prophet  is  to  say  to  Israel  is  said  by  the 
whole  of  that  mighty  array  of  figurative  expres- 
sion, for  which  tlie  animal  and  vegetable  worlds 
furnish  the  figures.  But  the  eagle  does  what 
eagles  otherwise  never  do  ;  and  what  is  planted 
as  a  willow  grows  into  a  vine  ;  and  the  vine 
"is  represented  as  falling  in  love  with  the  other 
eagle"  (J.  D.  Mich.).  The  contradictory  charac- 
ter of  such  a  representation,  and  the  fact  that 
in  the  difficulties  to  be  solved  (ver.  9  sq.)  the 
comparison  comes  to  a  stand,  and  the  closing 
Messianic  portion  in  which  the  whole  culminates, 
convert  the  parable  into  a  "riddle."  A  trace  of 
irony  and  the  moral  tendency,  such  as  belong  to 
the  fable,  are  not  wanting. 

3.  As  to  the  predictions  in  this  chapter,  see 
what  is  said  on  ch.  xii.,  Doct.  Eeflec.  4,  pp.  136, 
137.  As  respects  the  time,  ch.  xvii.  stands  be- 
tween the  6th  month  of  the  6th  year  and  the  5th 
month  of  the  7th  year  of  Jehoiachin 's  captivity  ; 
and  its  contents,  therefore,  would  probably  be 
Bpoken  from  four  to  five  years  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem. 

4.  Not  only  does  Ewald  call  vers.  22-24  "  a 
ihort  and  beautiful  picture  of  Messianic  times," 
but  Hitzig  gives  a  still  more  definite  exposition  : 
"the  passage  is  an  actual  prediction,  and  in  fact 
a  Messianic  one. "  Bunsen  makes  our  prediction 
Imi  "partly  fulfilled  "  in  Zerubbabel  ("the  prince 


of  the  Jews  after  their  return  from  the  captivitv, 
Ezra  i.  8  ;  1  Chron.  iii.  19  ;  Matt.  i.  12  ;  Luk* 
iii.  27  "),  adding,  however,  that  the  glory  of  the 
new  king  as  here  described  "goes  far  beyond  that 
of  Zerubbabel. "  Similar  is  the  view  of  Hi-ngst, 
viz.  that  as  Zerubbabel  "in  a  certain  sense  did 
everything  which  God  did  generally  for  the 
re-establishment  and  maintenance  of  the  civil 
government  in  Israel,"  he  also  might  he  regarded 
as  included  under  the  terms  of  the  prediction, 
because  Ezekiel  has  before  his  eye,  ' '  not  the 
Messiah  as  an  individual," but  "the  whole  family 
of  David."  As  against  this  view,  Havernick 
points  (1)  to  the  image  of  the  cedar-shoot  as  a 
descendant  of  the  house  of  David  ;  and  (2)  to  the 
context,  where  only  personalities  are  spoken  of 
(Jehoiachin,  Zedekiah,  Nebuchadnezzar).  The 
oldest  Jewish  exposition  understood  the  passage  of 
King  Messiah. 

5.  The  kingdom  of  Judah,  even  although  it  hail 
become  idolatrous,  yet  could  not  (as  Ziegler  re- 
marks) all  at  once  be  cast  off — for  David's  sake. 
The  house  and  family  of  David  ajipear  like  a 
stay  and  support  in  Judah.  "For  David,  Jehovah 
cherishes  an  unceasing  and  solicitous  regard 
throughout  the  whole  history  of  this  kingdom, 
just  because  this  kingdom  itself  was  to  be  nothing 
else  than  the  link  of  connection  between  David 
and  his  Son  x«t'  i\i>x'i'-  David  is  the  point 
always  referred  to  in  the  history  of  this  kingdom  ; 
he  is  the  factor  ever  present  and  ever  working  in 
that  history,  just  as  the  Son  of  David  is  the  factor 
at  work  beyond." 

6.  Havernick  has  already  pointed  out  the 
inner  connection  between  the  Messianic  an- 
nouncement here  and  that  in  the  preceding  ch. 
xvi.  53-63.  What  is  to  be  uuderstood  there  by 
the  turning  of  the  misery  and  the  restitutio  hi 
priitmum  becomes  quite  clear  to  us  by  means  of 
the  prediction  as  to  Messiah  in  our  chaptei. 

7.  The  Church  of  God  is  not  destined  to  dis- 
appear in  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  :  but  all 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the 
kingdoms  of  God  and  of  His  Anointed. 

8.  "Among  the  manifold  predictions  of  the 
Lord's  Anointed  and  of  His  kingdom  in  the 
world,  this  of  our  prophet  stands  forth  like  a 
cedar ;  in  this  similitude,  so  grand,  and  yet  so 
simple,  he  has  most  strikingly  portrayed  the 
future  salvation  in  its  most  universal  significance 
and  verity  "  (Uhbreit). 

9.  Hengst.  draws  attention  to  the  fact  that  at 
the  close  the  interpretation  of  the  symbol  is  not 
added, — "for  the  same  reason  that  in  Ezekiel 
there  is  no  prophecy  against  Babylon,  while  the 
whole  of  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  find  their 
close  in  such  a  prophecy.  The  prophet  pro- 
phesied in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  had 
to  exercise  caution  in  view  of  the  surrounding 
heathen." 

HOMILETIC  H1^TS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "Formerly,  how  they  have  broken 
God's  covenant ;  here,  how  they  have  not  kept 
faith  with  men  "  (Luther). — Ver.  3  sq.  "Princes 
also  have  no  security  against  misfortune  ;  thosf 
who  are  nearer  the  clouds  are  nearer  the  light- 
ning also.  They  should  not  forget  that  they  iilso 
are  men,  and  that  God  alone  is  the  King  of 
kings"  (Stck.). — "The  eagle  is  an  emblem  nl 
empire  and  domininu:  he  is  called  the  king  o 


CHAP.  XVII. 


1V9 


birds.  Pyrrhus,  when  saluted  as  an  eagle  by  his 
soldiers,  was  much  pleased,  telling  them  that 
they  had  raised  him  on  high  with  their  weapons, 
as  it  were  with  wings  "  (a  Lap.). — The  important 
eagles  in  the  historj'  of  Israel  ;  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Pharaoh,  Rome. — Ver.  4.  "Thus  many  a  one 
suffers  in  a  strange  land  for  the  sin  he  has  com- 
mitted in  his  own"(STCK.). — Ver.  5.  The  soil 
is  often  better  than  the  seed  which  is  sown  in  it. 
— Ver.  6.  Prosperity  turns  out  for  the  advantage 
of  but  few  men.  Most  grow  on  all  sides  and 
produce  leaves,  but  bear  no  fruit,  or  bad  fruit. — 
Ver.  7.  Ingi-atitude  makes  no  situation  better, 
does  not  render  dependent  circumstances  more 
pleasant,  and  brings  to  shame  every  one  who  is 
guilty  of  it,  let  the  object  of  it  be  who  he  may.  — 
It  is  not  easy  to  rest  contented  with  God's  order- 
ing and  leading  ;  the  discipline  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  needed  for  it  :  let  ray  ways  be  jileasing  in 
Thine  eyes.  We  must  give  up  our  heart  to  the 
Lord,  and  keep  it  directed  toward  Hira — our  heart, 
with  all  the  thoughts  which  come  out  of  it,  and 
which  would  fain  be  as  God,  yea,  wiser  than  God. 
— Keep  me  in  Thy  paths,  in  the  way  which  Thou 
Thyself  showest  me.—  Ver.  8.  Discontentment 
has  driven  many  a  one  from  a  snug  spot. — Ver. 
9  srj.  "  When  God  wishes  to  punish  the  wicked- 
ness of  men.  He  needs  no  great  warlike  host  for 
the  purpose"  (0. ). — Unfaithfulness  beats  its  own 
master. — Those  who  have  not  God  on  their  side, 
who  have  only  their  own  wits,  can  be  driven  to 
flight  in  thousands  by  one. — "  It  is  a  bad  thing 
to  trust  in  man's  wisdom  ;  take  thou  counsel 
with  God,  open  His  word,  look  to  thy  calling, 
ponder  thy  duty,  and  think  of  the  end"  (Stck. ). 

-Ver.  10.  The  east  wind  of  divine  judgments. — 
Thus  the  place  of  fortune  becomes  ths  place  of 
misfortune  ;  the  scene  of  wickedness,  the  scene  of 
punishment ;  the  theatre  of  ingiatitude  (toward 
God  also),  the  theatre  of  ruin. 

Ver.  11  sq.  It  is  not  all  riddles  that  are  in- 
terpreted to  us  ;  we  are  guessing  away  at  many 
during  our  whole  life  ;  but  we  also  make  far  too 
little  use  of  the  key  of  self-knowledge. — Mis- 
fortune it  is  said  to  be,  while  it  is  only  crime. — 
Ver.  15  sq.  The  oath  is  to  be  kept  to  every  one 
and  by  every  one.  Even  by  the  emperor  Sigis- 
mund  to  the  "heretic"  Huss! — "Kings,  and 
those  in  high  position  generally,  ought  to  be  a 
good  example  to  others.  How  much  their  ex- 
ample can  build  up  as  well  as  pull  down  ! " 
(Stck.) — "If  the  Lord  humbles  one,  he  must 
bear  the  tribulation  with  patience,  and  not  seek 
by  forbidden  means  to  extricate  himself  from  it, 
Heb.  xii.  7"(TiJB.  Bib.). — "God  avenges  and 
punishes  perjury  with  the  gi'eatest  earnest- 
ness'(0.). — "  F  .r  God  is  the  truth,  and  will 
see  to  it  that  fidelity  is  ujiheld  among  men,  and 
hence  abhors  all  deceit  :nd  perjury.  Even  if  we 
have  promised  anything  uy  constraint  which  is 
in  other  respects  unjust,  we  are  not  to  break 
our  word,  because  the  name  of  God  is  to  be  dearer 
to  us  than  all  earthly  advantages,  Ps.  xv.  4  " 
(Heim-Hoff.). — "The  humiliations  as  well  as 
the  exaltations  of  earthly  kingdoms  are  certainly 
foreseen  and  appointed  by  God"  (Stck.). — How 
many  a  one  is  the  architect  of  hig  own  misfortune 
at  least ! — "  The  chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  horse- 
men thereof !  "  said  Elisha  of  Elijah. — Ps.  xxxiii. 
17.  —  "Think  not  to  whom,  but  remember  by 
whom,  thou  hast  sworn  an  oath"  (Jer.). — Why 
ia  there  so  much  oath-breaking  and  perjury  in 


Christendom  itself  even  yet!  ?— Ver.  16.  God  lets 
man's  righteoi  sness  too  get  its  rights,  just  be- 
cause it  means  to  be  righteousness. — What  Baby- 
lon has  made,  Babylon  also  destroys. — This  is 
security,  to  be  a  plant  of  the  heavenly  Father's 
planting.  Matt.  xv.  13. — "  The  earth  is  even-- 
where  the  Lord's,  but  to  be  laid  with  one's  fathers 
is  certainly  more  pleasant." — Ver.  17.  The  helj^ 
of  man  is  of  no  avail  when  God  means  to  destroy. 
God's  help,  on  the  other  hand,  avails  even  against 
man's  help  Zedekiah  with  Egypt,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar with  Jehovah.  Look  at  the  copartneries 
for  thyself,  and  bestow  thy  confidence  accordingly. 
The  latter  firm  is  the  more  reliable. — Cursed  is 
the  man  that  trusteth  in  man,  Jer.  xvii. — Men 
promise,  and  break  their  promise  ;  God  promi-es, 
and  does  not  break  His. — Ver.  19.  God's  oath  as 
against  Zedekiah's  perjury. — God  does  not  swear, 
and  then  fail  to  keep  His  oath :  that  shall  be 
learned  by  experience  by  those  wlio  swear  falsely, 
or  who  do  not  keep  their  oath. — If  thou  appealest 
to  God  as  a  witness,  thou  summonest  Him  also 
as  a  judge,  as  an  avenger ! — We  have  never  to  do 
with  men  alone. — Ver.  20  sq.  No  one  can  escape 
God. — "The  enemy's  sword  is  sharp  ;  God's  sword 
is  sharper  still"  (Stck.). — Comp.  what  is  said  to 
the  Hebrews  of  the  word  of  God. — God's  judg- 
ments are  always  meant  to  lead  to  the  knowledge 
of  HimseK  as  well,  and  not  merely  of  ourselves. 

Ver.  22  sq.  The  riddle  of  Israel  is  the  riddle 
alike  of  the  human  heart  in  its  perversity,  and  of 
the  heart  of  God  in  Christ. — The  omnipotence 
and  love  of  God  join  hands,  and  the  result  is  the 
grace  of  God. — "•Whosoever  laid  up  this  promise 
thoroughly  in  his  heart  would  thereby  be  de- 
livered from  the  region  of  vain  political  hopes 
and  intrigues.  The  saying  of  Augustine  applies 
here  :  '  Triat  which  thou  seekest  is,  but  it  is  not 
where  thou  seekest  it' "  (Hengst.  ). — "Because 
the  Church  of  Christ  has  been  planted  by  God 
Himself,  it  shall  certainly  remain "  (Cr.  ).  —  "The 
planting  on  Golgotha"  (WiTSius).  —  Ver.  23. 
"  Babylon,  and  with  it  the  whole  series  of  the 
old  world-powers,  are  dried  up  ;  David  flourishes 
and  bears  fruit,  and  under  the  shadow  of  his 
oH'shoot  the  fowls  of  heaven  dwell"  (Hengst.). 
— Ver.  24.  The  history  of  the  world  is  to  be 
recognised  as  God's  government. —  The  divine 
government  of  the  world  culminates  in  Christ. — 
Everything  turns  out  in  the  end  according  to 
God's  word. — (Fr.  W.  Krummacher  preached  in 
1852  on  vers.  22-24:  "The  Tree  Christ,  which 
God  has  prepared  for  us,  (1)  as  to  its  nature,  (2) 
as  to  its  destiny. — Summer  and  winter  the  cedar 
is  green,  and  never  loses  its  leaves  nor  its  verduie. 
The  everlastingly  green  Tree  of  Life  is  Christ. 
No  wood  is  more  durable  ;  so  Christ  is  the  in- 
destructible foundation  for  our  hopes,  etc. — We 
arc  the  branches  in  tlie  Cedar  of  God.  Our  fruits 
are  Christ's,  who  produces  them  in  us  and  by  ns. 
John  and  Peter,  Paul  and  James,  what  bought 
in  that  Cedar!  and  the  Fathers  and  the  Reformers, 
and  all  believers  since,  what  a  Tree  !  What  a 
green,  flourishing,  fiuit-laden  array  of  branches 
that  which  sways  around  it !  What  a  mighty, 
denselyfoliaged,  far-shadowing  crown !  and  in 
the  crown  what  gales,  and  zephyrs,  and  rustlingj 
of  holy  life  and  divine  love  I  Here  there  is  pro- 
mised to  Christ  and  His  cause  nothing  less  than 
final  triumph  over  the  whole  world. — The  pomp 
ous  glory  of  Babylon,  Egypt,  RomCj  and  Athens, 
where  is  it  to  be  found  ?  ") 


i80  EZEKIEL. 


7.   77(6  Laws  of  (he  Divine  Punitive  Righteousness  (ch.  xviii.). 

I,  2       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  me,  saying,     Why  do  ye  use  this 
proverb  upon  the  land  of  Israel,  saying.  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  [wim] 

3  grapes,  and  the  teeth  of  the  sons  are  set  on  edge  t     As  I  live —  sentence  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah — if  ye  shall  have  occasion  to  use  this  proverb  longer  in  Israel 

4  [ye  ^haU  no  longer  use  this  proverb].       Beliold,  all  SOuls  to  me  they  [belong]  ;   aS  the  Suul 

of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine.     The  soul  that  sinneth,  it 

5  shall  die.     And  if  any  man  be  righteous,  and  do  judgment  and  righteousness  : 

6  Has  not  eaten  on  the  mountains,  nor  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  the  idols  of  the 
house  of  Israel,  nor  defiled  his  neighbour's  wife,  nor  drawn  near  to  his  wife 

7  in  her  uucleanness  ;     And  oppresses  no  one,  restores  his  debt-pledge,  robs  not, 

8  gives  his  bread  to  the  hungrj',  and  covers  the  naked  with  clothing ;  Gives 
not  on  usury,  and  takes  not  increase,  withdraws  his  hand  from  injustice, 

9  exercises  true  judgment  between  man  and  man  ;  ^^'alks  in  My  statutes  and 
keeps  My  judgments,  to  do  truth, — he  is  righteous,  he  shall  surely  live, — 

10  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  should  he  beget  a  violence-doing  son,  a 
shedder  of  blood, — and  he  [the  father]  did  towards  his  brother  each  of  those 

11  [things]  : — And  he  [the  son]  does  none  of  all  those  things,  for  [but]  he  has  eaten 

12  upon  the  mountains,  and  defiled  his  neighbour's  wife;  The  poor  and  needy 
he  has  oppressed,  he  has  robbed,  he  restores  not  the  pledge,  and  to  the  idols 

13  he  has  lifted  up  his  eyes,  he  has  done  abomination  ;  Has  given  on  usury  and 
taken  increase,  and  shall  he  live  ? — He  shall  not  live.     He  has  done  all  these 

14  abominations ;  he  shall  surely  die.  His  blood  shall  be  upon  him.  And,  lo, 
should  he  beget  a  son  who  sees  all  the  sins  of  his  father  which  he  hath  done, 

15  and  sees  and  does  not  the  like : — He  has  not  eaten  upon  the  mountains,  nor 
lifted  up  his  eyes  t«  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  he  has  not  defiled  his 

16  neighbour's  wife,  Nor  oppressed  any  one,  nor  taken  pledge  in  pledge,  nor 
robbed ;  he  has  given  his  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  covered  the  naked  with 

17  clothing  ;  From  the  needy  he  has  turned  away  [withheld]  his  hand,  usury  and 
increase  he  took  not,  he  executed  My  judgments,  he  walked  in  My  statutes: 

18  he  shall  not  die  in  [on  account  of]  his  father's  iniquity ;  he  shall  surely  live.  His 
father,  because  he  practised  extortion,  committed  robbery  against  his  brother, 
and  did  that  which  is  not  good  in  the  midst  of  his  people,  lo,  he  died  in  his 

19  iniquity.  And  ye  say,  Why  has  not  the  son  borne  the  iniquity  of  the  father  1 
Because  the  son  has  done  judgment  and  righteousness,  kept  all  My  statutes 
and  done  them,  he  shall   surely  live.     The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die. 

20  The  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father,  and  the  father  shall  not 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son.  The  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall  be 
upon  him  [the  one],  and  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  shall  be  upon  him  [the 

21  other].  And  if  [because]  the  wicked  shall  turn  from  all  his  sins  which  he  hath 
done,  and  keep  all  My  statutes,  and  do  judgment  and  righteousness,  he  shall 

22  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die.  All  his  transgressions  which  he  hath  done  shall 
not  be  remembered  to  him  ;  in  [on  account  of]  his  righteousness  which  he  hath 

23  done,  he  shall  live.  Have  I  any  pleasure  at  all  in  the  death  of  the  wicked  1 
Sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.     Not  when  he  turns  from  his  way  [ways]  and 

24  lives  !  'I  But  if  the  righteous  turn  from  his  righteousness,  and  commit  iniquity, 
and  do  according  to  all  the  abominations  which  the  wicked  commits,  shall  he 
live  ? — All  his  righteousness  which  he  hath  done  shall  not  be  remembered  ; 
in  [on  account  of]  his  faithlessness  which  he  hath  practised,  and  in  [on  account  if] 

25  his  sins  which  he  hath  sinned,  in  [on  account  of]  them  shall  he  die.  And  say  ye, 
The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal !  1  Hear  now,  0  house  of  Israel,  is  My  way 

26  not  equal  1  Are  not  your  ways  unequal  t  When  the  righteous  turns  from 
his  righteousness,  and  does  iniquity,  and  dies  thereby ;  in  his  iniquity  which 

27  he  hath  done  he  dies.  And  when  the  wicked  turns  from  his  wickedness  which 
he  hath  done,  and  does  judgment  and  righteousness,  he  shall  save  his  soul 

28  alive.     And  should  he  see  and  turn  from  all  his  transgressions  which  he  hat! 


CHAP.  XVIII.  1-4. 


181 


29  done,  he  .shall  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die.  But  they  of  the  house  of  Israel  say, 
The  waj'  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal !  ?    Are  My  ways  not  equal,  0  house  of  Israel  1 

30  Are  not  your  ways  unequal  ?  Therefore  I  will  judge  you,  each  man  accord- 
ing to  his  ways,  0  house  of  Israel, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Return, 
and  turn  [yon]  from  all  your  transgressions,  and  iniquity  shall  not  be  your 

31  ruin.  Cast  away  from  you  all  your  transgressions,  in  which  ye  have  gone 
astray,  and  make  you  a  new  heart,  and  a  new  spirit ;  and  why  will  ye  die, 

32  0  house  of  Israel  1  For  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dies, — 
sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  ;  therefore  turn  ye  [be  converted]  and  live  ! 

Ver.    2.  Sept  :  .   .  .  r*  if^tn  vj  rxpct^oXvi  eti/rr, 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .   BLuTn  i!ro8x*itTxi,  ».  Tou  (fayevTo;  tov  ofjirfxxa,  etifjUtiixff'ovfftit  oi  eSo»Tif  teurau. 

Ver.    7.  Viilu  :  .   .  .  pignus  debifori  rfddiderit — 

Ver  10.  Sept  :...«.  ^eiovjrx  iiMt/jTrtwtra,  (11)  ev  t*}  oiat  t.  larpoi  atCrev  tw  Zixaiiv  ov»  iiroptt/Srt, —  Volff. :  .  .  . 
tffundenlem  aanguinem,  et  ft^cet-ic  unumdeisliSy  (11)  ethxc  quidem  omnia  non  facientem —  (10.  Some  codices  read:  HnXQ 
fem.) 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:  .  .  .  «.  <3»j  .  .  .  x.  $o$viS7i —    The  Child,  only  translates:  et  vidU;  Sept.,  Vnlg.,  Arab.:  et  timueril. 

Ver.  17.  «.  i^a  ihxiai  K.tiinpf^iv  T.  x^"'^ —    Vulff. :  .  .  .  a  paupei-is  xpjuHa  averterit  manum — 

Ver.  IS.  Vule. :  Pater  ^u$  quia  calumniatui  eiC  et  vim  fecit  fratri — 

Ver.  22.  Omnivm  .  .  .  non  recordabor — 

Ver,  2'-i.  Sept. :  *Otj  eu  ^ouXoi^ti  t.  dxvxrov  .  .  .  us  to  otToinpi^ici  xvro*  i»  t.  o?eu  .  .  .  *.  ^zv  avrov.  (For  niD  ther« 
lsarea«nK:  niD3;  for  13110,  V3"nD  in  plur.) 

Ver.  24.  Vulg  :  3i  autem  averterit .  .  .  el/ecerit  iniquitatem  secundum  omnes  abominationes  quas  operari  tolet  impius^ 
numquid  vivetT — 

Ver.  29.  Another  readinE:  DDSH,  sing.,  Sept.,  Arab. 

Ver.  30.  Sept.:  .  .   .  x.  eux  iroyTxi  ifx-iv  tU  xoXxtrtv  OLiixixt.     Vulg.:  ,  .  .  et  non  erit  rolns  in  rvinam  iniquitas. 

Ver.  31.  Sepr. :  *.  cntuu^  xeuvov,  K.  xotr,ffxTl  VOLVO.!  T.  ivToXxs  fjLmj. 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-4.   The  Principle  of  the  Divine  Punitive 
Bighteougness. 

Ver.  2.  Comp.  ch.  .xii.  22.  A  popular  expres- 
sion, arrogating  to  itself  the  authority  of  a  divine 
voice,  has  established  itself  in  Israel  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  word  of  God. — The  land  of  Israel 
should  emphatically  not  he  the  place  for  such 
language,  as  it  is  the  scene  of  God's  holy  justice 
as  well  as  His  gracious  mercy. — The  question  is 
not  one  of  mere  surprise,  but  of  solemn  anger,  as 
befits  divine  speech. — Fathers  taken  generally, 
so  that  it  is  left  to  each  to  consider  for  himself 
who  are  particularly  designated  (2  Kings  xxiv.  3  ; 
Jer.  XV.  4).  Our  chapter  at  the  same  time  links 
itself  on  thereby  to  what  has  gone  before  (espe- 
cially ch.  xvi.).     The  proverb  took  the  prophet, 

as  it  were,  at  his  word. — 173K'  corresponding  to 

the  general  form  of  statement :  to  be  accustomed 
to  eat. — The  sons,  on  the  other  hand,  are  the 
definite  persons  who  are  exposed  to  suffering 
in  the  existing  state  of  things.  In  the  most 
thoughtless  and  frivolous  manner  the  popular 
criticism  of  God's  way, — of  the  histoiy  of  Israel, 
expresses  itself.  What  those  did  wrongly  must 
be  visited  on  us !  There  is  no  sense  of  sin, 
nor  acknowledgment  of  guilt,  and  just  as  little 
reference  to  divine  judgment  and  retributive 
righteousness.  Havernick  refers  rightly  to  the 
"heathenish''  disposition  of  the  people,  who, 
"destitute  of  faith  in  a  living  God,  were  driven 
to  the  delusion  of  a  blind  Nemesis,"  a  natural 
necessity.  "  Accordingly  repentance  seems  use- 
less" (Hengst.).  They  could  thus  .shield  them- 
selves against  the  ever-repeated  call  to  radical 
repeutince.  The  divine  answer  sets  itself  over 
against  the  people's  word,  energetically,  in  the 
fcrm  of  an  oath,  Ver.  3,  in  which,  according  to  the 


two-sided  tenor  of  our  chapter,  it  remains  unde- 
cided whether  the  impending  judgment,  or  the 
Messianic  redemption,  embraced  in  conversion, 
shall  bring  this  style  of  speech  to  an  end  in  the 

future.  —  7K'lb''3,    ^   thing    unbecoming    even 

"upon  the  land  of  Israel"  (ver.  2),  above  all, 
unbecoming  among  the  people  to  whom  (Rom. 
iii. )  the  oracles  of  God  are  committed. — After  the 
form  has  thus  been  found  fault  with,  the  substance, 
Ver.  4,  is  objected  to  ;  and  since  the  question 
actually  touched  is  the  retributive  righteousness 
of  God,  its  ground-principle  is  first  of  all  stated, 
from  which  its  individual  laws  naturally  proceed. 
Behold  points  to  an  undeniable  fact,  and  there- 
fore presupposes  universal  assent.  —  All  souls,  si,  : 
"  perhaps  an  allusion  to  Gen.  xviii.  25  "  (HXv. ). 
In  other  respects,  as  Calvin  :  not  merely  would 
God  here  maintain  His  paramount  authority  and 
lordship,  but,  still  more,  evince  His  fatherly  love 
towards  all  mankind  as  their  Creator.  Hengst.  : 
"  God  would  surrender  His  property  if  souls  suf- 
fered punishment  for  the  guilt  of  others  ;  since 
they  are  in  the  likeness  of  God,  souls  cannot  be 
degraded  into  servUe  instruments."  HiTZ. ;  "I 
am  not  under  the  necessity  of  punishing  another, 
— the  son, — as  if  I  could  not  lay  hold  of  the  guilty 
father."  PlULiPPS:  "Before  God  all  souls  ai» 
equal,  so  that  each  man  represents  himself  onl}'. " 
All  these  explanations  are  insufficient  to  meet  the 
thought.  The  proposition  is  in  reality  a  funda- 
mental principle,  for  it  goes  back  to  the  origin 
of  things,  according  to  which  the  souls  of  men, 
created  by  the  breathing  of  the  divine  Spirit  of 
life  into  corporal  matter,  breathe  supernatural,  ■ 
spiritual  vital  energy,  in  a  sentient  form  of  life 
and  activity.  This  divineness  of  men,  at  least  in 
respect  to  their  souls,  which,  on  the  other  hand, 
tiiey  possess  in  common  with  the  lower  creaturee 
as  animal  life,  is  opposed  to  every  form  of  depend- 


182 


EZEKIEL. 


ence  on  nature,  whether  on  a  heathen  fate,  or,  in 
nartievilar(wliich  is  here  the  immediate  couti-ast), 
on  bodily  parents,  therefore  to  the  dependence  of 
the  son  on  the  father.  God's  exclusive  property- 
right   (emphasized    by  the   repeated  »5)  in   per- 

ions  coukl  not  be  maintained,  if  any  man  re- 
quired to  suffer  death  from  tlie  fact  of  being  his 
father's  son.  Die,  the  end  of  a  process,  — the  sepa- 
lation  of  tlie  soul  from  its  life-source,  the  Spirit 
of  God.  (Dent.  xx.\.  15  ;  Jer.  xxi.  8  ;  Prov.  xi. 
19.) — Conip.  on  ch.  iii.  18.  This  cannot  happen 
without  an  act  of  God's  retributive  justice,  so 
that  the  punishment  inflicted  by  God  must  cor- 
respond to  man's  guilt.  The  soul  that  sinneth 
— disloyalty  to  the  living  influences  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  considered  as  a  continuous  present — it 
shall  die.  Through  this  latter,  as  a  judicial 
utterance,  the  general  proposition  as  to  God's 
])Ossessory-right  is  more  specifically  expressed 
in  reference  to  His  authority  to  judge.  Comp. 
.Tas.  iv.  12. 

Vers.  5-9.   Tlie  Law  of  the  Bir/hteous  Man. 

Ver.  5.  The  first  application  of  the  principle  is 
made  to  the  righteous  man.  Comp.  ch.  iii.  18 
sq.  He  is  described  according  to  Being  and 
Doing, — essentially  and  actually;  in  particular, 
doing  judgment,  in  general,  righteousness:  his 
doing  is  then  more  precisely  depicted,  not  with- 
out a  tendency  to  antithesis. — Ver.  6.  Even  kings 
who  were  otherwise  loyal  to  the  law,  were  unable 
to  abolLsh  the  worship  of  the  "high  places." 
[Usually  the  expression  is  made  to  refer  to  the 
gross  forms  of  idol-worship  ( 1  Cor.  viii.  4-10,  x.  7) ; 
and  what  follows,  to  the  more  refined.] — The  feasts 
referred  to  are  sacrificial  feasts  which  were  not  ob- 
served in  the  sanctuary.  Dent.  xii. — The  second 
thing,  singled  out  in  reference  to  the  first  table 
of  the  law,  is  the  undoubtedly  rare  case  of  com- 
plete apathy  and  indifl'erence  towards  the  popular 
idols  of  Israel.  Hitzig  understands  it  of  suppli- 
cating, worshipping,  Job  xxxi.  26  (Ps.  cxxi.  1). 
Hiivernick,  of  inward  longing.  Comp.  ch.  vi.  4. 
— The  natural  transition,  after  ch.  xvi.,  to  the 
marriage  relation  singles  out  from  the  second 
table  of  the  law  not  ordinary  adultery  (the  word 
is  neither  e^X3i  nor  even  ion,  Ex.  xx.),  but  the 

more  precise  and  deeper  defilement  (kDD)   of 

the  neighbour's  wife,  in  order,  through  the  se- 
lected expression,  to  throw  a  clear  ray  of  light  on 
their  own  marriage  relation  and  its  mysteries 
(domestic  purity).  Comp.  Lev.  xviii.  19,  xx.  18. 
— Ver.    7.    Oppression   in   general,   in    its   more 

peaceful  as  well  as  its  directly  violent  (pfj)  form 

(Lev.  xix.  13). — ain,  according  to  Hengst.,  the 
accusative  of  restriction :  debt-pledge;  Hiivernick, 
on  the  other  hand:  his  pledge,  a  debt,  i.e.,  along 
with  the  jdedge,  the  obligation,  softening  the 
always  rather  offensive  signification  of  n?3n 
(from  73n,    to  bind,  to  tie),    so  that    just    de- 

■  mands  are  referred  to.  Hitzig  makes  the  word 
1  participle :  "restores  his  pledge  to  the  debtor 
(Grsen.  :  for  debt)."  Compare  besides  at  Ex. 
Mii.  25;  Dent.  xxiv.  12.  Following  this,  more 
positive  benevolence — Ver.  8.  Cnmp.  Lev.  xxv. 
36,  37;  Deut.  xxiii.  20.— The  close  of  the  verse 


probably  refers  to  the  special  activity  of  a  judge 
or  arbiter. — Ver.  9.  Concluding  summation  cor- 
responding to  the  introduction  in  ver.  5, — the 
apodosis  to  the  protasis.      liighteousness  before 

God  in  contradistinction  to  its  semblance  (nibj;") 
nOS).  The  Septuagint  read  DniS-— rT'n;  n<n. 
live  in  the  fullest,  deepest  sense  of  the  word. 

Vers.  10-13.    The  Law  of  the  Unrighteous  Sun. 

A  second  application  of  the  princip'e  deals  with 
the  case  of  an  unrighteous  man, — the  son  of  the 
righteous  man.  Personally  there  is  a  connection 
(should  he  beget),  essentially,  the  gieatest  con- 
trast, as  )""19,  etc.,  immediately  shows.     But  the 

actual  contrast  shall  become  still  more  decided,  and 
shall,  for  that  reason,  appear  as  a  personal  one, — 
therefore  nK'JHt  ^^^- — ^^''-   ^^-    The   description 

of  the  father  reduced  to  a  minimum  :  if  there  was 
any  one  of  these  forementioned  just  and  righteous 
things,  he  did  it, — in  short,  he  was  righteous, 
[nx  Hengst. :  in  relation  to  his  brother,  as  the 
antithetic  parallel  in  ver.  18  decidedly  recom- 
mends. So  also  the  Chaldee  version.  Kosenm. : 
simile  quid.  According  to  others,  it  is  the  apoco- 
pate form  of  "ins.    Others,  again,  have  omitted  it. 

ns  has  also  been  proposed  as  a  reading.  Hitzig., 
Ewald:  =  'nx,    "  only."] — The  contrast  follows 

more  at  length  in  Ver.  11,  in  the  description  of 
the  son.  Aid  he  does  none  of  all  those  things, 
wdiich  are  then  mentioned  in  detail.  Comp.  ver. 
6. — Ver.  12.  Poor  and  needy  illustrates  the  un- 
defined object  of  ver.  7.  Compare  in  other  re- 
spects with  ver.  6. — Ver.  13.    See  ver.  8. — <ni, 

the  apodosis.  The  facts  oppose  every  other  issue ; 
the  emphatic  divine  negative  only  adds  confir- 
mation. His  deeds  adjudge  him  to  death, — yes, 
he  himself  is  to  blame.  With  the  judicial  form 
of  expression  (riDV  DID,  no*  *3  i"  f'^"-  "•  1') 

comp.  Lev.  xx.  9  ;  only  that  in  this  case  the  son 
curses  his  righteous  father  virtually  by  his  life  I 

Vers.  14-20.    The  Law  of  the  Righteous  Son. 

Third  application  of  the  principle,  in  which,  as 
in  the  first  case,  the  reference  is  to  a  righteous 
person, — the  son  of  the  forementioned  unrighteous 
man, — who -takes  warning  from  his  father's  sins. 
Always  father  and  son,  corresponding  with  the 
proverb  which  was  being  answered. — Ver.  14. 
Comp.  ver.  10.  He  sees,  repeated  for  the  sake 
of  emphatic  description.  The  reading  XT1,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  in  the  latter  part  ot 
the  verse,  is  to  be  rejected. — Ver.  15.  Comp.  ver. 
6. — Ver.  16.  Comp.  ver.  7. — ("He  allowed  him- 
self even  less  than  he  might,"  in  contrast  to  the 
conduct  of  his  father— Hitzig.) — Ver.  17.  From 
the  needy,  etc.  Not  only  doing  him  no  violence, 
but,    as    described,    showing    him    compassion. 

Ewald  reads  ^j;b  from   ver.   8.      Comp.    as  tc 

further  details,  vers.  8  and  9.  Here  and  in  Ver 
18,   jijj,  in  anticipation  of  ver.  19.     In  order  to 

separate  and  contrast  father  and  son  as  decidedjj 


CHAP.  XVIII.   19-32. 


lai 


88  possible,  the  former  is  once  luore  briefly  de- 
scribed.—Ver.  19.  There  is  here  no  allusion,  as 
most  suppose,  to  Ex.  xx.  5.  Nothing  necessi- 
tates this.  Since  tlie  proverb  (ver.  2)  in  its 
frivolous  rude  form  was  at  once  disregarded,  and 
since  the  divine  reply  to  it  immediately  made  it 
more  profound,  and,  especially  from  ver.  17, 
applied  it  to  the  question  of  guilt  and  perdition 
on  the  ne  hand,  rigliteousness  and  life  on  the 
other — so  with  the  inquiry  as  to  the  why,  a  per- 
ception of  the  deeper  signification  of  its  contents 
generally  may  therefore  be  attributed  to  the 
people.  This  not  only  recommends  itself  on 
rhetorical  grounds,  since  in  the  case  before  us  the 
conclusion  is  introduced  by  it, — and  the  thought 
can  hardly  be  introduced  in  a  more  lively  manner 
tlian  by  the  deduction  of  a  general  maxim  from 
the  foregoing  concrete  examples, — but  the  moral 
presumption  that  the  people  are  so  far  inte- 
rested in  the  profound  gravity  of  the  subject, 
requires  that  they  also  should  contribute  the 
"why,"  which  was  altogether  so  natural  (not 
merely  with  reference  to  the  law),  and  which 
sounds  so  full  of  meaning,  because  by  what  has 
gone  bcibre  the  unity  of  Israel  must  seem  shat- 
tered, nothing  being  taken  into  account  but  the 
individual.  "  Have  ye  (supposition)  said  :  Why," 
etc.  The  individual  facts  answer  you.  So  say 
ye  ;  so  did  he  !  Comp.  further,  vers.  5,  9. — Ver. 
20.  A  quotation  from  ver.  4,  which  is  impressively 
extended,  concludes  the  paragiapli  with  a  state- 
ment which  so  sharply  contrasts  righteousness  and 
wickedness,  that  a  new  solution,  to  wit,  through 
the  action  of  the  one  or  the  other,  i.e.  through 
a  change  of  disposition,  must  come  into  view. 

Vers.  21-32.  The  Principle  of  Grace,  an  mjainst 
the  Principle  of  Retribution,  expressed  in  the 
Call  to  Bepentance. 

V^r.  21.  Comp.  ch.  iii.  18  sq.  Return  from 
wick^'dness  to  God's  righteousness,  evidenced  by 
facts,  ensures  true  life  instead  of  death.  The 
principle  of  divine  retribution  affected  the  case  of 
persistent,  continued  sinning  only.  Whoever 
dbandons  sin  is  left  untouched  by  the  retributive 
righteousness  of  God.— Ver.  22.  In  such  an 
event,  viz.  of  return,  the  past,  however  full  of 
sin,  is  left  out  of  account ;  one  is  not  required  to 
bear  the  penalty  of  one's  own,  much  less  of 
another's  sin.  Righteousness  is  done.  But  the 
principle  tlius  contrasted  with  the  previously  ex- 
plained law  of  retribution  proclaims  itself  in 
the  plainest  way  as  the  principle  of  grace  and 
divine  compassion. — Ver.  23.  11  the  retributive 
righteousness  of  God — the  law  of  His  government 
—rau.st  occupy  itself  with  the  sin  of  the  sinner,  the 
sinner  himself  is  God's  property  (ver.  4),  and  to 
the  profoundest  law  of  the  Divine  nature  (j'sn) 

not  death,  but  life  corresponds,  although  for 
righteousness'  sake,  the  right  of  the  divine  Pos- 
sessor must  exhibit  itself  in  the  case  of  the  sinner 
who  continues  in  sin,  or  who  apostatizes,  as  the 

might  of  the  Judge. — Hengst.    translates  'xisn, 

' '  Should  he  not  live  if  he  returns, "  etc.  ? — Ver.  24. 
The  foregoing  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  a 
counter-proof,  as  it  were,  and  that  the  strongest 
imaginable,  bya  caricature  of  the  holy — the  reverse 
of  conversion.  The  previous  sentence  is  still  in  a 
manner  continued  by  3,  yet   so   that  with   the 


contrasted  case  the  appropriate  negative  is  al.so 
understood  ;  then  it  breaks  off,  and  the  matter  ol 
fact  which  is  adduced  brings  in  the  question 
which  must  naturally  be  negatived, — 'ni,  as  in 

ver.  13.  The  usual  translation  is;  "but  if  :ha 
righteous  turn,  etc.,  should  he  live  ?  " — "  All  iiia 
righteousness,"  etc. — The  antithesis  to  ver.  22. 
Comp.  ch.  iii.  20,  xr.  8,  xvii.  20.— Ver.  25.   pn, 

to  measure,  weigh  ;  to  be  equal.  Comp.  1  Sam. 
ii.  3.  The  assumed  objection  presupposes,  like 
ver.  19,  that  the  people  have  intelligently  fol- 
lowed the  exposition  up  to  this  point.  "And 
(supposed)  say  ye,"  etc.  Measure  your  own 
ways !  Hitzig  rightly  refers  the  questioned 
"way  of  the  Lord  "  to  a  procedure,  such  as  has 
just  been  described  in  regard  to  an  apostate 
righte-jus  person,  which  would  leave  all  liis 
righteousness  unweighed.  The  counter-accusa- 
tion, contained  in  the  divine  answer,  is  in  com- 
plete harmony  with  the  scope  of  our  chapter, 
since  it  points  at  self-examination,  and  thereby 
at  the  sense  of  sin.  For  the  argument  finally 
occupies  itself  with  each  individual  man,  and  witli 
the  way  which  each  chooses,  and  continues  in. — 
Ver.  2(i  is  therefore  a  recapitulation  from  ver.  24, 
as  Ver.  27  from  ver.  21. — But  as  the  conclusion  of 
the  whole  is  to  be  the  call  to  repentance,  the  case 
of  ver.  27  is  again  introduced  with  this  in  view. 
— Ver.  28.  Comp.  ver.  21.  —  Ver.  29.  Renewed 
remonstrance,  with  the  object  of  inducing  them 
to  seek  self-knowledge  by  means  of  trying  their 
own  ways — see  ver.  25.  (Not:  "and  ye  say,"  but: 
and  they  of  the  bouse  of  Israel  say. )     pn',  the 

singular,  according  to  some  :  each  of  your  ways, 
thus  individualizing  them  ;  or,  the  actual  diversity 
of  ths  way  comprehended  in  the  ideal  unity  of  tlio 
walk  ;  or  better,  what  they  had  said  of  the 
Lord's  way  (it  is  not  equal)  adopted  as  a  motto 
which  is  far  more  applicable  to  their  ways. — Ver. 

30.  p^  points,  in  the  first  place,  as  a  reason  for 

judgment,  to  the  equity  of  God's  way  as  compared 
with  Israel's  ;  then,  as  a  reason  for  every  one  being 
visited  according  to  his  ways,  to  the  principle 
of  ver.  4  sq.  Finally,  however,  vers.  27,  28, 
as  Return,   etc.   shows,  also  come   in    with  the 

greatest  eni])hasis.     Comp.  ch.  xiv.  6. — piC'SDP 

[ij;,    rendered    by   Hitzig    and    most   others    as 

in  ch.  xiv.  3;  sin  as  a  stnmbling-block,  whereby 
one  falls  into  guilt  and  punishment.  This  is 
right  in  point  of  fact,  but  not  in  this  connec- 
tion (nor  according  to  the  accents),  according  to 
which  iniquity,  even  their  own,  does  not  prove 
their  ruin,  and  this  because  Israel  shall  abstain 
from  everything  which  entails  guilt.  Hengst. : 
"let  not  iniquity  be  your  ruin." — Ver.  31.  And 
make  yOM,  to  be  understood  agreeably  to  ch.  xi. 
19,  and  therefore  without  difficulty.  The  divini- 
gift  of  grace  stands  as  it  were  ready,  and  Israel 
only  requires  to  cast  away  sin  (ch.  xi.  18  ;  Heb. 
xii.  1)  and  to  lay  hold  of  it,  while  death  is  equally 
in  their  choice  (Matt,  xxiii.  37) !  Comp.  Phil.  ii. 
12,  13.  And  as  this  readiness  of  divine  grace 
here,  so  in  Ver.  32  the  statement  of  ver.  23  is 
made  as  intense  as  possible.     Instead  of   )}'i™[  we 

have  non  (Deut.  xvii.  6), — the  wicked  being  re- 
presented as  already  the  victim  of  death.  ("  The 
prophet  unveils  to  us  the  nature  of  the  divine 


1S4 


EZEKIEL. 


retributive  righteousness  in  its  most  glorious  light. 
Here  no  one  hut  the  unrepentant  sinner  dies 
unblessed.  Whoever  repents,  and  does  what  is 
good  in  God's  sight,  receives  the  gracious  promise 
of  life.  The  Living  One  can  have  no  pleasure  in 
death,"  Umbkeit.) 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1      Proverbs    reflect   the   moral   and   religious 
mood  of  a  people  in  any  particular  period. 

2.  The  proverb  cited  here  and  in  Jer.  xxxi.  29 
is  usually  regarded  as  containing  a  reference 
to  Ex.  XX.  5  (xxxiv.  7).  The  words  of  the 
proverb  do  not  require  this,  nor  does  the  sur- 
rounding context  involve  the  slightest  allusion. 
Neither  is  its  substance,  nor,  corresponding  to 
that,  the  divine  controversy  against  it,  of  a  nature 
to  lead  us  to  infer  that  a  misunderstanding  of  the 
passage  of  the  law  in  question,  regarding  the 
visitiition  of  the  sins  of  the  fathers  on  the 
children,  is  to  be  combated.  The  idea  that 
Ezekiel  here  and  Jeremiah  in  ch.  xxxi.  announce 
the  repeal  of  the  retribution-doctrine  contained 
in  the  law  of  Moses,  is  quite  foreign  to  the  sense 
and  connection  of  the  passage.  Ezekiel  appears 
here  neither  as  improver  nor  yet  "simply  as 
expositor  of  the  law  "  (Hengst.  ).  Hitzig  is  of 
opinion  that  Ex.  xx.  5  "leaves  the  question  un- 
decided (!)  whether  children,  who  are  themselves 
guiltles.-i,  also  bear  the  sin  of  their  fathers,"  and 
that  "the  fact  that  the  son  is  often  quite  unlike 
his  father  morally,  has  at  last  gained  recognition, 
aud  subjectivity  received  its  due  at  the  hands  of 
Ezekiel."  The  assumed  indefiniteness  of  the 
teaching  of  the  decalogue  would  place  the  law  of 
God  (Gen.  xviii.  25)  upon  the  same  level  with 
'the  righteousness  of  men  in  the  ea.st,"  from 
which,  as  from  heathen  retributive  justice  univer- 
sally, the  judicial  practice  which  should  obtain 
in  Israel  is  expressly  distinguished  (Deut.  xxiv. 
16).  Comp.  also  2  Kings  xiv.  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxv. 
4.  The  jealousy  of  the  holy  and  righteous  God 
which  subscribes  the  two  first  commands  (Ex. 
XX.  5)  is  illustrated  and  made  more  conspicuous 
by  the  well-known  words,  "visiting  the  iniquities 
of  the  fathers,"  etc. ;  the  words  only  say  that  sin, 
especially  the  sin  of  hating  God,  shall  certainly 
be  overtaken  by  divine  vengeance,  even  if  not 
till  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  although  it 
was  not  punished  judicially  in  its  own  time, 
nor  even  appeared  to  incur  divine  retribution. 
Moreover,  the  national  character  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments is  also  to  be  taken  into  account,  and 
the  fact  that  Israel's  national  life  rested  essen- 
tially on  the  family,  and  especially  the  relation 
between  parents  and  children.  But  the  defence 
of  the  truth  and  equity  of  such  retribution  is 
foreign  to  our  j>urpose,  for  the  proverb  which  the 
prophet  uses  as  the  text  of  his  discourse  has 
nothing  to  do  with  Ex.  xx.  5,  xxxiv.  7  ;  Num 
xiv.  18;  Deut.  v.  9  (comp.  also  Jer.  xxxii.  IS; 
Lam.  v.  7).  For  this  style  of  criticising  the 
national  circumstances  which  had  taken  the  form 
of  a  proverb  never  once  touches  the  question  of  sin 
and  chastisement — into  this  region  the  proverb  is 
first  carried  by  the  divine  address — but  merely  the 
question  of  the  natural  result  of  an  insipid  craving 
being  visited  upon  those  who  yet  "will  not  eat 
Bour  grapes,"  wlio  consider  themselves  too  prudent 
to  do  so  (Matt,  xxiii.  30).  Only  when  one  per- 
ceives the  levity  (the  gallows-humour)  of  the  self- 


satisfaction  and  self-i'ighteousness  which  display 
themselves  in  the  proverb,  will  one  be  in  a  condi- 
tion to  recognise  the  thunder  of  the  Eternal  in 
Ezekiel's  treatment  of  it. 

3.  According  to  Jeremiah,  the  proverb  ceases 
to  be  used  contemporaneously  with  the  dawning 
of  the  Messianic  epoch.  The  connection  in 
Ezekiel  is  to  be  similarly  interpreted,  especially 
with  ch.  xvii.  22  sq.  It  should,  however,  be 
peculiar  to  the  Messianic  redemptive-period,  that 
while  Israel  as  a  people  would  rJject  the  Messiah, 
the  individual  would  be  brought  to  account  for 
himself,  according  to  his  personal  guilt,  for  hij 
unbelief,  the  result  of  his  outward,  seeming, 
hypocritical  work-righteousness.  One  supposes 
oneself  planted  among  statements  like  John  iii. 
17  sq.  The  question  is  not  one  of  outward  family 
or  national  weal  and  woe,  but  of  life  and  death 
in  their  most  pregnant  and  individual  sense.  The 
case  before  us  is  just  as  little  that  of  teeth  set  on 
edge  in  regard  to  the  children,  as  of  sour  grapes 
in  regard  to  the  fathers.  (Comp.  ch.  xvi.  17.) 
The  moment  of  judgment  decides  as  to  the  soul's 
salvation  aud  blessedness,  but  it  is  a  self-deter- 
mination, a  self-judgment.  "To  every  man  will 
be  given  the  opportunity  of  turning  to  God,  the 
door  will  stand  open  to  all  ;  he  only  who  persists 
in  wickedness  through  his  own  unbelief  shall 
die  "  (CoccEius). 

4.  As  in  the  law,  even  the  taking  of  a  pledge  is 
difficult,  almost  impossible,  so  according  to  it, 
whatever  could  be  properly  called  interest  oi 
usury  falls  aside.  What  was  permissible  towards 
a  foreigner,  the  duty  of  benevolence  towards  the 
fellow -Israelite,  as  well  as  the  fellow-inhabitant 
of  the  land,  even  though  he  were  a  stranger,  for- 
bade. Lending  in  these  circumstances  could  only 
!.im  at  relieving  sudden,  personal,  domestic  neces- 
sities. (Israel  was  not  a  mercantile  people,  at 
least  in  an  inland  sense.)  ["The  tendency  of 
usury  is  to  oppress  one's  brother,  and  hence  it  is 
to  be  wished  that  the  very  names  of  usury  and 
interest  were  buried  and  blotted  out  from  the 
memory  of  men,"  Calvin.] 

5.  If  ch.  xvi.  depicted  the  Jewish  people  as  it 
were  in  their  ancestral  sin,  according  to  their 
Canaan-nature,  the  turning  to  grace,  repentance, 
which  is  wholly  in  Christ,  exonerates  from  the 
ancestral  sin.  Liability  to  death,  increased  by 
each  actual  sin,  issues  in  the  punishment  of  death 
in  his  case  only  who  does  not  flee  from  it  in  the 
appointed  way  of  God's  righteousness  (judgment 
and  grace).  "  Thereby  a  contrast  is  indicated 
between  nature's  order,  and  the  supernatural 
order  of  grace  "  (Neteler).  "  Dying,  according 
to  our  prophet,  means  more  than  returning  to  the 
dust  of  the  ground,  for  that  happens  to  all,  even 
to  the  repentant.  Still  the  latter  do  not  die,  hut 
live.  The  reference  is  not  to  the  judgment  of 
God  which  follows  sin,  but  the  reference  to  divine 
grace  is  to  be  held  fiist "  (CocCEius). 

6.  Israel's  question  (ver.  19)  must  not  be  nar- 
rowed by  referring  it  solely  to  Ex.  xx.  5.  It  is 
a  "why"  from  the  Old  Testament  view-point  as  a 
whole  ;  and  in  so  far  as  in  the  answer  to  it  the 
significance  of  the  individual  becomes  more  pro- 
minent, so  far  also  is  another  view-point,  viz. 
that  of  the  New  Testament,  placed  in  opposition 
to  that  of  the  old,  which  is  emphatically  aban- 
doned. The  matter  could  not  have  been  settled 
in  this  way  from  a  merely  Old  Testament  stand- 
point. 


CHAP.  XVIII. 


185 


7.  "  The  expression  of  the  prophe .  has  rightly 
been  reckoned  as  a  dulcis  exhorlalio  ad  pecca- 
tores  for  all  times.  God  has  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  wicked,  is  a  dictum  of  itself  sufficient 
to  refute  the  charges  of  a  modern  heathenism 
(Feuerbach),  which  professes  to  discover  its  own 
cold,  unfeeling  God  in  the  Old  Testament.  The 
God  of  the  Old  Testament  has  a  heart :  Himself  the 
essence  of  all  blessedness,  and  mirroring  Himself 
in  the  blessedness  of  the  creature,  He  has  a  heart 
for  every  being  who  has  fallen  away  from  Him,  and 
who  is  exposed  to  death.  The  fundamental  feature 
of  His  character  is  holy  love  :  He  delights  in  the 
return  of  the  sinner  from  death  to  life  "  (Hiv.). 

8.  "  How  deeply  and  clearly  our  prophet  sees 
into  the  nature  of  redemption  !  Here  are  crowded 
together,  the  law  with  its  demands,  God's  rigour 
in  executing  its  sentences,  His  boundless  grace 
and  compassion,  the  conversion  of  the  sinner  to 
God,  the  laying  hold  of  that  divine  grace  which 
obliterates  all  guilt,  and  the  proof  of  repentance  in 
sanctification  of  life  "  (Hiv.). 

9.  As  the  sinner  who  persists  in  sinning,  rather 
than  sin,  comes  into  view  in  this  chapter, — sins 
are  treated  of  in  so  far  as  they  bring  to  light  the 
sinful  personality  of  the  sinner, — so  righteous- 
ness also  is  here  that  which  the  man  who  was 
previously  righteous,  or  who  becomes  so  by  con- 
version, manifests  in  his  life  and  walk.  To  he  in 
the  law  as  in  the  covenant  of  God,  through  faith, 
or  to  return  to  the  law  of  the  covenant  God  full 
of  grace  and  compassion,  by  repentance  ;  this  is 
righteousness.  The  law  waa  there  for  the  know- 
ledge of  sin,  so  also  the  righteousness  of  the  law- 
is  a  mirror,  that  Israel,  recognising  itself  in  its 
distance  from  God,  may  seek  the  righteousness  of 
God  which  is  His  grace.     (See  Introd. ) 

10.  Manasseh,  sou  of  Hezekiah,  may  be  regarded 
as  an  example  of  a  godless  son  (ver.  10  .sq. )  of  a 
God-fearing  father,  as  Hezekiah,  son  of  Ahaz,  of 
the  opposite  case  (ver.  14  sq.).  Manasseh  (see 
2  Chron.  xxxiii.  11  sq.)  may  also  illustrate  the 
case  of  ver.  21  sq. 

HOMllETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  2.  "  It  is  the  way  of  the  old  Adam  never 
to  acknowledge  sin,  but  always  to  put  the  blame 
on  others,  Gen.  iii.  12,  13"  (0.).  "  There  is  no 
greater  folly  than  a  man's  munnuring  against 
God  on  account  of  chastisement,  and  exculpating 
himself  before  this  all-seeing  and  most  righteous 
Judge"  (Tt)B.  Bib.).— "The  insolent  sinner  has 
neither  shame  nor  sorrow,  but  must  boast  and 
proclaim  himself  before  the  whole  world  "  (Stck.  ). 
— "  Tlie  teeth  are  set  on  edge  only  when  a  man 
himself  eats  sour  grapes"  (B.  B. ). — "Men  lay 
hold  of  and  quote  bad  proverbs  more  readily  than 
good"  (St.).- — The  end  of  all  the  words  we  have 
spoken  will  be  that  for  each  useless  word  we  shall 
require  to  give  an  account. — "  The  cause  of  its 
cessation  is  the  severity  of  the  divine  judgments. 
When  these  appear,  the  fig  leaves  fall  off,  the 
slumbering  conscience  awakens  and  cries  out.  It 
is  I  and  my  sins  !  There  is  a  multitude  of  theo- 
rems and  theological  dogmas  which  are  possible 
only  in  certain  times,  and  slink  away  abashed 
when  the  thunders  of  divine  judgment  begin  to 
roll  "  (Hengst. ).  Either  one  recognises  in  judg- 
ment^in  the  self-judgment  of  a  believing  repent- 
ance— his  guilt  before  God,  or  God  makes  the 
whole  w  orld  recognise  it  in  us,  through  the  judg- 


ment which  overtakes  us,  even  when  we  would 
deny  our  guilt.  —God  swears  by  His  life  ;  for  where 
His  righteousness  is  called  in  question.  His  life 
in  this  world  of  sin  and  death  is  assailed. — Ver. 
4.  If  God  is  the  father  of  all  souls,  other  fathers 
cannot  destroy  souls.  Each  man  is  his  own  eelf- 
destroyer  through  unbelief. 

Ver.  5  sq.  "  Righteousness  of  life  is  necessarily 
associated  with  the  righteousness  of  faith,  Rom. 
vi.  22"  (St.).  Righteousness  is  defined  by  the 
law  of  God,  but  the  end  and  fulfilment  of  the  law 
is  Christ ;  whosoever  believes  in  Him  is  righteous. 
— There  is  a  righteousness  in  works  which  is  a  mere 
semblance,  but  one  is  not  justified  by  it.  The 
justified  man  must  be  righteous. — Ver.  6.  "God's 
table  and  the  devil's  do  not  agree"  (Stck. V — 
'  *  What  the  idols  are  here,  creatures  to  whom  one 
cleaves  idolatrously  are  now-a-days"  (Lange). 
— "  God  abhors  these  three,  atheism,  indift'erent- 
ism,  syncretism"  (SrcK.). — Our  conduct  towards 
our  neighbour,  towards  the  nearest  of  all  also, 
who  is  one  flesh  with  us,  reflects  our  relation  to 
God. — Ver.  7.  "  Covetousness  is  a  root  of  all  evil, 
and  a  vice  which  is  too  little  accounted  of,  1  Tim. 
vi.  10"  (St.). — Ver.  8.  "Not  without  reason  is 
that  which  is  said  of  usury  coupled  with  com- 
passion and  gentleness  towards  the  poor ;  Christ 
also  connects  giving  and  lending.  Matt.  v.  42 " 
(Cone. ).  — Ver.  9.  "Were  it  possible  for  a  man 
to  abandon  all  that  is  evil,  and  yet  do  nothing 
positively  good,  should  he  fulfil  the  will  of  God  ? 
Isa.  i.  16  sq."  ^ST.) — By  conduct  it  is  made  clear 
of  whose  spirit  one  is  the  child.  If  the  fruits  are 
wanting,  where  is  faith  ? — Ver.  1 0  sq.  The  apple 
often  falls  far  from  the  stem.  Nothing  has  so  much 
power  as  chUdren,  to  bring  shame  and  disgrace 
on  their  parents. — That  struck  at  the  hope  and 
boast  of  the  Jews,  that  they  were  the  children 
of  Abraham,  who  was  justified  by  faith. — Ver.  11 
sq.  "  Sins  are  linked  together  ;  whoever  plunges 
voluntarily  into  one  sin  will  not  shrink  from  an- 
other when  the  temptation  comes.  This  is  to  be 
noted,  for  when  Satan  entices  us  at  the  beginning, 
we  believe  that  we  are  always  free  to  turn  back  as 
soon  as  it  seems  good  to  us.  But  we  are  presently 
entangled  in  this  sin  and  that,  and  when  we  are 
now  taken  in  the  snares  of  Satan  we  no  longer 
desire  to  become  free.  Since  one  can  make  such 
progress,  let  each  be  careful  lest  he  fall  into 
any  sin"  (H.-H.). — Ver.  15  sq.  "It  does  no 
harm  to  pious  children  that  they  have  had  god- 
less parents,  provided  they  walk  not  iu  the 
same  footsteps"  (St.). — "The  righteousness  of 
the  works  of  the  children  of  God  is  no  doubt 
but  halting,  although  they  are  at  pains  to  fashion 
themselves  according  to  the  directions  of  God's 
law  ;  yet  it  is  regarded  by  God  as  perfect,  be- 
cause He  does  not  impute  to  them  their  sins,  and 
their  works  are  pleasing  to  Him  because  His  Spirit 
operates  in  them.  Sanctification  of  life  proceeds 
doubtless  from  faith  alone.  Yet  God  also  recog- 
nises the  hidden  faith  of  those  who  have  not  yet 
come  to  clear  knowledge  of  His  saving  grace,  but 
who  sincerely  fear  Him,  and  commit  tTiem.selvee 
to  the  discipline  and  guidance  of  His  Spirit " 
(H.-H.afterCALV.). — Ver.  19.  "Menare  more  con- 
cerned about  the  question  of  God's  equity  than  with 
searching  into  their  own  sins"  (Stck.). — Ver.  20. 
"  Sinner,  see  to  it  that  thou  thyself  sinnest  not ! '' 
(TiiB.  Bib.).— Ver.  21.  "If  a  man  turn  honestiy 
to  God,  he  must  resolve  to  forswear  all  sins  ;  hert 
no  reservations  can  be  made,  1  Pet.  iii.  11  "  (St.), 


186 


EZEKIEL 


— "  The  true  turning  consists  in  this,  that  one 
gives  his  sins  their  dismissal,  and  consecrates 
nimself  to  God  for  obedience.  One  sees  a  half 
conversion  in  many  :  they  join  virtues  with  trans- 
gressions, aud  imagine  that  their  guilt  will  be  re- 
moved when  they  do  something  praiseworthy.  But 
that  is  as  if  a  servant  should  bring  to  his  master 
spoiled  wine,  for  God  will  not  so  save  men  as  to 
abolish  the  distinction  between  good  and  evil " 
( H.  -H. ).  — How  do  we  escape  death,  and  enter  into 
life  ?  By  passing  over  from  the  sin  which  is  our 
own  to  the  righteousness  which  is  God's. — Ver. 
22.  "  To  the  truly  penitent  sins  are  so  forgiven  as 
if  they  had  never  been  committed,  Isa.  xliii.  25" 
(0. ).  — He  who  turns  does  righteousness.  — Ver.  23. 
The  immediate  element  in  the  turning  is  faith 
in  God's  mercy. — "A  word  of  comfort  which  can 
and  should  encourage  every  forlorn  sinner  to  turn  " 
(ScHM.). — The  question  from  heart  to  heart. — It 
grieves  God  when  the  wicked  perish. — Life  is  not 
on  our  way,  when  our  way  is  not  God's. — Ver. 
24.  The  bad  and  the  good  turning. — One  can  fall 
from  righteousness,  but  that  he  can  fall  from 
truce  is  not  here  said. 

Ver.   25  sq.   Jehovah's  way,  aud  the  ways  of 


Israel. — Accusations  enough,  only  no  self-accu.sa- 
tion  ! — God  must  be  weighed  by  sinners  ! — Ver. 
26.  "As  thou  leavest  this  life,  so  must  'lnu  ap- 
pear before  the  judgment-seat"  (B.  B.). — Ver. 
27  sq.  Turning  from  iniquity  a  defence  against 
death. — The  true  life  assurance. — The  sinner  is 
blind  ;  but  he  who  repents  receives  eyes  to  see. — 
Ver.  30.  Iinquity  brings  ruin  when  it  is  not 
removed  through  forgiveness,  as  in  the  case  o! 
the  repentant. — The  thought  of  divine  retribu- 
tion a  motive  to  repentance. — Ver.  31  sq.  "  God, 
who  is  rich  in  love,  as  it  were  meets  the  sinner's 
soul  wandering  under  its  burden  of  sins  on  the 
way  whicli  leads  to  perdition.  Although  it  will 
not  recognise  Him,  yet  in  beseeching  love  and 
compassion  He  unceasingly  addresses  it"  (SoRiv. ). 
— "  David  made  himself  a  new  heart  when  he 
entreated  God  to  create  it  within  him,  Ps.  li." 
(Cocc). — "  Give  what  thou  requirest,  and  require 
what  thou  wilt!"  (Aug.)  Why  will  ye  die? 
Again  a  question  from  heart  to  heart. — "As  a 
worthy  forerunner  of  the  great  apostle,  the  pro- 
phet exhorts  us,  not  only  to  put  off  the  old  filthy 
garment  of  sin,  but  to  put  on  an  altogether  new 
man"  (Umbk.). 


8.   TTie  Lamentation  over  the  Kingdom  o/  Israel  (ch.  xix.). 

I,  2       And  do  thou  take  up  a  lamentation  for  the  princes  of  Israel.     And  say  : 
How  has  thy  mother  lain  down — a  lioness  among  lions  [lionesses],  among  young 

3  lions  she  reared  her  whelps  !   And  she  brought  up  one  ot  her  whelps  ;  he  became 

4  a  young  lion,  and  learned  to  catch  prey  ;  he  devoured  men.     And  the  heathen 
peoples  heard  of  him,  he  was  taken  in  their  pit,  and  they  brought  him  in  chains 

5  to  the  land  of  Egypt.     And  she  saw  while  [when]  she  waited,  her  hope  had 

6  perished  ;  then  she  took  one  of  her  whelps,  made  him  a  young  lion.     And  he 
went  up  and  down  among  the  lions  [lionesses],  he  became  a  young  lion,  and 

7  learned  to  catch  prey  ;  he  devoured  men.     And  he  knew  [knew  weii]  his  widows 
[palaces],  and  he  laid  waste  their  cities ;  and  the  land  and  its  fulness  were  deso- 

8  lated  by  the  noise  of  his  roaring.     And  the  heathen  nations  round  about 
from  the  provinces  set  against  him,  and  spread  their  net  over  him ;  he  was 

9  taken  in  their  pit.     And  they  put  him  in  ward  in  chains,  and  brought  him  to 
the  king  of  Babylon,  brought  him  into  a  stronghold,  that  his  voice  might  no 

10  more  be  heard  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel. — Thy  mother  [is,  was]  like  a  vine, 
in  thy  blood,  planted  by  the  waters ;  fruitful  and  full  of  branches  was  it, 

1 1  from  many  waters.  And  it  had  strong  rods  for  staves  [sceptres]  of  rulers  ;  and 
its  growth  was   high,  up  among   the   clouds,    and  was  conspicuous   in    its 

12  height,  in  the  multitude  of  its  branches.  And  it'Was  plucked  up  in  fury, 
cast  to  the  ground,  and  the  east  wind  dried  up  its  fruit ;  broken  and  withered 

13  were  its  strong  rods,  fire  consumed  [devoured]  them.     And  now  it  is  planted  in 

14  the  wilderness,  in  a  land  of  drought  and  thirst.  And  fire  went  out  of  a  rod 
of  its  boughs,  consumed  [devomed]  its  fruit,  and  there  was  not  in  it  [more]  a 
strong  rod,  a  staff  [sceptre]  for  ruling.  This  is  a  lamentation,  and  shall  be  for 
a  lamentation. 


Ver.     1.  Sept. :   .  .   .   iTt  rev  iis;^o»T«— 

Ver.    3.    K.  «frEiTrJ>:ff£v  tl;  t** — 

Ver.     5.   K.  lisv  on  etmirrxl  ctr'  etu7y)S  X.  atmXlTO  fi  trtroffTCtffif  xirvt,  x.  iXa^tt  (kXA«v — 

Ver.   7.  .  .  .  *.  infj-iToU  T,  8paru  etvTou,  «.   T.  ito\tti  avT*.» —    VnJg. ;  Didicit  viduas  facere^  tt  .  .  .  in  detertum 
udducere — 

Ver.    9.  ...  Ik  x*i/4«,  *-  rvtyxan  acurer  ■»  yei>.tayp» —     (For  ?33   *]^D  Other  copleB  read  7311   I'^N-) 

Ver  10.  .  .  .  us  i^T(Xof,  u;  avfl«  t«  poet  i»  ii^Ti —    Vulg.;  .  .  .  quasi  vima  in  sanguine  tuo  supet-  aquam —    (Fw 

^D^3  there  is  a  reading  :  "^Dl^  in  retsitudine  tua. 

Ver  II.  *.  f^lfOVT*  otuT,]  pa/3Jof  IrxtJOt  ifri  ^i;X»i»  iyoufjustm,  x.  .  .  .   if  td  fAlytdli  xuTKi  in  f^tru  <rrl>.txtu* —     Vulg. 
itatura  ijus  inter  frondes— 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:  .  .  .  <pvXn  tU  vxpx^o^r,t  Spxftv  i^Tic,  jk.  i^tsi  tie  0^mi. 


CHAF.  XIX.  1-7. 


187 


EXEGETICAL  REMAUKS. 

The  parallel  t,~  eh.  xvli.  shows  itself  clearly  in 
substance  and  ibrni :  that  also  referred  to  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem ;  this  has  the  same  enig- 
matic style,  the  same  borrowing  of  figurative 
expressions  from  the  plant  and  animal  world, 
and  agrees  partially  in  general,  and  in  particular 
sxpressions. 

Ver.   1.    nnXI.  introducing  a  partial  contrast, 

so  that  the  "proverb"  of  the  previous  chapter, 
from  the  side  of  the  people,  is  now  confronted  by 
the  lamentation,  from  the  side  of  the  prophet. 
It  is  an  elegy  (possibly  on  the  model  of  songs  like 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  25,  Hav.),  a  lament,  whose  occa- 
sion is  contemplated  as  an  existing  reality.  That 
which  hangs  over  the  kingdom  is  already  an 
accomplished  fact ;  one  only  require.i!  to  summon 
n'liat  has  happened  into  the  present,  in  order  to 
anticipate  easily  what  is  about  to  happen.  Comp. 
ch.  ii.  10. — The  princes  (ch.  vii.  27,  xii.  10,  12) 
are  evidently  the  existing  kings,  Jehoahaz  and 
Jehoiachin,  as  royal  tj'pes  for  the  future  of  the 
Israelitish  kingdom.  According  to  Hav.,  the 
lament  wa«  devoted  to  the  Davidic  royal  race  in 
general.  Purposely  of  Israel,  because  Dand's 
house  alone  was  legitimate  over  all  Israel  (Hiv.). 
—  NC*,  paronomasia  with  'X'ti'J- 


Vers.  2-9.    The  Kings. 

Ver.  2.  The  address  is  directed  to  the  people. 
According  to  Hengst.,  to  the  tribe  of  Jucl^,  the 
people  of  the  present.  [Ewald  makes  Ezekiel 
sing  beforehand,  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  a 
lanitent  over  Zedekiah,  and  his  inevitable  over- 
throw. Hitzig  even  alters  the  plural,  princes, 
into  the  singular,  prince  (following  the  Sept. ),  for 
the  sake  of  this  interpretation.  Rosenm.  makes 
Jehoiachin  the  subject,  who,  like  Ezekiel,  was 
in  exile.] — The  mother  of  the  people  is  Jeru- 
salem (ch.  xxi.  25  [20]).  Comp.  Gal.  iv.  25  sq. 
[Ewald:  the  ancient  church.  Hitzig:  the 
people  of  Israel.  Hav.  :  ancient  Israel  in  its 
earlier  gloiy.  Klief.  :  Israel  as  a  historical 
people.  Hengst.:  the  people  per  «e.  ]  Perhaps 
an  allusion  to  Isa.  x.xix.  1  sq.  Jenisalem-Judah, 
as  in  ch.  xvi. — The  retrospective  reference  of  the 
figure  employed  to  Gen.  xlix.  9  sq.  is  evident, 
recommends  itself  also  by  the  allusion  to  Judah, 
and  is  not  gainsaid  by  Klief.  ;  just  because  the 
figure  is  here  turned  in  malam  partem,  all  the 
more  would  the  contrast  suit  as  a  set-off  to  the 
promise  in  Gen.  xlix.  Comp.  Num.  xxiii.  24, 
xxiv.  9.  The  royal  nature  is  meant  to  be  de- 
picted ("of  equal  birth  vfiih  other  independent 
and  powerful  nations,  as  this  royal  nature  was 
historically  displayed,  especially  in  the  times  of 
David  and  Solomon,"  Henost.):  Jerusalem  the 
royal  city  (Rev.  v.  5).  The  complaint  fairly 
begins  with   nO-      [Klief.,  on  the  other   hand, 

assumes  a  double  reproach,  that  Israel  conforms 
itself  to  the  heathen  world-powers,  and  that  it 
thus  destroys  its  kings  (!).  Hence  it  is  rather  a 
complaint  against  the  Israel  of  that  time.] — That 
she  lay  down  among  the  neighbouring  royal 
states  betokens  majestic  repose  and  conscious 
security, — the  fearless  one  exciting  fear  by  impos- 
■jig  power.  (Comp.  further  ch.  xi^.  14.) — The 
•imple  result  is,  that  among  young  lions  ("I'Ba  i» 


the  young  lion  which  already  goes  after  prev, 
-|y  is  any  youug  creature  which  is  still  with  it* 
mother,  in  particular  the  young  of  the  lion) 
Jerusalem  brouglit  up  her  royal  children  in  royal 
splendour,  for  a  kingly  destiny.  Perhaps  also  a 
hint  at  the  first  establishment  of  the  kingdom 
of  Israel,  which  would  be  "  like  all  the  nations ' 
(1  Sam.  Wii.  5-20) ! 

Ver.  3.  She — the  royal  mother-city  (Lam.  i.  1). 
— The  one  of  her  young  ones,  so  that  in  nn31 

may  be  included  the  idea  of  the  increase  of  the 
family,  is  described  entirely  from  the  natural  side 
as  a  real  young  lion,     tp-^  is  ;  to  snatch  away ; 

hence:  to  acquire  as  booty  ;  also:  to  tear  asunder, 
into  which  sense  the  clause,  he  devoured  men, 
immediately  passes  over.  Comp.  as  to  Jehoahaz, 
2  Kings  xxiii.  32.  What  is  there  said  (ver.  30) 
of  the  "people  of  the  land"  in  reference  to  the 
anointing  of  Jehoahaz  is  taken  by  Hengst.  in 
connection  with  this  verse.  He  became  a  young 
lion,  can  also  be  equivalent  to  :  became  a  king ; 
and  what  follows  may  betoken  tlie  political 
development  of  kingly  power. — Ver.  4.  Heai-d 
of  him:  as  when  the  rumour  of  the  proximity 
of  a  devastating  lion  spreads,  and  the  hunt 
ing  of  the  ravenous  beast  now  begins  ;  or,  that 
their  attention  was  directed  towards  him  by  his 
roaring,  so  that  they  proceeded  to  hunt  him.  As 
to  the  fact,  see  2  Kings  xxiii.  33,  34.  — nn  is  a 

hook,  a  ring,  which  one  puts  through  the  no.se  of 
animals  that  require  to  be  restrained  (2  Kings 
xix.  18),  to  attach  to  it  the  bridle  by  which  they 
are  led,  by  which  also  their  power  of  bre^ithing 
can  be  lessened. 

Ver.  5.  Up  to  this  point,  Egypt;  now  the 
other  world-power,  Babylon  (2  Kings  xxiv.  7). 
Comp.  ch.  xvii.  Pharaoh  Necho  had  appointed 
Jehoiakim  king,  who  is  left  out  of  account  in  the 
lament,  because  death  had  deprived  him  of  his 
crown,  2  Kings  xxiv.  6.  For  the  connection,  he 
is  omitted  as  Egyptian,  and  thi-refore  not  answer- 
ing to  the  representation  of  ver.  3  (comp.  ver.  G^ 
After  Jehoahaz  only  Jehoiachin   can  come  into 

view.— niinia,  Niphal  from  ^n*  (b^n),  to  ex- 
pect ;  Ewald :  to  be  in  pain,  to  feel  feeble,  hence 
to  despair ;  she  saw  that  she  was  deceived — her 
hope  lost.  Hav.  as  Gen.  viii.  12 :  and  she  saw 
that  her  hope  was  deferred  and  had  come  to 
nothing,  to  wit,  the  hope  entertained  at  first  oi 
possibly  procuring  the  deliverance  of  Jehoahaz 
through  the  humiliation  of  Egypt.  Expectations 
from  the  other  world-power,  to  which  the  eye 
could  turn,  are  here  most  appropriate,  since  the 
Babylonish  world-power  was  forming  itself  at  that 
very  time.     ''3   is  simply:    while  (when)   she 

waited,  she  saw;  her  hope  touching  the  one  royal 
sou  had  perished.  Then  she  took,  etc.,  2  Kings 
xxiv.    8   sq.       'TSS    answers    perfectly   to    the 

youthful  age  of  Jehoiachin. — Ver.  6.  Jehoiachin 
conducted  himself  ai  a  king,  exactly  like  other 
kings ;  comp.  ver.  3.    If  ni'lN  is  to  be  translated 

lionesses,  then  the  idea  might  thereby  be  made 
prominent  that  he  acted  after  the  manner  of  hit 
mother,  ver.  2. — Ver.  7.   yTV     Against  the  sense 

which  Hav.,  Hengst.,  and  others  adopt,  it  niav  be 
said  that  the  figure  would  be  a'  audouci',  and  th  t 


J88 


EZEKIEL. 


2  Kiugs  xxiv.  9  refers  to  nothing  so  special  as 
the  defilement  of  widows.  Hiv.  :  their  (collec- 
tive  :  of  the  slain,  ver.  6);  Hengst.  :  liis  (whom 
he  as  king  was  bound  to  protect),  at  the  same 
time  the  people's  widows,  the  persoiife  miserabiles. 
Others ;  he  observed  his  widows  (whom  he  had 
made  so  by  devouring  their  husbands).     He  had 

them    before    his    eyes.      VDijOPX    can   hardly 

signify  here  "widows"  in  the  ordinary  sense, 
it  would  be  so  entirely  against  the  parallelism 
(Onnjfl).  The  passage  remains  figurative  ;  al- 
though the  king  referred  to  breaks  through  the 
fijnrrative  drapery,  he  is  spoken  of  in  a  still  more 
appropriate  pictorial  manner.  As  in  Isa.  xiii.  22, 
the  word  in  question  is  used  poetically  of  widowed 
palaces,  i.e.  forsaken  of  their  inhabitants,  so  here 
ironically.  Jehoiachin  is  described  (2  Kings  xxiv. 
9)  as  altogether  like  his  father  (Jehoiakim),  which 
must  not  be  overlooked;  while  (2  Kings  xxiii.  32) 
it  is  said  of  Jehoahaz,  more  generally  that  he  did 
as  "his  fathers."  If  we  were  entitled  to  colour 
the  portrait  of  Jehoiachin  from  our  knowledge  of 
Jehoiakim,  then  Jer.  xxii. ,  especially  ver.  13  sq. , 
offers,  in  what  is  said  of  his  despotic  passion  for 
building,  all  that  is  necessary  for  a  good  under- 
standing of  our  passage.      j;ti   is  therefore  :  he 

perceived,  i.e.  was  anxious  about  (Gen.  xxxix.  6), 
knew— his  palaces,  built  by  his  father,  which  so 
soon  (after  three  months)  became  widowed  palaces. 
And  as  that  was  the  object  of  his  anxious  thought 
andlonging,his  conduct  corresponded,  inasmuch  as, 
for  his  palaces,  he  devastated  the  cities  of  others 
>their).    [Ewald  (like  the  Chald. )  reads  jn>1,  from 

yj;i :  ' '  shattered  their  palaces. "]  The  words  'Dii'ni 

describe  the  disorder  of  the  land.  Ch.  xii.  19. — 
Ver.    8.    The  object  of  ^Jfl'l  is  completed  from 

what  follows.  The  heathen  peoples  round 
about,  etc.  Ewald  :  The  gay  Chaldean  host 
(ch.  xvii.  3).  Hkngst.  :  "The  provinces  are  the 
sun-ounding  countries,  as  parts  of  the  Chaldean 
empire;  comp.  2  Kings  xxiv.  2,  according  to  which 
the  Syrians,  Ammonites,  and  Moabites  were 
summoned  against  Jehoiakim,  the  father  of 
Jehoiachin." — Comp.  ver.  4;  ch.  xii.  13. — Ver.  9. 
"  It  is  customary  to  transport  lions  in  large  and 
very  strong  cages"  (J.  D.  Mich.). — The  heathen- 
world  thus  made  an  end  of  the  dominion.    injR'l 

recalls  ver.  8.  In  chains,  as  ver.  4.  To  the 
king  of  Babylon,  counterpart  to  "  to  the  land  of 
Egypt."  As  t(i  further  parallels,  see  the  verses. 
Stronghold  (Heb.  pi.),  an  indefinite,  poetic, 
general  term  (Judg.  xii.  7).  That  his  voice,  etc., 
Iioint."  jack  to  ver.  7.  2  Kings  xxiv.  12  could 
not  be  expressed  othenvise,  by  means  of  the  fore- 
going figure,  than  in  terms  parallel  to  ver.  4. 
The  more  special  element  of  the  history  is  con- 
cealed by  the  po>"tic  veil. 

Vers.  10-14.   The  Mother  of  Kings. 

Just  as  in  ch.  xvii.,  a  transition  to  another 
figure,  namely,  to  that  which  is  there  (ver.  5  sq.) 
used  as  to  King  Zedekiah,  the  subject  still  remain- 
ing the  kingdom. 

Ver.  10.  The  address,  as  in  ver.  2,  and  the 
mother,  who  is  compared  to  a  vine,  is  also,  as  there. 


Jerusalem  (Ps.  Ixxx.  9  [3]).  In  thy  blood; 
Ewald  :  in  his  likeness,  like  thee  (Zedekiah  !);— 
analogous  to  in  thy  name. — Hen'gst. :  "it  con' 
cerns  thee"  (D'n  =  rrtD'n,  comp.  i»  ira/ia/SoXi,  HeU 

xi.  19),  i.e.  what  is  here  .said  of  the  mother  applies 
pre-eminently  to  the  people  of  the  present — tua 
res  agitur,  etc.     Kimohi  and  Rashi  fix  on  ^niD13, 

others  derive  Qr^  from  nCI.  or  read  HDli  ;  where- 
as Piscator,  Hav.,  and  others  adopt  Qyrf,  ilDl, 

in  silentio  tno,  in  thy  rest,  the  happy  peaceful 
time  (Isa.  xxxviii.  10),  which  hardly  suits  the 
line  of  thought,  and  doesn't  at  all  fit  into  the 
figure  of  the  vine.    Gesen.  reads:  ^D"I3,  "in  thy 

vineyard."     The  Sept.  reads:     jitsia,    "by  the 

pomegranate  tree,"  because  vines  and  pome- 
granates were  often  found  together  (Num.  xx.  5). 
HiTZiG :  He  had  thus  a  support  in  contradis- 
tinction to  ch.  xvii.  4.  The  simplest  rendering 
is  "in  thy  blood,"  i.e.  in  the  life  of  the  stem  of 
Judah.  Ver.  2  looked  back  to  Gen.  xlix.  9  sq., 
and  this  verse  looks  back  to  ver.  1 1  of  the  same 
chapter,  where  the  figurative  allusion  to  the 
blood  of  the  grape  (Deut.  xxxii.  14)  suggests  the 
point  of  connection  with  the  vine  figure.  Comp. 
further  at  ch.  xvii.  8,  5. — Ver.  11.  There  grew 
up  in  Jerasalem-Judah  strong  shoots  of  David, 
able  to  rule   (Gen.    xlix.    10).— inoip,  ch.  xvii. 

6.      The   singular   suffix  refers   not  to  [33,   but 

rather  to  H^D,  either  to  the  one  who  was  before 

their  eyes,  i.e.  Zedekiah,  or  better  still,  witli 
Hengst.,  to  the  sceptres  conceived  of  as  one,  and 
thus  to  the  royal  race  as  a  whole.  The  plural 
DThV'  ■which  is  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  has  made 

many  think  of  "thickets," — a  profuse  growth 
between  the  thick  branches,  rising  above  them. 
According  to  Ewald  and  most  modems,  it  stands 
for  thicket-clouds  and  darkness.  Hengst.  : 
"among  the  clouds,  through  and  over  them." — 
And  was  conspicuous :  subject  ntSD- 

Ver,  12.  Without  the  intervention  of  anything 
farther,  there  follows  its  splendid  growth,  like  a 
lightning  flash  from  the  clear  heavens,  the  com- 
plete overthrow  of  the  vine,  i.e.  of  Jenisaleni- 
Judah,  the  birthplace  of  kings,  and  therewitli 
the  Davidic  kingdom.  Answering  to  it,  there  is 
here  the  Hophal  of  ^TM,  its  only  instance.     Cnly 

one  must  not  assume,  with  most  interpreters,  that 
the  banishment  of  the  people  is  what  is  meant 
(Ewald  also  makes  "the  whole  congregation  fall 
with  the  king").  The  distinction  between  the 
two  paragraphs  is  merely  this,  that  while  vers. 
2-9  bewailed  the  existing  kings,  both  as  bearers 
of  the  Davidic  royalty,  and  at  the  same  time  as 
suggestive,  by  their  fate,  to  the  actual  king ;  now 
Zedekiah,  as  he  with  whom  the  Davidic  kingdom 
is  subverted,  becomes  the  subject  of  the  lament, 
just  as  if  eveiything  had  already  happened. 
(Comp.  Deut.  xxix.  27  ;  1  Kings  x\\.  ,5  ;  Jer. 
xii.  17.) — Ch.  viii.  18.  Through  the  anger  ol 
God.  To  the  ground,  etc.  I'ictoria],  but  not 
indicating  the  expatriation  to  another  himl.  — Ch. 
xvii.  10,  9. — 'ntSD,  collective  ;  comp.  with  ver 


CHAP.  XIX. 


183 


11.  The  singular,  construed  with  the  plural  of 
the  verb,  comprehends  the  strong  rods  in  a  single 
/lew,  with  reference  to  Zedekiah.  The  suffix  ^n" 
refers  to  riDDi  ^°^  *-o  tBJ-      Comp.  ch.  xv.  5,  7. 

The  fire,  the  divine  judgment  in  its  consuming 
character,  as  is  explained  by  ver.  14. — Ver.  13. 
And  now,  spoken  in  presence  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  exile,  concerning  the  remnant  of  the 
David ic  royal  line.  Hence  "planting"  after  the 
vithering  and  burning  can  still  be  spoken  of,  and 
cnis  not  on  account  of  the  people,  but  because 
the  residue  of  the  Davidic  royal  line  is  likewise 
in  exile. — The  wilderness  (figurative) — without 
any  allusion  to  Israel's  passing  through  the  wilder- 
ness (Hengst.  ),  which  was  altogether  different— 
simply  describes,  in  contrast  to  ver.  10  sq.,  a  con- 
dition of  chastisement  in  which  the  vine,  Judah's 
kingdom,  cannot  prosper. — Drought,  objective  ; 
thirst,  subjective. — Ver.  14  adds  to  (1)  the  wrath 
of  God,  and  to  (2)  the  Chaldeans  as  instruments 
(ver.  12),  the  explanation  of  the  fire  (ver.  12),  to 
wit,  (3)  Zedekiah's  offence  (according  to  ch.  xvii. 
15  sq. ).  Comp.  ch.  v.  4  ;  Judg.  ix.  15. — Bod  of 
its  boughs  (ch.  xvii.  6)  is  the  rod  which  the 
boughs  made,  which  the  strong  vitality  of  the 
royal  vine  caused  to  shoot. — The  closing  sentence 
appropriately  includes  both  parts  of  the  chapter, 
— that  whicii  has  happened  and  that  which  is  to 
happen.       <nnii  prophetic  perfect.     ("It  is  not 

the  fancy  of  a  gloomy  seer,  but  the  prediction  of 
a  lamentation  which  will  actually  flow  in  a  thou- 
sand voices  from  the  mouth  of  the  people,"  etc., 
Hencst.)  llXv.  :  "And  it  was  for,"  etc.  ;  as 
historical  notice  of  the  subsequently  written 
prophecy,  to  attest  its  true  fulfilment. 

THEOLOGICAL  REMARKS. 

1.  Havemick  describes  the  fundamental  charac- 
ter of  this  chapter  as  lyrical,  prophetically  elegiac. 
Ewald  calls  it  "the  model  of  an  elegy" — "artistic 
as  to  the  construction  of  its  lines, — the  finest  and 
most  touching  of  all  in  the  Old  Testament."  As 
to  the  form,  he  says:  "The  long  line  prevails, 
but  it  is  almost  always  divided  in  the  middle  into 
two  complete  halves,  so  that  the  second  half 
abruptly  broken  off  follows  the  first  only  like  a 
brief,  transient,  sighing  echo.  And  thus,  what  the 
construction  of  the  whole  song  is,  as  to  its  two 
directions,  is  repeated  in  the  line." 

2.  It  is  a  song  of  three  kings  ;  or  of  two 
broken,  and  one  breaking  sceptre. 

3.  In  regard  to  the  historical  relations,  the 
carrying  away  of  Jehoahaz  to  Egypt  is  parallel  to 
that  of  Jehoiachin  to  Babylon.  The  intermediate 
Jehoiakim  is  left  out  ;  but  because  he  is  the  more 
important  and  the  characteristic  person,  for  the 
beginning  of  the  Babylonian  servitude,  Jehoiachin 
is  retained  in  his  true  colours.  (As  similarly 
Zedekiah  in  Jer.  xxvii.) 

4.  In  the  lion-figure,  the  nobler  passes  over 
into  the  less  noble  aspect,  on  which  Hengst.  re- 
marks :  "By  the  constitution  of  human  nature, 
arrogance  is  inseparably  connected  with  high  rank, 
and  thc-rewith  a  rude  barbarity  towards  all  who 
are  barriers  in  its  way.  He  only  who  walks 
with  God  can  escape  this  natural  consequence, 
and  the  walk  of  faith  is  not  the  attainment  of 
every  man.  It  should,  however,  be  the  attain- 
ment of  every  one  of  the  people  of  God;  and  where 
it  is  wanting,  so  that  the  corrupt  nature  unfolds 


itself  without  opposition,  there  the  divine  ven- 
geance takes  effect.  Jehoahaz  showed  himself  a 
barbarous  tyrant  towards  his  own  subjects, 
whereas  the  kingdom  of  Israel  was  designed  to 
exhibit  a  heroic  energy  against  the  enemies  of 
the  people  of  God.  On  this  account  he  was 
punished." 

5.  The  Messianic  hope  was  bound  up  with  the 
Davidic  kingdom,  whose  subversion  is  here  illus- 
trated from  ch.  xviii.  22  sq.,  and  its  fulfilment  is 
shown  in  this,  that  He  who  appeared  in  the  world, 
declared,  not  without  a  reference  to  our  chapter, 
"I  am  the  true  Vine." 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  :  "In  all  times  the  sorrowful  and 

the  joyful  have  been  expressed  in  poetry"  (L.). — 
Sacred  poetry  a  companion  on  the  heights  and 
in  the  depths  of  life  and  feeling.  See  the  Psalms. 
— "Princes  should  be  pious  people,  who  care  for 
the  eternal  as  well  as  temporal  welfare  of  their 
subjects,  who  judge  equitably,  avoid  tyranny,  and 
corrupt  none  by  their  example.  But  when  sub- 
jects do  not  pray  for  their  princes,  and  descend 
everywhere  to  the  level  of  beasts  in  their  habits, 
God  gives  them  beasts  as  princes.  For  the 
sins  of  a  people  tyrants  rule  over  them"  (L.). — 
Ver.  2.  "So  long  as  the  Jewish  people  acted 
according  to  the  law  of  God,  they  rested  in  safety 
and  without  fear"  (ScHM.). — "Judah  brought 
up,  in  its  princes,  the  rods  of  God's  chastisement" 
(RiCHT. ). — "The  society  of  bad  men  only  makes 
one  become  more  wicked  "  (Stck.). — Ver.  3.  "A 
royal  up-bringing,  when  it  is  merely  that,  makes 
royal  sinners.  Great  lords,  alas!  frequently  bear 
lions  and  such  like  not  merely  on  their  escut- 
cheons. That  they  also  do,  who  drain  men  of 
everything,  even  to  their  blood"  (B.  B.). — There 
are  men-eaters  who  yet  devour  no  men. — Ver.  4. 
Violence  is  always  topped  by  greater  violence  or 
cunning. — Many  a  court,  though  it  be  the  prince's 
own,  is  the  pit  in  which  tlie  lion  is  taken! — There 
are  also  chains  for  kings — their  minions. — Ver. 
5  sq.  In  the  place  of  one  tyrant  a  second  can 
come. — Ver.  7.  Through  a  prince,  his  land  also 
suffers. — "The  king's  voice  should  be  terrible  to 
the  wicked  only,  never  to  the  good  "  (L.). — To  the 
lion's  roaring  belong  cabinet  orders,  royal  edicts.  - 
Ver,  8  sq.  What  a  network  is  woven  about  princes 
by  court  intrigues! — "The  fate  of  tyrants  has 
usually  been  a  sad  one.  God  has  pits,  nets,  hunters, 
and  cages  for  them  even  in  this  world,  but  certainly 
in  the  next"  (L.). — "  He  who  lives  like  a  beast, 
shall  be  requited  like  a  beast"  (Stck.). — At  last 
the  lion's  roaring  on  the  mountains  dies  away. 

Ver.  10.  In  Judah  there  was  royal  blood, — the 
lion  and  the  vine  together.  — "  -ipply  that  to  the 
blood  of  Christ!"  (Right.) — "Hewhocan  count 
the  drops  of  water,  may  count  the  number  of 
God's  acts  of  love"  (B.  B.).  —  "It  is  of  God's 
unmerited  grace  that  some  royal  houses  are  blessed 
beyond  others,  and  for  this  He  will  be  honoured 
and  praised,  2  Sam.  vii.  18"  (St.).- — Ver.  11  sq. 
"  The  higher  the  ascent,  the  deeper  the  fall  ;  God 
remains  the  highest,  the  highest  over  all." — The 
night  before  destruction  is  sometimes  full  of 
happiness  and  splendour. — The  bloom  of  princely 
houses,  as  of  great  cities  and  famous  trading 
houses,  is  of  a  tender  and  easily  withered  nature. 
— Ver.  13.  "Where  God's  gi-aciuus  presence  with 
His  word  and  Spirit  is  wanting,  there  a  desert  is ; 


190  EZEKIEL. 


»nd  the  whole  world  is  a  land  of  drought,  which 
can  give  no  refreshment  to  the  sonl  which  hungers 
and  thirsts  for  God"  (B.  B. ). — The  prosperous 
soil  for  princes  and  also  for  people  is  true  religion. 
— Where  God's  word  is  despised,  kingdoms  them- 
selves become  a  waste.  —  Ver.  l-I.  "Each  man 
supplies  the  fire  for  his  own  burning"  (Stck.). — 
"The  fire  of  one's  own  unrighteousness  kindles 


the  ^vrathful  judgment  of  God,  Isa.  i.  31 "  (ScHM.  i 
— "  Men  first  become  parched,  then  the  fire  con- 
sumes them  "  (Stck.). — "  A  liitlc  spark,  a  sing!* 
sin  apparently,  and  at  first  really  a  little  one,  ?an 
cause  a  great  fire"  (Stck.).  —  "  Till  Christ  no  othel 
king  from  David's  stem"  (Richt.). — "Every  sin 
ends  in  lamentation,  even  here,  but  certainly 
there  "  (Stck.  ). 


9.   ne  Survey  of  the  Leading  of  the  People  from  of  old  (ch.  xx.). 

1  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seventh  year,  in  the  fifth  [month]  on  the  tenth 
[day]   of  the  month,  that  men  of  the  elders  of  Israel  came  to  enquire  oi 

2  Jehovah,  and  sat  [down]  before  me.     And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me, 

3  saj-ing :  Son  of  man,  speak  to  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Do  ye  come  to  enquire  of  Me  ^     As  I  live,  if  1  will 

4  be  enquired  of  by  you  !     Sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.     Wilt  thou  judge 

5  them  1  Wilt  thou  judge,  son  of  man  1  Make  them  to  know  the  abominations 
of  their  fathers.  And  say  to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah;  In  the  day 
that  I  chose  Israel,  then  I  lifted  up  My  hand  to  the  seed  of  the  house  of 
Jacob,  and  made  Myself  known  to  them  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  lifted  up 

6  My  hand  to  them,  saying,  I  [am]  Jehovah  [am]  your  God.  In  that  day  I  lifted 
up  My  hand  to  them,  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  into  the  land 
which  I  had  sought  out  for  them,  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, — which  is  a 

7  glory  [.inament]  to  all  lands.  And  I  said  to  them.  Cast  j^e  away,  every  man, 
the  abominations  of  his  eyes,  and  defile  not  yourselves  with  the  idols  of 

8  Egypt.  I,  Jehovah  your  God.  And  they  rebelled  against  Me,  and  would 
not  hearken  unto  Me  ;  they  did  not  cast  away  every  man  the  abominations 
of  his  eyes,  nor  forsake  the  idols  of  Egypt.  And  I  said  that  I  would  pour 
out  My  fury  upon  them,  that  I  would  accomplish  My  anger  in  them,  in  the 

9  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  I  wrought  for  My  name's  sake,  that  it 
might  not  be  polluted  before  the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  among  whom  they 
were,  in  whose  sight  I  made  Myself  known  to  them,  to  bring  them  out  of  the 

10  land  of  Egypt.     And  I  led  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  brought  them 

11  into  the  wilderness.    And  I  gave  them  My  statutes,  and  made  known  to  them 

12  My  judgments,  which,  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  live  in  them.  And  I  also  gave 
them  my  Sabbaths,  to  be  a  sign  between  Me  and  them,  so  that  it  might  be 

13  known  [thyknew]  that  I  Jehovah  do  sauctify  them.  And  the  house  of  Israel 
rebelled  against  Me  in  the  wilderness ;  they  walked  not  in  My  statutes,  and 
they  despised  [castaway]  ^ly  judgments,  which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  live  in 
them,  and  they  grievously  profaned  My  sabbaths.     And  I  said  that  I  would 

1 4  pour  out  My  fury  upon  them  in  the  wilderness  to  destroy  [uproot]  them.  And 
I  wrought  for  My  name's  sake,  that  it  should  not  be  polluted  before  the 

15  heathen,  in  whose  sight  I  brought  them  out.  And  also  I  lifted  up  My  hand 
to  them  in  the  wilderness,  that  I  would  not  bring  them  into  the  land  which  I 
had  given,  flowing  witii  milk  and  honey — which  is  a  glory  to  all  lands, — 

16  Because  they  despised  JSiy  judgments,  and  walked  not  in  My  statutes,  and 

17  profaned  My  sabbaths,  for  their  heart  went  after  their  idols.  And  [yet]  Mine 
eye  pitied,  instead  of  destroying  them,  and  I  did  not  make  an  end  of  them  in 

18  tiie  wilderness.  And  I  said  to  their  sons  in  the  wilderness.  Ye  shall  not  walk 
in  your  fathers'  statutes,  nor  observe  their  judgments,  nor  defile  yourselves 

19  with  their  idols.     I  am  Jehovah,  your  God;  walk  in  My  statutes  and  keep 

20  My  judgments,  and  do  them.  And  hallow  My  sabbaths,  and  they  are  for  a 
sign  between  Me  and  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  your  God. 

21  And  the  sons  rebelled  against  Me  ;  they  walked  not  in  My  statutes,  and  they 
kept  not  My  judgments  to  do  them,  which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  live  in  them; 
they  profaned  IMy  sabbaths  ;  and  I  said  that  I  would  pour  out  My  fury  upon 

22  them,  that  I  would  acfHiplish  My  ansrer  in  them  in  the  wilderness.     And 


CHAP.  XX.  Ui) 


[yet]  I  turned  My  hand,  and  wrought  for  My  name's  sake,  that  it  should  u&t 

23  be  poUuted  before  the  heathen,  in  whose  sight  I  brought  them  out.  I  also 
lifted  up  My  hand  to  them  in  the  wilderness,  that  I  would  scatter  them 

24  among  the  heathen,  and  disperse  them  in  the  countries  ;  Because  they 
executed  not  My  judgments,  and  despised  My  statutes,  and  profaned  My 

25  sabbaths,  and  their  eyes  were  after  their  fathers'  idols.  And  I  also  gave  them 
statutes  that  were  not  good,  and  judgments  in  which  they  could  not  live ; 

26  And  I  polluted  them  in  their  gifts,  inasmuch  as  they  caused  all  that  openeth 
the  womb  to  pass  through,  that  I  might  desolate  them,  that  they  might  know 

27  that  I  am  Jehovah.  Therefore  speak  to  the  house  of  Israel,  son  of  man,  and 
say  to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah;  In  this  again  your  fathers  mocked 

28  [blasphemed]  Me,  in  dealing  faithlessly  with  Me.  And  I  brought  them  into  the 
land,  which  I  lifted  up  My  hand  to  give  them,  and  they  saw  every  high 
hill,  and  every  thick  [dark]  tree,  and  there  they  oftered  their  sacrifices,  and 
gave  there  the  provocation  of  their  offering,  and  there  they  presented  their 

29  sweet  savours,  and  there  they  poured  out  their  drink-offerings.  And  I  said  to 
them.  What  is  the  high  place  to  which  ye  go  i     And  its  name  was  called 

30  "Bamah"  to  this  day.  Therefore  say  to  the  hou.se  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah  ;  In  the  way  of  your  fathers  do  ye  pollute  yourselves,  and  do  ye 

31  go  wantonly  after  their  abominations  ?  And  in  the  offering  of  your  gifts,  in 
making  your  sons  to  pass  through  the  fire,  do  ye  pollute  yourselves  according 
to  all  your  idols  to  this  day,  and  shall  I  be  enquired  of  by  you,  0  house  of 
Israel  'i     As  I  live, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — if  I  shall  be  enquired  of  by 

32  you  !  .  .  .  And  that  which  has  come  up  in  your  mind  shall  not  at  all  happen, 
that  ye  say.  We  shall  be  as  the  heathen,  as  the  families  of  the  countries,  to 

33  serve  wood  and  stone.  As  I  live, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — if  I  shall 
not  rule  over  you  with  strong  hand,  and  with  outstretched  arm,  and  with  fury 

34  poured  out !  .  .  .  And  I  will  lead  you  out  from  the  peoples,  and  gather  you 
out  of  the  countries  in  which  ye  have  been  dispersed,  with  strong  hand,  and 

35  with  outstretched  arm,  and  with  fury  poured  out.     And  I  will  bring  you  into 
3(5  the  wilderness  of  the  peoples,  and  contend  with  you  there  face  to  face.     As  I 

contended  with  your  fathers  in  the  wilderness  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will  I 

37  contend  with  you, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  I  will  cause  you  to 
pass  under  the  staff  [sceptre],  and  bring  you  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant. 

38  And  I  will  purge  [separate]  out  from  among  you  the  rebels,  and  the  transgressors 
against  Me  ;  out  of  the  land' of  their  wanderings  [straneerhood]  will  I  lead  them 
forth,  and  [yet]   he  [they]  shall  not  come  to  the  land  of  Israel,  and  ye  shall 

39  know  that  I  Jehovah.  And  ye,  house  of  Israel,  thus  .saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
— Go,  serve  every  one  his  idols.  Yet  afterwards, — if  ye  will  not  [now]  hearken 
unto  Me,  ye  shall  not  further  pollute  My  holy  name  with  [in]  your  offerings 

40  and  with  [in]  your  idols.  For  upon  My  holy  mountain,  upon  the  high 
mountain  of  Israel, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — there  shall  they  serve 
Me,  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  the  whole  of  it  in  the  land  ;  there  will  I  accept 
them  graciously,  and  there  will  I  require  your  [heave]  offerings,  and  the  first- 

41  fruits  of  your  oblations,  with  all  your  holy  things.  As  a  sweet  savour  will  I 
accept  you  graciously,  when  I  lead  you  out  from  the  peoples,  and  gather  you 
out  of  the  countries,  in  which  ye  have  been  dispersed,  and  sanctify  Myself  in 

42  you  before  the  eyes  of  the  heathen.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah, 
when  I  bring  you  to  the  land  of  Israel,  to  the  land  which  I  lifted  up  My  hand 

43  to  give  to  your  fathers.  And  there  shall  ye  remember  your  ways,  and  all 
your  doings,  in  [inoi]  which  ye  have  been  defiled,  and  loathe  yourselves  in 
your  own  sight,  for  all  your  wicked  things  [evii  deeds]  which  ye  have  done. 

44  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  in  My  dealing  with  you  for  My  name's 
sake,  not  according  to  your  wicked  ways,  and  your  corrupt  doings,  O  house  of 
Israel.     Sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.  8.    Sept.:  .  .  .  ^  tyu  u  *waMfi8tirffi^u  ufur  .  .  .  li  (4)  iM^imtrti  etirivs  ixitxriffu. — (Another  reading,  3:   7M 


,92 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.    5.   ,  .  .  lifi  r,i  rt,uipxs  riptrm  .  .  .  X.  iyumpurBnv  T«  rrtpfMb-n  .  .   .  k.  ivTfA«;ioa>i»  ryt  x*'/"  f^"  avT-aw  — 

\  er.  !■?.  The  LXX  add  :   K   giT«  a-/M?  r.  ajV  t.  "Itf-p  t*  -r  vv**"     'E"  r«i:  T^otrrtsT'^znv  fwu  vopiuirBt  x.  r.  iixmimumrm 

\'er.  18.  .   .    .  pLr  iruixvKujyvVfrdf  «,  ^(Mj  tJUettvlffQl, 

Ver.  22.  K.  o^x  EToJ^roc,  ctm;  to  inofJOL  fMiu — 

Ver,  26.  K.  f^ia-tia  ati-rous  ...  ii.  Tar  iixTtpiuitrdau  fju  ir*9  .  .  .  imn  oLfttviVtt  »itr9V( Vulg. :    Et  poltui  .  .  .  enm 

90errent  omne  quod — 

Ver.  27.  .  .  .  '£«>;  Toyrav  trxpMpyirxv  ^s— 

Ver.  28.  .  .  .  K.  Eflurae*  EXEi  reif  filoff  a^Tafv — 

Ver.  30.  Sept. :  Kt  iv  r.  etvaf^ixif  t.  rrxTipav  iifj.at9, — 

Ver.  31.  X.  ik  T.  a.TKpx'^ti  t.  oofj^raty  iifjMv  X.  Ev  T.  ct^opirptcti  v'taiv  upL.  iv  Tvpi — (Another  reading :  D3'*ri3m  DD^33-) 

Ver.  33.  *.  l*  ivxlivitrsTx.  \vt  t.  ^viufjM  iu.  t«uto.      K.  a-JX  itrrxi  ov  TpoToi  ipcut  XtylTt — 

Ver.  36.  Another  reading:  TlS   BISCX,  Sept,  VnlR.,  Arabs:  judicabo  ooa. 

Ver.  37.  .  .  .  x.  ilrat^v  w,£*as  sv  iptSum.    {Targ.  et  veinstones.) 

Ver.  38.  Another  reading:  1ST  K7- 

Ver.  39.  Sept :   .  .  .  kxctrrds  .  .  .  i^xpatri,  X.  fctrtx  reuirx  I'l  fjLri  iifjuts  (IrxxvjiTi  fMiv,  x.  r.  itaptM. — 

Ver.  40.  .  .  .  ixii  iauXivrwrii  put  .  .  .  tU  nj^eg — 

Ver.  43.  .  .  .  r.  iiovi  .  .  .  x.  r.  irtTyjhvputTx  iipb.  tv  aU  ifjtMttnffQt. — Volg. :    .  .  .  </  disphcebitit  vobis  itt  conspectu 
veitro — 

Ver.  44.  .  .   .  0T4K  T.  cyoucc  f^u  /*»)  ,3(^ii>.a»0»:  xaTK  T.  oSffuf  CfA..  .  .  .  X.  xxTX  T.  CTiTxict^pt^rx  u/A.  T(tt  ht^Bxpptitx— 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-4.  The  Occasion  and  Theme  of  the 
Discourse. 

Ver.  1.  A  date  is  prefixed  to  the  occasion  of 
the  following  prophetic  discourse,  which  points 
us  back  to  ch.  riii.,  and  which  at  the  same  time 
applies  to  ch.  xxi.-xxiii.  [Klief.  reckons  11 
months  5  days  since  ch.  viii.  1  ;  2  years  1 
month  5  days  since  ch.  i.  2  (adhering  to  the 
captivity  of  king  Jehoiachin)  ;  and  2  years  5 
months  before  ch.  xxir.  1.] — The  parallel  to  ch. 
xiv.  1  is  evident.     There,  indeed,  we  have  xiS'l 

i^S,  and  here  only  !|X3.      But  they  are  called 

men  of  the  elders  of  Israel  in  both  places.  That 
they  were  the  same  persons  (Klief.)  is  question- 
able ;  probably  not.  Rather  can  they  be  con- 
sidered as  the  successors  of  that  deputation,  and 
they  may  be  distinguished  from  it  by  the  fact  that 
they  mentioned  the  purpose  of  their  visit,  to 
inquire,  etc.,  although  what  they  asked  is  not 
stated,  while  the  former  deputation  can  be  de- 
picted as  sitting  before  the  prophet  in  speechless 
amazement.  That  a  middle,  a  turning  point  in 
Ezekiel's  labours  is  indicated,  as  Klief.  thinks, 
by  the  fact  of  a  spirit  of  inquiry  being  excited  in 
the  minds  of  his  hearers,  is  too  much  to  draw 
from  the  words.  Hengst.  sees  in  the  men  "re- 
presentatives, not  of  the  totality  of  the  exiles,  but 
of  the  great  mass  of  those  only  externally  fearing 
God,  while  internally  addicted  to  the  spirit  of  the 
■world  and  of  the  age,"  as  in  ch.  xiv.,  and  conjec- 
tures a  special  occasion  in  a  favourable  turn  which 
the  affairs  of  the  coalition  had  taken. (?)  Owing 
to  the  interest  felt  in  Judah  and  Jerusalem  by  all 
the  exiles,  nothing  prevents  us  understanding 
here  also,  as  in  ch.  xiv.,  envoys  (if  not  elders 
themselves  ?)  from  the  elders  of  the  exiles  of  tlie 
ten  tribes.  As  these  had  been  so  long  in  a  state 
of  exile,  the  existence  of  the  elder-organization  is 
the  more  intelligible.  That  the  divine  message 
of  the  prophet  is  addressed  to  the  whole  people, 
does  not  prevent  its  being  coloured  with  a  special 
regard  to  the  ten  tribes,  as  the  details  of  our 
exposition  may  possibly  show. — Ver.  3.  Comp. 
ch.  ii.  1,  xiv.  3. — Ver.  4.  The  repeated  question, 
WUt  thou,  etc.,  is  connected  with  the  appear- 
uice  of  the  men  of  Israel,  who  are  thereby  repre- 
S'Sted  as  if  standing  before  a  tribunal,  but  at  the 
tame  time  destitute  of  an  advocate,  and  of  any 


ground  for  self-justification.  Hitzig  rightly  per- 
ceives in  the  repetition  evidence  of  the  emotion 
which  the  presence  of  unworthy  persons  had  ex- 
cited. "The  form  of  a  question  makes  apparent 
the  impatient  wish  that  the  thing  should  happen, 
and  so  includes  a  command."  Therefore  the  im- 
perative :  Make  them  to  know  the  abominations, 
etc.  The  theme  of  the  discourse  is  a  review  of  the 
objective  [leading],  and  over  against  that,  the 
subjective  [behaviour]  conduct  of  the  people  from 
the  days  of  old  (ch.  xxii.  2;  xxiii.  38).  The 
reference  to  the  fathers  points  to  an  ancient  and 
deep-rooted  evil  which  demands  a  radical  cure 
(Henost.,  Calvin).  Matt.  x.xiii.  32  ;  Acts  vii. 
51  ;  ch.  xvi.  2. 

Vers.  5-9.  Israel  in  Egypt. 

Ver.  5.  ina  with  3,  as  Israel  is  subjected  to 

examination,  so  Israel  remains  the  object  of  the 
divine  election.  ' '  Choosing  in  the  sense  of  divine, 
prevenient  love  and  grace,  Deut.  vii.  6,  xiv.  2" 
(Hav.). — The  lifting  up  of  the  hand,  as  the  ges- 
ture of  one  making  oath  (Deut.  xxxii.  40  ;  Ex. 
vi.  8),  assured  and  confirmed  the  choosing  of  Isi'ael 
as  the  people  of  God  (Deut.  vii.  6,  xiv.  2)  with 
reference  to  Canaan  (vers.  6,  15,  28). — Israel 
is  significantly  interchanged  with  Jacob.  The 
former  points  to  the  grace  of  their  election  to  the 
position  of  Jehovah's  warriors  ;  the  latter  points 
to  their  natural  origin.  —  As  interpreted  by  the 
clause  :  and  made  myself  known,  etc.,  the  day 
was  the  period  when  Jehovah  in  point  of  fact 
revealed  Himself  to  the  people  in  Egypt  as  that 
which  He  had  called  Himself  to  Moses  (Ex.  iii. 
14,  etc.)  by  signs  and  wonders,  as  by  an  actual, 
renewed  oath  (thei-efore  the  very  significant  repe- 
tition of  the  lifting  up  of  the  hand). — Ver.  6.  A 
sort  of  conclusion.  Once  again,  I  lifted  up,  etc., 
and  emphasizing  of  the  day,  in  order  to  mark 
God's  solemn  determination,  as  well  as  what  had 
taken  place.  The  imaginations  of  priests  and 
vain  sayings  of  the  people  are  not  the  point  in 
question.  Theobjectwas  "bringing  out, "  there- 
fore freedom,  redemption,  which  is  described 
according  to  its  issue  and  goal. — Sought  oul 
(comp.  Num.  x.  33),  ere  ever  they  had  spied  i( 

out. — Ex.  iii.  8. — The  ^  in  '^3^,  either,  datively 
that  all  lands  reckon  it  go ;  or  with  respect  to 


CHAP.  XX.  7-25. 


193 


jx,  above  all  lands  (?). — Ver.  7.  The  Sinaitic  law 
^lio  said  this  plainly,  as  it  rested  expressly  upon 
the  nin'  *3S.  Ex.  XX.  2.  But  from  the  begin- 
ning the  same  was  proclaimed  by  the  fact  of  elec- 
tion, which  involved  a  reciprocal  obligation  on 
the  part  of  the  people. 

["Ihe  very  form  given  to  the  commission  of 
V.-K.s  to  go  and  vindicate  the  children  of  Israel 
for  God,  that  they  might  come  forth  and  serve 
Hiui,  was  itself  a  proof  how  much  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  had  fallen  into  abeyance,  and  how  gene- 
rally the  people  bad  allowed  themselves  to  sink 
into  the  prevailing  idolatries.  They  must  go  out 
of  the  polluted  region,  where  other  lords,  spiritual 
as  well  as  temporal,  have  had  dominion  over  them, 
tliat  they  may  stand  free  to  worship  and  serve 
Jehovah.  And  so  the  whole  design  and  purport 
of  the  commission  of  Moses  might  be  regarded  as 
a  protest  against  their  connection  with  the  abo- 
minations of  Eg)pt,  and  a  call  not  only  to  Pha- 
nioh,  to  let  the  people  go,  but  also  to  the  people 
themselves,  to  come  out  and  be  separate,  as  a 
seed  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen." — P.  F. — W.  F.] 

Of  the  eyes,  not  merely  which  the  eyes  see, 
but  whereon  they  fix,  with  which  they  become 
familiar,  etc. — Ver.  8.  Israel's  further  rebellious- 
ness in  the  wilderness  would  even  justify  a  simi- 
lar inference  as  to  their  behaviour  in  Egypt. 
Compare  further  Josh.  xxiv.  14  ;  Ex.  xxxii.  3  ; 
Lev.  xvii.  7  (Ps.  cvi.  7). — And  I  said;  not  to 
them,  nor  to  Moses,  but  to  Jlyself.  It  corre- 
sponded to  the  character  of  God  and  the  actual 
condition  of  the  people.  Comp.  Ex.  xx.  5,  xxxii. 
10. — Ch.  vii.  8,  V.  13,  vi.  12  ;  and  besides,  Ex.  v. 
3. — Ver.  9.  And  I  wrought,  forms  a  contrast  to  : 
"  and  I  said ; "  consequently  the  thing  contrasted 
with  what  was  said, — the  object  of  the  verb 
"wrought," — which  can  be  gathered  from  what 
follows,  may  also  be  assumed  as  known. — For  My 
name's  sake,  etc.  (Ps.  cvi.  8) ;  they  were  unworthy 
of  it,  had  not  merited  it.  But  the  revelation  which 
I  had  given  of  Myself  before  the  eyes  of  the 
heathen  among  whom  they  were  was  not  to  be 
desecrated  Ijifore  these  same  eyes,  especially  before 
the  Egj'ptians,  as  if  to  wish  well  to  My  name  were 
present  with  Me,  but  not  the  power  of  perform- 
ance (regard  being  had  at  the  same  time  to  the 
heathen,  as  Israel  was  placed  in  a  peculiar  posi- 
tion in  regard  to  humanity  as  a  whole).  Corap. 
Num.  xiv.  13  sq. ;  Ex.  xx.xii.  12  {Num.  x.xiii.  19). 

Vers.  10-24.  Tsj-ael  in  the  Wilderness.  Vers. 
10-17,  The  First;  18-24,  The  Second  Gene- 
ration. 

Vers.  10-17.    The  First  Generation  in  the 
Wilderness. 

Ver.  10.  Transition  from  the  foregoing  to  the 
."ollowing. — Ver.  11.  Thegivingof  thelawon Sinai, 
■IS  introduction  to  the  present  leading  of  the  people, 
after  being  brought  out,  Ex.  xx.  sq.  — Statutes  and 
judgments,  as  often,  comprehending  the  general 
idea  of  the  law.  Live  includes  prosperity  and 
blessedness,  bodily  and  spiritual,  temporal  and 
eternal.  Comp.  Deut.  iv.  1. — The  law  was  given 
ff.r  life,  E.im.  vii.  10  ;  Matt.  xix.  17  ;  Ex.  xx.  12, 
elc.  Which  if  a  man  do.  The  leading  through 
the  wilderness  served  to  test  them  as  to  this. 
[Kr.lL  translates :  "  Which  a  man  shall  do  in 
order  to  live  through  them."] — Ver.  12.  Ex.  xx. 
6,  xxxi.  13.     A  sign  n  ust  denote  something,  so 


the  Sabbath  repeating  itself  (therefore  the  plural 
with  each  week's  close  betokened  the  rest  of  God, 
into  which  the  people  of  God  are  to  enter  after 
all  their  works,  Heb.  iv.  This  is  a  common  ele- 
ment to  Jehovah  and  Israel  on  the  ground  of  the 
covenant.  As  the  Sabbaths  of  Jehovah  are  to  be 
hallowed  by  Israel,  and  to  be  separated  from  the 
other  days  of  the  week,  it  wottld  thereby  be  made 
evident  that  Jehovah  sanctifies  Israel,  and  sepa- 
rates them  from  the  world-peoples  to  be  His  own 
peculiar  people.  This  is  the  reciprocal  relation 
of  the  Sabbath  to  Jehovah  and  Israel.  Therefore 
the  Sabbath  was  so  characteristic  for  Israel. — As 
tha  prophetic  sense  of  the  law,  and  of  the  Sab- 
bath-law in  particular,  reaches  far  beyond  a  formal, 
outward  observance  of  it,  so  the  prophet  is  speak- 
ing not  of  the  mere  letter  of  the  law  as  a  whole, 
nor  in  ver.  13  of  merely  external  desecration  of 
the  Sabbath  (Isa.  Iviii.  13,  14).  Compare  further 
Ex.  xvi.  27  sq. ;  Num.  xv.  32  sq.  Also  ch.  v. 
6,  7.— Ver.  11.— Ver.  8.— With  Ver.  14  comp. 
ver.  9.— 'Ver.  15.  And  also  =  and  even  ;  for  after 
the  contrast  to :  "  and  I  said,"  in  ver.  13  has  been 
expressed  in  ver.  14  by:  "and  I  wrought,"  'qji 

resumes  the  thread.  The  thought  as  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  rebellious  expressed  itself  even  in 
the  oath  which  excluded  the  tii-st  wilderness  gene- 
ration from  Canaan  ;  Num.  xiv.  11  sq.;  Ps.  xcv. 
11,  etc.  [Hengst.  interprets  'QJI  of  retribution  ; 
so  they,  and  1  also  !]— Ver.  6. — Ver.  17  carries 
out  the  idea  of  ver.  14  (ch.  xvi.  5). — Ch.  xi.  13. 
The  sequel  shows  what  is  meant. 

Vei-s.  18-24.   The  Second  Generation  in  the 
Wilderness. 

Ver.  18.  The  contents  of  the  fifth  book  of 
Moses  belonged  peculiarly  to  the  sons  (children) 
— the  spared  second  generation  in  the  wilderness. 
The  fathers  in  question  are  rejiresented  in  their 
constant  disobedience  to  the  laws  which  Jehovah 
gave  (which  even  necessitated  their  repetition  and 
renewal  in  -Deuteronomy),  as  in  some  sort  law- 
givers according  to  their  own  ideas  and  on  their 
own  authority. — Ver.  7. — Ver.  19.  But!— Comp. 
ver.  11.— Ver.  20.  Comp.  ver.  12.— Ver.  21. 
Num.  XV.  16,  17.— Vers.  8,  13.— Ver.  22.  Con- 
trast to  ver.  21;  Num.  xvi.  21  sii.,  ch.  xvii.  9  sq. 
— A'crs.  14,  9. — Ver.  23.  I  also,  as  in  ver.  15, 
here  in  relation  to  ver.  21. --Ch.  xii.  15,  vi.  8. 
The  threatening  with  exile,  Deut.  xxviii.  30  ; 
Lev.  xxvi.  33  sq. ;  and  as  an  oath,  Deut.  xxix. 
13,  18.— Ver.  24.   As  ver.  16. 

Vers.  25-31.  Israel  in  Canaan.  Vers.  25-29. 
The  Fathers.  Vers.  30,  31.  The  People  oj 
the  Present. 

Vers.  25-29.   The  Fathers  in  Canaan. 

Ver.  25.  Transition,  linked  to  the  foregoing 
with  'd31,  as  in  ver.  23  '03  hinted  at  what  suc- 
ceeds. The  threat  of  exile,  the  fulfilment  of 
which  had  begun  in  the  people  of  the  present, 
could  be  denounced  against  the  second  generation 
in  the  wilderness,  because  they  were  brought  into 
Canaan,  and  along  with  the  following  genera 
tions,  in  so  far  as  they  could  come  into  account  as 
"  your  fathers  "  (ver.  27),  they  are  set  over  against 
the  existing  people.  The  second  generation  ia 
the  wilderness   was   therefore    the   mediam  tA 


134 


EZEKIEI 


transition  to,  and  at  the  same  time  became,  Israel 
in  Canaan.  Therefore,  although  it  was  not  exe- 
cuted against  the  second  generation  in  the  wilder- 
ness, the  threat  of  exile  remains  in  its  original 
force  and  form.  The  reference  to  Canaan,  which 
ver.  28  formally  makes,  determines  the  peculiar 
forms  of  expression  in  vers.  25  and  26.  Such  a 
progress  in  sin  is  made,  that  at  last  God  makes 
sin  its  own  punishment.  Thus— ver.  7.  They 
are  warned  against  idolatry  in  Egypt,  which  is 
followed  up  in  ver.  11  sq.  hy  the  Sinaitic  legisla- 
tion in  the  wilderness. — In  ver.  18  sq.,  over  against 
their  own  law-making,  of  which  the  first  genera- 
tion was  guilty,  tliere  is  the  renewal  of  the  Sinaitic 
law  with  reference  to  Canaan,  but  even  already 
under  the  threat  of  exile  (ver.  23).  Finally — in 
Canaan  as  a  beginning  of  the  judgment  of  God, 
there  were  given  to  Israel  for  chastisement  the 
wicked  statutes  and  the  death-bringing  judgments 
of  Canaan.  Becau.se  they  would  not  have  My 
good  law,  1  gave  them  Canaan's  law,  which  is  not 
good,  etc.  Thus  the  force  of  :  I  gave,  etc.,  is  to 
be  maintained,  and  by  no  means  to  be  weakened 
to  permission  or  any  similar  idea,  as  Jewish  and 
Christian  interpreters  wish. — Not  good  is  suffi- 
ciently explained  by  Qn?  going  before,  and  by 
the   parallel   ^Tfi  xp.  —  Ver.    26   shows    clearly 

what  sort  of  "  statutes  "  and  "judgments"  are 
meant,  from  the  result  which  they  produced,  more 
jirecisely  describing:  "I  gave,"  as:  I  polluted  them. 
The  pollution  of  Israel  was  very  notably  exhibited 
in  that  which  they  did  with  their  first-born  male 
children,  who  in  virtue  of  Ex.  xiii.  12,  18  required 
to  be  redeemed.  Tliis  ordinance,  according  to 
the  connection  in  Ex.  xiii.,  being  characteristically 
associated  with  the  redemjition  of  the  people  from 
Egypt,  the  allusion  in  our  verse  is  most  signifi- 
cant. Comp.  also  Ex.  xiii.  11,  which  introduces 
the   statute   in   question.       As   a   guide   to   the 

understiinding  of  Taj?n3,  niil*?,  which  is  asso- 
ciated with  mayn  in  Ex.  xiii.,  is  here  omitted, 
and  B>X3  is  added  in  ver.  31,  so  that  the  Canaan- 

itish  Moloch  -  worshij)  is  undoubtedly  meant. 
(Lev.  xviii.  21,  comp.  ver.  3;  Deut.  xviii.  10,  9.) 
Comp.  ch.  xvi.  21.  So  the  life,  the  continuous 
life  which  the  people  of  Israel  should  have  en- 
joyed in  their  sons,  became  its  opposite,  death. 
How  could  these  be  good  statutes !  [Cocceius 
also  connects  m2J?n  with  Ex.  xiii.  12,  and  un- 
derstands the  pollution  of  Israel  as  a  declara- 
tion of  the  unckanness  of  the  people  (Hiiv.,  on 
account  of  the  heathenish  turn  which  had  been 
given  to  the  law),  since  Aaron  and  the  Levites 
had  been  installed  by  Jehovah  in  the  sacred  office 
instead  of  the  first-bom.  Num.  iii.  45  !]  Comp. 
as  to  the  whole,  Eom.  i.  24  sq. ;  Acts  vii.  42 ; 
2  Thess.  ii.  11. — As  to  the  "desolation,"  comp. 
ch.  xiv.  8.  Others  render  it :  to  be  benumbed, 
nhoch'd,  so  that  if  possible  they  might  be  brought 
to  reflection  from  what  was  so  abhorrent  to  parental 
feeling.  According  to  our  rendering  of  the  word, 
preparation  is  here  made  for  the  idea  of  the 
wilderness,  which  is  afterwards  so  prominent  in 
the  chapter;  they  came  to  resemble  a  wilderness- 
people  even  before  they  were  brought  into  the 
wilderness  of  the  peoples  (ver.  35). — Ver.  27. 
The  people  of  the  present  are  addressed,  although 


the  matter  itself  still  concerns  the  fathers  in 
Canaan.  Ver.  30  sij.  will  define  more  precisely 
the  meaning  of  this  address. — In  this  again  (ch. 
xvi.  29),  besides  what  was  formerly  adduced.  The 
thing  meant  is  first  of  all  indicated  more  gene- 
rally as  mockery  and  faithlessness  (ch.  xv.  8,  xiv. 
13),  and  is  then  in  Ver.  28  stated  more  in  detail. 
Comp.   with  ch.   vi.   13,  xvi.   16. —  DVS  refeis  tc 

the  forementioned  mockery,  whereby  they  aroused 
the  displeasure  and  wrath  of  Jehovali  (Deut. 
xxxii.  16,  21);  'ni-|  (comp.   eh.  vi.   13,  xvi.   19) 

to  the  faithlessness  which  could  present  sweet 
Bavours  of  various  kinds  to  idols.  —  Ver.  29.  And 
I  said,  eb;.  By  the  question  there  is  recalled  to 
mind  God's  ever-repeated  opposition  to  and  con- 
denmation  of  the  worship  of  the  high  places 
(therefore  the  collective  singular :  DDarii  iu  con- 
trast to  the  one  sanctuary — the  temple),  with  all 
that  He  had  said  against  it.  [Hav.  adopts  the 
explanation  of  Kimchi,  who  refers  it  to  the  high 
place  at  Gibeon,  1  Kings  iii.  4;  2  Chron.  i.  3.] — 
Xlpsi,  the  thing  itself,  as  well  as  its  name,  con- 
tinued to  this  day. 

Vers.  30,  31.   The  People  of  the  Present 

Ver.   30.   pp,  resuming  the  strain  of  ver.   27, 

and  substituting  -ijjx  for  131,  directly  addresses 

the  people  of  the  present,  i.e.  the  inquirers  of 
Israel  who  had  come  to  the  prophet  in  the  interest 
of  those  who  still  remained  in  Canaan. — Ver.  31. 
The  note  struck  in  the  question  of  ver.  29  is  still 
maintained,  not  merely  to  express  astonishment, 
but  still  more  to  conipel  self-reflection.  I  ask 
what  further  communication  you  would  have  ? — 
Comp.  ch.  vii.  20. —Ch.  vi.  9.— Ver.  26.— Comp. 
ch.  xiv.  3. 

Vers.  32-44.  Prophetic  Survey  of  the  yet  Future 
Dealing  mith  the  People.  Vers.  32-38.  In 
Judgment.     Vers.  39-44.   In  Mercy. 

Vers.  32-38.   The  Impending  Judgment. 

Ver.  32.  Transition  to  what  follows. — Comp. 
ch.  xiv.  3,  xi.  5. — However  much  the  people  had 
become  like  the  heathen,  yet  they  were  not  to 
become  heathen,  which  the  inquirers  of  ver.  1 
may  have  said  to  themselves,  with  a  feeling  of 
satisfaction  or  of  despair,  Deut.  iv.  28,  xxviii.  36, 
64.  Such  was  not  to  be  the  end  of  the  people  of 
God.  But  Jehovah  will  manifest  Himself  to 
them  as  their  King.  — Ver.  33.  Backward  glance 
at  His  mighty,  royal  dealing  in  former  times, 
when  they  were  redeemed  from  Egypt  (Deut.  iv. 
34  ;  Ex.  vi.  6,  etc.).  Comp.  ch.  vi.  14.  But  it 
is  immediately  added,  in  order  to  point  to  retri- 
butive judgment  (see  Ex.  vi.  6)  :  and  with  fury 
poured  out,  which  is  repeated  in  ver.  34  in  con- 
nection with  the  "leading  out,"  and  "gathering," 
by  which  the  aforesaid  (ver.  33)  royal  authority 
will  also  manifest  itself,  so  that  these  too  must  be 
regarded  as  acts  of  divine  judgment.  A  future  lead- 
ing into  Canaan  (against  which  see  also  ver.  35), 
after  the  conversion  of  all  Israel,  is  thereby  strictlj 
excluded.  But :  out  from  the  peoples,  and :  oul 
of  the  countries,  when  rightly  taken,  namely,  ir 
contrast  to :  "  into  the  wilderness  of  the  peoples,' 


CHAP.  XX.  35-38. 


19o 


by  no  means  excludes  a  reference  to  the  existing 
liabylonish  captivity.  That  Israel  was  then  dis- 
]iersed  in  one  land  only,  and  among  one  people 
iKlief.,  Kf.il),  is  not  in  the  least  to  the  point, 
when  the  empii'e  of  the  king  of  Babylon  could  be 
described  in  such  a  manner  as,  e.rj.,  in  Jer.  xxvii. 
5  sq.  !•  The  exile,  says  Jehovah,  the  King  whose 
BUpreme  power  they  were  to  experience,  sliall  not 
lie  mere  dispersion  among  "peoples"  and  in 
"  countries "  (diti'erent  from  the  fatherland, 
Canaan),  where  the  external  relations  of  life  may 
be  to  some  extent  of  an  agreeable  character,  as 
was  the  case  (see  liitiod.).  1  will  lead  you  thence 
and  conduct  you  into  another  exile,  for — Ver.  35 
— I  will  bring  you  into  the  wilderness  of  the 
peoples, — au  ex]iression  whose  deepest  interpreta- 
tion is  immediately  added,  viz. :  and  contend  with 
you,  etc.  ;  a  change  of  condition  is  meant — 
an  intensii'ying  of  exile  to  "a  wilderness  of  the 
peoples,"  which  must  be  taken  iiguratively  (comp. 
Hos.  ii.  16),  like  the  leading  out  and  gathering 
of  the  previous  verse,  and  the  "wilderness"  in 
ch.  xix.  13.  (Hav.  compares  ch.  vi.  14.)  In  the 
form  of  the  word,  the  pievious  expressions  (ver. 
3-4):  "countries, "  and :  "peoples, "  coalesce.  As 
"the  bringing  into  "  corresponds  to :  "the  leading 
nut,"  so  Jehovah's  "contending  "  corresponds  to 
the  "gathering."  The  "dispersion"  becomes  a 
gathering  face  to  face,  i.e.  person  opposite  person 
— the  people  opposite  the  King  who  contends  with 
them.  In  such  a  connection  the  idea  of  Hitzig  and 
others  is  weak.  They  refer  the  expression  to  the 
great  wilderness  which  separates  Babylon  from  the 
lands  on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  which  lay 
in  the  way  of  the  exiles  who  ultimately  returned. 
It  is  almost  analogous  to  the  word  "  world"  in 
the  New  Testament.  Although  Keil  explains  the 
"leading  out,"  etc.  of  ver.  34  as  neither  local  nor 
material,  yet  we  do  not  understand  it  with  him 
"of  a  spiritual  separation  from  the  heathen 
world"  (to  which  they  are  immediately  brought, 
ver.  35),  "lest  they  should  be  absorbed  in  it," 
etc.,  but  of  an  aggravation  of  their  exiled  con- 
dition, a  spiritual  experience  of  it,  so  that  they 
should  know  and  feel  that  they  as  the  people  of 
God  were  once  more  in  the  wilderness,  but  not  at 
all  in  the  same  sense  as  before  (Dent.  viii.  15, 
xxxii.  10).  [Cocceius  with  perfect  right  here 
points  still  farther  forward  to  the  Roman  period.] 
The  future  "contending"  (comp.  ch.  xvii.  20)  is 
compared  in  Ver.  3B  to  a  former  contention  with 
their  fathers  in  the  wildemesa  of  the  land  of 
Egypt.  As  the  fathers,  according  to  ver.  27,  are 
the  second  generation,  which  reached  Canaan 
from  the  wilderness,  the  "contending"  with 
them  is  to  be  referred  not  to  Num.  xiv.  28  sq., 
but  rather  to  such  judicial  scenes  as  Num.  xvii. 
5,  6,  10.  The  Babylonish  exile  was  formerly 
called  "  wilderness  of  the  peoples,"  in  relation  to 
the  "peoples"  from  among  whom  Israel  (ver.  34) 
was  to  be  led  thither  ;  in  like  manner  the  Arabian 
wilderness,  to  which  the  expression  "wilderness 
of  the  peoples  "  alludes,  is  called  the  wilderness  of 
the  land  of  Kgypt,  because  the  people  had  been 
led  out  into  it  from  Egypt.  They  were  not  led 
thither  as  a  punishment,  although  on  account 
of  their  disobedience  it  olten  became  a  place 
of  punishment ;  but  the  divine  intention  was 
to  try  them  (to  prove,  Ueut.  viii.  2  sq. ),  from 
which  resulted  separation  of  individuals,  puriiica- 
tion,  whioh  was  so  strongly  urged  upon  them  in 
reference   to  Kgypt,  whither   they  were    always 


looking  back  (Num.  xx.  5,  xxi.  5).  WhUe,  there- 
fore, the  "contending"  of  ver.  36  also  includes 
chastisement,  yet  in  the  application  of  it  to  the 
future,  Ver.  37,  the  idea  of  the  separation — the 
purification  of  the  people  through  divine  chas- 
tisement is  the  prevailing  one.  The  judgments 
which  God  brought  on  Israel  (Num.  xvi.  17, 
20,  affecting  even  Moses  and  Aaron  !)  were 
only  purifying  separations.  The  question  is 
not  that  of  a  possible  re-entrance  into  Canaan, 
so  that,  with  reference  to  this  result,  the  future 
guidance  of  Israel  is  represented  as  a  repetition 
of  their  former  guidance  (Keil),  nor  with  Netelei 
can  we  understand  by  :  "  the  wildei'ness  of  the 
peoples,"  Palestine  (?) ;  but  ver.  33  as  well  as  ver. 
36  point  back  to  Egj'pt,  to  the  exodus  thence, 
which  Keil  also  on  the  other  hand  admits.  [Hengst 
.supposes  that  the  part  taken  by  the  exiles  in  the 
political  intrigues  of  the  home  country  brouj^ 
upon  them  also  severe  sufl'erings  (Jer.  xxix.  21, 
22)  ;  but  that  by  true  repentance  many  may 
have  been  freed  from  participation  in  the  punish- 
ment here  threatened  !  !]  They  shall  go  out  of 
the  state  of  exile  (ver.  38),  but  this  going  out 
shall  be  a  passing  under  the  staff  (the  "con- 
tending," in  ver.  35  sq.,  is  here  viewed  in  a  new 
way).  The  underlying  tigure  is  that  of  the  shep- 
herd (Lev.  xxvii.  32  ;  Mic.  vii.  14  ;  Jer.  xxxiii. 
13),  under  whose  staff  the  sheep  were  required  to 
go  individually  in  order  to  be  inspected  and 
numbered  (Hrrz.) ;  but  its  application  is  here  to 
be  understood  of  the  royal  sceptre  of  Jehovah, 
agreeably  to  the  expression  :  "  rale  over,"  in  ver. 
33.  Comp.  further  Ex.  xiii.  12  ;  1  Sam.  xvi.  8. 
The  meaning  of  the  figurative  expression  is  neither 
subjection  to  the  government  of  God  (Heng.st.  ), 
nor  a  special  guardianship  of  God  (Keil),  nor 
anything  similar,  but  choice,  with  a  very  nari'ow 
inspection  of  individuabs,  the  idea  distinctly  ex- 
pressed in  ver.  38  as  to  separation  and  purifica- 
tion being  the  prominent  one.  The  result  in- 
tended by  this  royal  inspection,  as  the  parallel 
.sentence  :  and  bring  you,  etc. ,  brings  out  more 
fully,  alludes  to  the  giving  of  the  covenant-law  at 
Sinai  after  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  (comp. 
Ex.  xiv.  16).     Under  the  bond  (niDp,  contr.  for 

rnDKp!  f™™  *li6  root  "ids)  is  a  much  preferable 

rendering  to:   under  "the  discipline  (lD'?)  <>' 

the  covenant,"  whether  the  penalties  of  the  cove- 
nant only,  or  its  promises  also,  be  thought  of. 
The  law,  which  must  not  be  conceived  of  apart 
from  its  promises  and  penalties,  and  which  may 
be  either  a  bond  of  love  or  an  oppressive  chain 
according  to  one's  personality,  became,  from  the 
fact  of  men  turning  to  it  and  observing  its 
statutes,  a  medium  of  separation  between  heathen- 
ism and  Judaism,  and  also  between  the  people 
themselves.  The  extent  to  which  this  was  the 
case  is  shown  especially  by  the  history  of  Phari- 
saism since  the  exile,  both  on  its  bright  and  its 
shady  side. — Ver.  38  now  states  explicitly  what 
end  is  contemplated  by  the  impending  leading 
forth  of  the  people  in  judgment.  Havei-n.  notes 
a  paronomasia  in  TlllQI  and  n'lsn. — Comp.  ch. 

ii.  3. — Land  of  their  wanderings,  i.e.  wherein 
they  were  strangers,  Canaan  is  elsewhere  called. 
Gen.   .xxxvi.    7  ;    Ex.   vi.    4.     Here,  with  a  fine- 

antithesis,  it  is  the  land  of  their  exile.  -  KID'  N?i 


I9G 


EZEKIEL. 


Hengst. :  "the  rebels  are  here  collected  into  one 
ideal  person."  Keil,  who  understands  the  "lead- 
ing forth  "  38  an  utter  sweeping  of  them  away, 
takes  the  singular  in  a  distributive  sense  :  not  one 
of  the  transgressors  shall  enter  in.  It  accords 
better  wiih  the  context  to  regard :  I  will  lead 
them  forth,  as  containing  a  retrospective  refer- 
.-nce  to  ver.  34,  so  that  the  rebels  and  transgres- 
sors in  the  close  of  the  paragraph  are  again  taken 
together  mth  the  whole  people.  Yet  not  to  the 
land  of  iBrael,  would  then  say  negatively  what  the 
"  wilderness  of  the  peoples"  in  ver.  35  said  posi- 
tively, consequently  that  Jehovah  will  enter  into 
judgment  with  them  aU  (ver.  35).     The  singular 

subject  to    {<n<   xIj   can   therefore   from   nms 

78"lb"  be  Israel.     (Possibly  even,  with  an  eye  to 

the  inquirers  of  ver.  1,  with  a  reference  to  the 
always  doubtful  question  of  the  return  of  the  ten 
tribes  !  ?)  With :  and  ye  shall  know,  etc.,  the 
message  is  again  directed  to  the  persons  who  spoke 
to  the  prophet ;  if  not  to  Israel  in  a  special  sense, 
at  least  to  Israel  in  general. 

Vers.  39-44.    77te  Promised  Mercy  of  God. 

Ver.  39.  Since  judgment,  as  has  been  stated, 
Rpproaches  the  house  of  Israel,  every  man  who 
will  not  do  otherwise  may  be  commanded  to  go  and 
serve  his  idols.  The  impending  judgment  will 
make  a  separation,  and  the  future  mil  belong  to 
the  people  of  God.  Comp.  Rev.  xxii.  11.  The  holy 
irony  of  Him  who  knows  that  mercy  is  laid  up  for 
the  future.  —  "insi  is  not  to  be  translated  :  "also 

afterwards,"  and  coupled  with  serve,  nor  yet  can 
it  be  joined  with  what  follows  imperatively,  but 
It  stands  by  itself,  as  if  with  a  — .      "QX  ca^i  be 

simply  a  conditional  particle :  if  ye  will  not 
hearken  (in  the  present)  unto  Me,  then  (i  takes 

up  -ins<1  again)  ye  shall  not  farther,  etc.     The 

majority  of  expositors  take  it  as  a  particle  of 
swearing,  introducing  with  the  negative  ([<{<.  with 
Part  )  an  affirmative  sentence,  so  that  the  sense 
would  be  :  and  afterwards  ye  will  surely  hearken 
unto  Me,  and  ye  will  no  longer  profane  My  holy 
name,  etc.  (comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  20). — Ver.  40.  The 
positive  ground.  Comp.  Ps.  ii.  6,  and  ch.  xvii. 
23. — They  shall  serve  Me,  in  contrast  to  ;  "serve 

....   idols,"  ver.  39.  —  '53,    and  again    'n'^3, 

point  to  the  healing  of  the  breach  between  Judah 
and  Israel.  Comp.  also  ch.  xi.  15.  The  emphatically 
repeated :  there,  just  as  in  the  contrasted  ver.  38, 
remains  within  the  horizon  of  the  Old  Testament 
(comp.  the  New  Testament  expansion,  John  iv. 
20  sq. ),  as  the  form  and  clothing  of  the  thought 
in  the  rest  of  the  verse  maintains  the  phraseology 
of  the  Old  Testament  worship. — Ver.  41.  Tlie 
previous  steps  are  now  recapitulated.  Through 
the  leading  out  and  gathering  already  brought 
into  view  in  ver.  34,  the  people,  purified  by 
judgment,  shall  be  acceptable  to  Jehovah  as  a 
Bweet  savour  (comp.  ch.  vi.  13),  and  in  them  as 
a  holy  people,  anew  consecrated  to  God,  shall  be 
exhibited  to  the  heathen  the  holiness  of  Jehovah. 
—  Ver.  42.  But  then  shall  they  also,  as  was 
assumed  in  ver.  40  ("in  the  land"),  return  to  the 
land  of  Israel  (ver.  38). — Ver.  43  finally  adds  a 


portrait  of  the  inner  condition  of  the  people — the 
complement  to  ver.  40.  Comp.  ch.  vi.  9,  xiv. 
22,  23  (ch.  xvi.  61).— Ver.  44.  Conclusion.  The 
knowledge  of  Jehovah  from  an  experience  cf  His 
gracious  dealings  with  them  for  His  name's  «ke 
(comp.  vers.  9,  14). 

DOCTRINAL  KKFLECTIOXS. 

1.  The  prophet  may  judge  (ver  4),  for  Jehovah 
ivill  manifest  Himself  as  King  to  His  people. 
Prophetic  activity  in  interpreting  and  applying 
the  divine  law  was  always  based  on  the  royal 
might  of  God  in  relation  to  Israel. 

2.  Tlie  exUe  was  a  political  and  a  religious 
question  of  the  day.  The  former  might  easily 
be  confounded  with  the  latter.  Therefore  iu  the 
chapter  before  us  the  history  of  the  people  is 
simply  opened  up,  and  the  exile  is  exhibited  to 
their  conscience  as  the  righteous  result  of  their 
own  conduct. 

3.  The  experience  which  succeeded  to  Egypt  was 
the  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  where  the  people 
were  purified.  The  exile  which  followed  Canaan 
was  designed  by  God  to  accomplish  a  similar  result, 
only  deeper  and  more  essential  in  its  character,  as 
an  ever-increasing  corruption  had  fastened  upon 
Israel's  inner  being.  If,  therefore,  the  wilderness 
of  Egypt  was  especially  an  external  experience, 
and  the  testing  came  from  without,  the  exile  was 
to  be  more  decidedly  an  internal  exile — a  wilder- 
ness of  the  peoples — to  the  people  of  God,  in  order 
to  give  them  a  felt  experience  of  the  "world," 
and  of  "anguish"  in  the  world. 

4.  Since  the  still  existing  kingdom  of  Judah, 
and  the  people  as  a  whole,  were  to  he  upbraided 
with  sin,  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  which  had  already 
sunk  into  the  condition  of  exile,  supplied  the  most 
appropriate  materials  for  colouring  the  accusation. 
It  had  from  the  beginning  adopted  the  way  of  the 
heathen,  and  maintained  it  almost  without  inter- 
ruption. Because  it  had  become  like  the  heathen, 
it  at  last  fell  completely  under  the  dominion  of 
the  heathen.  And  thus  there  was  at  hand  a  course 
pursued  up  to  the  point  of  judgment,  from  which 
a  demonstrative  argument  could  be  deduced. 

5.  Already,  with  their  self-willed  abandonment 
of  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  but  above  all  with 
their  enforced  removal  from  the  Holy  Land,  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  became  the  "  Diaspora,"  instar 
omnium,  the  "dispersed  among  the  Gentiles," 
and  "  scattered  in  the  countries." 

6.  That  which  the  history  of  the  people  tes- 
tifies regarding  their  conduct  is  stated  in  the 
ever-repeated  refrain  of  our  chapter;  "and  they 
rebelled  against  Me,"  etc.  (vers.  8,  13,  21).  God's 
leading  (the  objective  in  opposition  to  the  subjec- 
tive conduct  just  mentioned)  shows  itself  through- 
out, on  the  other  hand,  as  law  according  to  ver. 
37,  i.e.  as  a  judicial  statement  (ver.  7),  as  a 
formal  enunciation  of  law  (ver.  11  sq.),  as  a  re- 
capitulation of  the  law  which  had  been  given 
(ver.  18  sq. ).  Therewith  threatening  is  connected 
(vers.  8,  13,  21,  also  33  sq.,  38).  God's  threat 
strengthens  itself  to  an  oath  (vers.  15,  23,  31,  33), 
had  even  been  fulfilled  as  punishi  lent  (vers.  15, 
23, 25  sq. ),  and  still  remains  to  be  similarly  fulfilled 
(vers.  34  sq.,  38).  But  the  patience  and  long- 
suffering  of  God  (vers.  9sq.,  14,  22,  28),  His  mercy 
(ver.  17),  walk  side  by  side  with  the  law  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  ;  and  just  as  life  wad 
promised  to  the  people  in  the  law  itself  (vers 


CHAP.  XX. 


19? 


11  sq.,  21),  80  nercy  promises  the  ultimate 
puritibation  of  the  people  (vers.  32,  35,  37,  38), 
so  as  to  make  theni  a  sanctified  "all"  Israel, 
well-pleasing  to  God  (ver.  39  sq. ).  As  Ewald 
expresses  it  :  "  In  order  to  bring  the  redeemed  to 
a  proper  recognition  of  their  former  gi'eat  trans- 
gressions, and  thus  to  confirm  the  other  and  still 
greater  truth  which  lies  in  the  ancient  history, 
namely,  that  in  the  end,  grace  is  still  the  deepest 
and  the  all-surviving  element  in  Jehovah. " 

7.  "  I  am  .Jehovah,  your  God. " — On  this  the  law 
is  based,  and  this  underlies  the  whole  history  of 
the  people  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  (Vers. 
5,  7,  9,  14,  19,  20,  22,  44.)  The  history  of  God's 
people  is  the  evolution  of  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
the  people  of  God  being  in  regard  to  it  after  the 
flesh,  what  the  Son  of  God  was  after  the  Spirit. 

8.  "  Not  the  old  race,  adhering  to  idolatry,  but 
a  race  spiritually  new,  devoted  to  Jehovah  in  pro- 
found love  and  dependence,  was  to  leave  Egypt  " 
(Hiv.). 

9.  The  divine  discourse  of  the  prophet  does  not 
draw  its  materials  from  tradition  apart  from  the 
Pentateuch,  as  from  very  difl"erent  standpoints 
has  been  assumed  by  a  Vitringa  and  a  Vatke,  in 
order  to  explain  what  the  prophet  states  as  to  the 
condition  of  Israel  in  Egypt.  Criticism  would 
fain  show  therein  a  conHict  between  Ezekiel  and 
the  Pentateuch.  But  the  evident  dependence  of 
the  prophetic  statements  on  the  Pentateuch  is 
made  prominent  throughout,  and  here  also  in  ch. 
XX.  We  note,  besides  what  has  been  brought 
out  in  our  exegesis,  that  the  spirit  of  the  pro- 
phets knew  how  to  read  "between  the  lines"  of  the 
history,  while  criticism  atti-mpts,  at  the  most,  to 
import  its  own  spirit  into  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

10.  For  the  theological  undeistanding  of  the 
chapter,  the  emphatic  reiteration  of  the  expression 
"wilderness"  is  important.  Neteler  has  entitled 
the  pas.sage  ;  "The  people  in  two  wildernesses. " 
Hengst.  and  Hav.  define  the  idea  of  the  wilder- 
ness as  "calamity,  spiritual  and  bodily  need." 
As  to  the  kernel  of  the  matter,  this,  however, 
would  be  better :  alone  with  God,  when  the  judicial 
character  of  the  leading  of  the  people  in  question 
would  not  so  distinctly  refer  to  experiences  of 
which  the  heathen  peoples  could  be  eye-witnesses. 

11.  "  The  precepts  which  God  gave  His  people 
also  imply,  above  all  things,  that  they  shall  con- 
fess their  sins,  and  seek  forgiveness  in  the  blood 
of  atonement.  This  is  required  by  the  laws  con- 
cerning the  sin-oft'erings,  which  in  the  Mosaic  law 
form  the  root  of  all  the  other  oti'erings  ;  tlie  pass- 
over,  which  so  strictly  requires  us  to  strive  after 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  connects  all  salvation 
with  it ;  the  great  day  of  atonement"  (Hencst. ). 

12.  "  The  fundamental  feature  of  life  through 
sincere  devotion  to  the  law  is  holiness,  and  God, 
as  the  sanctifier  of  Israel,  is  therefore  the  law's 
centre.  This  idea  of  the  sanctification  of  the 
people  through  their  God  comes  notably  to  the 
front  in  the  Sabbath.  It  is  the  sign  of  God's 
creative  activity,  as  well  as  the  expression  of 
man's  relation  to  God  ;  rest  in  God  after  life's 
toil"  (Hav.).  The  life  of  man  is  therefore  a 
divine  one, — the  life  of  God,  just  as  the  justify- 
ing righteousness  which  appeases  the  conscience 
and  satisfies  the  law  is  also  the  righteousness  of 
God.  See  Bahr's  Symbolism.  ("From  the  ex- 
pression: 'and  also  My  Sabbaths,'  they  could 
learn  th^t  the  commands  as  to  works  in  which 
the  man  lives  who  does  them  were  not  given  with 


the  view  of  making  them  attempt  to  live  bj 
works,  but  that  they  might  renounce  their  own 
righteousness  after  learning  what  kind  of  a 
righteousness  is  essentia!  to  life  ;  and  since  God 
had  declared  that  it  was  His  will  to  sanctify  them, 
that  they  might  believe  that  He  who  cannot  make 
void  His  own  law  (the  reward  of  life  is  connected 
with  the  doing  of  the  commandments,  to  show 
that  an  obedience  of  this  sort  is  required  in  ordei 
to  gain  life)  would  provide  an  offering  by  which 
their  conscience  could  be  cleansed,  and  a  priest 
through  whose  obedience  they  could  be  made 
righteous,  so  that  they  might  keep  God's  com- 
mands, hate  and  avoSi  all  that  is  opposed  to  them, 
from  a  spirit  of  grateful  love,"  Cocc. ) 

13.  "  Only  those  who  truly  fear  God  celebrate 
the  Sabbath  in  a  right  sense,  so  that  all  that  in 
the  books  of  Moses  attests  the  want  of  true  godli- 
ness among  the  people  in  the  wilderness  involves 
at  the  same  time  the  charge  of  desecrating  tlm 
Sabbath"  (Hengst.).  "The  Jews  were  careful 
to  observe  the  Sabbath,  but  they  missed  its  mean- 
ing and  end"  (Calv.),  "for  they  perverted  it  to 
their  corrupt,  dead  righteousness"  (Cocc). 

14.  [The  command  as  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
"must  have  been,  and  it  was,  intended  not  only  to 
separate  the  people  from  their  worldly  employ- 
ments, but  also  to  call  out  their  hearts  in  suitable 
exercises  of  faith  and  love  to  God,  and  in  brotherly 
acts  of  kindness  and  good  -  will  tow  ard  those 
around  them.  On  no  other  account  coidd  its 
faithful  observance  be  represented  as  indicative 
of  a  sound  and  healthful  state  of  religion  gene- 
rally. And  we  might  ask,  without  the  least  fear 
of  contradiction,  if  the  same  practical  value  is 
not  attached  to  the  careful  observance  of  the 
Lord's  day  now  by  those  who  have  an  enlightened 
regard  to  the  interests  of  religion  ?  When  this 
day  ceases  to  be  devoutly  observed,  all  experi- 
ence and  observation  testify  that  there  never  fails 
to  ensue  a  corresponding  decline  in  the  life  and 
actings  of  religion. " — P.  F. — W.  F.] 

15.  "  God  has  so  constituted  human  nature, 
that  revolt  from  Him  must  be  Ibllowed  by  total 
darkness  and  disorder  ;  that  no  moderation  in 
error  and  sin,  no  standing  still  at  the  middle 
point,  is  possible  ;  that  man,  however  willing  he 
may  be  to  stand  stiO,  must,  against  his  will,  sink 
from  step  to  step.  Eevolt  from  God  is  the  crime, 
excess  in  error  and  moral  degradation  the  merited 
doom,  from  which  all  would  willingly  escape 
if  it  were  in  their  power"  (Hengst.). 

16.  The  temptation  (Gen.  x.xii. ),  in  which  Abra- 
ham, as  representing  all  his  descendants,  the 
people  who  were  to  settle  down  in  the  land  in 
which  he  wandered  as  a  stranger,  was  taught 
experimentally  the  difference  between  Jehovah  and 
Moloch,  did  not  influence  them  as  it  ought  to 
have  done — they  surrendered  their  first-born  to 
the  bloody  cultus  of  the  land  ;  Abraham's  temp- 
tation became  Israel's  judgment. 

17.  That  Israel  should  become  like  the  heathen 
would  be  repugnant  to  the  nature  of  God,  espe- 
cially to  His  name  Jehovah.  The  very  reverse 
would  be  much  more  in  harmony  with  it,  namely, 
that  the  heathen  should  become  like  Israel.  Foi 
the  idea  infoimed  in  this  people,  and  for  which 
it  was  chosen  out  of  all  peoples,  is  the  idea  of  the 
people  of  God,  vnih  God  as  King  and  Lord  (the 
idea  of  the  theocracy),  whereby  Israel  is  at  the 
same  time  the  bearer  of  the  idea  of  humanity  at 
a  whole ;  and  just  as  this  idea,  conlormably  tc 


198 


EZEKIEL. 


'reation,  is,  to  be  of  God  (tsu  lito,  Luke  iii.  38), 
BO  is  it  realized  through  the  restoration  of  man 
to  God  hy  redemption,  whereby  God  becomes  all 
in  all  (1  Cor.  xv.  28),  and  men  become  His  will- 
ing subjects  as  He  becomes  their  God  (Rev. 
xxi.  3).  Now,  as  the  realization  of  this  idea  of 
Israel,  and  of  humanity  generallj',  takes  place  in 
the  fulness  of  time  in  the  One  Man,  who  is  both 
Israel  and  "the  Son  of  Man,"  so  His  historical 
ippearance  is  linked,  according  to  the  flesh,  to 
Israel  (this  is  the  meaning  of  the  genealogies  of 
Jesus)  ;  but  according  to  the  Spirit  there  is  de- 
veloped out  of  Him  the  new  humanity,  which 
He  Himself  is  in  Spirit  and  truth,  and  which  it 
was  the  office  of  Israel  to  prefigure.  The  pour- 
ing out  of  the  Spirit  promised  by  Him,  shows 
that  Israel  had  not  become  heathen  (unless  in  so 
far  as  the  languages  were  concerned),  but  that 
the  heathen  had  been  incorporated  in  Israel, 
Acts  ii.  Only  this  can  be  the  spiritual  fulfilment 
of  ver.   40,  according  to  the  idea  of  the   "all" 

Israel  (n73).      Every   other   would   apply  to  a 

privileged  nationality,  and  therefore  to  the  flesh. 
That  for  a  long  time  after  the  dissolution  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  Judah  gave  the  tone  to  the  Old 
TestHUient  people  of  God  ;  that  from  the  very  first 
the  theocratic  elements  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel 
were  attracted  to  Judah  (2  Chron.  xi.  13  sq. ); 
that,  like  Benjamiu,  many  from  the  other  tribes 
returned  with  Judah  from  exile,  so  that  it  there- 
after furnished  a  name  for  the  whole  people, — all 
that  was  a  transient  historical  manifestation,  as  it 
was  nothing  more  than  that  when  the  kingdom  of 
Israel,  on  account  of  its  size,  its  greater  popula- 
lation,  and  in  the  consciousness  of  more  fully  re- 
presenting the  whole  people,  appropriated  the 
name  of  the  whole,  and  called  itself  Israel,  under 
which  llama  it  was  acknowledged  by  King  Mesa 
on  the  recently  discovered  Moabitish  stone.  Ver. 
40  sq.  is  undoubtedly  Messianic,  and  in  this  sensf 
apoealyptie.  Klief.,  who  includes  in  the  idea  of 
the  Babylonish  exile  the  present  dispersion  of  the 
Jews,  seeing  in  this  the  real  wilderness  of  the 
peoples,  makes  vers.  40-44  prophesy  the  gathering 
of  the  Jews,  their  conversion  to  Christ,  and  their 
return  as  a  Christian  people  to  their  own  land, 
and  holds  that  God,  after  the  <'xr>^(,-  ^syaXn  of  the 
end  (Rev.  xii.)  shall  have  intervened,  will  sepa- 
rate this  believing  Israel,  together  with  all  other 
believers,  from  the  wicked,  and  openly  establish 
them  in  the  life  everlasting. 

18.  "The  heathen  stood  under  the  divine  long- 
suff'ering  (Rom.  iii.  25)  ;  not  so  Israel,  to  whom 
God  had  so  gloriously  made  Himself  known. 
Wherein  the  heathen  prosper,  therein  must  Israel 
decline"  (Hengst.). 

19.  Coeceius  remarks  on  our  chapter,  that, 
"when  the  Jews  had  returned  from  Babylon 
under  Zerubbabel  and  Ezra,  along  with  those 
who  adhered  to  them  from  all  the  tribes,  they 
formed  a  unity,  possessed  a  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
and  became  a  single  people  under  the  same  presi- 
dency. Thus  matters  continued  under  the  rule 
of  the  Persians  and  also  of  the  Greeks.  But  God 
freed  them  from  all  foreign  authority,  so  that  He 
alone  was  their  King,  and  made  them  greater 
than  in  the  days  of  their  fathers,  and  the  Asnio- 
noeans  ventured  to  assume  the  royal  diadem,"  etc. 

20.  Calvin's  prelections  on  Ezekiel  end  with 
the  twentieth  chapter,  as  to  which  Schipper  says: 
"After  he  had  completed  this  last  prelection, 


that  distinguished  man  Dr.  John  Calvin,  who 
was  previously  ailing,  began  to  feel  himself  much 
worse,  which  is  the  reason  that  he  left  otf  at  the 
end  of  the  twentieth  chapter,  and  never  finished 
the  work  so  well  begun." 

HOMILETrC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  "  Here  we  see  that  the  people  of  God; 
even  in  exile,  did  not  repair  to  magi,  star-gazers, 
enchanters,  and  such  like,  but  to  the  prophet, 
Deut.  XXX.  12  sq.  "  (C.)— "The  fifth  month  is 
our  month  July.  Thus  the  Spirit  of  God  notes 
day  and  date"  (Stck.). — It  is  enongh  to  say 
merely  that  they  came  to  inquire,  for  from  the 
prophet's  mode  of  answering  them  we  see  that 
they  made  no  inquiry  as  to  deliverance  and  the 
way  of  salvation ;  they  were  troubled  as  to  poli- 
tical things,  the  duration  of  the  exile,  the  end  of 
the  Babyloni.--h  power,  the  issue  of  Zedekiah's 
faithlessness.  We  too  ask.  Watchman,  what  of 
the  night?  rather  than,  How  shall  I  find  grace? 
— Why  are  we  so  concerned  about  the  future  ?  1 1 
will  be  like  our  past.  We  should  be  deeply  con- 
cerned on  account  of  the  past. — "In  our  ap- 
proaches to  God,  humility  and  reverence  should 
be  combined  with  a  strong  and  assured  faith, 
which  must  acquiesce  in  the  authority  of  the  one 
God,  and  yet  must  not  object  to  hear  God  speak 
through  His  servants"  (C). — Summon  thyself  to 
the  study  of  the  prophets  and  ajiostles  through 
whom  God  has  spoken  ! — God  will  be  inquired 
of,  but  still  more  should  His  will,  which  is  suffi- 
ciently known  to  us,  be  done. — "To  call  on  God, 
and  yet  not  to  obey  Him,  is  an  abomination  in 
His  sight.  He  heareth  not  sinners,  John  ix.  31  ; 
Isa.  i.  15"  (TiJB.  Bib.). — Ver.  2  sq.  God's  sug- 
gestive silence,  and  His  more  suggestive  answer. 
— God  in  the  mouth,  and  idols  in  the  heart, 
a  most  critical  condition. — God  speaks  not  the 
smallest  word  of  comfort  to  hypocrites.  "For 
hypocrites  there  is  in  the  heart  of  God,  ami  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  no  other  counsel  but  to 
sincere  repentance,  Isa.  Iv.  7"  (St.). — "Thus 
they  were  not  in  a  condition  to  hear  God's  word. 
God  hides  Himself  from  those  who  hear  His 
word  with  their  gaze  fixed  only  on  their  idols. 
They  have  no  part  in  God's  word "  (Cocc. ). — 
Ver.  4.  That  is  an  upbraiding  grounded  on 
their  ancestral  sin,  which  therefore  (ch.  xviii. ) 
cannot  be  denied. — One  should  not  merely  touch 
(ch.  XX.)  ulcers,  after  the  manner  of  the  moral 
preacher,  but  cut  them  out  according  to  the 
law  of  God.  The  formT  tickles,  the  latter 
causes  pain.  Here  God  impels  to  judge,  and  in 
the  new  covenant  the  word  is  always.  Judge  not ! 
But  the  Son  of  God  Himself,  who  yet  was  not 
sent  into  the  world  for  judgment,  becomes  to  the 
unbelieving  a  self-judgment.  Here  Ezekiel  sets 
in  motion  God's,  and  not  man's,  judgment. — 
Fathers  are  judged  in  their  sons,  but  sons  may 
also  be  judged  in  their  fathers. 

Ver.  5  sq.  Three  witnesses  against  Israel, — 
Egypt,  the  wilderness,  Canaan. — "God  antici- 
p.ates  men  with  His  grace  "  (0.). — God's  election 
in  relation  to  merit  and  demerit ;  not  resting  o» 
the  one,  nor  hindered  by  the  other. — Circumcision 
was  the  sigu  of  the  election.  The  substance  con- 
sisted in  God's  willingness  to  be  their  God.  The 
result  of  Israel's  election  was  the  whole  leading 
of  the  people  ;  the  choosing  of  a  people  for  tho 
preparation  of  humanity  to  be  a  iir.aise  to  God's 
glorious  name, — an  Israel  out  cf  all  iieoples.— 


CHAP.  XX. 


IQ'J 


"By  no  act  of  God's  good-will  do  we  acquire 
desert,  but  by  eacli  we  come  under  obligation  " 
(Stck.)- — If  God  is  to  be  anything  to  a  man,  He 
must  give  him  an  experimental  knowledge  of  Him- 
self. The  first  experience  of  God  is  the  recogni- 
tion of  His  revelation  in  the  word  ;  the  various 
experiences  of  His  requiring,  chastising,  forgiv- 
ing love,  follow. — "Oh  how  many  are  the  ways 
in  which  God  makes  Himself  known  to  men  as  a 
gracious  God  !  Acts  xvii.  27,  28  "  (St.).—"  God 
lifts  up  His  liand  to  swear;  one  day  His  hand 
will  execute  what  He  has  sworn,  the  threatening 
as  well  as  the  promise  "  (C).  —  "  We  call  God  our 
God  by  faith"  (Stck.). — "  The  time  when  f.dth  in 
Christ  is  bestowed  on  us,  and  we  as  it  were 
hear  the  assurance,  I,  the  Lord,  am  your  God, 
is  the  day  of  our  election.  He  who  is  assured 
of  his  election  by  God  is  sufficiently  armed 
against  flesh  and  blood.  There  is  no  other  way 
of  throwing  otf  the  abominations  of  sin,  but  by 
being  assured  of  the  love  of  God.  Through  faith 
alone  is  the  heart  cleansed  from  idols"  (H.  H.). 
— Vers.  6,  7.  Men  are  chosen  of  God  not  to  un- 
eleanness,  but  to  redemption  from  sin  and  the 
power  of  the  devil. — "  God  must  be  our  God,  else 
we  make  a  god  of  ourselves,  or  serve  the  devil  as 
God"  (C.).  — "God  is  indeed  the  God  of  all  men; 
but  by  promise,  covenant,  and  grace.  He  becomes 
our  God,  that  our  faith  may  embrace  Him  as  such  " 
(B.  B.).  —  Ver.  6.  "God  is  ever  mindful  of  His 
promise,  but  we  forget  it"  (Stck.). — "Once  an 
ornament,  now  a  desert"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  7.  The 
idolatry  of  the  eyes.  We  never  merely  contract 
guilt  by  sinning,  we  pollute  ourselves  at  the  same 
time  ;  just  as,  on  the  other  hand,  forgiveness  and 
sanctification  always  go  together. — Ver.  8.  "In 
Ex.  v.  21  only  their  repute  in  the  eyes  of  Pharaoh 
and  his  servants  is  in  question.  Had  they  believed 
in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  they  would  have  rendered 
a  better  obedience.  But  they  were  infected  with 
the  Egyptian  idolatrous  spirit,  as  all  of  us  are 
naturally  inclined  to  idolatry,  and  they  were 
anxious  to  stand  well  with  the  Egyptians  "  (C. ). 
— "A  worse  yoke  for  Israel  than  that  of  the 
Egyptians  was  the  yoke  of  their  idols  "  (Cocc. ).  — 
Note  the  increased  oppression,  and  in  the  end  the 
persecution  of  Israel  by  the  Egyptians,  as  a  sign 
of  God's  anger. — Ver.  9.  "God's  honour  and 
the  welfare  of  the  Church  are  bound  together  " 
(C. ). — With  God,  word  and  deed,  promise  and 
fulfilment  agree.  Num.  xxiii.  19. — 'The  holiness 
of  God's  name  our  safety. — Ver.  11.  The  law 
is  designed  for  life,  not  only  according  to  its 
idea  as  the  revealed  will  of  God,  so  that  he  who 
should  keep  it  would  live  a  divine  Ufe,  but  also 
in  reality,  for  in  him  who  is  led  by  the  law  to  the 
knowledge  of  sin  and  conversion  unto  God,  it  does 
not  tend  to  death,  but  rather  to  life,  as  our  con- 
version is  God's  will,  and  results  in  life  ;  the  law 
is  therefore  the  will  of  God,  and  the  medium  of 
its  fulfilment. — "He  makes  mention  of  the  pro- 
mise along  with  the  law,  where  He  might 
justly  have  made  mention  of  the  law  alone  ; 
this  shows  His  fatherly  love"  (C). — Ver.  12. 
The  Sabbath  pointed  directly  to  the  life  which 
the  law  promises,  to  the  rest  of  God,  that  man 
should  be  in  God,  and  that  God  desires  to  be  in 
man.  It  pointed  beyond  the  works  of  the  law,  as 
such,  to  the  rest  of  faith  which  is  in  Christ. — 
"But  we  rest  from  our  works,  when,  self  being 
dead,  we  allow  ourselves  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  ;  thus  the  Sabbath  when  rightly  observed 


involves  the  death  of  self"  (C.).— The  S.abbath 
the  key  of  the  whole  law,  according  to  its  highest 
intention. — The  lighting  up  of  the  Mosaic  law  by 
the  ante-Mosaic  Sabbath. — Ver.  13  sq.  Idleness 
and  good  cheer  are  neither  Sabbath-sanctificaiion 
nor  Sunday-observance. — "  Let  it  be  observed 
that  the  disobedience  happened  in  the  wilderness, 
where  they  were  wholly  dependent  on  God  evei^ 
moment !  Usually  men  revolt  from  God  in  the 
arrogance  of  prosperity;  here  it  happened  when 
Israel  had  death  before  tlieir  eyes  "  ^C. ). —  "  What 
will  become  of  those  who  in  Christian  times 
spend  their  Sabbaths  in  drinking,  amusement, 
and  such  like  !?"  (B.  B.)— Ver.  15.  "It depends 
on  the  will  of  every  one  what  position  he  will 
take  towards  God ;  but  he  must  be  prepared  for 
this,  that  his  act  will  be  attended  by  a  corre- 
sponding divine  act "  (Hengst.). — Ver.  17.  The 
lilted-up  hand  and  the  compassionate  eye  of  God. 

Ver.  18.  "The  one  standard  of  our  whole  life 
should  be,  not  human  opinion  and  ancient 
custom,  but  the  word  of  God,  Ps.  cxix.  105" 
(St.). — "Godlessness  has  such  authority  that  it 
is  respected  as  a  law.  For  the  devil  and  the 
world  have  also  their  statutes  and  ordinances, 
which  are  more  accounted  of  than  God's  com- 
mand" (B.  B.). — "If  the  Church  is  to  be  truly 
reformed,  a  beginning  must  be  made  with  the 
youth"  (St.). — Ver.  23.  The  threatening  with 
exile  a  set-off  to  the  wilderness. — The  scattering 
threatened  amid  outward  gathering,  and  carried 
out  to  the  inward  gathering  of  the  people. — How 
fruitless  love,  sutl'ering,  and  everything  else  may  be! 

Ver.  25.  He  who  makes  himself  like  the  world 
is  punished  by  God  through  the  world. — "The 
true  doctrine  of  God  is  peace,  joy,  and  life  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Man's  doctrine  is  nothing  but 
unrest,  pain  of  heart,  and  death.  For  it  gives 
the  consciences  of  men  neither  rest  nor  peace, 
although  they  do  great  things,  making  even 
their  loved  children  pass  through  the  fire,"  etc. 
(Randgl. ) — "That  which  brings  evil  on  them, 
and  is  fraught  with  death  and  ruin,  has  never- 
theless the  greatest  attraction  for  men  "  (Stck.). 
— Ver.  26.  To  be  forsaken  of  God  means  to  be 
compelled  to  recognise,  in  the  state  of  desolation 
into  which  one  falls,  who  God  is,  and  what  He  is. 
— He  who  will  not  present  his  otl'erings  to  God 
must  present  them  to  the  devil. — Religious  deso- 
lation is  a  judgment  from  God.— Ver.  27  sq.  A 
self-invented  religious  worship  pretends  to  be 
something  lofty,  and  yet  it  casts  down  the  glory 
of  God,  and  e.xalts  man's  unrea.son  only.— In 
departing  from  God,  one  never  rests  with  the 
first,  nor  yet  with  the  second  step,  but  step  fol- 
lows step.  To  ccmbine  God  and  idols  in  one's 
religion  is  blasphemy.  —  Faithlessness  to  the 
word  of  God  in  our  worship. — Mockery  of  God 
in  many  an  act  of  adoration. — Ver.  28.  Even 
Canaan  may  become  a  place  of  corruption,  if  we 
there  seek  high  places,  and  if  God  is  not  to  ns  the 
highest  and  the  only  high  place. — "If  one  will 
present  to  God  a  sweet  savour,  one  must  offer  up 
to  Him  heart,  soul,  and  spirit,  feeling  and  de- 
sires, otherwise  prayer  is  offensive  to  Him " 
(B.  B. ). — Let  one  neither  add  to  nor  take  from 
the  word  of  God,  and  thus  avoid  lighting  on 
dubious  high  places ! — Ver.  29.  Tlie  irony  of  ail 
our  high  places. — God's  laughter  on  hearing  Hia 
enemies  without,  and  perceiving  their  earnest 
proceedings.  Not  on  the  heights  of  human  philo- 
sophy, but  in  the  high  and  holy  place  dwells  the 


200 


EZEKIEL. 


Lord,  who  abides  with  him  who  is  humble  and 
of  a  coutrite  spirit  (Isa.  Ivii.  15). 

Ver.  30  sq.  Why  does  God  hide  Himself  from 
us  when  we  profess  to  seek  truth  ?  Because 
the  truth  which  we  seek  is  only  an  idol-picture. 
God  reveals  not  Himself  to  those  who  serve  idols. 
—  Idolatry  gradually  obscures  man's  natural 
knowledge  of  God. — "How  powerfully  men  are 
influenced  by  bad  examples !  how  easily  the 
sensuous  pomp  of  false  religions  stirs  them  1 
How  soon  the  heart  is  carried  captive  by  the  out- 
ward, forgetting  the  true,  inward  worship  of 
God!"  (St.)— Ver.  32.  "  The  world  of  the  heathen 
was  to  them  an  object  of  greater  interest  than  the 
exiled  Church,  just  as  in  our  days  also  many 
regard  an  irreligious  condition  as  preferable  to 
the  struggles  of  a  religious  life.  To  others,  God's 
sincere  solicitude  for  His  house  appears  as  hard- 
ness and  severity,  and  therefore  they  prefer  freer 
relations  with  less  control.  Thus  Israel  thought 
of  its  redemption  when  among  the  heathen  "  (C.). 
— Let  us  leave  the  heathen  to  their  heathenism, 
and  not  only  that,  but  let  us  ourselves  become 
like  the  heathen,  has  all  been  already  desired,  said, 
and  carried  out  in  action.  Our  modern  method 
is  no  new  wisdom. — Dreadful  as  it  sounds,  a 
child  of  God  can  be  reduced  to  the  melancholy 
condition  of  exclaiming.  Oh  that  I  had  never 
known  God ! — "  The  despair  of  the  Jews  was  their 
unbelief, — that  they  did  not  believe  that  Christ 
would  arise  from  among  them"  (Cocc. ). — Vers. 
33-35.  God  will  not  withdraw  from  His  obliga- 
tions. He  watches  over  us,  and  leads  us  out  of 
the  world  when  He  leads  us  into  it,  i.e.  gives  us 
an  inner  experience  of  it,  that  it  may  be  known 
if  we  will  still  be  as  the  heathen. — "God  with- 
draws the  sinner  from  the  opportunity  of  sinning  " 
(Stck.). — "Oh  how  good  it  is  for  men  when  God 
compels  them  to  obedience,  and  brings  them  by 
means  of  affliction  when  they  will  not  come  of 
their  own  accord!  "  (B.  B. ) — "To  bring  the  Jews 
under  His  own  authority,  God  must  needs  gather 
them  out  of  the  peoples,  as  they  were  there 
scattered  in  exile.  This  He  did,  not  without 
anger,  as  the  house  of  his  master  seems  to  a 
recaptured  slave  like  a  sepulchre  because  he  is 
either  thrust  into  a  deep  dungeon  or  there  is 
required  of  him  threefold  more  than  he  can  bear. 
And  so,  after  they  were  brought  back  from 
Chaldea,  they  lived  a  lonely  life  as  if  they  were 
in  a  corner  of  the  earth,  or  in  a  desert  in  the 
midst  of  the  peoples  ;  and  the  great  majority 
wandered  about  virtually  in  the  wilderness,  as 
only  a  small  proportion  returned  to  the  father- 
land. He  led  them  forth  as  King,  He  ceased  not 
to  reveal  Himself  to  them  as  Judge.  Then  He 
showed  His  wrath  to  them"  (C). — "The  wilder- 
ness of  the  peoples  was  their  incorporation  with 
the  Roman  Empire, — a  wilderness  in  contrast  to 
the  var-ished  Canaan-glory  under  the  Maccabees. 
In  this  wilderness,  Canaan  now  lay"  (Cocc). — 
"  Among  great  crowds  one  may  feel  oneself  lonely 
and  desolate,  as,  on  the  other  hand,  one  may  feel 
in  waste  places  as  if  he  were  in  a  circle  of  friends  " 
(L. ). — "Face  to  face  indicates  confidential  dis- 
course, for  God  can  come  nearer  the  heart  in  the 
wilderness,  Hos.  ii.  14  "  (B.  B.). — As  to  the  "  con- 
tending," read  also  the  books  of  Nehemiah  and 
Ezra— Ver.  36.  "Ancient  examples  of  chastise- 
ment are  not  written  in  vain"  (St.). — The  wil- 
derness a  type  and  picture  of  the  exile. — Egypt 
and  Babylo"  ■"  »h«ir  significance  for  the  people 


of  God. — Ps.  Ixxxii.  1. — Rev.  xi.  8,  xvii.  3. — 
Ver.  37.  "Points  to  Christ,  John  x.  14.  H« 
came  for  the  sake  of  the  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel,  but  they  only  are  Israel  whom  Chiist 
reckons  so,  touching  them  with  the  point  of  Hi« 
staff  and  numbering  them"  (Cocc). — Jehovah, 
who  spoke  to  Israel  face  to  face  through  Moses  on 
Mount  Sinai  (Deut.  v.  4),  who  appeared  to  Eze- 
kiel  (ch.  i. )  in  the  form  of  man,  would  plead  with 
them  in  the  flesh  when  He  came  to  the  lost  sheep 
in  the  wilderness  of  the  land  of  Judah  (Matt, 
iii.),  where  the  Baptist  had  prepared  His  way. 
Comp.  Isa.  Iii.  8. — "They  may  have  thought  in 
the  state  of  exile,  that  they  would  become  free 
and  uncontrolled,  if  they  could  obliterate  from 
their  souls  the  name  of  Jehovah  ;  but  He,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  mindful  of  that  which  is  His  own, 
that  not  even  one  should  be  snatched  from  Him, 
since  He  claims  authority  over  all  without  excep- 
tion "  (C). — "His  covenant  stands,  His  love  is  for 
ever."  God  had  left  the  heathen  to  go  on  in  their 
own  way,  Israel's  way  was  always  brought  back 
again  to  the  covenant. — Still  Christ  asks  that  His 
yoke  be  taken.  Matt.  xi.  29.  —  "For  the  docile, 
who  patiently  bear  the  yoke,  the  bands  are  cords 
of  love,  Hos.  xi.  4"  (ScHM.).  — Ver.  3S.  Trans- 
gressors stand  not  in  the  judgment,  nor  sinners 
in  the  congregation  of  the  righteous,  Ps.  i.  — This 
|)urifying  process  with  Israel  foreshadowed  the 
still  severer  process  which  was  to  succeed,  when 
Christ  appeared  and  the  gospel  was  preached. 
This  purification  was  the  sanctification  of  the 
Church  from  among  the  Jews. — Israel  so-called 
did  not  inherit  the  laud,  which  is  promised  only 
to  the  meek  (Matt.  v.  5),  who  learn  of  the  ileek 
One  (Matt.  xi.  29).— Ver.  39.  Decision ;  to  this 
all  God's  leadings  point.  — However  many  run  after 
idols,  God  has  still  a  people.  "Thus  God  gives 
them  up  to  a  perverted  mind"  (B.  B.). — In  the 
end,  all  tongues,  even  involuntarily,  must  hallow 
His  name. — "  Go!  is  sounded  out  by  God's  voice, 
as  the  condemned  shall  one  day  hear  "  (St.). 

Ver.  40  sq.  "  When  a  renewing  of  the  gracious 
covenant  is  in  question,  God  first  sifts  His 
Church,  and  casts  out  the  hypocrites.  This 
needs  no  external  force  "  (ScHM. ). — The  spiritual 
worship  of  the  New  Testament  can  be  well 
described  in  the  phraseology  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment worship,  by  which  it  was  symbolized  and 
prefigured.  We  still  speak  of  the  heavenly 
"Jerusalem." — There  is  high  place  and  higli 
place.  Here  the  high  mountain  of  Israel ;  in 
ver.  28  sq.  the  high  places  on  the  mountains  of 
Canaan. — Ver,  41.  In  Christ  we  are  made  accept- 
able to  God. — Ver.  43.  "When  believers  are 
admitted  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  lovingly  treated 
by  Him,  they  remember  their  trans^essions  with 
shame,  and  perceive  for  the  first  time  their  real 
greatness  and  enormity.  After  his  conversion, 
Paul  regarded  himself  as  one  born  out  of  due 
season,  as  the  least  of  the  apostles,  because  he 
had  persecuted  the  Church  of  God.  This  remem- 
brance gives  birth  to  the  song  of  grateful  praise, 
'By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am.'  Thus 
our  sins  exalt  the  glory  of  God.  Comp.  Deut. 
viii.,  ix.  Hence  it  follows  that  Christian  life  is  a 
perpetual  repentance,  from  which  the  life  of  grace 
received  from  God  shines  forth"  (H.  H). — Ver. 
44.  Not  unto  us,  not  unto  us,  but  to  Thy  holy 
name  be  praise  and  glory! — ".^11  salvation  la 
founded  on  God's  grace  and  the  forgiveness  ol 
sins,  but  not  without  repentance  "  (.SciiM.>. 


CHAP.  XXI.  201 


10.   The  Approaching  Judgtnent  (ch.  xxi.). 

1,  2       And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  set  thy  face 
toward  the  right,  and  drop  toward  the  south,  and  prophesy  against  the  forest 

3  of  the  field  in  the  south  ;  And  say  to  the  forest  of  the  south.  Hear  the  word 
of  Jehovah.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  am  about  to  kindle  in 
thee  a  fire,  and  it  will  devour  every  green  tree  in  thee,  and  every  dry  tree. 
The  flaming  flame  shall  not  be  quenched,  and  all  faces  shall  be  scorched  in  it 

4  [by  it],  from  the  south  to  the  north.     And  all  flesh  shall  see  that  I,  Jehovah, 

5  have  kindled  it ;  and  it  shall  not  be  quenched.     And  I  said,  Ah  !  Lord  God, 

6  they   say  to  me   [of  me],  Doth  he  not  speak  parables  1      Arid  the  word  of 

7  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying.  Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  toward  Jerusalem, 
and  drop  toward  the  holy  places,  and  prophesy  toward  the  land  of  Israel, 

8  and  say  to  the  land  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  am 
against  thee,  and  I  have  drawn  My  sword  out  of  its  scabbard,  and  will  cut  ofl" 

9  from  thee  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  Because  I  cut  off  from  thee  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked,   tlierefore  shall  My  sword  go  forth  out  of  its 

10  scabbard  against  all  flesh  from  south  to  north.  And  all  flesh  shall  know  that 
I,  Jehovah,  have  drawn  My  sword  out  of  its  scabbard,  nor  shall  it  return 

1 1  again.     And  thou,  son  of  man,  sigh  with  breaking  of  loins,  and  with  bitterness 

12  shalt  thou  sigh  before  their  eyes.  And  it  shall  be,  when  they  say  to  thee. 
Wherefore  dost  thou  sigh  1  that  thou  shalt  say,  For  the  tidings,  because  it 
Cometh  ;  and  every  heart  melts,  and  all  hands  hang  down,  and  every  spirit 
faints  [is  dulled],  and  all  knees  are  dissolved  into  water.     Lo,  it  comes,  and  has 

13  happened  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.     And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came 

14  to  me,  saying.     Son  of  man,  prophesy  and  say.  Thus  saith  Jehovah  ;  say,  A 

15  sword,  a  sword,  sharpened  and  also  furbished  [is  it]  !  To  kill  with  slaughter 
it  is  sharpened;  furbished  [iBit],  that  it  may  glitter  as  lightning!     Or  can 

16  [shall]  we  rejoice  over  the  staff"  [8ce!>ti-e]  of  M3'  son,  despising  every  tree  !  1  And 
He  gave  it  [it  is  given]  to  be  furbished,  that  it  may  be  taken  into  the  hand  ;  it 
is  a  sword  sharpened  and  furbished,  that  it  may  be  put  into  the  hand  of  the 

17  slayer.  Cry  and  howl,  son  of  man,  for  it  shall  be  upon  [against]  My  people, 
upon  all  the  princes  of  Israel  ;  they  are  given  up  [thrown]  to  tlie  sword  along 

18  with  My  people,  therefore  smite  upon  the  thigh.  For  it  makes  trial  [trial  is 
made].     And  how  ?— If  also  the  despising  staff"  [sceptre]  shall  not  be  ! — Sentence 

19  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy,  and  smite  hand 
against  hand,  and  the  sword  shall  be  doubled  to  the  third  time  ;  it  is  the 
sword  of  the  piereed-through,   the  sword  of  one  pierced  through,   of  the 

20  mighty,  that  penetrates  to  them.  In  order  that  the  heart  may  faint,  and  the 
stumbling-blocks  be  multiplied  at  all  their  gates,  have  I  given  the  threatening 

21  of  the  sword.  Ah  !  made  for  flashing,  drawn  for  slaughter  !  Unite  thyself, 
turn  to  the  right;  direct  thyself,  turn  to  the  left,  whither  thy  face  is  appointed. 

22  And  I  also  will  strike  My  hands  together,  and  I  will  cause  My  fury  to  rest. 

23  I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken.     And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying, 

24  And  thou,  son  of  man,  set  tliee  two  ways  for  the  coming  of  the  sword  of  the 
king  of  Babylon;  out  of  one  land  shall  they  both  proceed;  and  make  a  finger- 

25  post — at  the  head  of  the  way  of  a  city  make  [it].  Thou  shalt  set  a  way  for 
the  coming  of  the  sword  to  Kabbah  of  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  to  Judah  in 

26  Jerusalem,  [the]  inaccessible.  For  the  king  of  Babylon  stands  at  the  mother 
of  the  way,  at  the  head  of  the  two  ways,  to  use  divination;  shakes  the  arrows 

27  together,  inquires  at  the  teraphim,  inspects  the  liver.  In  his  right  hand  is 
the  divination  "  Jerusalem,"  to  place  [battering]  rams,  to  open  the  mouth  in 
slaughter,  to  lift  up  the  voice  in  the  war-cry,  to  place  rams  against  the  gates, 

28  to  cast  a  mount,  to  build  siege-towers.  And  it  is  to  them  as  lying  divination 
in  their  eyes  that  have  sworn  oaths  for  themselves  ;  and  [yit]  he  remembers  ini- 

29  quity,  in  order  to  take  [them].  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because 
ye  shall  remember  [ijring  to  remembrance]  your  iniquity,  since  your  transgressions  ar« 


£02 


EZEKIEL. 


made  bare,  so  that  your  sins  are  seen  in  all  your  doings,  because  ye  are  conie 

^0  to  remembrance,  ye  shall  be  taken  with  the  hand.    And  thou,  pierced-through, 

wicked  one,  prince  of  Israel,  whose  day  has  come  at  the  time  or  the  iniquity 

31  of  the  end,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Eemove  the  head-band,  take  oil 
the  crown.     This  [is]  not  this.     The  low  is  [to  be]  exalted,  and  the  high  [to  b«^ 

32  brought  low.  Overturned,  overturned,  overturned  will  I  make  it.  Yea,  this 
[also]  is  not,  till  He  comes  to  whom  the  judgment  belongs,  and  I  will  give  it  to 

33  Him.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy  and  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah 
concerning  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  their  reproach  ;  even  say,  A  sword,  a 

3-t  sword,  drawn  for  slaughter,  furbished  sufficiently  to  glitter  !  While  they 
see  vanity  for  thee,  while  they  divine  a  lie  to  thee, — -to  lay  thee  upon  the 
necks  of  the  pierced-through,  of  the  wicked,  whose  day  has  come  at  the  time 

35  of  the  iniquity  of  the  end.     Let  it  return  to  its  sheath.     In  the  place  where 

36  thou  wast  formed,  in  the  land  of  thy  origin  will  I  judge  thee.  And  I  will 
pour  out  My  indignation  upon  thee,  with  the  fire  of  My  wrath  will  I  blow 
upon  thee,  and  will  give  thee  into  the  hand  of  consuming  men,  forgers  of 

37  destruction.  Thou  shalt  be  for  fuel  to  the  fire ;  thy  blood  shall  be  in  the 
midst  of  the  land  ;  thou  shalt  not  be  remembered,  for  I,  Jehovah,  have 
spoken. 

Ver.    7.  Another  reading:   Ul^Hp^  pH*  ad  aanctuarium  eoi-nm.    Syr.  Sept.  et  Arabs,  have  the  sutBx. 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:  .  .  .  o^vtcu  x.  6ufM/97iTi,  (15)  o^u;  (r^a£tjf  tr^xytx,  o^urou  OT*?  yivv  I'i  ffTiXQajriv,  ST«(,a»i  iU  TetpxXurif 
r^ttXs*  Heuisvu,  i.-rai8ou  T«»  $wXoy. — Vulg. :  Qui  moves  sceptrum  .  .  .  succidisti  omrte  lignum. 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  KpoTv;a-ev  iti  Ttiv  x^*P* '0'^' —    Vulff. :  .  .   .  Israel  qui  fugerani — 

Ver.  18  »T.  3i?.««ian-«i.  K«<  ti  >i'  »«i  fulin  i^rmrh;—  Vulg. :  .  .  .  quia  pi-obatm  est.  Et  hoc  cum  teeptrum  suh- 
rerterit,  et  non  erit — 

Ver.  19.   .    .   .   r,  TpiTT)  fofJ^'$aita,   TpoLVfjUL-rliatt  iffrtu,   ^OffXfotix   Tpxvfj.etTUa/t   V   pt,  yxXvj,  X.  ixirTr;rii    avTtjui, — ac  tripHcetur 

fladius  intcrfeclorum :  hie  est  gl.  occisionis  magnm,  qui  obstupeseere  eos  facit,—  There  Is  a  reading :  miDn,  perlerrt- 

faciens).    Another  reading:    OjP. 

Ver.  20.  .  .   .  K.  !r>.y,9u\9uiriv  oi  ot<rl)ivovvTH  tri  rrttirv.^  TwAr*  etuTin.     K.  Tatpxhtictrat  iU  ff^xytx  ^ofM^ettxf,  tu  t-tyontf  in 

r^xy^t,  tv   yeT-ovsv  ui  ffTif^l2uirtv. —  et  niu/tip/icat  ruinas.     In  omnibus  .  .  .  conturbationein  gladii  acuti  et  timati  ad  .  ,  , 

amicli  ad  csederr^. 

Ver.  21.  Another  reading:    *TnSnn,  retro  Hovel:  mora,  retarda. 

Ver  24.  Et  manu  capiet  ronjecturam,  m  capite  .  .  .  conjiciet. 

Ver  26.  Sept. :  .  .  .  r.  xp^xtx*  oaov  .   .  .  xvxlipxirxt  pa;3Jia  «.   iTtfiMTxa-xi  *»  T6it  yXurroii — 

Ver.  27.  'Ex  ^i^iatv  xl-rau  iyiti-rt  .  .   .  ITTCU.X  ev  Ss*)  .  .  .  Ad  dexteram  ejus  facta  est  ...  os  incsede — 

Ver.  28.    K.  xCtos  xijrot;  u;  /jc/xvTtueuivoi  f.LxvTtixv   iv^t^to*   xijTan,  x.   xlros  i.vxfti/j.}ir.^xa*   otZiKixi  xuTtn  f^ntiffSyiieu, 

Eritque  quasi  consulertsfrusfra  oraatlum  in  oculis  eorum,  et  sabbatorum  otium  imilans ;  ipse  autem  recordabitur  iniquitalii 

ad  capiendum.  * 

Ver.  29.  For  733,  read  ?31. 

Ver.  30.  .  .  .  Ili3r.>.i,  ivoi^:—    Vulft. :  profane  .  .  .  dies  in  temp,  iniquitatit prxfinita, 

Ver.  31.  WfliXCLf  .  .  irlBou  «wr*i  to»  ffTKpxvof,  av  Tttxvrri  ifrxf  £Tatr£(v«<ras  «...  ti'i/virxs. —  Vulg.:  .  .  .  nonne  hase 
est,  qux  humiiem  sublevavit — 

Ver.32.  '.\8.«i«.  .  .  .  Sv,rif.uu  xi-n,t,  oi  rcixun  irrxi  .  .  .  i  xctBrnui—  Vulg.:  .  .  .pmameam;  et  hoc  nm  factum 
est,  donee — 

Ver.  35.  '  ATorrpi^s,  fAr,  xxrxXt/ffytf  .  .  . 

Ver.  36.  .  .  .  iSxpiSxpm —    Vulg. :   .  .  .  insipientium. 


EXEGETICAL   REMARKS. 

To  join  vers.  1-5  with  ch.  xx.  (as  is  done  in  the 
Eng.  Ver. )  would  be  against  the  connection ;  while, 
as  the  first  part  of  ch.  xxi.,  it  both  admirably 
introduces  the  whole,  and  in  particular,  by  ver.  5, 
paves  the  way  for  the  explanation  in  ver.  6  sq. 

Vers.  1-5  [ch.  xx.  45-49]. — A  Picture. 

Ver.  2.  Comp.  ch.  ii.  1. — vi.  2  (xiii.  17) ;  Luke 
ix.  51.  The  right,  according  to  ver.  7,  is  Jerusa- 
lem. Drop  is  iit'ttT  Deut.  xxxii.  2  a  very  common 
expression  for  prophetic  iliscourse.  It  is  sug- 
gested by  the  rain  or  the  dew,  and  points  to  the 
place  of  its  origin, — above,  and  also  to  the  bene- 
ficial influence  which  it  is  intended  to  exert,  and 
is  u.sed  even  when  the  discourse  does  not  contain 
promises  merely,  but  also  threatening  and  judg- 
ment, as  is  the  case  here  exclusively,  and  to  a  large 


extent  also  in  Deut.  xxxii.  May  it  not  also  hint 
at  the  concise,  abrupt  style  of  composition  adopted 
in  the  chapter  ?     QiTn,  the  bright,  sunny  south, 

in  ver.  7  the  expression  is:  the  "holy  places. "- 
333  (either  "dryness,"  or  also  from  "brightness") 

defines  the  forest  of  the  field,  more  precisely,  as 
situated  in  the  south,  pertaining  to  the  south 
country  (ver.  3),  as  Judea  is  often  described.  The 
threefold  direction  symbolizes  peihaps  the  divine 
element  in  his  commission.  For  field,  comp.  ch. 
xvii.  5  ;  "land  of  Israel"  in  ver.  7  corresponds  td 
it — the  fruitful  native  soil  of  the  whole  people  ; 
Hengst.  :  because  an  agricultural  people  are  here 
treated  of  Forest,  figurative  for  people,  on 
account  of  the  density  of  the  population,  but  by 
no  means  with  any  reference  to  the  degeneration  o' 
the  noble  vine  (Isa.  v. )  to  a  wild  forest  (Umbk.  ),  or 
the  impending  reduction  of  the  land  1  o  an  uncui 


CHAP.  XXI.  3-15. 


208 


tivated  and  forest  condition,  nor  yet  on  account 
of  its  forest  stretches  ;  just  as  the  southern  defini- 
tion of  the  direction  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
e.xiled  prophet  is  not  to  be  taken  in  a  precisely 
gcograpliic  sense.  Besides,  that  which  is  said  of 
the  north  in  ch.  i.  4  is  here  confirmed. — Ver.  3. 
I.'li.  vi.  3. — The  fire  suits  both  the  forest -figure 
snd  the  idea  ot  Jehovah's  avenging  wrath.  Comp. 
ih.  i.  (ch.  XV.)  Comp.  ch.  xvii.  24.  Green  and 
dry  become  in  ver.  8  ' '  rigliteous  "  and  ' '  wicked  " 
(Lukexxiii.  31). — nan^C'  nanf),  assonant  ascend- 
ing climax,  to  which  the  result  corresponds. 
Endeavouring,  in  a  far-fetched  way,  to  conform 
ti>  the  figure,  Hitzig  interprets  faces  of  the  out- 
side, as  that  which  tlie  fire  first  consumes.  A 
similar  view  is  maintained  by  Schnurrer  in  a 
special  dissertation  on  the  previous  chapter, — 
"on  all  sides— out  and  out." — Ver.  4  explains 
"all  faces"  by:  all  flesh — all  Israel ;  and  so  1J{11 

also  can  be  understood  as  :  seeing  to  their  own 
hurt  (vers.  9,  10).  Hengst.  makes  the  "faces" 
stand  for  the  pereons,  as  the  material  which  the 
fire  is  to  consume.  Comp.  ch.  v.  10.  [Cocc. 
refers  it  to  the  judgment  on  Babylon,  which  was 
to  follow  the  judgment  on  Israel.] — All  flesh, 
equivalent  to  ;  every  man.  What  does  not  pass 
speedily  away,  but  endures  to  completion, — that 
which  abides,  makes  on  short-lived,  fading  man 
the  impression  of  eternal  duration. — Ver.  5.  Is  it  a 
complaint,  owing  to  experiences  following  on  w  hat 
has  just  been  propounded,  or  to  his  experience 
generally  as  a  prophet  ?  Perhaps  an  indirect 
petition  for  a  less  figurative  message  ;  as  Hitzig, 
following  the  Chald.  :  "accept  my  petition. " — 
Comp.  ch.  xvii.  2  (2  Cor.  iv.  4). — Transition  to 
ver.  6  sq. 

Vers.  6-12  [1-7].    The  Inte}-pretation  {through 
the  Sword). 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  foregoing  figure  is 
explained  by  another  (Matt.  xiii.  10). — Ver.  7. 
Comp.  ver.  2. — Holy  places  (comp.  ch.  vii.  24). 
Hengst.  refers  the  plural  to  the  glory  of  the  one 
sanctuary,  and  understands  it  of  "the  spiritual 
abode  of  the  people."  Others  have  thought  of 
the  individual  buildings  of  the  temple,  its  two  or 
three  parts.  [Cocc:  "because  many  buildings 
were  erected  by  men  in  addition  to  those  authorized 
by  God,  or  because  Ezekiel  prophesies  not  only  of 
Solomon's,  but  at  the  same  time  of  Zerubbabel's 
temple."] — Ver.  8.  The  land  of  Israel,  equiva- 
lent to:  "the  forest  of  the  south,"  ver.  3.  What 
follows  is  also  parallel.  The  explanatory  figure 
is  the  well-known  one  (ch.  v.,  vi.)  of  the  sword. 
— The  righteous  and  the  wicked  (coinp.  at 
(h.  iii.  18  sq.).  According  to  Hengst.,  not  in 
contradiction  to  ch.  ix.  4,  "  for  if  two  suffer 
the  same,  yet  it  is  not  the  same  (Kom.  viii.  28)." 
The  contrast  is  to  be  taken  like  young  and  old, 
rich  and  poor,  similarly  to  Matt.  ix.  13.  Those 
whom  you  call  righteous  and  wicked, — all,  fall 
jiuler  tlie  power  of  the  sword.  With  which  Ver. 
i  harmonizes  ;  for  all  flesh,  etc..  points  to  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Jewish  territory  as  the  field 
for  its  exercise.  ["  As  is  manifest  from  the  whole 
noture  of  the  representation,  it  is  the  merely  ex- 
ternal aspect  of  the  visitation  yhioh  the  prophet 
has  in  his  eye.  The  sword  of  the  Lord  »  judg- 
ment, he  announced,  was  to  pass  through  the 


land,  and  accomplish  such  a  sweeping  overthrow, 
that  all,  without  exception,  would  be  made  t« 
sutler  in  the  fearful  catastrophe.  This  did  no' 
prevent,  however,  but  that  there  might  be,  ir 
the  midst  of  the  outward  calamities  which  were 
thus  to  burst  like  a  mighty  tempest  over  the 
land,  a  vigilant  oversight  maintained,  and  special 
interpositions  of  Providence  exercised  in  behall 
of  the  pious  remnant  who  still  continued  faithful 
to  the  covenant  of  God.  It  was  this  distinguish- 
ing goodness  to  some,  even  amid  the  horrors  of  a 
general  desolation,  which,  as  we  showed  before, 
was  the  real  object  of  that  sealing  of  God's  ser- 
vants on  the  forehead  in  a  former  vi.sion ;  while 
here,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  merely  the  general 
desolation  itself  which  is  contenijilated  by  the 
prophet.  And  the  very  circumstance  that  he 
should  now  have  looked  so  exclusively  on  the 
outward  scene  of  carnage  and  distress,  which  he 
descried  in  the  approaching  future,  seemed  to 
say  that  this  was  to  be  the  grand  feature  of  the 
time,  and  that  the  special  interpositions  which 
were  to  be  put  forth  in  behalf  of  the  better  por- 
tion would  be  so  few  that  they  scarcely  required 
to  be  taken  into  account." — Fairbauin's  Ezekiel, 
pp.  233,  234.— W.  F.]— Others:  on  the  ground 
of  this  certain  universal  destruction  in  Israel, 
a  still  more  extensive  judgment  shall  t:ike  place, 
e.g.  on  the  Ammonites.  [Cocc.  thinks  of  all 
wars,  etc.  up  to  the  subjugation  of  the  nations 
to  Christ.] — Ver.  10  recalls,  however,  ver.  4. 
There:  "it  shall  not  be  quenched,"  here:  nor  shall 
it  return.  In  other  words,  a  full  end.  Some  see 
the  distinction  between  this  and  earlier  juelgments 
indicated  here. — Ver.  11.  Symbolical  descrip- 
tion of  intensest  expression  of  sorrow.  With 
breaking,  etc.,  when  the  prophet  sinks  dowL 
like  one  whose  loins  are  broken,  and  who  is 
unable  to  stand  upright  (Deut.  xxxiii.  11). 
[Others:  a  pain  which  can  break  the  seat  of  man's 
strength  ;  or  as  spasmodic  pains ;  or  as  in  travail- 
pangs;  or  with  girdle  burst  asunder,  etc.  EwALD; 
smiting  on  the  thigh.]  Quite  conceivable,  with- 
out any  hypocrisy,  owing  to  Ezekiel's  sympathy 
with  his  people.  Comp.  Rom.  ix.  1  sq.  In 
bitterness,  the  pain  at  the  same  time  audibly 
expresses  itself.  They  shall  become  aware  of  it 
(before  their  eyes).— Ver.  12.  Ch.  vii.  26,  2  sq. 
That  which  to  others  is  merely  tidings,  is  to  the 
prophet  already  coming,  or  it  is  to  him  a  "thing 
heard"  (Umbr. :  a  revelation  made  at  an  earlier 
time),  which  is  passing  into  fulfilment;  therefore 
his  pain.  But  they  shall  be  compelled  to  experi- 
ence in  themselves  what  they  perceive  in  him. 
In  all,  courage  gives  place  to  terror,  activity  to 
prostration,  counsel  to  perplexity.  No  one  holds 
out  any  longer;  as  to  which  comp.  ch.  vii.  17.— 
It  is  not  merely  coming,  i.e.  on  the  way,  but  that 
which  the  tidings  bode,  which  they  actually  are 
(ver.  13  sq. ),  is  as  good  as  already  accomplished. 

Vers.  13-22  [8-17].   The  Sivord. 

The  prophet's  bitter  pain  (ver.  11)  is  audibly 
expressed  in  this  sword-song,  as  it  has  been 
called. — Ver.  14.  The  subject  of  the  tidings  em- 
phatically repeated  as  a  sword.  — (rT:7mn,  perf. 

Hophal  from  mri-— niDIIO,  partic.  pass.) — Ver. 

15.   It  shall  slay,  and  even  before  it  proves  it* 
sharpness,  terrify  (nTi.  infinitive).    p-\2,  from  itt 


204 


EZEKIEL. 


gleaming  briglituess.  (Deut.  xxxii.  41.)  ria"jb, 
partic.  Pual  lor  nUlDD,  with  the  euphonic  dag. 

forte.— The  close  of  the  verse  is  a  crux  inter- 
]-iretam.  The  abrupt  statement  of  the  contrary 
to  that  whicli  was  demanded  of  the  pro|ihet  by 
Jehovali  in  ver.  11  is  intelligible,  and  all  the 
more  so  as  an  inqniiy  as  to  the  reason  for  his 
exhibition  of  pain  of  heart  has  been  already  pre- 
supposed in  ver.  12.  Or  can  [shall]  we  rejoice, 
etc.  ?  In  this  ease  the  prophet  can  associate 
himself  with  Jehovali,  while  "crying,"  etc., 
again  (ver.  17)  remains  his  occupation  alone. 
Tlie  latter  is  made  all  the  more  prominent  by  the 
clause:  "  Can  we  rejoice  ?  "  The  staff,  in  accord- 
ance with  eh.  xix.  11  sq.,  is  to  be  understood  of 
the  sceptre,  and  thus  of  the  kiiigdom  (comp.  ch. 
xvi.  13).  My  son  must  be  tlie  same  as  "My 
people"  in  ver.  17 — namely,  Judah  ;  which  is  all 
the  more  appropiiate,  as  there  is  before  us  the  pro- 
mise of  Gen.  xlix.  S  sq.  (see  ch.  xix. ),  which  was  also 
confirmed  to  David,  2  Sam.  vii.  23.  The  sceptre  of 
Juiiah,  on  account  of  this  promise  to  bless  Israel, 
— .Teliovali  regarding  it  as  His  own, — is  perpetual. 
Despising  every  tree,  conformably  to  ch.  xvii. 
24.— every  other  prince  and  king.  (May  not,  con- 
lormably  "to  ver.  3,  allusion  be  also  nuide  to  the 
man-despising  wickedness  (ver.  30)  of  the  last 
Jewish  kings,  so  as  to  yield  the  very  striking 
sense  :  Or  could  we  rejoice  in  the  reigning  wicked- 
ness which  the  sword  makes  an  end  of!  ?).  The 
construing  of  the  masculine  t23{j»  as  a  feminine 

(which  Ko.senm.  calls  the  supreme  difficulty  of 
the  jjassage)  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the 
underlying  idea  of  lordship.  (See  Hav.  and 
Roseniii.)  Therefore:  in  respect  of  the  sword, 
is  theie  room  for  any  feeling  but  pain  ?  Could 
there  be  joy  over  the  kingdom,  which  shall  not 
depait  from  Judah,  according  to  the  blessing 
which  rests  on  it,  and  the  promise  made  to  David, 
—joy  that  Judah  still  survives,  while  the  princes 
of  Israel's  kingdom  have  long  since  passed  away  ? ! 
Should  we  be  able  to  rejoice  ?  Even  this  kingdom 
is  about  to  fall  beneath  the  swonl,  etc.  Ver.  17 
Sip,  19,  30  sq.  But  doubtless  the  Messiah  will 
also  come,  ver.  32.  The  connection  decidedly 
recommends  this  interpretation.  One  must  re- 
member what  the  kingdom  and  the  last  remnant 
in  Jerusalem  were,  even  in  the  lament  of  Jeremiah 
(Lam.  v.  15).  [Other  interpretations:  "Shall 
we  rejoice,  namely,  over  this  sword,  which 
despises  the  stem  (?)  of  My  son  Israel,  and  every 
tree  ?  "      Or    oa^J    is   taken   as   the   chastening 

rod  (?)  of  Israel,  which  this  sword  is,  and  which 
rod  in  hardness  and  solidity  surpasses  every 
other  wood  (R.\SHl).  Henxst.  ;  the  punishment 
hanging  over  Israel  exceeds  in  rigour  all  other 
punishments,  according  to  the  law  set  forth, 
Luke  xii.  46.  ("We— I  and  thou— spoken 
from  the  soul  of  the  people.")  Havern.  takes 
^X  ironically:  "or  should  (B'''!i'3  =  D''D3  (Pro- 
jecting) with  a  play  on  x-^J)  the  sceptre  of  My 

son  be  haughty  (Ex.  iv.  21;  Hos.  xi.  1;  Gen. 
xlix.  il ;  eomp.  therewith  1  King.'  xxii.  11;  Deut. 
xxxiii.  17),  despising  every  tree  (with  reference  to 
all  other  powers)  ?  "  Umiik.:  "  The  rod  of  My 
Son  — that  which  concerns  Him— despises  every 
(feeble)   tree,   has  transfonned    itself    into    un- 


bending iron."'] — Ver.  16.  The  most  probahli 
subject  of  [pi>i  is  the  "son," — Judah  itself  pre- 
pared the  Chaldean  sword  of  vengeance.  Comp. 
ch.  xix.  14.  Or  indefinitely:  it  was  given.— 
Ver.  17.  As  the  joy  was  groundless  (ver.  15),  so 
all  the  more  is  the  emotion  of  ver.  11  enjoined, 
ch.   ix.   8,   xi.    13. — That  which  3  nn*n  would 

say  both  as  to  the  people  and  the  princes  ol 
Israel  is  expressed  by  'niJD  (part.  pass.   Kal  ol 

"IJD).     Others:   "Terrors  (QniJD  f™™  113)  ^^^ 

cause  of  (^s)   the  sword  being  upon  (nj{)  My 

people."  Which,  however,  says  too  little  in  this 
connection.  —  Upon  the  thigh,  as  women  upon 
the  breast;  pain,  terror. — Ver.  18.  For,  resumes 
what  is  said  in  the  previous  verse. — jnb,  proving, 

trying  ;  or,  impersonal  perf.  Pual,  trial  is  made. 
Hav.  :  "  for  there  is  a  proving"  in  relation  to  the 
judgments  of  God.  Too  far-fetched.  Hengst.  : 
"for  (it  is)  a  trial."  A  brief  statement  of  the 
threatening  character  of  the  impending  period. 
Phillip.s.  :  "  for  a  purification  must  take  place. " 
Consequently,  either  of  the  past  (as  Rashi),  of  the 
sufferings  whereby  tlie  people  have  already  been 
tried,  or  with  reference  to  the  future.  According 
to  the  connection,  the  trial,  if  not  spoken  directly 
of  the  sword,  must  be  thought  of  in  relation  to 
its  terrible  murderous  violence,  as  shown  in  ver. 
17.  —  no,  briefest   continuation,   but  rather  an 

exclamation  than  a  thought.  AVhat,  in  fine, 
when  people  and  prince  are  doomed  to  the  sword, 
—  when  even  the  scornful  (become  inhuman 
in  its  arrogance,  comp.  ver.  15)  kingdom  of 
Judah  shall  now  be  brought  to  an  end  ?  [Rashi  : 
And  what  will  happen  to  My  son  when  the  sword 
overtakes  him  ?  He  shall  perish.  Kimchi  :  The 
sword  will  be  for  trying.  And  what  if  that  sword, 
despising  the  stem  of  Israel  also,  should  not  smite 
it?  There  would  be  no  tiial.  Hav.:  "And 
how  ?  if  the  sceptre  is  still  so  arrogant,  it  shall 
not  stand."  Hengst.:  "And  how?  should  the 
despising  rod  (the  punishment  tliat  far  out.strips 
all  other  punishments)  not  be?"  Keil  :  When 
even  the  sceptre  of  Judah  fails  to  show  the  might 
expected  from  it,  what  shall  then  be  ?  Netelkk  ■ 
"And  how?  if  also  the  sceptre  of  the  dcspiser 
(Jerusalem)  shall  not  be  ! "]— Ver.  19.  Comp.  at 
ch.  vi.  11.  The  gesture  here  is  the  sign  of  an 
impending  energetic  action  (Henost.).  To  say 
that  it  expresses  lively  excitement  of  feeling  is 
little  ;  rather  it  arouses  the  sword  to  demand  re- 
doubled slaughter,  which  immeiliately  follows. 
One  stroke  shall  not  be  enough,  but  the  strokes 
are  rei)eated.  Not  that  Ezekiel  shall  call  out  the 
following  words,  repe;iting  them  three  times  ;  nor 
yet  is  threefold  doubling  (?)  nor  threefold  multiply- 

1  The  pi'f  ater  number  of  Schroeder's  bracketed  "  other 
inteiT"'ftatinns  '  hiivu  been  omitted,  as  being  ilestitute  nf 
probability,  und  quite  unwoithy  of  notice.  Dr.  Kairiairn's 
reuderiiif;:  "perchance  the  sceptre  of  My  son  rejoicetb.' 

Is  Kramniatically  inadmissible,  for  V't'^  is  not  a  participle, 

but  the  Is'  plnr.  impel  f  Dut  could  we  not  adopt  his  ti  ans- 
lalion  01  ihe  last  clause  ant)  icndt-r  lite  jiassage-  "  'Jr  shaL 
we  riji'lc-  ovci-  tlic  rug  [sci  ptrc]  of  My  son  ?  "  as  il  '.l  at  Va-i 
WHV.-  «Mlc.  com  ■  what  will?  Nay.  that  can.ior  )a  fn-  "II 
(thr  swovd)  d.  spiscih  ••'■■•ry  ff  "ill  wooa), '  n.-,  '.ccji»'«  a 
Judah  not  excepted — V.'.  y. 


CHAP.  XXI.  20-26. 


20i 


ing  meant  (as  doubling  is  the  thing  in  (jiiestion). 
But  once,  twice,  and  yet  a  third  time  a  double 
sword-stroke,  to  wit,  with  reference  to  tfle  people, 
piinces,  and  king,  so  that  what  is  stated  before 
(vers.  17, 18)  is  compressed.  [Klief.:  Forthethird 
time  the  sword  is  a  shiyer,  after  it  had  previously 
come  doubled  (twice)  ;  the  number  three  is  sym- 
bolical.] It  is  called  the  sword  of  the  pierced- 
through,  from  the  nniltitudes  whom  it  pierces. 
Hav.  :  the  sword  of  the  slain. — Sword  of  one 
pierced  throagh,  of  the  mighty.  The  subject  is 
indefinite,  but  becomes  definite  in  the  adjective. 
"  Among  the  crowd  of  the  slain  there  is  also  one 
pierced  through,  made  altogether  like  to  them, 
who  is  the  great  one"  (Hiv. ).  As  the  sword- 
song  throughout  kee|is  the  kingdom  in  view,  the 
king  (ver.  30)  is  undoubtedly  referred  to,  to 
wit,  Zedekiah.  The  fact  that  his  sons  were  slain 
before  his  eyes,  that  his  own  eyes  were  put  out 
("2  Kings  XX.V.  7),  that  he  died  in  bonds  in  Baby- 
lon (Jer.  lii.  11),  especially  when  one  considers 
how  the  conte.'it  as  well  as  other  pa.isages  point, 
sufficiently  justifies  the  application  of  the 
"  pierced-through  "  one  to  hiitir;  so  that  it  is  not 
to  be  referred  to  "  the  gi-eat "  collectively,  nor  to 
the  wicked  Chaldee  king  (!  ?),  nor  to  "the  great 
sword  of  the  slain  which  surrounds  them." 
(Comp.  Keil  in  opposition  to  Hitzig.)     rmhn, 

from  "nn.     Gesen.  :  to  surround,  to  besiege,  "  lies 

in  wait  for  them."  That  penetrates  to  them, 
with  an  allusion  to  "nn,  the  inner  chamber.    The 

old  translations:  which  puts  them  in  terror. — • 
Ver.  20.  In  order  that ;  that  which  will  abund- 
antly come  to  pass  is  also  abundantly  expressed. 
The  intention  made  prominent  by  being  placed  in 
the  forefront.     nn3S  is  found  here  only=threat- 

eniug,  or  quivering,  or  shaking,  or  destroying, 
etc.  ;  or  a  misprint  for  nn3t3  (shambles   of    the 

sword).  But  whatever  the  precise  meaning  of  the 
word  be,  it  qualifies  the  sw'ord,  so  that  by  means 
of  it  the  courage  of  the  people  fails,  and  at  all 
their  gates  obstructions  lie  on  which  they  stumble, 
— either  "  crowds  of  corpses  hard  by  the  gates 
where  the  besieged  made  their  sallies, "or  circum- 
stances which  expo.sed  them  to  slaugliter.  The 
Bashing  explains  the  fainting,  etc. ;  the  slaughter 
points  to  the  stumbling-blocks. — Ch.  vi.  11. 
Abrupt  e.^clamation  of  the  prophet.  — ntSJIDi  '»'^- 

Xiy.  ;  meaning  :  polished,  sharpened  (Gesen.)  ;■ 
Meier  :  whetted  ;  Hiv. :  drawn  ;  others  the  very 
opposite  :  covered,  still  in  the  sheath. — Ver.  21. 
Address  to  the  sword.  Up  to  this  point  no  more 
than  one  sword  has  been  spoken  of,  so  that  the  one 
must  be  summoned  to  ally  itself  with  all  other 
possible  swords.  But  the  concentration  of  the 
thrice-repeated  double  stroke  in  a  single  stroke, 
which  would  better  correspond  with  ver.  19,  could 
be  the  meaning.  Or  it  is  to  collect  its  energies 
for  the  directions  which  are  to  be  presentlj'  given 
it.  [Hitzig  reads:  "turn  thyself  backwards," 
and  completes  <D^ti'n  by  supplying  fl'jg;  "turn 

thyself  forn-ards,"  in  order  to  procure  the  two 
additional  directions  to  right  and  left.  Ew. : 
"  Collect  thyself  southwards,  assail  northwards, 
whithersoever  thy  points  are  appointed. "]  Hav. 
connects  :  ' '  Turn  thyself  with  aU  vigour  to  the 
light,"  and  (corresponding  to  this) :  "  direct  (thy 


face,  thy  edge)  to  the  left !  "  There  are,  however, 
four  words  which  depict  the  activity  and  rapidity 
of  the  individual  sword-strokes;  perhaps  they  am 
also  military  commands?     If  'D<t;'n  aud  <^^^y^^ 

correspond,  then  the  rendering  must  be :  "atteU' 
tion,"  "to  your  post !"  (Gesen.,  Hescst.)  Be- 
sides, it  is  perhaps  preparatively  to  the  following 
paragraph  as  to  Jerusalem  and  Ammon  that  only  a 
twofold  direction,  "right  "and  "  left, "  is  specified. 
The  destination  whither,  etc.  concludes  the  pas- 
sage.    [Cocc.  is  not  amiss  in  regarding  njK  i*^  an 

interrogative  ;  Hitzig  does  the  same.] — Ver.  22. 
Comp.  ver.  19.  Jehovah  makes  the  gesture  of  the 
prophet  His  own.  Comp.  further  ch.  x^•i.  42, 
V.  13.  What  a  rest,  and,  going  before  it,  what 
an  agitation  ! 

Vers.   23-29.    The  Kin//  of  Babylon  against 
Jerusalem. 

A  symbolical  action,  as  in  ver.  11  (17,  19). 
Hengst.,  as  always,  makes  it  belong  to  the  inter 
nal  world  ;  but  what  would  have  been  the  meaning 
of  a  command  of  this  sort,  were  it  not  to  be  carried 
out  externally  ?  The  whole  point  lies  in  its  ex- 
ternal representation.  It  is  a  demonstration  ad 
oculos  (ch.  iv.  1  sq. ).  Ezekiel  is  to  jdace  before 
himself  on  a  table  or  tablet  a  sketch  of  the  nature 
mentioned,  by  means  of  cutting  or  engraving,  as 
may  be  surmised  from  K"\3,   Ver.  24. — The  two 

wayg  already  point  to  anotlier  reference  besides 
that  to  Jerusalem. — The  sword  of  the  king  ot 
Babylon  is  the  "  tidings  "  which  come  (ver.  12)  ; 
into  his  murdering  "hand"  (ver.  16)  this  ap- 
proaching sword  is  given. — The  one  land  (or  land 
of  one,  namely,  the  Babylonish  king)  from  which 
both  ways  shall  proceed,  owing  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  emphasized,  leads  one  alieady  to  sup- 
pose that  both  ways  were  originally  one,  which 
at  a  later  point  was  parted  into  two. — T,   the 

finger-post  which  here  points  the  way  to  a  (still 
indefinite)  city.  At  the  head  of  the  way,  i.e. 
where  the  way  in  question  begins,  the  hand  shall 
be  formed. — Ver.  25.  More  particular  description 
of  the  way,  according  to  which  it  appears  as  two 
ways  (hence :  for  the  coming  of  the  sword,  as 
in  ver.  24),  with  the  fingcr-poft  for  guide.  As 
to  Rjibbah,  the  capital  city  of  the  Ammonites, 
see  Dent.  iii.  11.  The  city  at  the  head  of  whos( 
way  the  finger-post  stands  can  jiroperly  meau 
Rabbah  only,  from  the  fact  of  its  being  first  men- 
tioned ;  and  this  points  it  out  as  the  place  lying 
nearest  on  the  way  of  the  coming  sword,  so  that 
(as  Hengst.  rightly  remarks)  the  human  proba- 
bility was  that  the  vengeance  of  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon would  begin  with  Ammon,  which  had  pro- 
voked it  by  adhering  to  the  same  anti-Clialdeau 
coalition  (Jer.  xxvii.  3).  As  if  le.ss  exposed, 
behind  it  appears  Judah,  more  precisely  defined 
by  Jerusalem;  which  supports  our  way  of  taking 
Judah-Jerusalem  in  ch.  xix.  (See  Doct.  Reflec. 
there.)  In,  because  Judah  exists  essentially  in 
Jerusalem  ;  and  the  way  of  the  sword  goes  thither, 
so  that  the  sword  rests  there.  Its  strength,  its 
inaccessible  elevation,  shall  be  merely  nominal 
(Deut.  x.xviii.  52). — Ver.  26.  Even  the  king  ol 
Babylon  is  uncertain  which  way  to  choose. — 
Hother  of  the  way,  is  immediately  explained  by 
the  head  of  two  ways,  to  be  the  pcint  whence 


206 


EZEKIEL. 


they  liranch  off  like  two  daughters  from  the  way 
which  had  previously  been  one.  [Hiiv.  avails 
himself  of  the  Arabic  idiom,  according  to  which 
"  mother  of  the  way  "  means  the  great  military 

road,  along  (^j{)  which  Nebuchadnezzar  is  about 

to  proceed,  which  then  divides  into  two  ways.] — 
Thetacitcontrast  between  :  to  use  divination,  and  ; 
to  "prophesy"  (vers.  19,  14,  7,  2)  is  interesting; 
they  are  nevertheless  unified  by  the  divine  will. 
(Coinp.  at  Dent,  xviii.  10.)  Perhaps  on  account 
of  thi:j  divine  element  in  the  background,  it  is 
carried  out  in  a  threefold  manner,  according  to 
the  symbolism  of  numbers.  —  Does  the  arrow- 
oracle  refer  to  the  significations  of  ppp,  "light," 

or  "gleaming,"  so  that  the  divination  is  founded 
on  the  fact  of  the  one  flying  more  swiftly  than 
the  other,  as  being  the  lighter,  or  on  the  fact  of 
its  shining  more  brightly?  It  is  the  simplest 
way,  however,  to  think  of  two  arrows,  the  one 
marked  "Kabbah,"  the  other  "  Jerusalem, "  being 
]Hit  into  a  vessel,  perhaps  a  helmet,  when  the 
decision  is  made  according  as  the  one  or  the 
other  is  first  drawn  or  shaken  out ;  unless  the 
quarter  to  which  the  head  of  the  lighter  arrow 
points  on  falling  out,  either  right  or  left,  be 
the  ground  of  the  decision.  Comp.  Hav.  on  the 
passage.  —  It  is  impossible  to  decide  as  to  the 
method  of  consulting  the  teraphim.  See  Winer, 
Realw.;  Herzog,  Mealencycl.  xvi.  32.  Israel 
brought  them  out  of  Chaldea,  Gen.  xxxi.  1 9,  34. 
According  to  Hav.  :  gods  of  fortune  ;  Hengst.  : 
intermediate  gods,  serving  for  the  investigation  of 
the  future.  Hav.  supposes  a  transference  of  the 
Hebrew  popular  faith  to  Babylonish  divinities 
analogous  to  Gad  and  Meni.  Hitzig  :  his  house- 
hold gods,  private  idols  (fifx'n;).  As  to  the 
inspection  of  the  liver,  see  Havemick's  Com- 
tnenlary.  Such  circumstances  were  taken  into 
account  as  its  condition,  size,  whether  large, 
with  inwardly  bent  lobes,  etc.,  whether  dry, 
defective,  ulcerated,  etc.— Ver.  27.  In  Wb  light 
hand  is  the  divination,  requires  to  be  understood 
neither  as  :  into  his  right  hand  came,  etc.,  nor 
yet,  witli  Hitzig,  of  the  arrow-lot  in  particular, 
which  pointed  to  Jerusalem,  if  it  be  only  stated 
that  Jerusalem  was  designated  by  the  divination 
ceremony  as  the  object  to  be  attacked, — there- 
fore, the  "right  hand."  "The  right  hand  is 
employed  ;  he  has  the  decision  spiritually  therein  ; 
is  determined  in  his  actions  by  the  decision  given 
for  Jerusalem    in  its  three  forms"    (Hencst.). 

Hence  there  immediately  follows  :  'uxiih.    Comp. 

at  ch.  iv.  2.  To  open  the  mouth,  etc.,  either: 
the  battle-cry  calling  and  exciting  them  to 
destroy,  or  (with  Jun.):  to  open  a  mouth 
(breach)  in  the  wall  by  destroying  and  piercing  it. 
[Hekgst.  :  "with  slaughter,"  which  is  virtually 
contained  in  the  slaughter-cry.  Hav.  ;  here,  the 
cry  of  the  besiegers  according  to  its  intention, 
afterwards  according  to  its  outward  expression.  ] 
As  the  siege  is  the  thing  in  question,  the  expres- 
sion :  rams,  is  repeated,  with  special  reference  to 
the  gates.  As  to  the  rest,  cump.  at  ch.  iv.  2 
(xvii.  17). — Ver.  28.  While  tlie  oracle  determines 
the  Chaldeans  to  proceed  in  this  way,  that 
which  the  jirophet  proclaims  on  the  point  is,  to 
the  Jews,  as  a  lying  divination  in  their  eyes, 
inosmucli  as  they  rely  on  the  visible  fact  that 


Jerusalem  stiU  stands  before  their  eyes.—  'Jjan', 

n^J?3E')  apposition  clause:  "whohave  sworn  oaths' 

(Gesen.),  and  these  for  themselves  (on?).     AnJ 

this  circumstance,  owing  to  their  consciousness  cf 
infidelity  towards  the  king  of  Babylon  (comp. 
ch.  xvii.),  must  make  the  near  api^roaeh  of  his. 
unliugering  vengeance  in  the  liighest  degree  pro- 
bable. The  latter  (and  he  remembers)  therefoie 
assists  their  faithless  memory  in  an  active  way 
([iy,  ch.   xviii.  30),  so  that  they  are  taken  and 

crushed  by  punishment  (ch.  xiv.  5).  [Other  in- 
terpretations : — KiMCHi  :  Because  the  Chaldeans 
had  sworn  oaths  to  them  (or ;  the  Chaldeans  were 
to  them,  as  the  oath  of  oaths,  the  most  sacred  oath ), 
they  were  bound  by  oath  to  them,  so  that  Nebu- 
chadnezzar must  first  remember  their  treachery 

against  him.     Cocc.  refers  QPI?  in  both  cases  to 

the  Babylonians,  to  whom  the  oracle  appeared 
delusive,  because  they  remembered  the  strength 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  fate  of  Sennacherib ;  where- 
upon the  Chaldean  divines  made  repeated  pro- 
testations, and  some  one  then  called  to  mind  the 
guilt  of  the  Jews,  who,  having  fallen  away  from 
their  God,  were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of 
Babylon.  There  is  a  whole  story  on  the  subject, 
as  to  which  see  Targ.,  Rashi,  —  namely,  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  inquired  at  the  oracle  forty-nine 
times,  and  always  received  the  answer.  Besiege 
Jerusalem.  (Similarly  Eich.,  Schii.)  Hav.  : 
"Oaths  of  oaths  are  to  them,"  namely,  from  God; 
so  that  the  Jews  relied  on  God's  most  holy  pro- 
mises, which  were  assured  to  them  (!).  To  which, 
however,  the  sin  of  Judah  stood  in  opposition, 
which  Jehovah,  as  her  husband,  would  bring  to 
remembrance  (Num.  v.  15).  Hengst. 's  view,  who 
translates  similarly,  is  ut  all  events  better  :  "that 
which  was  sworn  to  them  by  oath,"  so  that  "the 
sworn  of  the  oaths"  is  the  announcement  of  de- 
struction, sworn  to  them  by  oath  ("as  truly  as  I 
live")  in  various  ways,  which  they  repelled  as  a 
delusion,  while  the  prophet,  behind  whom  the 
Almighty  stands,  makes  known  to  them  anew 
His  irrevocable  decree.  "  In  this  way  Judah 
brings  to  remembrance  (ver.  29)  the  iniquity, 
which  it  was  its  duty  to  atone  for  by  sincere 
repentance."  Umbr.  :  But  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  live  on  in  blind  confidence,  in  spite  of 
the  most  sacred  protestations  of  God,  etc.  Yet 
Jehovah  brings  guilt  to  remembrance,  so  tliat 
Jerusalem  shall  at  last  be  overtaken  by  punish- 
ment. EwALD  :  "They  thoughttheyshould  have 
weeks  upon  weeks,"  while  He  (as  their  adversary 
— God)  "recalls  the  (their)  guilt  (faithlessness  to- 
wards Him),  as  a  sutficient  cause  for  allowing 
them  to  be  besieged  and  taken."] — Ver.  29.  It 
seems  most  appropriate  to  the  previous  context  to 
regard  them  as  brought  to  remembrance,  and  thus 
everything  else  stands  in  close  connection  with 
that  fact.— Ch.  xvi.  57.— Ch.  xx.  43.— Ewalp: 
"Because  ye  come  to  remembrance,  ye  shall  be 
taken  by  the  hand."  Phillips.  :  "Because  He 
hath  brought  sin  to  your  remembrance,  since,  etc., 
because  they  are  brought  to  your  remembrance, 
ye  shall  be  taken  by  His  liand."  Ru.senm.  • 
Because  ye  are  remembered— before   Me.  —  5)32 

is  equivalent  to  :  violently  (ch.   xii.   13,  xix.  4). 
Usually  it  is  ur  derstood  of  the  minister  of  divint 


CHAF.  XXI.  30,  31. 


207 


vengeance  (Henost.  ).  —  Nebuchadnezzar,  with 
reference  to  ver.  16. — Ver.  29  in  connection  with 
Ter.  28  forms  the  transition  —  the  introduction  to 
the  following  paragraph. 

Vers.  30-32  [25- 27].   Tlie  Priiice  o/ Israel. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE. 

["  By  a  lively  and  energetic  turn  in  the  discourse, 
the  prophet  passes  from  the  people  at  large  to 
address  himself  immediately  to  Zedekiah,  and 
styles  him  not  only  wicked,  but  also  pierced 
through,  although,  it  is  well  known,  he  was  not 
actually  slain  in  the  calamities  that  ensued.  But 
it  is  not  exactly  what  was  to  be  done  by  the 
external  sword  of  the  Babylonians  that  comes 
here  into  view  ;  it  is  the  execution  of  the  Lord's 
judgment,  under  the  same  form  and  aspect  of 
severity  as  that  which  had  been  presented  in  the 
former  part  of  the  vision — the  terrors  of  His  drawn 
sword.  The  sword  is  but  an  image  of  the  judg- 
ment itself,  precisely  as  the  devouring  fire  had 
been  in  the  vision  immediately  preceding  ;  and  it 
is  not  the  less  true  that  Zedekiah  fell  under  its 
powerful  stroke,  though  he  personally  survived 
the  eatastroplie.  Driven  ignominiously  from  his 
throne,  doomed  to  see  his  family  slain  before  his 
eyes,  to  have  these  eyes  themselves  put  out,  and 
to  be  led  as  a  miserable  and  helpless  captive  in 
chains  to  Babylon,  he  might  with  the  most  jierfect 
propriety  be  regarded  as  the  grand  victim  of  the 
Lord's  sword  —  already,  in  a  manner,  pierced 
through  witli  it  ;  for,  to  the  strongly  idealistic 
spirit  of  the  prophet,  the  wickedness  and  the 
sword,  the  sin  and  its  punishment,  appear  in- 
separably connected  together.  The  overthrow  to 
which  he  was  destined  seemed  to  the  prophet's 
eye  at  once  so  inevitable  and  so  near,  that  he 
could  speak  of  it  no  othenvise  than  as  a  thing 
already  in  existence. 

**  But  it  was  to  be  no  merely  personal  loss  and 
degradation  ;  the  overthrow  to  be  accomplished 
on  Zedekiah  was  to  draw  along  with  it  the  com- 
plete subversion  of  the  present  state  of  things. 
Therefore,  while  the  prophet  repre.sents  the  day 
of  visitation  as  coming  upon  him,  he  also  speaks 
of  it  as  being  at  the  time  when  sin  generally  had 
reached  its  consummation,  and  the  completeness 
of  the  guilt  was  to  have  its  parallel  in  the  com- 
plete and  terminal  character  of  the  judgment. 
All  must  now  be  made  desolate  ;  the  mitre  of  the 
high  priest  (the  emblem  of  his  official  dignity  and 
honour,  as  the  representative  of  a  consecrated 
and  priestly  people),  as  well  as  the  crown  of  the 
king,  was  to  be  put  away,  and  everything  turned 
upside  down.  Such  a  convulsed  and  disorganized 
state  of  things  was  approaching,  that,  as  it  is  said, 
*  this  should  no  longer  be  this  ;'  in  other  words, 
nothing  should  be  allowed  to  remain  what  it  had 
been,  it  should  be  another  thing  than  formerly  ; 
as  is  presently  explained  in  what  follows  :  '  The 
low  IS  exalted  and  the  high  is  brought  down,' — 
a  general  revolution,  in  which  the  outward  rela- 
tions of  things  should  be  made  to  change  places, 
iu  just  retaliation  upon  the  people  for  having  so 
grossly  perverted  the  moral  relations  of  things. 
Yet  the  agents  and  participators  in  these  revolu- 
lir.ns  are  warned  not  to  expect  any  settled  con- 
ilition  to  come  out  of  them;  'this  also,'  it  is 
said,  'shall  not  be,'  it  shall  not  attain  to  per- 
manence and  security  ;  and  so,  overthrow  is  to 
/olliiw  overthrow  ;  '  nowhere  shall  there  be  rest, 


nowhere  security  ;  all  things  shall  be  in  a  stjite 
of  fluctuation,  until  the  appearing  of  the  great 
Restorer  and  Prince  of  Peace.'" — Fairbaikn's 
Ezekiel,  pp.  242,  243.— W.  F.] 

Ver.  30.  One  is  specially  singled  out  and  apo 

strophized  (comp.  ver.  19). — pi^nisnot;  "profane,' 

or  "sacrilegious,"  as  JfCn  (we  recall  the  contra*! 

to  p'^v  Iq  cli-   iii-   18)  stands  beside  it.      The 

Chaldee  gives :  ' '  worthy  of  death. " — Comp.  at  ch. 
xii.  10. — The  day  is  the  time  of  judgment,  ol 
punishment,  of  overthrow  (1  Sam.  xxvi.  10  ;  Fs. 
xx.xvii.  13  ;  Job  xviii.  20).  —  The  time  of  tha 
iniquity  of  the  end  (ch.  vii.  2)  is  when  iniquity 
(breach  of  oaths)  brings  the  end  (generally). 
[ScH.v.,  Cocc.  ;  The  end-guUt  as  the  last  and 
utmost.]  In  what  sense  the  end  is  to  be  taken, 
how  far  Zedekiah's  guilt,  who  is  therefore  the 
subject  of  address,  brings  it  about,  Ver.  31 
shows. — The  infinitive  denotes  the  mere  action, 
without  stating  from  whom  it  proceeds  (Henost.), 
more  expressively  than  the  imperative  ntjjVD,  from 

S\yi  (Isa.  xxii.  18  ;  "  enwrap  "),  denotes  in  the 

Pentateuch  (11  times)  the  head-band  (turban)  of 
the  high-priest.  As  miaj?,  from  iBj;  (to  sur- 
round), denotes  the  royal  crown,  and  thus  stands 
for  the  kingdom  in  contradistinction  to  the  high- 
priesthood,  so  i3'"in  (from  on)  could  also  be  taken 

in  as   absolute    contradistinction   to   TDH,  —  as 

Hitzig  interrogatively  renders  it :  "lift,"  "raise," 
or  "maintain  in  elevation."  But  that  the  kingly 
dignity  should  remain  untouched,  cannot,  in  the 
light  of  the  context,  be  a  matter  of  uncertainty, 
and  even  in  Hitzig's  opinion  Jehovah's  negative 
to  such  a  question  is  undoubted.      n3l7D  ^liiS, 

in  Isa.  Lxii.  3,  combines  the  royal  and  priestly, 
not  merely  in  a  figurative  sense,  but  on  the  ground 
of  Ex.  xix.  6.  Besides,  Ezekiel  is  speaking  of 
the  end  as  a  whole,  not  of  the  subversion  ot  the 
kingdom  merely ;  although  it  comes  to  pass 
specially  by  means  of  the  iniquity  of  the  king 
who  is  apostrophized,  and  the  judgment  (ver.  32) 
points  to  the  priesthood  as  well  as  the  royalty. 
Thus  nothing  remains  but  to  interpret  D>"in  as 

synonymous  with  "I'Dn,  even  without  a  i)X"lb"Oi 

which  can  be  easily  supplied  from  the  context 
(Zedekiah  is  expressly  designated  "  Prince  of 
Israel"  in  ver.  30).  Consequently,  "sentence  of 
death  is  pronounced  on  the  theocracy,"  according 
to  its  existing  form,  which  the  history  of  the 
people  subsequent  to  the  exile  confirms.  Comp. 
Keil  on  the  passage.  [Cocc.  takes  both  as  desig- 
nating the  kingdom  as  a  whole,  not  merely  Zede- 
kiah's ;  and  then  understands  the  following  as 
referring  to  the  elevation  of  the  Asmonaeans, 
whose  crown,  however,  would  not  be  the  Messianic 
one  promised.  In  reference  to  this  latter,  Ewald 
remarks  :  "This  corrupt  earthly  kingdom  is  not 
this   Messianic  kingdom  which   is  to  come."] — 

nifX?  nit  (neuter)  indicates,  according  to  most 
interpreters,  the  complete  subversion  of  the  exist- 
ing state  of  things  (ver.  32),  so  that  the  low  is  to 
be  elevated,  and  the  lofty  made  low,  as  ver.  3S 
shows,  by  Jehovah.     Israel  having  alrased  herseU 


808 


EZEKIEL. 


by  ain,  Go!  thoroughly  abases  her  by  pnnishment. 

Hav.  takes  fl —  ni53t5^n  as:  "turned towards  the 

low, "  a  constructio  prcegnans,  betokening  the  con- 
descension of  God.  Compare  at  ch.  xvii.  24. 
Then  'nxt  would  be  understood  thus  :  This  (what 
has  just  been  brought  low)  is  not  this,  namely, 
what  it  should  be  (according  to  its  ideal),  but  a 
"not  this."  And  with  this  is  connected  eleva- 
tion (ch.  xvii.  24),- namely,  through  the  Messiah, 
as  is  seen  in  what  follows  ;  whereupon  the  bring- 
ing low  of  the  high,  which  is  more  forcibly  depicted 
in  ver.  32,  returns  again  to  the  existing  condition 
of  things  under  Zedekiah  ;  and  "  this  also, "  merely 
recapitulating  =  Yea,  this  cast-down  priesthood 
and  royalty  is  not  (namely,  according  to  ver.  31) 
what  it  should  be,  and  thus  in  reality  is  not,  and 
this  condition  endures  till  its  elevation  in  the 
Coming  One  (till,  ideal  terminus,  like  Gen.  xlix. 
10). — Ver.  32.  The  thrice-repeated  overturn  (found 
here  only)  accords  with  the  well-known  symbol- 
ism of  the  divine.  Usually  taken  as  emphatic,  to 
denote  total  destruction.  [According  to  Abarbanel, 
it  refers  to  the  three  last  kings,  Jehoiakira,  Jehoi- 
achin,  and  Zedekiah  ;  according  to  others,  to  the 
three  destructions  —  the  Babylonish,  the  Greek 
under  Antiochus,  and  the  Eoman.]  Comp.  Isa. 
xxiv. — nj"  goes  back  on  nxt,  or  means  the  land  (?). 

— According  to  most,  this  also  indicates  an  addi- 
tional overthrow  ;  it  is  more  natural  to  regard  it 
as  betokening  the  present  overthrow.  JVT\,  mas- 
culine, being  construed  with  it,  shows  nj{j  to  be 
neuter.  But  this  inverted  state  of  things  is  not 
to  be  for  ever.  ^J),  according  to  its  root-signifi- 
cation, includes  the  future,  so  that  the  Person  in 
question  brings  to  an  end  the  overthrow,  or  the 
abasement  to  "  nothing,"  since  He  completes  it, 
.e.  makes  it  complete  in  form  ;  but  at  the  same 
time,  through  realization  of  the  idea  in  the  "  over- 
thrown" or  "  brought  low,"  efiectsthe  fulfilment. 
— The  judgment  is  God's,  Dent.  i.  17,  therefore 
here  also  Jehovah  gives  it.  The  expression  speaks 
of  a  re-establishment  of  ' '  the  judgment "  by  means 
which  include  chastisement ;  it  embraces  the 
royal  and  priestly  office  (Ex.  xxviii.  29  ;  1  Kings 
iii.  9  sq. ).  Comp.  besides,  lien.  xlix.  10;  Ps. 
Ixxii.  1  ;  Isa.  ix.  6,  xlii.  1  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  5,  xxxiii. 
17  ;  John  v.  22  ;  Acts  vii.  14. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  VER.  32. 

[''  We  can  have  no  hesitation  in  understanding 
by  this  person  the  Messiah,  whether  we  translate, 
'  Till  he  comes  to  whom  the  right  is,'  or,  '  Till  he 
comes  to  whom  the  judgment  belongs;'  'and  I 
give  it  to  him. '  It  is  not  expressly  said  what  was 
to  be  given  him,  and  should  stand  waiting  for  its 
proper  possessor  till  he  should  come  ;  but  the 
context  plainly  forbids  us  to  understand  anything 
less  than  what  was  taken  away — the  things  repre- 
sented by  the  priestly  mitre  and  the  royal  crown. 
The  true  priestly  dignity,  and  the  proper  regal 
glory,  were  to  be  gone  for  a  time  into  abeyance  ; 
some  partial,  temporary,  and  fluctuating  posses- 
sion of  them  might  be  regained,  but  nothing 
more  ;  the  adequate  and  permanent  realization 
was  only  to  be  found  in  the  person  of  Messiah, 
because  in  Him  alone  was  there  to  be  a  fitting 
representation  of  the  divine  righteousness.  It  is 
tme  there  was  Mmething  like  a  restoration  of  the 


standing  and  honour  of  the  priesthood  after  the 
return  Stom  the  Babylonish  exile  ;  ami  if  the  idea« 
currently  entertained  upon  the  subject  were  cor- 
rect, there  might  appear  in  that  a  failure  of  the 
prophecy.  But  there  was  no  right  restoration  of 
the  ])riestly,  any  more  than  of  the  regal  dignity 
at  the  time  specified  ;  it  was  but  a  shadow  of  thi" 
original  glory.  For  there  was  no  longer  the  dis- 
tinctive prerogative  of  the  Urim  and  'Thummini, 
nor  the  ark  of  the  co\'enant,  nor  the  glory  over- 
shadowing the  mercy-seat ;  all  was  in  a  dejiressed 
and  mutilated  condition,  and  even  that  sub- 
ject to  many  interferences  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  foreign  powers.  So  much  only  was 
fiven,  both  in  respect  to  the  priesthood  and  the 
ingdom,  as  to  show  that  the  Lord  had  not  for- 
saken His  people,  and  to  serve  as  pledge  cf  the 
coming  glory.  But  it  was  to  the  still-prospective, 
rather  than  the  present  state  of  things,  that  the 
eye  of  faith  was  directed  to  look  for  the  proper 
restoration.  And  lest  any  should  expect  other- 
wise, the  prophet  Zechariah,  after  the  return 
from  Babylon,  took  up  the  matter,  as  it  were, 
where  Ezekiel  had  left  it,  and  intimated  in  the 
plainest  manner,  that  what  was  then  accomplished 
was  scarcely  worth  taking  into  account ;  it  was, 
at  the  most,  but  doing  in  a  figure  what  coidd 
only  find  its  real  accomplishment  in  the  person 
and  work  of  Messiah.  Especially  at  chap.  vi.  1 4  ; 
'  And  be  (the  branch)  shall  build  the  temple  of 
the  Lord,  and  he  shall  bear  the  glory  ;  and  shall 
sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne,  and  he  shall  be  a 
priest  upon  his  throne.'  Thus  the  mitre  and  the 
crown  were  both  to  meet  in  him,  and  the  temple 
in  its  noblest  sense  be  built,  and  the  glory  be  ob- 
tained, such  as  it  became  the  Lord's  Anointed  to 
possess.  Meanwhile  all  was  but  preparatory  and 
imperfect." — Faikbairn's  £lzekiel,  pp.  244,  24.5. 
— W.  F.] 

Vers.  33-37  [28-32].  Against  Amman. 

As  the  prince  of  Israel  had  his  counterpart  in 
the  Messiah,  so  the  declaration  "  against  Jeru- 
salem" in  vers.  21-24  sq.  finds  its  counterpart  in 
this  paragraph  ;  hence  also  the  analogous  expres- 
sions.— Ver.  33.  Reproach  is  injuring  by  words: 
directly, — reviling;  or  indirectly, — self-glorifica- 
tion. Thereby  the  mention  made  of  the  Am- 
monites is  illustrated.  When  Babylon  first  of  all 
inflicted  punishment  on  Jerusalem,  Ammon  took 
occasiou  to  boast  over  the  besieged  (ch.  xxv.  3,  6  ; 
Zeph.  ii.  8;  Lam.  i.  2,  iii.  61),  and  to  applaud 
the  conquerors.  Ammon's  self-exaltation  had 
exhibited  itself  practically  by  their  seizing  a  por- 
tion of  the  trans-Jordanic  territory  of  the  former 
kingdom  of  Israel  (Jer.  xlix.  1  sq. ). — Comp.  vers. 

14,  19,  15,  20.      P'anp,  according  to  Gesen.,  for 

^'3Nn    (from    ijos).    to    cause  to   consume   (?). 

Others :  from  pig,  holding,  containing  (ch.  xxiii. 

32) ;  almost  adverbially  :  as  much  as  possible,  or 

(^3')  <^  much  as  can  be.    Hengst.  :  abundantly. 

HiTZio:  <o  (iozzfe  ;  properly  :  tomake  theeyesduU 
of  vision.  (Oxymoron. ) — That  it  may  glitter,  ver 
15. — Ver.  34.     3,  equivalent  to:  "  notwithstand 

ing  that,"  and  to  be  taken  as  parenthetic.  Even 
in  Ammon,  therefore,  false  prophets  and  false  con- 
fidence !     Ch.  xiii.  6,  vii.  9 ;  Jei    ixvii  9.  10 


CHAP.  XXI. 


209 


Klief.  :  Tlie  oracles  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  ver.  26, 
while  they  pointed  to  Jerusalem,  showed  Ammon 
false.     See  Keil  in  opposition  to  this  notion. — 

nn?,  HiTZ.  :    the  occasion  of  the  sword's  being 

placed  (reading    nnis)  on  the  necks.     (Of  the 

pierced-through  ?  Wherefore  this  again  ?)  Others : 
that  I  may  lay  thee ;  or :  that  one  (the  enemy) 
may  lay  thee;  or,  as  Ewald  (History  of  the  People 
of  Israel) :  as  it  is  falsely  prophesied  to  thee 
that  thou  slialt  be  laid  on  the  necks  of  the  Jews 
to  destroy  them,  I  will  return  thee  to  thy  sheath, 
— namely,  the  sword  of  the  Ammonites  which  is 
addressed.  It  depends  rather  on  the  foregoing 
verse.  The  pierced-through  of  the  wicked— 
from  among  the  Jews;  comp.  vers.  30,  19.  They 
have  received  the  death-blow  of  the  sword  on 
their  necks,  which  are  brought  into  prominence 
for  the  sake  of  pictorial  description.  Thus 
Ammon  is  judged  like  the  prostrate  Judah,  which 
it  mocked.  Comp.  ver.  30. — Ver.  35.  Address 
to  Ammon.  The  sword,  which  is  to  be  supplied, 
is  not  mentioned,  because  it  does  not  come  into 
account  in  contrast  to  the  sword  of  God's  ven- 
geance   against    Ammon.      The  gender    (3t;'n, 

with  Patach,  masc.  imper.)  alternates  with  femi- 
uines,  the  sword-beariug  men  with  the  nation  as 
a  feminine  idea.  [Ewald,  infin.  absol.  as  in  ver. 
31.]  Therefore  all  resistance  is  vain.  (Matt. 
xxvi.  52  !)  It  receives  its  sentence  from  Jehovah, 
— its  end  where  it  originated.  Comp.  Joseph. 
Antiq.  X.  9.  7.— Ch.  xvi.  3.— Ch.  xi.  10.  [Should 
one,  with  Jerome,  in  ver.  35  (Rashi,  ver.  34) 
regard  the  Babylonians  as  the  persons  addressed, 
so  that  with  the  :  "  against  Ammon,"  an  :  "against 
Babylon  "  is  joined,  but  which  from  intelligible 
reasons  is  simply  implied,  then  ver.  10  would 
not  be  opposed  to  this  view.  A  separation  of 
Jehovah's  sword  from  that  of  Babylon,  which 
as  such  scarcely  comes  still  into  account,  espe- 
cially in  reference  to  that  which  follows,  has 
nothing  inconceivable  in  it;  and  since  Jehovah 
judges  Babylon,  His  sword  would  remain  drawn. 
The  scabbard  does  not  therefore  require  to  be 
understood  as  meaning  the  land,  but  the  meaning 
would  be,  that  after  the  completion  of  the  judg- 
ment :igainst  both  Jerusalem  and  Ammon,  by 
means  of  war,  Babylon's  sword  should  be  sheathed, 
and  should  await  the  judgment  of  God  in  its 
own  land.  The  execution  of  it  by  the  Persians 
w  ould  be  characteristically  depicted  in  the  follow- 
ing verses,  while  in  relation  to  Ammon  the  state- 
ment seems  rather  strong ;  and  the  supposition  of 
Hav.  that  Ammon  rejiresents  heathenism  gene- 
rally, or,  according  to  Hengst.,  "  the  world-power 
hostile  to  the  kingdom  of  God,"  is  very  sugges- 
tive of  perplexity.}— Ver.  36.  7135^  (ch.  xiv.  19) 

makes   a  paronomasia  with  tSSE',  immediately 

before.       may,    "outpouring;"   hence   used   of 

wrath  as  poured  out.     3  may  also  be  translated 

by:  blow  upon,  as,  when  fire  is  blown  upon  or 
against  any  one,  the  fire  itself  is  blown  on. 
Hitzig,  however:  "with  the  fire  of  My  fury  I 
will  breathe  upon  thee."  In  the  end  the  subject 
.iisses  over  from  the  sword  to  the  fire,  as  in  the 
'Cginning,  from  the  fire  to  the  sword.  Consum- 
ing  men  are  those  who  prepare  this  fae;  Hengst.  : 


t 


"burning  men  are  those  who  are  filled  with  glow- 
ing anger."  [In  the  explanation  which  points  to 
the  Persians,  an  allusion  to  their  fire-worship !] 
Hav.:  fierce,  cruel;  Gesen.  :  foolish,  brutish, 
Ps.  xciv.  8.  So  also  Hitzig,  in  relation  to  the 
language  of  the  Chaldeans,  which  was  unintel- 
ligible (stupid)  to  the  Ammonites. — Ver.  37.  Ch. 
XV.  4,  6. — Thy  blood,  etc.,  in  which  the  figures 
of  fire  and  sword  are  unified, — in  the  midst  of 
the  land,  as  in  ver.  35  :  "in  the  place,"  etc.,  "in 
the  land,"  etc.  It  will  fall  on  them  in  their 
homes,  so  that  weapons  of  defence  shall  be  of  no 
service.  Contrast  to  a  war  of  offence.  Others : 
"flowing  everywhere  in  the  land"(?).  Ewald: 
"Thy  blood  shall  remain  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth,  and  thou  shalt  not  be  made  mention  of." — ■ 
He.ngst.  :  "From  the  times  of  the  Maccabees, 
the  Ammonites  and  the  Moabites  have  quite  dis- 
appeared from  history."  Their  subversion  is 
complete,  while  Israel  has  still  something  to  look 
forward  to. 

THEOLOGICAL  REMARKS. 

1.  The  bitterest  and  most  painful  plaint  finds 
expression  in  poetry.  A  truly  spiritual  grief  and 
tile  poetic  form  readily  combine.  This  is  the 
psychological  truth  of  the  chapter.  The  unusual 
forms  of  expression,  the  rapid  ti-ansitions,  and  the 
idiomatic  difficulties  which  this  chapter  jiresents, 
are  accounted  for  by  its  poetic  construction.  This 
subjective-logical,  abrupt-dithyrainbic  text  has 
been  marred  by  a  Philistine  criticism  which 
tramples  on  psychology  and  iesthetics. 

2.  Fire  and  sword  are  the  two  figures  in  which 
divine  judgment  clothes  itself.  The  latter  is, 
however,  more  than  a  picture,  if  the  significance 
of  war  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
among  men  is  not  overlooked. 

3.  Every  judgment  of  God  keeps  in  view  the 
establishment  of  the  right  on  earth,  and  is  un- 
imaginable apart  from  grace  and  mercy. 

4.  It  is  to  be  noted  as  to  the  Jewish  kingdom, 
now  ripe  for  destruction,  that  it  "despised  every 
tree;"  whether  that  means  that  which  was  subject 
to  it,  or  mankind  generally.  It  thus  became  in- 
human, lost  sight  of  Israel's  essential  relation  t,< 
humanity,  and  became  faithless  to  the  funda- 
mental significance  of  the  people  of  God. 

5a.  Justice  will  be  done  to  the  text  by  regarding 
the  manifold  Chaldaic  divination  as  nothing 
more  than  a  highly  dramatic  representation  of 
the  idea  of  Providence.  Havernick,  indeed,  since 
he  makes  the  agreement  of  soothsaying  and  pro- 
phecy— brought  about,  of  course,  by  divine  guid- 
ance— subservient  to  the  carrying  out  of  God's 
will,  goes  still  farther;  so  far,  indeed,  as  to  main- 
tain that  there  is  in  Ezekiel,  notwithstanding  his 
"otherwise  markedly  Levitical  character,"  "a 
decided  recognition  of  divination. "  He  finds  the 
occasion  in  the  exile-period,  when  "Hebraism 
was  so  remarkably  tinctured  with  the  .soothsaying 
of  heathenism  ; "  as  appears  also  in  Daniel,  etc. 

56.  ["  What  a  sublime  proof  of  the  overruling 
providence  and  controlling  agency  of  Jehovah ! 
The  mightiest  monarch  of  the  world,  travelling 
at  the  head  of  almost  unnumbered  legions,  and 
himself  consciously  owning  no  other  direction 
than  that  furnished  by  the  instruments  of  his 
own  blind  superstition,  yet  having  his  path 
marked  out  to  him  beforehand  by  this  servant  of 
the  living  God !      How  strikingly  did  it  show 

O 


210 


EZEKIEL. 


that  the  greatest  potentates  on  earth,  and  even 
the  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places,  have 
their  Bounds  appointed  to  them  by  the  hand  of 
God,  and  that  however  majestically  they  may 
seem  to  conduct  themselves,  still  they  cannot 
overstep  the  prescribed  limits,  and  must  be  kept 
in  all  their  operations  subservient  to  the  higher 
purposes  of  Heaven  !  " — P.  F. — W.  F.  ] 

6.  In  his  oft-cited  work,  Tlie  Propliets  and 
their  FrophecieK,  Tholuck  calls  attention  to  the 
distinction  between  "subordinate"  divination, 
whicli,  "resting  upon  a  natural  substratum, 
divines  the  future  from  this"  (interpreters  of 
oracles,  diviners,  augurs,  hartispices),  and  the 
"higher "  method  of  the  " revealer  of  the  future 
who  is  immediately  impelled  by  God"  (Divination, 
Projihecy).  Plutarch,  Vita  Homeri,  ch.  212; 
Cicero,  De  Divin.  i.  18.  After  giving  a  sketch 
of  the  views  of  the  fathers,  Tholuck  comes  to  the 
conclusion ;  "  Whatever  w'e  may  ascribe  to  the 
agency  of  priestly  fraud  and  superstitious  self- 
deception,  it  is  now  universally  acknowledged  by 
philologists,  and  investigators  into  antiquity, 
that  at  the  foundation  there  was  a  reality."  He 
then  refers  more  particularly  to  the  insight 
gained,  since  the  end  of  last  century,  into  a 
middle  territory  between  the  divine  and  the  non- 
divine  agencies  of  divination  (the  phenomena  of 
magnetism  and  somnambulism,  which  are  ranked 
by  medical  men  and  philosophers  as  physiological 
and  psychological  facts). 

7.  "  There  is  a  natural  divination,"  says  Beck, 
"inasmuch  as  the  course  of  the  world  developes 
Itself  according  to  certain  original  and  standing 
fundamental  laws  in  exact  regularity,  which  we 
are  fciught  by  our  conscience  to  regard  as  the 
moral  order  of  the  world.  As,  by  means  of 
a  definite  consciousness  of  this  standing  divine 
order,  conscience  often  gives  a  man,  in  relation  to 
his  own  doing  and  suffering,  very  clear  indications 
of  his  own  future,  so  a  living  and  vigorously 
aroused  conscience  can  lead  him  to  a  perception  of 
how  the  past  and  present  must  have  come  about 
in  virtue  of  that  moral  order,  and  partly  of  what 
must  farther  emerge  from  it.  Where,  however, 
this  prophetic  conscience  is  intensified  by  espe- 
cially profound  experiences,  or  earnest  investiga- 
tion of  history,  the  moral  connection  between  past, 
present,  and  future  may  often  become  clear  even 
to  the  smallest  details,  But  this  divination  ex- 
tends only  to  the  world-bond  already  existing 
under  the  universal  government  of  God,  and  to 
the  historical  bond  regulated  and  limited  by  in- 
ternal and  eternal  moral  laws.  Into  new  deter- 
minations of  the  course  of  the  world,  which  first 
became  manifest  by  special  governmental  acts  of 
God  which  reveal  them, — the  proper  divine  order 
and  development  of  the  kingdom, — mere  divina- 
tion cannot  penetrate,  for  it  is  destitute  of  the 
nece.ssary  preliminary  conditions. " 

8.  As  to  the  relations  between  divination  and 
prophecy,  see  Tholuck  in  the  treatise  referred  to, 
§  8,  and  Herzog's  Realencyd.  xvii.  p.  641  sq.  In 
regard  to  the  substance  of  the  matter,  the  differ- 
ence proves  itself  to  be,  that  while,  at  most,  room 
is  made  for  the  former  by  the  providence  of  God 
as  the  principle  of  world-government,  redemption, 
i.e.  Christ's  redemption,  lifts  the  latter  to  its 
post  of  elevation.  Then  also  .livination  must 
always  be  estimated  n  relation  to  the  physical 
region  in  which  t  moves,  and  according  to  whose 
law  B  it  ia  excited  ;  while  prophecy  finds  its  sphere 


not  only  in  the  soul,  but  also  in  the  spiritual  life 
and,  though  dealing  in  some  measure  with  indi. 
vidual,  national,  human  interests,  ever  stretchei 
beyond  to  eternal  truth  as  the  object  of  its  supreme 
interest. 

9.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Davidic  king,  by 
whose  means  the  ruin  of  Israel  is  brought  about, 
on  the  other  hand  also  serves  here  as  a  medium 
for  the  Messiah.  Not  only  did  David's  family 
furnish  in  point  of  fact  the  last  "  prince  (king)  ol 
Israel,"  but  the  idea  of  an  everlasting  royalty  in 
Israel  was  bound  up  by  God's  promises  with 
David's  house.  The  contrast  between  sin  and 
grace,  despair  of  all  and  hope  for  all,  death  and 
resurrection,  is  concentrated  in  the  last  repre- 
sentative of  David's  family.  It  is  peculiar  to  our 
prophet  to  have  so  strongly  emphasized  this  con- 
trast, vers.  30-32. 

10.  Israel  ought  to  have  been  a  kingdom  o( 
priests  to  Jehovah.  As  Israel  fell  away  from  this 
position  with  the  fall  of  the  priesthood  and  the 
kingdom,  so  on  the  other  hanci,  with  the  renewed 
bestowal  of  priesthood  and  royalty  in  the  Messiah, 
Israel  is  also  reinstated  in  Him  as  that  which  it 
ought  to  be,  1  Pet.  ii.  9,  10. 

11.  The  high-priesthood,  indeed,  still  continued 
after  the  exile.  But  in  that  period  it  fared  with 
the  priesthood  as  with  the  temple.  "Both," 
says  Hav.,  "bound  together  in  the  closest  way 
by  divine  arrangement,  fell  short  of  that  which 
they  had  been  before  the  exile.  There  was  only 
a  shadow  of  the  ancient  glory,  as  the  temple  was 
only  a  provisional  one  for  an  abnormal  state  of 
things.  This  was  outwardly  apparent,  for  there 
was  no  ark  of  the  covenant  in  the  temple,  and  the 
high  priest  was  denied  the  right  of  consulting  by 
Urim  and  Thunimim,  Ezra  ii.  63.  As,  then,  tlie 
high-priesthood  was  totally  in  abeyance  so  far  as 
the  exiles  were  concerned,  and  as  after  the  exile 
only  its  shadow  was  provisionally  set  up,  so  in  the 
eye  of  prophecy  the  exile  and  the  appearance  of 
the  Messiah  are  closely  connected  facts." 

12.  As  to  the  kingdom,  Zerubbabel,  the  leader 
of  the  people  after  the  exile,  although  of  David's 
line,  was  no  king  on  David's  throne.  But  Herod, 
who  becomes  king  over  Israel,  is  of  Edomite  origin. 

13.  "  In  the  remarkable  passage  of  the  Tract. 
Sola,  p.  1069,  ed.  Wagenseil,  it  is  said  :  The 
Urim  and  Thummim,  and  the  king  from  David's 
stem,  had  ceased  with  the  destruction,  and  their 
restoi'ation  is  to  be  expected  only  when  the  dead 
are  raised  xi\>,  and  the  Messiah,  David's  Son, 
appears"  (Hav.). 

14.  The  old  versions,  with  great  unanimity, 
have  made  use  of  the  Messianic  passage  here  in 
Ezekiel  for  the  explanation  of  "Shiloh,"  Gen. 
xlix.  18.  Hengst.  complains,  in  his  Chriitoloiji/, 
that  instead  of  an  allusion,  they  have  mostly 
assumed  an  explanation  ;  to  him  the  relation  oi 
Ezekiel  to  the  passage  in  qiiestion  seems  imrecog- 
nisable.  But  while  the  prophet  supplemen '  s  Gen. 
xiix.  from  Ps.  Ixxii.  1-5,  where  righteousness 
and  judgment  are  the  basis  of  the  peace  introduced 
by  the  Messiah,  we  do  not  find  in  Ezekiel  that 
which  we  might  expect, — to  whom  the  "peace,'' 
but  "to  whom  the  judgment,"  belongs.  In 
Ezekiel,  however,  the  peace  is  also  in  the  back- 
ground, for  the  advent  of  Him  whose  is  the  judg- 
ment makes  an  end  of  destruction.  That  dangers 
would  threaten  the  sceptre  of  Judah  before  the 
coming  of  Shiloh,  even  Jacob  intimated  by  th« 
stress  which  he  put  on  :  it   "shall  Eot  deparl 


CHAP.  XXI. 


211 


fiom  Judah  till,"  etc.  Kurtz,  however,  iu  his 
Huitory  of  the  Old  Covenant  (vol.  ii.  pp.  87,  88, 
Clark's  Trans.),  maintains  too  much  when  he 
assert*  that  tlie  two  passages  are  entirely  dift'er- 
ent.  The  completion  of  the  glory  of  Judah  is 
here,  as  there,  kept  in  view,  and  in  both  cases  in 
a  Messianic  sense.  The  distinction  is,  that  what 
concerns  Judah  as  Judah  is  taken  ideally  in  Gen. 
xlix.,  and  really  in  Ezekiel.  Therefore,  here  a 
temporary  "is  not,"  and  there  a  (definitive)  "not 
depart." 

15.  Obscurity,  ambiguity,  and  difficulty  of  in- 
terpretation are  characteristic  of  the  Messianic 
prophecies.     Comp.  1  Pet.  1.  10,  11. 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  [xx.  45  s(|.  ]  The  sentence  of  burning  ; 
the  Judge  who  pronounces  it ;  the  avenger  who  exe- 
cutes it ;  the  judgment  whereby  it  is  accomplished. 
— The  forest  in  the  south — a  picture,  a  histoi-y,  an 
example. — "In  nature  descends  now  a  gentle,  now 
a  dashing  rnin-sliower"  (St.  ).  —  "The  word  of  God 
is  rightly  likened  to  luiu.  Like  rain,  it  descends 
from  above,  and  not  according  to  man's  will ;  it  is 
also,  like  it,  useful  and  beneficial ;  as  rain  flows 
down  from  rocks  \i\«j\\  the  fields,  so  the  word  of 
God  upon  the  godles.-i,  and,  on  the  otlier  hand,  into 
pious  hearts  ;  and,  like  the  rain,  it  is  not  equally 
acceptable  to  all,"  etc.  (Fe.ssel.) — "That  which  is 
bitter  to  the  mouth  is  wholesome  to  the  heart. 
The  word  of  God,  even  when  it  is  sharper  than  a 
two-edged  sword,  is  like  the  quickening  rain  " 
(Hengst.). — Ver.  3  [xx.  47].  A  wood  bends  be- 
neath the  storm  of  the  Almighty,  and  rustles 
while  it  waves  ;  but  we  men  harden  ourselves 
more  and  more. — "God  will  turn  us  from  the 
instruments  whom  He  employ.s  against  us  to 
Himself,  that  we  may  learn  whom  we  have  sinned 
against,  and  by  whom  therefore  we  are  punished" 
vSt.  ). — The  tree,  which  in  spite  nf  everything  is 
unfruitful,  is  ripe  for  the  fire. — "  When  the  green 
tree  does  not  stand,  how  will  it  go  with  the  dry  ? " 
(Stck. )— The  fire  which  is  not  quenched. — Ver, 
4  [xx.  48].  "  If  we  see  that  all  human  plans  and 
devices,  even  the  most  promising,  come  to  nothing, 
we  are  led  to  the  confession  that  we  have  to  do 
with  personal  Omnipotence  and  Righteousness, 
against  which  the  battle  is  unavailing"  (He.xgst.  ). 
— Contemplation  of  the  judgment  of  God. — God's 
judgments  permit  no  malicious  or  even  idle  spec- 
tators.— Knowledge  of  the  holy  and  righteous  God 
from  His  judgments  in  this  world. — Ver.  5.  "Tlie 
godless  never  want  for  excuses  :  if  one  preaches 
by  analogies,  it  is  too  dark  ;  if  by  plain  state- 
ments, it  is  too  simjile,  blundei-ing,  etc.,  1  Kings 
xxii.  16"  (Clt.). — "  The  world  cries  out  against 
preachers  who  touch  their  conscience  ;  that  which 
is  hateful  to  the  world,  many  are  ashamed  to  con- 
fess" (ScHM.).  —  "The  sighing  of  preachers  over 
their  hearers."  —  The  bad  style  of  criticism  of 
preaching. — "  Nothing  remains  but  to  flee  to 
Him  by  whom  they  were  sent  to  preach  "  (Stck.  ). 
— How  do  so  many  sermons  meet  such  opposi- 
tion ?^The  fault  is  the  hearer's.  Thus  many  a 
sermon  is  a  judgment  to  many  people.- — "The 
disciples,  Luke  viii. ,  asked,  '  What  might  this 
parable  be  ?'"  (Stck.) 

Ver.  6  sq.  [ver.  1  sq.]  The  sword-word  over 
Judah — a  word  of  God,  and  a  word  of  destruction. 
— "JemsaJ-'ni,"  [headdressof  a  sword,  andwhata 
sword!— Ver.  7  [2].  Thither  the  Jews  turned  their 


face  when  they  prayed  in  war  or  in  a  foreign  land, 
1  Kings  viii.  44,  48  (B.  B. ).— Ver.  8  sq.  [S  sq.]  "  In 
national  chastisements  the  pious  suffer  along  with 
others"  (St.). — But  there  is  a  difference  evtn 
when  the  suffering  is  outwardly  the  .same. — "  All 
men  are,  besides,  unrighteous  of  themselves,  and 
according  to  their  nature  have  deserved  nothing 
better  than  the  godless.  But  during  judgments 
they  separate  from  the  fellowship  of  the  wicked, 
from  which  they  may  not  before  have  held  them- 
selves sufficiently  aloof  "  (L. ). — The  sword  is  God's. 
God  is  in  the  swords,  although  men  bear  tliem. 
—  "Let  us  learn  to  judge  rightly  of  war.  Goci 
oversees  it  from  beginning  to  end"  (L. ).  —  "The 
sheath  in  which  God's  sword  is  put  is  His  for- 
bearance "  (Theodoket). — "  Man's  sword  we  ma\ 
escape,  but  not  God's"  (Stck.). — The  axe  was 
even  then  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees.  The 
sword  of  the  Romans  at  last  followed  that  of  tlie 
Chaldeans.  —  "So  it  proceeds  till  the  last  Anti- 
christ and  his  desolation"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  11  sq. 
[6  sq.]  "The  judgments  which  hang  over  the 
wicked  worid  are  so  dreadful,  that  a  believer  may 
well  sigh  over  them,  Uan.  ix.  4  sq."  (St.) — "A 
preacher  who  wishes  to  move  £nd  teach  others 
must  himself  feel  similar  emotions"  (Ck.). — 
The  sighing  of  the  servant  of  God  over  that 
which  men  can  and  yet  will  not  hear,  and  over 
that  which  they  will  require  to  hear  and  see. — 
He  who  will  not  hear  must  feel. — "Just  as  we, 
when  we  read  that  the  Saviour  wept  over  Jeru- 
salem, lightly  ask  why  He  wept"  (RiCHT. ). — 
"  How  insolent  and  confident  the  godless  are  in 
prosperity  ;  in  adversity  tliey  are  equally  faint- 
hearted and  desolate  !  Then  they  are  in  terror  of 
a  falling  leaf;  much  more  of  a  destroying  sword  " 
(L. ).  — "  Ah,  it  is  not  good  when  God's  witnesses 
merely  weep  in  secret  (Jer.  xiii.  17)  ;  much  more 
when  God's  messengei-s  and  angels  of  peace  weep 
bitterly  (Isa.  xxxiii.  7),  and  are  obliged  to  fulfil 
their  office  with  sighing  (Heb.  .xiii.  7),  because 
it  is  too  much  for  them  ;  and  usually  there  fol- 
lows thereupon  a  mightv  outpouring  of  wrath" 
(B.  B.). 

Ver.  13  sq.  [8  sq.]  The  sacred,  teiTible  sword- 
song.  See  Komer's  Honij  of  the  Sicord. — The 
prophets  doubtless  treated  politics  both  on  their 
outward  and  inward  side,  but  only  the  politics  of 
the  kingdom  of  God. — Ver.  14  [9].  "God  shows 
us  the  sword,  and  waves  it  over  our  heads,  so  that 
we  should  be  timeously  and  profitably  alarmed  " 
(Stck.). — "God  can  use  every  creature  as  His 
sword  ;  it  is  ahvays  prepared  to  execute  His  com- 
mand "  (St.). — "War  as  a  divine  judgment, 
therefore  for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers  ;  but  it 
is  also  a  preaching  of  repentance,  when  God 
sharpens  the  sword  and  makes  it  glitter"  (L. ). — 
"  He  who  will  not  submit  to  the  sword  of  God'c 
word  (Heb.  iv.  12)  will  be  overtaken  by  the 
sword  of  the  enemy"  (Stck.). — Ver.  15  [10]. 
God  Himself  takes  the  offering  which  men  will 
not  give  Him  voluntarily.  The  personal  offering 
— the  free  and  the  constrained. — "He  fares  is  a 
brute  who  lives  brutishly,  Ps.  xlix.  Wickedly 
have  I  lived,  wickedly  died,  shall  he  the  epitaph 
of  the  godless  "  (Stck.). — There  can  be  joy  amid 
the  deepest  suffering,  but  not  over  another's  suf- 
fering, especially  when  it  is  punishment  for  sin. 
— "  But  they  obey  God  only  who  are  obliged  tc 
slay  such  offerings  for  Him  "  (L.).  —  Ver.  16  [11] 
"The  executioner  wiih  wnolc  armies"  (B.  B.). — 
The  sin  of  the  people  presses  the  sword  into  tht 


212 


EZEKIEL. 


aand  for  war. — Sin  was  also  interwoven  with  the 
conquering  chaplets  of  the  victors,  as  the  dew 
upon  tliese  chaplets  was  innumerable  tears  and 
drops  of  blood.  —  Which  is  ever  to  be  remembered 
amid  songs  of  triumph! — Fortune  of  war,  as  men 
call  it,  what  a  sad  fortune! — God  is  the  judge, 
behind  and  in  the  conqueror. — Ver.  17  [12].  Like 
people,  like  prince,  the  .sorrow  of  the  prophets. — 
"Even  the  great  have  no  privilege  to  sin"  (B.  B.). 
—  "Pain,  but  not  murmuring"  (Stck.). — Ver. 
18  [13].  "Trial  is  a  terrible  word  to  a  people 
that  sutfei-s  the  deepest  calamities.  When  the 
trial  comes,  nothing  remains  undisclosed,  nothing 
unrequited ;  every  varnish  disappears,  and  all 
glitter  vanishes  "  (Hexgst.). — A  tried  sword  is  a 
dreadful  thing  when  it  turns  against  a  people 
whom  God  has  given  up  to  judgment. — Ifakingora 
people  should  never  have  regarded  men,  they  must 
regard  the  man  who  bears  God's  sword.  —  One  day 
an  end  will  be  made  of  all  despisers  of  God  and 
man. — A  kingdom's  inhumanity  its  death-sen- 
tence. God  relieves  men  from  the  sceptre  of 
tyrants.  Rehoboam  had  formerly  despised  Israel, 
1  Kings  xii.  ;  Zedekiah  regarded  neither  God  nor 
Nebuchadnezzar  in  his  perjury;  Judah  had  long 
lightly  esteemed  God's  prophets. — Ver.  19  [14]. 
The  history  of  the  world  as  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy.— Symbolical  prophecy. — The  emblems  of 
punishment. — Some  must  prophesy  judgment 
who  would  so  willingly  speak  of  redemption,  and 
redemption  alone  ;  men  will  not  have  the  bless- 
ing, and  therefore  the  curse  must  be  exhibited. — 
"Where  sin  is  doubled,  there  also  is  punishment 
doubled"  (Stck.). — God's  sword  draws  not  back 
from  human  elevation  ;  it  reaches  the  dwellers  in 
the  valley,  and  those  also  who  sit  on  lofty  seats. 
— No  earthly  throne  is  a  protection  from  the 
sword  of  God  ;  the  history  of  the  world  is  filled 
with  proofs  of  this. — The  last  mighty  pierced- 
through  one  is  Antichrist. — "Alas,  who  can  hide 
from  the  wrath  of  God!"  (B.  B.)— Ver.  20  sq. 
[15  sq. ]  Every  heart  melts  under  judgment,  why 
not  under  God's  mercy  ? — God  is  always  as  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  ungodly.  How  terrible  is 
judgment  in  times  of  peace,  but  how  much  worse 
in  times  of  war  !  With  the  severer  judgments  of 
God,  the  ungodliness  of  the  sinner  comes  wholly 
to  light. — Walls  are  no  defence  to  sinners,  when 
God  is  not  their  defence. — The  terror  of  a  servant 
at  the  judgment  which  will  certainly  overtake 
the  world.  — The  troubled  heart  of  those  who  pro- 
claim peace,  and  say.  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God  ! — 
Those  whom  nothing  amazes  will  at  last  be 
amazed  by  God's  judgment. — God's  sword  on  aU 
sides. — "Mountains  fall  on  us,"  etc.,  Luke  xxiii. 
30  ;  Rev.  vi.  15  sq.  —  "God  has  still  a  king  of 
Babvlon,  who  shall  destroy  the  false  Jerusalem  " 
(B.  'B.).— Ver.  22.  The  fearful  hands  of  God 
Heb.  X.  31. 

Ver.  23  sq.  [18  sq.]  The  ways  of  the  sword  of 
God.  Its  manifestation. — God  knows  how  to  find 
sinners. — Just  as  Ezekiel  sketched  to  the  Jews, 
as  if  with  chalk  on  the  table,  that  which  was  to 
happen  to  them. — Everything  proceeds  according 
to  the  divine  will,  whether  we  will  it  or  not. 
When  God  judges,  everything  becomes  a  finger- 
post to  the  avengers  whom  He  sends.  On  many 
t  life-way  the  finger-post  which  will  direct 
punishment  is  already  erected. — Ver.  25  [20]. 
"  By  God's  arrangement,  judgment  shall  begin  at 
the  house  of  God"  (Hengst. I — "Let  us  not 
reckon  ourselves  guiltless  when  others  are  found 


guilty  !  God  spares  us  still  in  His  long-sutfering  " 
(Stck,). — Sins  scale  the  best  fortified  cities. — 
Ver.  26  [21].  Prophecy  and  divination  in  theii 
resemblance  and  difference.  —  Divination  under 
the  omnipotence  and  wislom  of  God,  as  to  which 
comp.  Matt.  ii. — The  Egyptian  enchanters  and 
the  Chaldean  magi  in  their  significance  for  the 
kingdom  of  God. — Ver.  27  [22].  To-day,  Jeru- 
salem; to-morrow,  thou  !  —  "God  makes  use  even 
of  divination  for  prophesying,  but  in  doubtful 
circumstances  we  should  apply  to  Him  ;  H;^ 
word  will  direct  us  and  divine  for  us"  (Stck., 
St.). — "  Unbelief  is  punished  in  the  Ammonites, 
ver.  34"  (RlCHT.).  — Ver.  28  [23].  "Unbelievers 
always  believe  that  they  are  far  from  judgment  " 
(Stck.).  —  His  own  evil  conscience,  and  not 
merely  the  judgment  of  God  which  bursts  upon 
him,  ought  to  lead  the  unbeliever  to  belief, — at 
least  that  a  righteous  God  lives,  and  wiU  not  be 
mocked. — "The  nearer  God's  judgments,  the 
more  callous  the  ungodly  are  wont  to  become " 
(Stck.). — Ver.  29  [24].  "Their  own  sins  cry  out 
against  the  ungodlv,  and  call  for  God's  vengeance, 
Gen.  iv.  10"  (St.)" 

Ver.  30  [25].  "Thus  God  gives  various  titles  ; 
comp.  Ps.  Ix.xxil.  6"  (W. ). — "The  ungodly  is 
already  judged ;  a  couple  of  years'  respite,  which 
are  still  left  to  him,  are  not  accounted  of.  Before 
the  eye  of  faith,  the  sinner,  who  is  stdl  in  reality 
set  on  high,  lies  already  in  his  blood"  (Hengst. ). 
— "  From  whom  He  will,  God  can  take  away,  and 
on  whom  He  will,  bestow  kingdoms,  Dan.  iv.  29. 
Therefore  stand  in  awe  of  this  great  Lord,  ye 
princes  of  the  people,  and  serve  Him  with  trem- 
bling in  the  presence  of  His  holy  majesty,  Ps.  ii. 
10,  ll"(TuB.  Bib.).  —  "Unrepentant  wickedness, 
which  has  been  often  warned  and  chastised, 
which  has  witnessed  many  examples  of  judgment, 
and  been  long  borne  with,  is  the  iniquity  of  the 
end"  (B.  B.).— Ver.  31  [26].  "In  the  kingdom 
of  God  there  are  no  promises,  but  such  as  resemble 
those  streams  which  alternately  flow  above  and 
under  g^oimd,  as  surely  as  all  the  bearers  of  the 
]>romises  are  infected  with  sin"  (Hengst.). — The 
lifting  up  of  Jehoiachin,  the  casting  down  of 
Zedekiah.  —  "Of  this  Mary  also  sang,  Luke  i.  52" 
(Stck.). — "David's  line  proceeds  through  Zerub- 
babel  to  Christ"  (L.).— Ver.  32  [27].  The  royal 
sinner,  and  the  royal  Saviour. — Since  royalty  and 
priesthood  shall  both  be  given  to  Him  (Ps.  ex.), 
these  can  only  be  spoken  of  spiritually,  as  in  this 
sense  they  pertained  to  the  Anointed  with  the 
Spirit.  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  and 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  to  be  read  in  refer- 
ence to  His  high-priesthood. 

Ver.  33  sq.  [28  sq.  ]  There  are  doubtless  race- 
types,  prophetic  national  physiognomies.  —  In 
Ammon  there  are  the  manner  of  Edom  and  the 
mocking  of  Ishniael.  — To  defer  is  not  to  revoke. — 
Ammon's  mocking  of  Israel  was  at  the  same  time 
a  deriding  of  its  true  and  future  King  ;  in  other 
words,  of  Jehovah  and  His  Anointed,  Ps.  ii. — Jeru- 
salem's punishment  should  be  traced  back,  not  to 
God's  impotence  to  defend  them,  but  to  His  right- 
eousness, which  Ammon  also  is  to  experience. — 
The  judgment  of  sinners  never  happens  for  the 
self-justification  of  other  sinners. — Ver.  34  [29]. 
Divination,  looking  beyond  sin  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  God,  is  at  all  times  false  and  deceptive. — 
But  men  prefer  lies  to  truth  ;  for  the  lie  flatters, 
while  truth  does  not  spare.  We  love  the  joys  oi 
the  present,  and  therefore  we  hate  the  paiululueai 


CHAP.  XXII. 


2ia 


of  truth. — "  Divine  punishment  has  a  day,  which 
is  not  deferred  when  the  measure  is  full"  (W.). — 
False  doetrine  is  punished  as  well  as  an  evil  life. 
— Ver.  35  [30].  The  place  of  the  sin  is  often  also 
the  place  of  punishment;  but  God  knows  how 
to  find  the  guilty  everywhere.  How  can  our 
sweet  home  become  so  bitter  ?  Thy  own  heart  is 
thj' judgment. — We  all  have  our  sentence  of  death 
in  Adam. — Besides,  it  also  comes  to  Babylon's 
turn.  For  the  sword  continues  to  be  God's, 
ilthough  it  glittered  for  a  while  in  Babylon's 


hand. — Ver.  36  [31].  How  consoling  to  die  in  the 
Lord  !  How  dreadful  to  be  destroyed  by  God  !  - 
The  world,  men,  one's  own  heart,  can  becom  a 
hell. — Let  me  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  men  !— 
The  wicked  the  executioners  of  the  wicked. — 
Ver.  37.  The  raemor)'  of  the  righteous  is  blessed, 
and  endures,  but  the  name  of  the  ungodly  perishes. 
"Well  for  him  who  obtains  a  new  name  from 
God,  Prov.  X.  7;  Rev.  iii.  12"  (St.).— God's 
words  of  mercy  and  of  judgment  are  alike 
sure. 


11.   The  Conviction  of  Ripeness  for  Judgment:  (n)   Of  Jerusalem's  in  particular  (ch.  xxii.) 
(6)  and  of  Judalts  and  IsraeCs  os  a  whole  (ch.  xxiii.). 


(a)  Jerusalem  ripe  for  Judgment  (ch.  xxii.). 


1.2 


And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,    And  thou,  sou  of  man,  wilt 
thou  judge  1     Wilt  thou  judge  the  city  of  blood  [wood-shedding]  1     Then  make 

3  her  to  know  all  her  abominations.  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
A  city  that  sheds  blood  in  the  midst  of  it,  that  her  time  may  come,  and  has 

4  made  idols  for  [orcr]  herself  that  she  may  be  defiled  !  In  thy  blood  which 
thou  hast  shed  tnou  hast  become  guilty,  and  in  thine  idols  which  thou  hast 
made  thou  art  defiled  ;  and  thou  hast  caused  thy  days  to  draw  near,  and  art 
come  to  thy  years:  therefore  have  I  given  thee  for  a  reproach  to  the  heathen, 

5  and  for  a  mocking  to  all  lands.  Those  that  are  near,  and  those  that  are  far 
from  thee,  shall  mock  at  thee  as  one  polluted  in  name,  and  full  of  confusion. 

6  Behold,  the  princes  of  Israel,  every  one  according  to  his  arm,  were  in  thee  in 

7  order  to  shed  blood  !  Father  and  mother  they  lightly  esteemed  in  thee  ; 
with  [in  relation  to]  the  Stranger  they  have  acted  unjustly  in  the  midst  of  thee  ; 

8  the  widow  and  the  orphan  they  have  oppressed  in  thee.     My  holy  things 

9  thou  hast  despised,  and  hast  profaned  My  sabbaths.  Men  of  slander  have 
been  in  thee  to  shed  blood,  and  in  thee  they  have  eaten  upon  the  mountains ; 

10  they  have  committed  lewdness  in  the  midst  of  thee.  In  thee,  one  has  uncovered 
a  father's  nakedness  ;   in  thee  they  have  humbled  her  that  is  unclean  in 

1 1  her  separation.  And  one  has  committed  abomination  with  his  neighbour's 
wife ;  and  another  has  lewdly  defiled  his  daughter-in-law  ;  and  another  has 

12  humbled  [ravished]  his  sister,  his  father's  daughter,  in  thee.  They  have  taken 
bribes  in  thee  to  shed  blood  ;  thou  hast  taken  usury  and  increase,  and  hast 
overreached  thy  neighbour  by  extortion,  and  thou  hast  forgotten  Me  :  sen- 

13  tence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And,  behold,  I  have  smitten  My  hand  at  thy 
gain  which  thou  hast  made,  and  at  thy  blood-shedding  which  was  in  thy 
midst.  Will  thy  heart  endure  [be  stedfust]  1  or  will  thy  hands  be  strong  for 
the  days  when  I  shall  deal  with  thee  1  I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken,  and  ^vill  do 
[have  done].  And  I  will  scatter  thee  among  the  heathen,  and  disperse  thee 
in  the  countries,  and  will  consume   [make  to  cease]  thy  filthiness  out  of  thee. 

16  And  thou  shalt  be  profaned  in  thee  [through  thee]  before  the  eyes  of  the  heathen, 

17  and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.     And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to 

18  me,  saying,  Son  of  man,  the  house  of  Israel  has  become  to  Me  dross  ;  the 
whole  of  them  are  brass,  and  tin,  and  iron,  and  lead,  in  the  midst  of  the 

19  furnace ;  they  have  become  the  dross  of  silver.  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Because  ye  have  all  become  dross,  therefore,  behold,  I  will  gather 

20  you  into  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  [as]  a  gathering  together  of  silver,  and 
brass,  and  iron,  and  lead,  and  tin  into  the  midst  of  the  furnace,  to  blow  the 
fire  upon  it  that  it  may  be  melted,  so  mil  I  gather  you   in  My  anger  and  in 

21  My  fury,  and  I  will  leave  you  and  melt  you.  And  I  will  collect  you,  and  will 
blow  upon  you  in  the  fire  of  My  wrath,  and  ye  shall  be  melted  in  the  midst 

22  thereof  As  silver  is  melted  in  the  midst  of  the  furnace,  so  shall  ye  be  melted 
in  the  midst  of  it ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  have  poured  out  My 

i83,  24  fury  unon  you.     Aiid  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man 


14 


15 


214 


EZEKIKL. 


say  to  her,  Thou  art  a  land  that,  is  not  cleansed,  that  has  no  rain  in  the  day 

25  of  indignation.  The  conspiracy  of  her  prophets  [is]  in  her  midst;  like  a  roar- 
ing lion  ravening  the  prey  they  have  devoured  souls,  taken  treasure  [prorc-rty] 
and  precious  things  [jeweii]  ;  her  widows  they  have  multiplied  in  the  midst  of 

26  her.  Her  priests  have  done  violence  to  My  law,  and  profaned  My  holy  things ; 
they  have  not  distinguished  between  holy  and  unholy,  nor  discerned  between 
clean  and  unclean ;  and  they  have  hidden  their  eyes  from  My  sabbaths,  and  I 

27  am  profaned  among  them.  Her  rulers  [princes]  in  the  midst  of  her  were  like 
wolves  ravening  the  prey,  to  shed  blood,  to  destroy  souls,  and  to  make  gain. 

28  And  her  prophets  have  daubed  for  them  with  wliitewash,  seeing  vanity  and 
divining  lies  for  them,  saying.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  when  Jehovah 

29  hath  not  .spoken.  The  people  of  the  land  have  practised  oppression,  and 
committed  robbery,  and  have  vexed  the  poor  and  need3%  and  oppressed  the 

30  stranger  against  the  right.  And  I  sought  for  a  man  among  them  that  might 
build  up  a  wall,  and  might  stand  in  the  breach  [step  into  the  gap]  before  Me  for 

31  the  land,  that  I  might  not  destroy  it ;  and  I  found  none.  So  I  poured  [pour 
out  upon  them  My  indignation,  in  the  fire  of  My  wrath  I  consumed  [consame' 
them  ;  I  have  recompensed  [recompense]  their  way  upon  their  head  :  sentence 
of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  , 


Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Ver. 
Sept.  and 

Ver 

Ver, 
Ver. 
Ver. 


3.  Sept. :  .  .  .  Ko.'r  etCryjf —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  contra  semetipsam. 

i.  .  .  .  X.  iyxytf  xttipo*  erm  trtv.    (The  Oriental  Jews,  etc.  read:  ^^DI^C  HV-)     Many  codices:  DMJ3> 

5.  .  .  .  ToXA>j  £v  rat;  iv6ujixi< —    Vnlg. :  .  .  .  sordida^  nobitis,  grandis  interilu, 

6.  .   .  .  txoiCroi  ^piif  To'Ji  rvyytrtK  xuTdu  ffvifct»lfvpc¥rt  i*  rci — 
9.    .    .   .    'AvSpis  kvitrrxi — 


11.  .    .   .    7r,9  mjfj^^r.t  ai/TOV— 

12.  .   .  .   %.  aV¥tTf?.iirM  rvvTikitxv  xotxict;  ff»u  ry^t  U  xctTcUvveto'Ttiat  cov,  art  ifjtav  ivl\atBcv^ 
16.  ».  KxTctKkv^pciau^m  IV  rot —    'Vnlg. :  possidebo  te. 

IS.  .  .  .  ctv^fx,'.fjuyu,ivoi  x"^^'^^  .   .  .  i*  /Mtffot  xpytjptov  ivetptlfJ.iypi>tvo;  Iff^it. 
19.  .  .  .  jravTE?  £.V  ffxjyKpxTiv  fM»i — 

24.  .  .  .  yvi  ou  0pix.of^tvvi,  oiSs  biro;  xctTx$f]fftTxt  rot —     Vulg. :  immunda  et  non  compluta — 

25.  01  eu^youfzivot  atijTvti  .  .  .  aii  Afoyri;  ipn/y9Li.tvai  .  .  .  lit/vxrTfvroiv  it  itnxrriix,  iatpx  i^ecfjifiettn  £f  iHiMta^^ 
Arab,  read:  linUD^S- 

27.  Sept. :   Qj  xpx<>'''m  ■  •  ■  xIluc,  imt; — 

28.  .  .  .   TitreuifTxt — 

29.  Tov  Aae«»  .    .   .   iXTii^euvTi; — 

30.  .   .  .  ivhpx  xietgrptfofitiin  ipdei;  x. 


.  T*  iko^(pt;  iv  XAipat  tjjs  epyrs  /*««,  rou  fl^  lU  nXfii  EfecAii^«i 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

["  This  chapter  stands  closely  related  to  the 
la.st  cliapter,  and  may  fitly  be  regarded  as  supple- 
mentary to  it ;  the  former  having  presented  a 
striking  delineation  of  the  Lord's  purpose  to  exe- 
cute the  severity  of  His  displeasui'e  upon  the 
people  of  Jerusalem,  while  this  returns  to  lay  open 
the  fearful  mass  of  corruption  on  account  of  which 
such  severity  was  to  be  inflicted.  In  what  is 
written  here  there  is  nothing  properly  new  ;  in 
its  general  purport,  it  is  a  repetition  of  the  charges 
which  were  urged  in  ch.  xx. ;  and  so  the  chapter  be- 
gins much  in  the  same  way, — with  a  call  upon  the 
propliet  to  judge  the  people,  and  set  before  them 
their  iniquities.  There,  however,  the  charge  took 
the  form  of  a  historical  review  for  the  purpose 
of  connecting  the  present  state  of  wickedness 
with  the  past,  and  showing  how  continuously  tlie 
.stream  of  corruption  had  flowed  through  all 
periods  of  their  national  existence.  Here,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  prophet  looks  exclusively  to  the 
present,  and  brings  out  in  fearful  array  tlie  many 
heinous  and  rampant  sins  which  were  crying  in 
heaven's  ear  for  vengeance." — Fairbairn's  Eze- 
Hfl,  p.  249.— W.  F.] 

Jerusalem  becomes  especially  prominept  at  the 
Teij-  beginning  of  the  chapter  ;  and  to  the  close, 


the  fundamental  reference  of  the  divine  discourss 
is  to  Jerusalem,  in  its  significance  for  Judali  and 
the  land. — The  oft- repeated  :  "in  the  midst  of," 
points  significantly  to  Jerusalem  as  the  place 
where  sin  had  been,  and  in  which  punishment 
would  be,  concentrated.  Jerusalem  was  the  Paris 
of  the  land  of  Judah. — The  chapter  compri.se.i 
three  sections. 


Vers.  1-16.  Jerusalem's  Abominations,  which 
had  made  it  ripe  for  Judgment. 

Ver.  2.   Comp.  atch.  xx.  4. — The  plural,   D'O'l 

(comp.  at  ch.  vii.  23),  points  to  bloody  acts,  and 
tells  of  blood-guiltiness  (ver.  4^.  The  explana- 
tion of  this  title  of  Jerusalem  fol'.ows  in  ver.  3 
(ch.  ix.  9).  To  such  a  pitch  of  violence  have  the 
abominations  reached.  (Comp.  at  ver.  3. )  Comp. 
ch.  V.  11,  xvi.  2.  A  summary  statement  of  her 
abominations  is  a  judging  of  Jerusalem.  Ch.  xx. 
speaks  especially  of  the  abominations  of  their 
ancestors,  this  of  the  abominations  of  the  exist- 
ing generation,  as  facts  visible  to  every  one, — 
proving  their  ripeness  for  judgment. — Ver.  3 
speaks  of  shedding  blood,  as  ver.  22,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  shedding  (pouring  out)  fury.  It  ma» 
refer  to  murderous  deeds  generally ;  ppecially  to 


CHAP.  XXII.  4-13. 


215 


judicial  murders,  conse(juently  to  the  shedding  of 
the  innocent  blood  of  rigliteous,  God-fearing  men, 
prophets,  etc.  Conip.  Matt,  xxiii.  37.  The  city 
which  had  its  name  from  "  peace  "  has  become  a 
city  of  death  to  those  who  require  true  peace.  — 

■J,  de  eventu ;   it  is  the  inevitable  result ;  while 

it  .so  acts,  it  also  brings  its  time, — the  final  day 
of  judgment  (ch.  x.xi.  30,  34).  The  making  of 
idols  (comp.  at  ch.  vi.  4)  e.'cplains  the  "  abomina- 
tions" of  ver.  2. — rivj?  siu»ply  means  the  lifting 

up  of  the  idols  over  those  who  worship  them. 
[IvEiL:  as  it  were,  covering  the  city  therewith. 
Hav.  ;  Jerusalem,  as  it  were,  laden  with  idols,  as 
of  an  intolerable  burden  and  debt.  Hengst.  :  so 
that  it  heaps  upon  itself  defilement  with  its  con- 
sequences. HiTZ.  :  "  For  itself,"  in  order  to 
make  the  idols  gracious.  Others  :  "  Against 
itself,"  i.e.  to  its  hurt,  or:  "beside  itself."] — 
\'er.  4.  The  deeds  of  blood  are  Jerusalem's  blood- 
guiltiness  ;  the  abominations  of  the  idols  which 
have  been  made  are  its  defilement.  The  one  is 
rooted    (s)    in   the   other.     But   therewith   and 

thereby  the  sinful  city  has  herself  brought  near 
her  daiys  (comp.  vers.  14  and  3),  thus  wantonly 
shortening  the  respite  of  grace  ;  she  is  the  more 
quickly  ripened  for  judgment  (ch.  ix.  1,  xii.  23). 
Phillips.  :  "As  the  punishment  is  first  introduced 
by  the  therefore,  it  is  intimated  that  Jerusalem 
has  squandered  all  her  days  and  years  in  blood- 
shed,' etc.  (?)  According  to  Hengst.,  the  days  and 
years  are  those  of  decision,  of  the  crisis  which  she 
brings  on  by  her  violent  dealing.  And  art  come 
to  thy  years,  is  evidently  parallel  to  the  previous 
sentence;  at  least  the  "years"  cannot  be  those 
of  chastisement  and  judgment  (Keil)  ;  and  Hitzig 
rightly  opposes  the  idea  that  there  is  any  parallel- 
ism with  Jer.  xi.  23  (ch.  xxiii.  12).  'The  figure 
of  a  person  ripe  for  death  (not  exactly  aged)  under- 
lies the  expression,  as  Hitzig  puts  it  :  that  has 
arrived  at  (ly)  their  full  measure. — Keproach; 

comp.  ch.  xxi.  33  ;  so  that  what  Ammon  is  there 
to  be  punished  for,  appears  here  as  deserved.  (Ch. 
V.  14,  15.) — Ver.  5.  Fuller  explanation  of  "mock- 
ing to  all  lands,"  which  are  more  precisely  de- 
scribed as  the  near  and  the  far.  They  mock,  since 
Jerusalem  must  seem  to  them  sullied,  so  far  as 
its  name  is  concerned  ;  which  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood morally, — of  the  sins  of  the  "holy"  city,  but 
of  its  fate,  which  dooms  the  city  of  (lod  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  heathen.  What  they  them- 
selves have  done  by  sin  (ver.  3  sq. )  is  requited  to 
them  in  a  corresponding  punishment.  The  con- 
fusion may  be  internal  (through  fear)  and  exter- 
nal overthrow  and  niin  (Deut.  vii.  23,  xxviii.  20) ; 
also  tumult,  like  ch.  vii.  7.  [HiTZ. ;  Inward 
moral  and  religious  confusion.] 

Ver.  6.  Instances  are  now  stated  ;  and  since 
violence  was  first  of  all  referred  to,  the  finger  is, 
as  it  were,  pointed  to  the  example  of  the  princes, 
as  a  something  patent  to  the  eyes  of  all.  The 
arm  alone  was  taken  into  account  by  them  :  not 
right,  but  n^ight  ;  neither  equity  nor  duty — not 
even  the  responsibility  of  tlieir  position.  Israel's 
princes  were  princes  "  according  to  the  arm, " — 
each  according  to  his  own  power,  not  ex  gratia  Dei. 
Thisconnects  "princes" with  "wete."  Ithasalso 
been  by  some  coupled  with  what  follows  :  "  to  be 
there  with  the  intention,"  etc.     Each,  according 


to  his  power,  strove  ;  and  then  follows  the  7|ag< 

Qr^,  which  is  constantly  repeated  in  relation  to 

the  "city  of  blood-shedding  "  (comp.  eh.  xii.V  — 
[Hav.  :  Directed  towards  his  arm.  Ew.iLD  :  Each 
according  to  his  own  authority,  i.e.  arbitrarily. 
HiTZ. :  Were  helpful  the  one  to  the  other  (P«. 
Ixxxiii.  8).]— Ver.  7.  To  the  disorder  in  the  highsr 
circles  corresponded  the  complete  dissolution  of 
those  bonds  of  subordination  between  children  and 
their  parents  (Ex.  xx.  12  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  16),  which 
must  underlie  the  obedience  of  subjects  to  their 
princes.  At  all  events,  as  the  princes  carried  it 
towards  the  people,  so  the  people  carried  it  to 
wards  those  who  were  entitled  rather  to  demand 
consideration  and  protection, — as  the  stranger, 
the  widow,  and  the  orphan,  ch.  xviii.  18,  7. 
Comp.  Ex.  xxii.  20  sq.  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  14  sq. — 
Ver.  8.  And,  finally,  Jerusalem  became  towards 
God  what  it  was  towards  men.  Comp.  further, 
ch.  xvi.  59,  XX.  12,  24.— Ver.  9.  A  second  group 
of  sins.  A  comparison  with  Lev.  xix.  16.  to 
which  it  is  parallel,  leads  one  to  think  of  false 
witnesses  like  those  mentioned  in  1  Kings  xxi. 
10  sq.,  who  acted  as  informers  in  subserviency  to 
the  princes.     ^*3"l,  properly:  the  slanderer,  which 

fits  in  admirably  with  the  foregoing.  Hesgst.  ; 
"  the  slanderer  as  an  idenl  person."  A.  clique  of 
this  nature  had  formed  itself  into  a  corporation 
in  Jerusalem.  Comp.  also  ver.  6. — Ch.  xviii.  6. 
The  relation  to  God  is  coupled  therewith,— the 
falsity  of  the  worship  of  false  gods,  with  lying 
against  one's  neighbour  (in  thee,  to  be  understood 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem),  with  which  wor- 
ship, "lewdness"  (ch.  xvi.  27)  of  every  kind 
was  naturally  bound  up. — Ver.  10.  Mother  or 
step-mother;  comp.  Lev.  xviii.  7,  8,  xx.  11  (1  Cor. 
V.  1).     An  ^^  is  to  be  supplied  as  the  subject 

of  the  verb.— Ch.  xviii.  6.  In  consequence  of 
child-bearing,  as  well  as  during  the  monthly 
period.  Coinp.  at  Lev.  xviii.  19,  -xx.  18.— Ver.  1 1. 
^^ — ^^ — 1;><54-  There  were  such  cases  !  Im- 
purity in  every  form.  A  specimen  of  the  moral 
atmosphere  as  a  whole. — Ch.  xviii.  6.— Lev.  .xviii. 
15,  XX.  12.— Lev.  xviii.  12  (2  Sam.  xiii.  12). 
Tacitus,  i/is*.  v.  5.— Ver.  12.  Third  group  of  sins. 
As  false  witnesses  (ver.  9),  so  also  unrighteous 
judges,  served  the  "  princes."  The  corniption  of 
the  higher  classes  is  emphasized, — it  proceeded 
from  above  downwards,— so  that  the  prominence 
of  the  rulers  of  Israel  for  the  judgment  of  God 
(ch.  xxi.  17)  is  justified  :  while  in  a  sense  so  very 
different,  all  good  should  have  come  to  Israel  from 
those  in  authority,  and  especially  through  God's 
representatives.  Comp.  Ex.  xxiii.  8  (1  Sam.  viii. 
3).— Ch.  xviii.  8  ;  Lev.  xxv.  36.  The  discourse 
now  gathers  itself  for  the  direct  form  of  address  ; 
hence  the  brevity  and  the  energetic  close.  Self- 
seeking,  which  makes  one  ignore  one's  "neigh- 
bour," finally  abolishes  the  remembrance  of  God, 
which  is  the  soul  of  all  moral  relations. 

Ver.  13  passes  over  to  the  subject  of  punish- 
ment for  such  conduct.  As  the  guilt  is  appa- 
rent ("  Behold,"  ver.  6),  so  also  is  the  judgment 
(Behold),  when  there  is  such  ripeness  for  it. — 1 
have  smitten  My  hand,  is  usually  regarded  (like 
ch.  xxi.  22,  19)  as  an  indignant  gesture  at  (ou 
account  of)  thy  gain,  etc.  (Ewai.d  :  as  a  signal 
that  the  last  hour  should  come)  ;  which  neither 


flfi 


EZEKIEL. 


the  words  nor  the  connection  can  recommend. 
Hitzig,  far  more  appropriately:  Jehovah  is  in- 
dignantly occupied  with  the  matter  of  their  gain  ; 
as  being"  unrighteous,  it  is  brittle,  and  He  shall 
smite  it  with  the  hand,  etc.     J)va  means:  toc«< 

off,  to  plunder,  also:  to  break;  so  that  in  the 
"lightly  come,  "there  may  already  lie  the  "lightly 
go."— The  avenging  hand  of  retributive  right- 
eousness strikes  the  gain  iirst,  because  this  was 
mentioned  first  in  ver.  12  ;  but  at  once  a  return 
is  made  to  the  (collective)  "shed  blood,"  ^j;  very 
appropriately  alternating  with  ^X-  [Hengst.  : 
^<n    a  pluralin  multitudinia :  "of  which  there  is 

much  in  thy  midst. "]— Ver.  14.  The  judgment 
is  not  yet  come,  hence  the  future  ;  but  the  result 
is  absolutely  sure,  therefore  the  interrogative 
forms,  which  are  equivalent  to  negatives.  Comp. 
therewith  ch.  xxi.  12,  20,  vii.  27,  vi.  59,  xvii. 
24, — Ver.  15.  Ch.  xii.  15,  xx.  23. — The  complete 
extinction  of  Jerusalem's  uncleanness  can  only  be 
understood  as  the  extinction  of  its  polluted  inha- 
bitants, ver.  3  sq.  Others  compare  it  witli  Isa. 
iv.  4,  and  think  of  a  purification  of  the  people 

during   the   exile.— Ver.   16.  T|3  DtTlJI,  if  from 

^nj,  either  =:"  thou  possessest  thyself," — while 

formerly  thou  wert  My  inlieritauce,  the  heathen 
shall  see  that  thou  art  so  no  more  (!) ;  or=:  "  thou 
art  possessed,"  either  by  the  heathen  who  rule 
over  thee  ;  or  =  I  inherit  thee,  take  thee  in  pos- 
session, as  all  the  heathen  shall  perceive.  Alto- 
gether forced.  Therefore  the  more  recent  inter- 
preters derive  it  from  p^ri;  comp.  ch.  vii.  24. — In 

thee.  Hengst.  :  So  that  thou  must  experience 
in  thyself  the  desecration  as  punishment  for  ver. 
8.  Hav.  :  "Then  Jerusalem  stands  out  as  an 
unholy  city,  which  has  profaned  itself  by  its  own 
conduct,  aud  as  such  has  received  its  recompense 
before  the  eyes  of  all  peoples,  vers.  4,  5."  [Hixz. : 
Through  all  those  who  belong  to  her,  who  through 
her  mournful  fate  shall  tend  to  her  dishonour  ; 
thus  is  she  her  own  spot,  Deut.  xxxii.  5.]  Comp. 
at  ver.  18. 

Vers.  17-22.    The  Judgment  in  Jerusalem  a 
Melting  in  the  Furnace. 

Ver.  18.  The  figure  (as  to  which  see  Introd.  p. 
18)  in  which  the  discourse  clothes  itself,  in  order 
to  rouse  and  occupy  the  attention  of  the  hearers 
all  the  more,  takes  its  theme  from  the  imme- 
diately preceding  verses,  16  and  16.  According 
to  ver.  15,  annihilation  shall  accomplish  the 
cleansing  of  Jerusalem.  Things  have  come  to 
such  a  pass  with  the  holy  city,  that  there  is  for  it 
no  other  purification.  Those  who  think  of  any 
other  purification,  from  what  is  spoken  of  in  ver. 
15,  must  regard  it  as  taking  place  outside  Jeru- 
salem, to  wit,  in  the  exile.  The  house  of  Israel, 
as  far  as  it  comes  into  account,  has  become  dross 
(31D  here  only,  elsewhere  j>d,  refuse  of  metals). 

f|D3  D'JD  (the  reverse  order:  qijd  ejDS, '"  Prov. 

xxvi.  23 — silver  dross  which  is  not  yet  purified) 
is  not  even  ore  containing  silver,  bnt  means 
(P.'ov.  XXV.   4)  dioss  which  has  been  separated 


from  the  silver.  The  figure  indeed  employs  i 
noble  metal,  but  nothing  of  it  save  the  ignoble 
(comp.  at  vers.  20,  22)  dross — of  which  a  clearer 
idea  is  presently  given  by :  the  whole  of  them 
are  brass  and  tin  and  iron — continues  to  exist 
in  Jerusalem  (Isa.  i.  22;  Jer.  vi.  27  sq.).  Thus 
— would  God  say^thus  has  Jerusalem,  anticipat- 
ing the  impending  judgment,  shown  itself  as  a 
smelting  furnace.      Light  is  hereby   thrown  on 

the  peculiar  phrase  of  ver.  16,  rn  flpnil :  That 

which  Jerusalem  shall  completely  become,  through 
divine  punishment,  it  has  already  become  in 
itself  through  its  sins  ;  it  is  already  profaned  in 
itself, — according  to  the  figure,  it  has  become 
the  ignoble  dross  of  noble  silver.     It  appears  as 

nothing  else  to  Jehovah  ('"J-iiin)  ;  it  only  remains 

that  the  fact  of  its  guUt  should  become  evident 
as  a  fact,  to  the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  through  the 
judgments  of  God.  For  this  purpose  Jerusalem, 
which  had  ministered  to  sin,  now  becomes  the 
furnace  which  is  employed  for  its  punishment, 
and  the  ignoble  dross-community  is  completely 
consumed;  in  other  woi-ds,  annihilated.  If  the 
text  be  viewed  in  this  way,  no  objection  can  be 
made  to  the  figure,  and  all  the  earlier  and  later 
misunderstandings  of  it  may  be  corrected. — Ver. 
19  clearly  expresses  the  thought  underlying  the 
figure  employed.  As  the  individual  persons  are 
to  be  thought  of  as  scattered  here  and  there,  and 
as  seeking  protection  in  the  fortified  city  on  the 
approach  of  the  enemy,  the  gathering  togethei 
of  all  into  Jerusalem  by  Jehovah  is  not  to  be 
understood  in  a  merely  figurative  sense — even 
though  in  Ver.  20  the  expression  is  again  em- 
ployed in  accordance  with  the  figure  of  the  fur- 
nace.    The  3  of  comparison  (nS3p)  is  dropped 

for  the  sake  of  euphony.  That  silver  is  stil' 
spoken  of  in  regard  to  the  impending  judicial 
process  partly  arises  from  the  necessities  of  the 
figure,  as  ver.  22  shows  still  more  plainly  ("as 
silver  is  melted"),  and  partly  from  the  fact  that 
the  word  contains  a  significant  and  painful 
reminiscence  of  that  which  Israel  had  been,  and 
of  that  which  it  could  become  in  the  crucible  of 
God-sent  tribulation  !  In  the  brass,  etc.  there 
is  still  some  silver,  interpreters  say  ;  but  this  idea 
is  entirely  excluded  by  the  "dross"  of  ver.  18. 
The  meaning  of  the  comparison  is  rather  this,  that 
while  in  other  cases  there  is  also  silver  along 
with  the  brass,  etc.,  or  that  which  is  cast  into 
the  furnace  is  only  silver  ore,  from  which  art  and 
skill  then  extract  a  noble  metal  (Mai.  iii.  Z\,  so 
here  a  similar  process  takes  place  in  anger  and 
fury,  resulting  no  more  in  purification  (Umbr. 
finds  the  purifying  judgment  of  Go<l  prefigured 
in  the  complete  melting) — at  least  neither  the 
text  nor  context  points  to  such  an  issue — but  in 
complete  annihilation.  Keil,  like  Hitzig,  is 
obliged  to  admit  that  the  "melting"  is  here 
regarded  as  punishment  only,  aud  the  separation 
of  the  ignoble  portions  is  not  taken  into  con- 
sideration.— Ver.  21.   Ch.  xxi.  36. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  CH.  Xxii.  17-22. 

["In  modern  metallurgy  lead  is  employed  for 
the  purpose  of  purifying  silver  from  other  mineral 
procfucts.  The  alloy  is  mixed  with  lead  exposed 
to  fusion  upon  an  earthen  vessel,  and  submitted 


CHAP.  XXII.  23-26. 


217 


to  a  blast  of  air.  By  this  means  the  dross  is  con- 
eumed.  This  process  is  called  the  cupelling 
operation,  with  which  the  description  in  Ezek. 
xxii.  18-22,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Napier  (JUet. 
of  Bible,  pp.  20-24),  accurately  coincides;  '  The 
vessel  containing  the  alloy  is  surrounded  by  the 
fire,  or  placed  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  the  blowing 
is  not  ajiplied  to  the  fire,  but  to  the  fused  metals. 
.  .  .  And  when  this  is  done,  nothing  but  the 
^lerfect  metals,  gold  and  silver,  can  resist  the 
scorifying  influence.'  And  in  support  of  his  con- 
clusion he  quotes  Jer.  vi.  28-30,  adding,  '  This 
description  is  perfect.  If  we  t;ike  silver  having 
the  impurities  in  it  described  in  the  text,  namely, 
iron,  copper,  and  tin,  and  mix  it  with  lead,  and 
place  it  in  the  fire  upon  a  cupell,  it  soon  melts ; 
the  lead  will  oxidize  and  form  a  thick,  coarse 
crust  upon  the  surface,  and  thus  consume  away, 
but  effecting  no  purifying  influence.  The  alloy 
remains,  if  anything,  worse  than  before.  .  .  .  The 
silver  is  not  refined  because  "the  bellows  were 
burned,"  there  existed  nothing  to  blow  upon  it,'  " 
etc.  (Smith,  Did.  of'  the  Bible,  art.  "Lead.") — 
W.  F.j 

Vers.  23-31.  Jerusalem's  Ripeness  for  Judg- 
ment extending  to  all  Chssis. 

This  third  section  runs  parallel  with  the  first, 
vers.  1-16.  Thus  the  end  returns  to  the  begin- 
ning, and  the  whole  is  rounded  off.  There  the 
character  of  the  prevailing  coiTuption  is  de- 
scribed, here  its  extent,  as  one  which  has  pene- 
trated   to   all   classes    in    Jerusalem. — Ver.    24. 

Many    interpret«rs    unnecessarily    refer    pip    to 

jnS;    Hiv. :   The  pronoun  is  placed  before  the 

noun  to  which  it  refers  for  the  sake  of  emphasis. 
The  whole  land  is  named  because  the  far-reaching 
extent  of  their  sin  is  borne  in  mind.     It  will  be 

quite  sufficient  if  H?  (as*  is  the  case  thi-oughout 

the  chapter)  be  refened  to  Jerusalem.  For  Jei-u- 
salera  is  constantly  taken  for  the  whole  land  and 
people,  so  that  this  relation  scarcely  requires,  at 
least  here,  to  be  made  specially  prominent.  In 
that  case  jnx  nX  is  evidently  a  figurative  form 

of  address;  Jerusalem  =  Judah,  is  likened  to  a  land 
in  the  manner  then  following.  Finally,  it  can  be 
all  the  more  regarded  as  a  "land"  from'the  fact 
that  everything  which  is  in  the  land  is  to  be  col- 
lected into  Jerusalem.  The  land  is  called  not 
cleansed,  namely,  from  the  weed.s,  briars,  and 
thorns  with  which  it  is  overgrown ;  comp.  Heb. 
vi.  8.  [Not,  as  Havernick  puts  it;  "unclean, 
stained  with  sin,"  which  lies  outside  the  figure.] 

rlDE'J  to  must  contain  a  corresponding  state- 
ment. That  which  best  harmonizes  with  the 
context  is;  whose  rain  is  not,  i.e.  appeal's  not  in 
the  day  of  judgment — namely,  the  rain  belonging 
to  it,  and  which  should  have  made  it  fruitful 
(Heb.  vi.  7).  In  the  words  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews ;  found  good  for  nothing,  it  is  nigh  unto 
cursing,  and  its  end  is  to  be  burned.  [Other 
interpretations: — Hjiv. ;  "  Its  rain  shall  not  de- 
scend on  the  day  of  indignation,"  namely,  that 
which,  as  a  gracious  pledge  (Lev.  xxvi.  4  ;  Deut. 
xi.  14,  xxv'ii.  12),  was  promised  to  the  people. 
Uomp.  Joel  ii.  23 ;  Hos.  vi.  3 ;  Jer.  v.  24 ;  Zech. 


x.  1 ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  26 ;  Sev.  xi.  6,  etc.  Thus 
no  irdce  of  grace  will  appear  in  the  judgment. 
Hengst. ;  "that  has  no  rain,"  etc.,  that  findf 
no  grace,  because  impurity  is  not  removed.  The 
rain  could  extinguish  the  flame  of  divine  indig- 
nation.    Or,  with  Kimchi,  noC'J  is  taken  as  the 

3  fem,.  pret.  Pual:  that  "is  not  rained  »pon." 
This  reading  Keil  adopts,  and  (because  rain  i.s 
not  a  purifying  medium  according  to  Hebrew 
ideas)  he  makes  nin'OD  =  "that   is  not  shone 

on  by  light ; "  so  that,  enjoying  neither  sunshine 
nor  shower  in  the  day  of  wrath,  the  land  falls 
under  the  curse  of  barrenness.  Ewald,  again,  thus 
gives  the  sense:  While  in  other  cases  fire  can  be 
mitigated  and  extinguished,  on  the  day  when  the 
land  is  overtaken,  ver.  22  (31 ),  by  the  fire  of  God's 
indignation,  it  shall  not  be  freed  from  its  glowing 
heat  nor  made  fruitful  by  rain  from  heaven.] — 
Ver.  2.5.  The  conspiracy  (I sa.  viii.  12;  Jer.  xi.  9) 
of  her  (false,  comp.  at  ch.  xiii. )  prophets,  indi- 
cates that  they  acted  not  merely  as  separate 
individuals,  but  as  a  corporation,  made  strong  by 
combination  and  unity,  so  that  they  were  careful 
not  to  contradict  each  other's  lies.  They  appear 
as  a  sort  of  inquisition,  everywhere  prepared  to 
denounce  the  servants  of  God  to  the  animosity  of 
the  great,  and  to  hand  them  over  to  the  sword  of 
the  princes.  [HiTZ. ;  As  the  prophets  appear 
again  in  ver.  28  (but  comp.  there !),  as  ver.  27 
says  almost  the  same  thing  (as  ver.  25)  of  civil 
dignitaries  (which,  however,  is  no  reason  for  sup- 
posing the  same  class  to  be  referred  to!),  while 
what  is  said  of  prophets  and  priests,  vers.  26  and 
28,  is  totally  dissimilar  (which,  however,  proves 
nothing), — on  these  gi-ounds  Hitzig  reads  n'NT'3, 

conjecturing  that  Zeph.  iii.  3  is  the  original  ot 
our  passage.  He  also  lays  stress  on  the  fact  that 
ver.  6  began  with  the  princes,  so  that  instead  of 
the  prophets  he  understands  in  our  verse  the 
royal  family,  together  with  the  great  officers  of  the 
crown.]  'riie  fir,st  section  of  the  chapter,  with 
which  the  last  runs  parallel,  made  prominent, 
violence  on  the  one  hand,  and  goillessness  on  the 
other.  To  this  twofold  division  there  corresponds 
a  twofold  class-personification — in  vers.  25,  26, 
prophets  and  priests ;  in  vers.  27,  28,  civil  officers 
and  prophets.  The  significance  of  false  prophecy 
(comp.  at  ch.  xiii. )  is  indicated  by  the  fiict  that 
it  is  here  referred  to  at  the  beginning  and  at  the 
end.  All  which  is  swept  away  by  Hitzig's  un- 
necessary alteration  of  the  text,  to  which  even 
Keil  assents,  in  opposition  to  old  authorities. 
The  portraiture  of  the  prophets  in  regard  to  their 
violent  dealing,  as  soul-devouiers,  is  founded  oil 
the  figure  (ch.  xix.  7)  of  the  "roaring  lion  "  (col- 
lective, or  each  of  them).  With  this  compare 
1  Pet.  V.  8,  and  also  ch.  xiii.  18,  19,  which  is  not 
veiy  foreign  to  the  subject,  and  to  which  the 
ravening  the  prey  (ch.  xix.  3)  may  also  contain 
an  allusion.  They  enrich  themselves  with  the 
possessions  of  the  pious,  whom  they  surrender  to 
death,  thereby  increasing  the  nnmbei  of  the 
widows  of  Jerusalem. — Ver.  26.  Her  priests. 
The  reference  is  to  godlessness ;  the  transition  is 
made  by  the  word  violence,  'fhe  law  of  God  is 
violated  by  the  priests  in  regard  to  tluse  very 
things  from  which  it  was  the  duty  of  the  priest- 
hood to  debar  the  people.  Laxity  in  doctrine,  at 
well  as  laxity  in  life,  was  a  violation  of  God's  autho- 
rity in  Israel.     (Zenh.  iii.  i  ;  comp.  also  Mark  vii 


318 


EZEKIEL. 


9.^  HiTZ. :  "Not  content  with  making  the  law 
a  sham,  they  went  in  the  rery  teeth  of  it. " — The 
rery  coniyirehensive  expression;  holy  things  (ver. 
8),  is  unfolded  (a)  with  a  retrospective  reference 
to  Lev.  X.  10,  11  ;  (b)  with  reference  to  the  Sab- 
baths (ch.  XX.  12).  In  regard  to  the  former,  they 
should  have  watched  lest  the  holy  should  become 
profane,  as  it  was  also  their  duty  to  teach  how 
the  unclean  could  be  cleansed ;  with  which  latter 
the  mention  of  the  Sabbath  is  suggestively 
coupled.       The   two   sets    of    opposites   are   not 

simply    placed    in    contrast,   and   p-pa    is  not 

chosen  without  design  ;  for,  besides  the  matter  of 
their  differences,  the  change  of  the  one  into  the 
other  is  iu  question.     ^i;''lin  (discern)  is  to  a 

certain  extent  a  judicial  expression,  since,  in  re- 
lation to  the  "clean  and  unclean,"  it  points  to 
their  official  determinations  (Luke  xvii.  14). — 
From  My  Sabbaths,  etc.,  not  only  means  that 
they  saw  them  desecrated  by  the  people  without 
offering  any  opposition,  but  that  they  did  not 
wish  to  do  so,  since  they  themselves  had  for- 
sworn, and  lived  in  neglect  of,  the  Sabbath  law. — 
Ver.  27.   iTlb'  i^au  also  be :  her  princes,  but  in 

ver.  6  the  word  is  the  precise  'X'B'J.     Comp.  at 

ch.  xi.  2.  It  means  properly  the  heads  of  tribes, 
families,  etc.,  on  whom  lay  the  obligation  of 
administering  the  laws.  [Hengst. :  "the  poli- 
tical authorities  and  officials."]  They  are  de- 
scribed in  relation  to  their  "violence."  Comp. 
Zeph.  iii.  3.  As  to  the  rest,  comp.  with  ver.  12. 
The  authorities  of  Jerusalem,  the  judges  of  the 
people  (this  follows  from  the  similar  conduct, 
ver.  25),  act  on  the  same  principle  as  the  false 
prophets.     This  is  again  expressly  confirmed  in 

Ver.  28,  where  Qn?  must  be  referred  to  what 

goes  immediately  before.  The  false  prophets  are 
here  mentioned  in  relation  to  thfeir  godlessness. 
[BuNSEX  :  "They  are  depicted  in  ver.  25  princi- 
pally on  the  side  of  their  selfishness,  and  here  as 
the  responsible  watchmen  of  the  people  (ch.  iii. 
17  sq.),  appointed  by  God  to  prevent  them  being 
lulled  to  sleep."]  Comp.  at  ch.  xiii.  10,  9,  7. — 
Ver.  29.  The  common  people  resemble  the  digni- 
taries and  authorities  at  Jerusalem.  Comp.  ch. 
xviii.  18,  xvi.  49.  (Ex.  xxii.  20;  Deut.  xxiv. 
17.)— Ver.  30.  According  to  the  significance  of 
false  prophecy  (comp.  at  ver.  25),  among  them 
is  to  be  referred  to  the  false  prophets;  ch.  xiii.  5 
makes  this  certain.  [HiTZ.  :  Not  by  intercession, 
but  as  a  righteous  man.  But  where,  then,  was 
Jeremiah  ?  And  how  is  this  consistent  with  ch. 
xiv.  12  sq.  ?]  As  Jerusalem  stands  for  the  land, 
80  one  of  its  prophets  ought  to  have  been  found, 
who  would  intercede  for  the  land,  and  thus  avert 
its  destruction  by  Jehovah. — Ver.  31.  Ch.  vii.  8, 
4,  ix.  10,  etc. 

THEOLOGICAL  REMARKS. 

1.  Heie,  as  in  ch.  xvl'i.,  Ezekiel  shows  an 
understanaing  of  the  law  according  to  the  spirit 
of  the  Messiah,  who  is  in  him,  i.e.  in  Christ's 
manner.  See  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The 
connection  between  God's  obligations  and  human 
duty  is  treated  quite  according  to  Christ's  spirit 
»nd  manner  of  apprehending  it. 

2.  "The    distinction    between    religion    and 


morality   is   a    fiction    opposed    to   experience  *' 
(Hengst.  ). 

3.  The  loosening  of  the  bonds  of  filial  obedience, 
disrespect  to  the  rites  of  religious  worship,  a  dis- 
-rdered  condition  of  the  relations  between  the 
sexes,  open  licentiousness,  adultery,  a  social 
opinion  which  tolerates  or  recognises  it,  briljery, 
extortion,  the  arrogance  of  wealth,  oiq>ression  of 
inferiors,  and  such  like,  are  in  all  times  the 
cloud-streaks  presaging  the  gathering  storm  which 
will  burst  on  a  people. 

4.  False  prophecy  leans  on  civil  authority,  and 
therefore  flatters  and  serves  it.  In  God  and  His 
law,  in  human  conscience  and  personal  faith,  it 
has  neither  root  nor  support.  That  is  always  the 
civil  position  of  false  theology,  as  of  every  court 
clergy,  however  orthodox  it  may  otherwise  be. 

5.  The  dissolution  of  a  nation's  life  takes  place 
when  false  doctrine  comes  into  vogue.  Going 
hand  in  hand  with  the  passions,  it  banishes  con- 
scientiousness from  oflicial  life.  Priests  become- 
worldly  courtiers,  who  aim  at  making  a  career  for 
themselves  ;  judges  become  dependent  and  open 
to  influences,  and  take  their  cue  from  the  reigning 
power  and  from  public  opinion.  When  the 
Church  and  the  bench  take  their  tone  from  party 
spirit,  then,  along  with  sound  teaching  and  civil 
rights,  the  religious  and  moral  foundations  of 
national  life  are  swept  away.  The  ruling  principle 
becomes  mere  caprice,  which  undermines  the  penal 
code  with  frivolous  distinctions,  shallow  concep- 
tions of  law,  alleviation  of  penalties,  lax  views  as 
to  responsibility,  etc. 

HOMILETIC   HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "Thus  God's  complaint  against  His 
people  is  ever  renewed  :  and  our  times  ai  e  not 
unlike  those.  But  one  should  not  be  weary  of 
administering  reproof  "  (Stck.  ). — Ver.  2.  Comp. 
at  ch.  XX.  4. — "The  prophets  are  judges  through 
God's  word,  the  apostles  through  the  Spirit,  who 
convinces  the  world  of  sin,  John  xvi.  9.  The 
saints  judge  the  whole  world,  1  Cor.  vi.  2  sq. 
The  spiritual  man  judgeth  all  things,  1  Cor.  ii. 
15.  This  judgment-seat  is  better  than  a  worldly 
one.  This  is  the  employment  of  the  keys  in 
binding  and  loosing — the  'power  of  the  keys'" 
(H.  H.). — "  A  Jerusalem  may  become  a  Sodom,  a 
holy  city  a  den  of  murderers.  Let  no  one  think 
himself  so  secure  as  to  be  in  no  danger  of  falling, 
Rom.  xi.  20,  21 "  (W.).— Ver.  3.  "God  has  met&i 
out  to  sinners  the  time  of  forbearance,  the  day  iff 
grace"  (Cocc. ). — The  sinner  imagines  that  he  can 
go  on  without  end,  and  so  hastens  on  all  the 
faster  to  the  end. — Ver.  4.  He  who  wantonly 
wages  war  makes  himself  blood-guilty. — "They 
made  idols  for  themselves,  which  is  even  worse 
than  cherishing  the  ordinary  superstition  of  the 
idolatry  which  has  been  handed  down  to  us"  (L. ). 
— Whoever  mocks  God,  is  mocked  by  God  in  His 
own  time,  through  men. — Ver.  5.  "  We  bear  the 
name  of  evangelical,  we  believe  that  we  possess 
the  pure  doctrine  ;  therefore  we  should  be  the 
more  careful  to  keep  the  gospel  before  our  eyes, 
and  to  remain  far  from  pollution  and  false 
doctrine"  (I..).  —  "Every  one  shrinks  from  a 
polluted  name,  but  not  from  a  polluted  life,  whirls 
makes  one  dishonourable  before  God"  (B.  B.). — 
Sin  brings  the  best  order  into  confusion. — Ver.  6. 
"See  how  it  is  laid  on  the  conscience  of  teachers 
and  preachers  to  condemn  the  sii^s  even  of  those 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


219 


who  are  bigli  in  station  "(Tub.  Bib.  ).  — Since  their 
example  is  so  much  tiiken  notice  of,  princes  should 
look  more  intently  to  God's  word  and  law  than  to 
their  own  authority. — Civil  power  should  be  tor  a 
terror  to  evildoers,  but  should  not  minister  to  the 
gratification  of  the  flesh. — Blood-stains  may  be 
seen  even  upon  the  purple. — Might  goes  before 
right — even  an  Old  Testament  experience. — Ver. 
7.  Parents  are  themselves  to  blame  for  the  dis- 
obedience of  their  children,  but  at  last  a  whole 
people  is  required  to  bear  the  blame. — God  is 
assailed  in  the  persons  of  the  stranger,  widow,  and 
fatherless  ;  they  are  God's  wards.  — A  man  should 
be  most  on  his  guaril  against,  and  especially 
sensitive  to,  that  which  most  easily  leads  him 
astray.  —  Ver.  8.  Jehovah's  holy  things  were 
places,  things,  persons,  times,  etc. — "The  idea 
of  the  sanctuary  is  as  wide  as  that  of  the  Jewish 
religion"  (Heng.st.). — Comp.  at  eh.  .xx.  12. — He 
profanes  the  Sabbath  who  does  not  celebrate  it, 
who  celebrates  it  ill  or  who  consecrates  it  to  the 
service  of  sin. — Ver.  9.  "The  slanderer  is  a  thief" 
(Stck.  ). — Where  the  ruler  is  wicked,  false  tongues 
are  plentiful. — Where  there  are  wicked  judges, 
false  witnesses  are  not  wanting. — False  speech  is 
base  coin.  Compare  at  ch.  xviii.  16,  xvi.  16. — 
Impurity  and  idolatry  in  their  combination. — 
Ver.  10  sq.  Custom  and  morals  go  together. — 
Impurity  ruins  the  individual,  the  family,  and 
the  state,  in  body  and  soul.  —  God  sees  when 
we  suppose  ourselves  unseen. — Though  the  ruler 
be  still,  God  is  not  silent. — There  are  sins  which 
sink  man,  who  was  made  in  the  image  of  God, 
lower  than  the  beasts.  Parents,  watch  over  the 
Dierabers  of  your  families  from  earliest  years. 
—  Ver.  12.  Every  man  has  his  price,  for  which  he 
can  be  bought. — "  Men  in  authority,  counsellors 
of  kings,  take  heed  of  covetousness,  of  gifts,  of 
violence  and  misuse  of  your  office,  otherwise  God's 
vengeance  will  surely  smite  you  and  your  houses!  " 
(Tdb.  Bib.) — Jewish  tradition  ascribes  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  to  covetousness,  because  it 
is  the  root  of  all  evil. — "  Not  only  he  who  demands 
more  than  is  just,  but  he  also  who  shows  no  for- 
bearance, oppresses  his  neighbour,  Matt,  xviii. 
28  sq."  (Stck.) — "Avarice  spares  neither  friend 
nor  foe,  its  rule  is  self-interest"  (Stck.). — He  who 
loves  not  his  neighbour  as  himself  has  forgotten 
God. — "  ForgetfuJness  of  God  opens  the  window 
to  every  wicked  action  "  (H.  H.). — Ver.  13.  How 


God's  hani  in  the  end  strikes  upon  all  the  hands 
of  men  1— Ver.  14.  In  sin  and  in  the  time  of  God's 
judgment  how  diH'erent  is  the  bearing  of  men  ! — 
When  God  is  against  us,  heart  and  hand,  couragu 
and  power,  fail.  —  "God  speaks  not  in  vain,  and 
will  do  more  than  terrify"  (B.  B.).  — Ver.  15. 
Awful  cleansing — the  extirpation  of  the  ungodly  I 
— When  we  make  no  end,  God  makes  it. — Ver. 
16.  God  hides  His  own  from  men,  but  here 
sinners  are  given  a\i  to  the  heathen. 

Ver.  17  sq.  Threefold  smelting  furnace  :  Of  sin, 
in  which  one  can  become  dross ; — of  trial,  where 
the  silver  is  tested ; — of  judgment,  where  even 
the  dross  is  consumed. — 'The  dross-communities. 

—  "Oh  that  a  salt  may  still  continue  among  us, 
that  we  may  be  preserved  from  utter  corruption  ! ' 
(Tub.  Bib.) — Ver.  18.  The  dross  does  not  typify 
hypocrites  ;  but  where  what  one  had,  has  been 
taken  away,  there  the  past  may  have  been  very 
noble. — Ver.  19.  The  heaping  up  of  sins,  and  the 
gathering  of  siniiers  for  judgment. — Ver.  20  sq. 
God's  anger  and  fury— sad  smelters!  Unsavoury 
salt  is  trodden  under  foot.  Matt.  v.  13.  — Ver.  23 
sq.  The  judgment-day  considers  whether  cleansing 
has  taken  place  and  fruit  been  brought  tortli. — 
Not  merely  the  soil,  but  much  more  ihe  heart  of 
man,  yields  all  manner  of  weeds.  God  has  denied 
rain  to  no  soul.  His  word  has  been  richly  bestowed 
on  us. — Ver.  25.  It  should  not  impose  on  godly 
men  that  false  prophets  keep  together;  falsity 
must  be  aided  by  falsity. — Satan  the  great  con- 
spirator to  the  end  of  time. — The  avarice  and 
worldline.ss  of  false  theology. — "A  hireling  is 
never  a  soul-seeker"  (Stck.). — Ver.  26.  Not  only 
by  direct  transgression,  but  also  by  false  explana- 
tion and  intei'pretation  of  the  law  of  God,  is  violence 
done  to  it. — 'The  sacred  boundary-guard  between 
Christ  and  Belial. — "The  teacher  who  does  not 
make  a  marked  ditference  between  the  godly  and 
ungodly  in  applying  saving  truth,  profanes  the 
name  of  the  Lord  in  the  sanctuary"  (St.). — Ver. 
27.  No  one  is  placed  so  high  as  to  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  divine  punishment.  The  loss  of  a  single 
soul  over  against  the  gaining  of  the  whole  world. 

—  Ver.  28.  Comp.  at  ch.  xiii.— Ver.  29.  Where 
prophecy  does  no  good,  a  people  must  become  a 
waste. — Ver.  30  sq.  The  pious  are  the  lightning- 
conductors  of  God's  judgments.- — "The  want  of 
pious  people  is  a  terrible  want,  the  premonition 
of  judgment"  (Coco.). 


(6)  Juiiah  and  IsraeCs  Ripeness  for  Judgment  (ch.  xxiii.). 

1,  2       And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  there  were 

3  two  women,  the  daughters  of  one  mother  ;  And  in  Eg}rpt  they  played  the 
wanton  ;  in  their  youth  they  wantoned,  there  were  their  breasts  pressed,  and 

4  there  were  the  teats  of  their  virginity  bruised.  And  their  names  were 
"  Oholah,"  the  great  [greater],  and  "  Oholibah "  her  sister ;  and  they  were 
mine,  and  bare  sons  and  daughters  ;  and  their  names  were  Samaria— Oholah, 

6  and  Jerusalem — Oholibah.     And  Oholah  when  under  me  played  the  wanton, 

6  and  doted  upon  her  lovers, — on  Assyria,  her  neighbours,  Clothed  in 
purple,  captains  and  rulers,  all  of  them  comely  young  men,  knights  riding  on 

7  horses.  And  she  bestowed  her  wantonness  upon  them,  all  the  choice  of  the 
sons  of  Assyria  ;  and  with  all  on  whom  she  doted,  with  all  their  idols  she 

8  polluted  herself  And  her  whoredoms  brought  from  Egj'pt  she  did  not 
leave  ;  for  they  lay  with  her  in  her  youth,  and  they  bruised  her  virgin  breasts, 

9  ani  poured  their  whoredoms  upon  her.     Therefore  I  gave  her  into  the  hand 


221  EZEKIEL. 


of  her  lovers,  into  the  hand  of  the  sons  of  Assyria,  upon  whom  she  doted. 

10  These  discovered  her  nakedness  [shame]  ;  they  took  her  sons  and  daughters, 
and  herself  they  slew  with  the  sword,  and  she  became  9,  name  to  women,  and 

11  they  executed  judgment  upon  her.  And  her  sister  Oholibah  saw  it,  and 
made  her  wantonness  more  corrupt  than  she,  and  her  whoredoms  more  than 

12  the  whoredoms  of  her  sister.  She  doted  on  the  sons  of  Assyria, — captains 
and  rulers,  her  neighbours,  clothed  gorgeously,  knights  riding  upon  horses,  all 

13  of  them  comely  young  men.     And  I  saw  that  she  was  defiled  ;  they  had  both 

14  one  wa(y.    And  she  still  added  to  her  whoredoms;  and  she  saw  men  portrayed 

15  upon  the  wall,  likenesses  of  the  Chaldeans,  painted  with  vermilion.  Girdled 
with  a  girdle  on  their  loins,  flowing  turbans  on  their  heads,  all  of  them  having 
the  appearance  of  leaders,  the  likeness  of  the  sons  of  Babylon,  of  the  Chal- 

16  deans  in  the  land  of  their  birth.     And  she  doted  upon  them  as  soon  as  her 

17  eyes  saw  them,  and  sent  messengers  unto  them  to  Chaldea.  And  the  sons  of 
Babylon  came  to  her  into  the  bed  of  love,  and  defiled  her  through  their 
whoredoms  ;  and  she  was  polluted  with  them,  and  her  soul  was  estranged 

18  from  them.  And  she  discovered  her  whoredoms,  and  discovered  her  naked- 
ness ;  and  My  soul  was  estranged  from  her,  as  My  soul  had  been  estranged 

19  from  her  sister.  And  she  multiplied  her  whoredoms,  so  that  she  remembered 
the  days  of  her  youth,  when  she  played  the  wanton  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

20  And  she  doted  on  their  paramours,  whose  flesh  is  the  flesh  of  asses,  and  their 

21  issue  the  issue  of  horses.  Yea  [and]  thou  didst  seek  after  the  lewdness  of  thy 
youth,  when  the  Egyptians  bruised  thy  teats  on  account  of  thy  youthful 

22  breasts.  Therefore,  Oholibah,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  will 
stir  up  thy  lovers  against  thee,  from  whom  thy  soul  is  estranged,  and  I  wiU 

23  bring  them  against  thee  from  every  side ;  The  sons  of  Babylon,  and  all  the 
Chaldeans,  Pekod,  and  Shoa,  and  Koa,  all  the  sons  of  Assyria  with  them, 
comely   young   men,   captains   and   rulers   all   of    them,    leaders  and   men 

24  of  renown,  every  one  riding  on  horses.  And  they  shall  come  against 
thee  with  weapons,  chariot  and  wheel,  and  with  an  assembly  of  peoples ; 
target  and  shield  and  helmet  they  shall  set  against  thee  round  about ; 
and  I  will  set  judgment  before  them,  and  they  shall  judge  thee  with  their 

25  judgments.  And  I  will  set  My  jealousy  upon  thee,  and  they  shall  deal 
with  thee  in  fury  ;  they  shall  take  away  thy  nose  and  thine  ears,  and  thy 
remnant  shall  fall  by  the  sword ;  they  shall  take  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters, 

20  and  thy  remnant  shall  be  devoured  by  the  fire.     And  they  shall  strip  thee  of 

27  thy  clothes,  and  take  away  thy  fair  jewels.  And  I  will  make  thy  lewdness 
to  cease  from  thee,  and  thy  whoredom  from  the  land  of  Egypt ;  and  thou 

28  shalt  not  lift  up  thine  eyes  to  them,  nor  remember  Egypt  any  more.  For 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  will  deliver  thee  into  the  hand  of 
those  whom  thou  hatest,  into  the  hand  of  those  from  whom  thy  soul  is 

29  estranged.  And  they  shall  deal  with  thee  in  hatred,  and  shall  take  away  all 
thy  earning,  and  leave  thee  naked  and  bare ;  and  the  nakedness  of  thy 
whoredoms  shall  be  discovered,  and  thy  lewdness  and  thy  wanton  courses. 

30  This  shall  be  done  unto  thee  because  thou  hast  gone  a-whoring  after  the 

31  heathen,  because  thou  hast  defiled  thyself  with  their  idols.     In  the  way  of 

32  thy  sister  thou  hast  gone,  and  I  give  her  cup  into  thy  hand.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  The  cup  of  thy  sister,  the  deep  and  wide,  thou  shalt  drink ; 

33  it  shall  be  for  laughter  and  mockery  according  to  its  measure.  Thou  shalt  be 
filled  with  drunkenness  and  sorrow ;  a  cup  of  wasting  and  desolation  i«>  -he 

34  cup  of  thy  sister  Samaria.  And  thou  shalt  drink  it  and  suck  it  out ,  und 
thou  shalt  gnaw  its  sherds,  and  tear  off  thy  breasts ;  for  I  have  spoken, — 

35  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Because  thou  hast  forgotten  Me,  and  hast  cast  Me  behind  thy  back,  do  thou 

36  also  bear  thy  lewdness  and  thy  whoredoms.  And  Jehovah  said  to  me,  Son 
of  man,  wilt  thou  judge  Oholah  and  Oholibah,  then  show  them  their  abomi- 

87  nations.  For  they  have  committed  adultery,  and  blood  is  in  their  hands,  and 
«ith  their  idols  they  have  committed  adultery ;  and  also  their  sens  when 


CHAP.  XXIII.  2. 


521 


38  they  bare  unto  Me  they  have  made  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  them.     ThL- 
besides  they  did  to  Me;  they  defiled  My  sanctuary  in  the  same  day,  and  pro- 
ng faned  My  Sabbaths.     And  when  they  had  slain  their  sons  [children]  to  theii 
idols,  they  came  to  My  sanctuary  on  the  same  day  to  profane  it ;  and  lo  ' 

40  thus  have  they  done  in  the  midst  of  My  house.  Yea,  they  sent  even  to  men 
commg  from  afar,  to  whom  a  messenger  was  sent ;  and,  lo,  they  came,  for 
whom  thou  didst  wash  thyself,  paint  thine  eyes,  and  deck  thyself  with  oma- 

41  ments  ;    And  thou  satest  upon  a  stately  bed,  and  a  table  was  laid  before  it, 

42  and  My  incense  and  My  oil  didst  thou  set  upon  it.  And  the  voice  of  a  loose 
crowd  [was]  in  her  [Jerasaiem],  and  to  people  of  the  multitude  were  brought 
drunkards  from  the  wilderness,  who  put  bracelets  on  their  hands,  and  a 

43  beautiful  crown  upon  their  heads.     And  I  said  of  her  worn  out  with  adul- 

44  tenes,  Will  they  now  commit  her  adulteries  1  And  .she  [also]  ]  And  they 
went  in  to  her  as  they  go  in  to  a  harlot.     Thus  they  went  in  to  Oholah  and 

45  to  Ohohbah,  the  lewd  women.  But  righteous  men,  they  shall  judge  them 
with  the  judgment  of  adulteresses,  and  the  judgment  of  those  th^at  shed 

46  blood  ;  for  they  are  adulteresses,  and  blood  is  in  their  hands.  For  thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  I  will  bring  up  a  company  against  them,  and  give  them 

47  to  maltreatment  and  spoiling.  And  the  company  shall  cast  stones  upon 
them,  and  cleave  them  with  their  swords;  their  sons  and  their  daughters 

48  they  shall  slay,  and  bum  their  houses  with  fire.  And  I  will  cause  lewdness  to 
cease  out  of  the  land,  so  that  all  women  shall  be  warned,  and  shall  not  do 

49  after  your  lewdness.  And  they  shall  recompense  your  lewdness  upon  you, 
and  ye  shall  bear  the  sins  of  your  idols,  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord  Jehovah. 


Ver.    3.  Sejtt. :  .  .  .  '<mtriiv  t!  fM^a-roi  .  .  .  ititreLpdt*tvB^irttv. 

Ver.  12.  .  .  .  i.itiuucou!  liTxfjfa.—    Vulg. :  indulia  vtttt  varia— 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  f^tuLtgcuTxi  oSfff  fj,iix, — 

Ver.  15.  Sii;«»-itiniWTo,i,A,ii«i»  .  .  .    rmpm  tSxrrai  .  .  .  S-^,i  Tfirn. 

Ver.  20.  ..  l„e^  ir,  r.„  Xaxa«,.w,  i.  w..  i..-  .  .  .  .;}.,.-    Vulg.:  inMntt*  Itbidine  tvper  cmcubilum  .     . 

Ver.  21.  Sept.,  Vulg.,  Sj-r.  read:    DnSt53. 

«..  l!"^'  ^^   '  ■  ■  "'""'  '"""'"  *  "•"«'"«-    "oMa,  tyrammtgut  et  privHpes  .  .  .  duces  tt  magitlraitu  .  .     pHn- 
iVes  pnnapum  el  nominalaa—  '^ 

Ver.  24.  .   .  .  ir.  ^«^|i«,  i^,a.r.  ,.  t,.;,;.,,  ,Vt.,,  ;.„.  .  .  .  ,.  0,Xu  ir,  «  rp,fuK,u„,  «,..A«. 
V  er.  29.  .  .  ,  reus  -rttavf  rov  x.  rovi  f^a^Oevg  a-oy — 
Ver.  31.  Sept.  Syr.  Arab,  read:    "I^^^- 

^.^Z*"^'^'^-^^- "  ''^IT^'"'  ''"'  «'^-'^*'*'  f^^^>^  «■  <«A.«a.f  ^Xr.ffhfrn~    Erisin  derisum  ,  .  .  mbsannaticnem 

fum  est  capacusima  .  .  .   repleberis,  calice  moei-oHs  et  tristitise—  »«*"«*» wTiew*, 

Var.  34.  Sept. :  .  .  .  *.  Taf  i6pT<ts  x.  Tttf  vouuyivtat  airtif  eiTitrTOi^(u-~ 
Ver.  37.  .  .  .  it' ifATvpaiv  \ 

ilullanlis  .  .  .  meaet  in  vms  lui  de  .  .  .  adducebanlur  et  veniebanl  de  deserlo— 

Ver.  41    VulK.  reads-  yiSib.    Syr..  Chald.,  .=Vrab.  read:  Dn'3D5).-42.  Some  codd.:  DHnV  some  also-  DH^BVl. 

ca».<«r:;;it;;::e :::  :;r:r""'"'  ^ '""  """"^ """  '"-'•' '  '"^'■--  "•  «"* "'"'" «'  •»  •  •  ■  ^■'-/— ■ 

Ver.  44.  Another  reading :   1X3*1. 

Ver.  46.  Many  codd.:  ]!v'?]!. 
Ver.  47.  .  .  .  i,fo,;  i-^x^,, 

Ver.  49.  Cudd.  and  Syr. :  '01131. 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

The  allegory  in  which  the  ripeness  for  judg- 
ment of  Judah  and  Israel  is  represented,  is  closely 
allied  to  that  of  ch.  xvi.  The  remarks  made  on 
It  are  to  be  compared  with  the  present  chapter 
In  contradistinction  to  ch.  xvi..  which  gave  pro- 
minence to  the  love  borne  to  the  faithless  one  by 
her  lawfd  husband,  cli.  xxiii.  directs  our  atten- 
tion rather  to  the  seductive  power  and  splendour 
ot  the  lovers  for  whom  Jehovah  was  forsaken.  The 
prospect  ol  pardon  presented  by  the  earlier  chapter 
here  disappears  behind  the  penal  judgment 


[Fausset:  "The  imagery  is  simUar  to  that  In 
ch.  XVI. ;  but  here  the  reference  is  not,  as  ther^ 
so  much  to  the  breach  of  the  spiritual  marriage- 
covenant  with  God  by  the  people's  idolatrieii°aa 
by  their  worldly  spirit,  and  their  trusting  to  alli- 
ances with  the  heathen  for  safety,  rather  than  t« 
God.  — W.  F.] 

Vers.  1-4.  Preface. 

Ver.  2.  The  one  mother  may  be  presupposed 
from  ch.  xvi.  as  the  Hittite.  Comp.  at  vers.  3, 
44  sq.     As,  however,  it  is  not  the  present  object 


.22 


EZEKIEL. 


to  give  proniini'nce  to  the  ancestry  in  the  sense  of 
;h.  xvi.,  tile  word  simply  describes  the  original 
anity  of  the  people.  This  also  explains  what  is 
said  in  ver.  3  relative  to  Egypt.  The  two  king- 
doms whicli  form  the  theme  of  the  chapter  are 
assumed  as  aheady  two  in  Egypt ;  but  in  point  of 
fact,  what  is  said  holds  as  to  the  yet  undivided 
people.  [Hengst.,  indeed,  appeals  to  Gen.  xlix., 
in  which  tlie  two  tribes  of  Judah  and  Ephraim 
appear  as  two  independent  powers.  ]^0n  account 
of  the  legitimate  relation  in  which  the  nation 
stood  to  God  from  its  very  origin,  namely,  of  a 
marriage -covenant,  the  political  and  religious 
departure  of  both  kingdoms  from  the  principles 
laid  down  in  tlie  law,  appears  as  wantonness  (n3T)i 

ch.  xvi.  15  (Jas.  iv.  4). — Here  also  (comp.  eh.  xx. 
7  sf).)  they  are  said  to  be  tainted  with  the  spirit 
of  Egypt.  Comp.  also  at  ch.  xvi.  26.  In  their 
youth,  points  (comp.  ch.  xvi.  22,  43)  to  their 
innate  corruption,  showing  itself  early  in  sinful 
lust. — Even  when  still  unwedded  (ch.  xvi.  8),  as 
Jehovah's  betrothed,  the  conduct  of  the  people 
was  to  be  judged  according  to  Deut.  xxii.  23. 
Comp.   farther,  ch.  xvi.  7  ;  Hos.  ii.  4  [2]. — ^jJtjj, 

the  Egyptians  (ver.  8).  Egypt  was  the  means  of 
exciting  the  first  carnal  impulses  of  the  youthful 
people  to  a  heathenish  mode  of  feeling  and  action, 
whereby  they  were  robbed  of  their  virgin  purity. 
The  Sept.  exjdains  their  virginity  according  to 
Deut,  xxii.  20.  Hitz.  repels  the  idea  of  any 
allusion  to  idolatry,  and  makes  the  reference  to 
be  to  tlic  oppression  by  the  Egyptians. — Ver.  4. 
Oholah  =:  her  tent,  i.e.  either  generally  (Hengst.  ) : 
that  has  a  house  of  her  own,  an  independent 
existence,  or  (on  account  of  the  contrast  to 
Oholibah) :  who  jiossesses  her  wilfully  erected  sanc- 
tuary (1  Kings  xii.  28  sq.,  16),  which  makes  it  un- 
necessary to  think  of  an  abbreviation  of  rl3"n?nN, 

her  tent  in  her.  Hav.,  while  maintaining  the 
Hittite  reference,  ch.  xvi.  3,  etc.,  makes  pro- 
minent the  allusion  found  in  it  to  the  history  of 
Esau,  and  explains  Oholibah  relative  to  Gen. 
x.Kxvi.  2,  inasmuch  as  Aholibamah  [Oholibamah], 
who  is  called  Judith  in  an  earlier  passage  (Gen. 
xxvi.  34),  could  most  appropriately  represent  the 
kingdom  of  Judah.  While  Aholibamah  merely 
means  (li-nt  of  the  high  place)  :  My  tent  (house, 
family)  is  a  height  ("I  have  a  high  tent"),  in 
the  nami!  Oholibah — My  tent  (namely,  Jehovah's, 
who  speaks)  in  her — the  reference  is  taken  from 
the  tabernacle  ;  whereby  one  is  reminded  of  the 
habit  which  prevailed  among  the  exiles  of  naming 
their  cliildren  from  the  temple  and  similar 
objects  (1  C'liron.  iii.  20  ;  Ezra  ii.  43,  59),  to  ex- 
press their  yearning  for  restoration.  (Moreover, 
the  memliers  of  a  family  in  the  East  often  bear 
the  same  or  like-sounding  names. )  The  kingdom 
of  Judah  liad  also  the  advantage  of  possessing  the 
one  true  sanctuary,  wliich,  however,  made  its 
guilt  the  more  aggravated.  The  great  is  to  be 
rendered,  as  in  ch.  xvi.  46,  and  not  with  Hengst. : 
the  elder,  witli  an  allusion  to  Joseph's  precedence, 
Gen.  xlix.  26,  to  that  of  Ephraim  in  the  time  of 
Joshua  and  the  judges,  and  to  that  of  Benjamin 
wliiili  belonged  to  the  ten  tribes  in  the  time  of 
Saul,  while  Judah  attained  supremacy  only  in  the 
time  of  David  (Ps.  Ixxviii. ).  Hav.  combines  with 
the  political  importance  of  Samaria,  owing  to  its 
jrcater  extent,  its  priority  in  sin  as  well  as  in 


punishment.— Comp.  ch.  xvi.  8,  20.  Hav.  trans, 
lates  >^  nr'nni  :  "And  they  belonged  to  me  aj 

wives,"  with  emphasis.  —  The  explanation  ol 
the  names  as  those  of  Samaria  and  Jerusalem 
(representing  Judah  as  hitherto)  closes  this  intro- 
duction. 

Vers,  5-10.  Oholah' s  AiUdterou-s  Wantonness  {vera. 
.■^-8)  and  Punishment  {vers.  9,  10). 

Vers.  5-8.    The  Harlotries. 

Ver.  5.  Comp.  at  ch.  xvi.  32.  HiTZ. :  "  'When 
she  turned  her  back  on  me "  (?).  So  also  the 
Chaldee.  But  rather  is  the  marriage  relation 
pointed  to,  in  the  line  of  ver.  4  (Hos.  iv.  12). 
Umbr. :  "While  she  rests  under  her  husband, 
her  thoughts  run  wantonly  after  others." — 3jy. 

found  only  in  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  means  :  to 
desire,  to  hum.  The  description  of  tlie  Assyrians 
begins  with  DUilp-     It  is  in  apposition,  like  all 

that  follows.  The  nearness  is  to  be  taken  neither 
locally,  nor  yet  morally — of  inward  relationship, 
but  it  brings  into  prominence  the  historical  ele- 
ment, the  time  when  the  Assyrians  became  neigh- 
bours of  Israel ;  comp.  2  Kings  xv.  17  sq.,  xvi.  9, 
xvii.  3.  [The  supposition  of  a  loose  connection  ol 
the  w*ords=  "  and  neighbours,"  who  were  some- 
where in  her  neighbourhood,  is  not  consistent  with 
what  follows.  Others :  Who  came  near  her  lust- 
fully (Gen.  XX.  4).  Hav.  :  "  So  closely  related, 
intimate,  trusted  friends,"  that  alliances  were 
made  with  them,  and  their  favour  courted,  until, 
from  being  bosom  friends,  they  became  deadly 
enemies.  There  is  nothing  of  all  this  in  the  con- 
text, which  only  states  that  on  the  first  oppor- 
tunity, namely,  when  the  Assyrians  approached, 
Israel  was  captivated  by  the  carnal  glory  of  the 
world-power,  which  is  then  portrayed  with  greater 
minuteness.] — This  political  power  is  Assyria, 
which  does  not  come  into  view,  in  the  first  place, 
on  the  side  of  its  idolatry  ;  but  when  Israel  wan- 
toned after  it  from  political  motives,  this  infidelity 
to  the  idea  of  their  complete  dependence  on  God 
could  not  fail  to  issue,  from  the  first,  in  apostasy 
from  God,  and  the  other  natural  consequences  of 
the  forbidden  relationship. — Ver.  6.  Description 
of  the  As.syrians  from  the  view-point  of  Israel's 
apostate  heart,  to  whom  this  world-])Owcr  seemed 
mo.st  imposing,  as  Hengst.  remarks;  "with  a 
touch  of  irony."  The  impressions  are  entirely 
such  as  are  made  on  the  mind  of  a  carnal  woman, 
whereby  the  previously  mentioned  doting  gaze  is 

accounted  for. — n73n,  either  from  its  thick,  hard 

sliell,  or  from  its  dark  colour,  is  the  name  of  a 
mussel  {helix  ianthina)  with  a  purple  shell,  from 
which  a  blue  or  violet  purple  was  made.  —  nPIB 

is  a  foreign  word,  denoting  the  military  governo: 
of  a  province.  Similarly  po  (pD)  ^the  repre- 
sentative of  the  prince,  commander-in-chief 
(Something  like  governors  and  generals.  > — Th« 
special  mention  of  horses  is  intended  to  dis- 
tinguish the  noblest  and  proudest  class  of  riders 
from  those  riding  on  asses  and  camels. — Ver.  7. 
in30  hrietly  resumes  ver.  6,  in  order,  perhaps,  ta 

suggest,  besides  the  "choice,  "etc.,  those  who  were 


CHAP.  XXIII.  8-17. 


223 


Df  less  account ;  at  all  events,  she  doted  also  on 
others,  as  the  Egyptians,  who  are  presently  men- 
tioned. —  733    ?b31i    the   one   illustrating    the 

other ;  the  political  confederation  with  the  heathen 
led  to  idolatry.  (  Henp.st.  :  The  idols  of  the  world- 
powers  are  not  beyond  and  above  them,  but  them- 
selves made  objective.) — Ver.  8.  Thither  Jero- 
boam's calf-worship  pointed  back,  so  that  their 
ancient  deliverance  irom  Egypt,  instead  of  re- 
maining a  fact,  had  become  a  mere  tradition. 
As  to  the  political  application  (Rashi),  2  Kings 
xvii.  4  is  to  be  compared.  Hitzig  takes  it  in  an 
exclusively  political  sense. 

Vers.  9,  10.    The  Punishment. 

Ver.  9.  The  recompense  for  ver.  7  :  "And  she 
be.stowed,"  "Therefore  I  gave."  Comp.  2  Kings 
xvii. — Ver.  10.  The  shame  of  her  wantonness  is 
succeeded  by  the  sliame  of  punishment,  executed 
by  her  paramours  themselves.  Comp.  besides,  ch. 
xvi.  37.  So  in  the  figure  ;  as  to  the  fact,  it  was 
accomplished  by  the  captivity  of  the  people,  the 
slaughter  of  those  on  whom  the  existence  of  the 
kingdom  depended,  of  the  men  who  were  able  to 
bear  arms,  so  that  Israel  became  notorious  among 
the  nations  on  account  of  its  shameful  overthrow, 
ch.  xvi.  41. 

Vers.  11-35.   Oliolibah's  Guilt  (vers.  11-21)  and 
Punishment  (vers.  22-35). 

Vers.  11-21.   The  Guilt. 

Ver.  11.  She  saw  both  the  transgressions  and 
their  recompense.  The  former  should  have  filled 
her  with  loathing,  by  the  latter  she  should  have 
been  warned.  But  her  corrupt  conduct  was  still 
worse  than  that  of  Samaria  (ch.  xvi.  47).' — Ver. 
12.   Comp.  2  Kings  xvi.  7  sq.  ;  2  Chron.  xxviii. 

19  sq. — Comp.  at  vers.   6,  5. — 71730  (in  v«r.  6, 

r)73n)  means:  perfection,  therefore:  splendour;  not 

e.xactly  (Sept.) :  "with  beautiful  (purple)  fringe," 
as  Hitz.  EwALD  :  "clothed  in  martial  coats  of 
mail." — Ver.  13.  And  I  saw,  counterpart  to  K"im, 

ver.  11.  (Comp.  Jer.  iii.  8.)  The  way  and  end 
of  both  sisters  were  the  same.  —  Ver.  14.  The 
description  of  Judah's  baser  conduct  follows.  Her 
relations  with  the  Assyrians  were  similar  to  those 
of  Samaria.  They  had  in  reality  approached  the 
kingdom  of  Judah,  as  they  had  the  kingdom  of 
lirael.  In  regard  to  the  Chaldeans,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  relation  to  them  was  brought  about  by 
means  of  likenesses,  which  Judah  saw, —  npHD, 

partic.  Pual,  something  engraven  or  sketched, 
painted  (Hav.  :  probably  coloured  bas-reliefs),  in 
vermilion  (which  would  be  all  the  more  appro- 
priate for  warriors)  ;  or  perhaps  in  ochre,  as 
frescoes  of  this  description  for  the  glorification 
of  the  Chaldean  commanders  and  their  victories 
were  sufficiently  common  in  Ezekiel's  neighbour- 
hood. The  representation  here,  therefore,  may 
possibly  be  the  mere  drapery  of  the  thought, 
that  the  bare  report  of  the  military  prowess 
of  the  Chaldeans  had  inflamed  the  imagination 
ami  the  senses  of  Judah.  So  Hengst.  Owing 
to  the  undeniable  intercourse  between  nations 
in    the   Old    World,    which    certainly   obtained 


between  Palestine  and  Babylon,  it  is  not  in  itself 
unimaginable  that  such  wall-pictures  of  repre- 
senfcttives  of  foreign  nations  .may  have  existed  in 
the  royal  palaces  of  Judah.  Hitz.  here  takes 
note  of  "  the  influence  (of  pictures)  on  a  woman's 
imagination,"  under  which  figure  Judah  is  per- 
sonified. Hav.  cites  ch.  viii.  10,  and  thinks  of 
"pictorial  representations  from  the  circle  of  Chal- 
dean mythological  ideas. "  The  Chaldean  embassy 
of  2  Kings  XX.  12  sq.,  2  Chron.  xxxii.  31  (comp. 
Delitzsch  on  Isa.  xxxix. ),  shows  that  the  Chal- 
deans kept  up  intercourse  with  Judah,  even  when 
Assyria  w.as  still  the  dominant  world-power.  May 
not  this  embassy  have  been  perpetuated  by  a 
painting  as  the  occasion  of  an  alliance  with  the 
Chaldeans  against  Assyria  ?  Ewald  supposes  : 
"  beautiful  idol-pictures,  which,  as  e.g.  Mithras, 
were  represented  in  the  human  form,"  and  cites 
eh.  viii.  16. — Ver.  15.  The  flowing  turbans  are 
such  as  may  be  seen  on  the  monuments  of  au'ient 
Nineveh,  with  which  the  following  descri]itions 
correspond  throughout.      See    Layard's  Nineveh 

and  Babylon.      [^2ti  refers  not  so  much  to  the 

colour  (gay),  but  rather  means  originally  to  tuyist 
round.  Layard  remarks,  by  the  way:  "The 
general  was  clothed  in  embroidered  robes,  and 
wore  on  his  head  a  fillet  adorned  with  rosettes, 
and  long  tasselled  bands."  Probably,  waving 
head-bands.  The  Kurds,  who  still  preserve  the 
most  ancient  Eastern  customs,  wear  on  their  bright- 
coloured  turbans,   appendages  which  hang  over 

their  neck  and  shoulders.] — V'hvf  "^  ^^^  plural 

betokens  the  charioteers,  of  whom  there  were  three 
in  each  chariot,  one  driving,  one  liearing  the  shield, 
and  a  third  fighting.  (Appearance  and  likeness , 
see  ch.  i.  5. )  The  emphasizing  of :  the  land  of 
their  birth,  according  to  Hengst.,  is  intended  to 
form  a  contrast  to  the  Assyrians,  whom  Judah 
saw  in  her  own  land, — to  point  perhaps  to  Ur 
(Gen.  xi.  28)  of  the  Chaldees  (Abraham  s  native 
land),  so  that  the  original  blood  -  relationship 
may  have  been  alluded  to  in  this  political  inter- 
course (?).  Hav.:  "The  Chaldean's  fatherland 
theirs,"  which  sarcastically  places  side  by  side, 
the  original  home  of  the  once  fierce  and  warlike 
people,  and  the  idolatrous  pictures,  which  resemble 
them,  but  not  the  existing /omSani  Babylonians. 
The  statement  made  by  the  sentence  is  simpler  : 
that  even  they  were  not  farther  removed  than 
Abraliam,  the  founder  of  the  Jewish  people, — 
"  whose  fathers  served  strange  gods  in  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees  (Josh.  xxiv.  2),  so  that  he  was  called 
thence,"  etc.,  as  Cocc.  remarks.- — Ver.  16.  Apo- 
dosio  to  ver.  14:  "And  she  saw,"  resumed  by: 
as  soon  as  her  eyes  saw.  The  messengeis  men- 
tioned here  can  scarcely  be  those  of  Jer.  xxix.  3. 
"They  were  probably,"  says  Hengst.,  "the  occa- 
sion of  the  embassy  sent  from  the  Chaldeans,  who 
were  to  take  a  view  of  the  resources  of  the  people 
proposing  an  alliance."  This  side  of  the  history 
of  Judah  is  not  described  elsewhere.  Enough  that 
Judah,  as  is  in  itself  probable,  made  the  first 
advances  (ch.  xvi.  29).— Ver.  17.  The  politioal 
alliance  led  to  religious  defilement — was  itself,  in 
fact,  religious  defection  ;  ami  after  the  defilement 
was  effected,  it  led  again  to  political  hostility. 
Judah  found  that  it  had  only  changed  its  masters. 
Jehoiakim  and  Zedekiah  rebelled  against  Babyloa, 
2  Kings  xxiv. — In  j;p3  (the  weaker  form  Li  J,'p% 


i2i 


EZEKIEL. 


from  which  the  fut.  is  derived)  there  lies  the 
idea  of  satiety  and  loathing  ;  in  this  sense  the 
meaning  of  the  verb  is  :  to  push  away  any  one,  to 
&reat  a  relationship,  to  be  alienated  from  anyone. 
Com  p.  1  Cor.  vi.  16;  ch.  xviii.  6,  11.— Ver.  18. 
Yet  the  satiety  was  not  absolute.  Others  take 
the  connection  thus:  "and  when  she  bad  dis- 
covered," etc.,  "then  was,"  etc.  But  more  is 
meant  to  be  stated  as  the  ground  of  Jehovah's 
estrangement,  for  Judah's  alienation  from  the 
Chaldeans  might  also  have  led  her  back  to 
Jehovah.  More  general  prostitution,  however, 
was  the  result,  by  which  is  especially  meant 
alliances  with  the  lesser  states  against  Babylon, 
and  at  the  same  time  breaches  of  faith  towards 
men,  ch.  xrii.  15.  Jehovah's  estrangement  from 
Judah  is  a  suggestive  parallel  to  Judah's  from 
the  Chaldeans.— Ver.  19.  Comp.  vers.  3,  8,  ch. 
xvi.  51.  But  Judah  multiplied,  etc.  Instead  of 
remembering  the  misery  of  her  youth,  and  the 
grace  then  shown  (ch.  xvi.  22,  43),  she  thought 
only  of  renewing  quite  another  "  first  love  "  than 
that  of  Jehovah. — Ver.   20.    ^y  is  unjustifiably 

pressed  by  some  interpreters  ("beyond,"  more 
than  the  neighbouring  people  of  Egypt,  or, 
"together  with,"  ch.  xvi.  37),  as  its  construction 
with  33j;  in  the  chapter  sufficiently  shows.     Nor 

does  this  single  masculine  form  of  K'3?S,  which 

is  elsewhere  fern.,  justify  the  interpretation  of 
Kimchi,  that  Judith  mshed  to  be  the  concubine 
of  the  Egyptians.  It  is  rather  a  derision  of  the 
Egyptian  eunuchs,  i.e.  courtiers  and  officers  who 

mediated  the  alliance  with  Egypt.      (DH^E'JpS 

does  not  mean  the  men-concubines,  which  the 
Egyptians  are,  nor  is  it  to  be  taken  in  the  sense 
of  eunitchus  imbellis,  or  puer  mollis,  or  polyandry. ) 
The  representation  which  follows  is  sufficiently 
explained  by  the  particularly  lecherous  charac- 
ter of  the  animals  mentioned,  and  describes  the 
obscene  character  of  the  Egyptians  (ch.  xvi.  26). 
Hengst.  ;  "The  fallingpower  of  Egypt  sought  to 
provide  a  prop  for  itself  by  diplomatic  art." — Ver. 
21  sums  up.  "The  sudden  transition  to  the 
address  in  ver.  21  is  explained  by  this,  that  the 
prophet  has  the  actual  state  of  affairs  (the  union 
with  Egypt)  before  his  eyes"  (Hengst.). — 3  ex- 
plains 'nsT  in  accordance  with  ver.  3,  to  which 

the  inexperienced  sensuousness  and  carnality  of 
the  youthful  people  presented  the  inducement. 

Vers.  22-35.   Oholibah's  Punishment. 

Ver.  22.  She  is  punished  by  those  with  whom 
she  had  wantoned.  Comp.  ver.  9.  The  follow- 
ing verse  shows  who  are  meant.  Those  from 
whom  she  would  (ver.  17)  escape  out  of  loathing, 
will  not  allow  her  to  escape  punishment. — Ver. 
23.  The  sons,  etc.,  are  more  definitely  personified. 
Ewald  regards  the  three  names  as  the  proper 
names  of  three  subordinate  Chaldee  tribes,  which 
are  placed  together  from  similarity  of  sound.  As 
there  is  no  proof  of  this,  nor  even  of  their  being 
nomina  propria,  modern  interpreters  for  the 
most  part  regard  them  as  the  titles  of  Chaldee 
di^itaries  (Hengst.  :  " Pekod  =  supremacy  ;  Shoa 
rrr  the  chief  ;  Koa,  of  uncertain  meaning "),  or 
three  classes  of  the  peojile,  three  branches  of  the 


military  force,  or  three  ranks  in  it  (Hitz. :  "noble 
and  prince  and  lord").  From  the  description, 
the  assembly  which  is  to  be  gathered  together  tc 
execute  punishment,  shall  be  great  and  imposing. 
The  Assyrians  figure  as  part  of  it,  and  are  ironi- 
cally represented  in  the  manner  of  ver.  12  (6). 

—  OniS,   therefore  the  D'B'^C'  f™m  ver.  15  are 

named.      D'S^'lpi  Ew.  :  renowned,   which  Hitz, 

questions.  For  the  purpose  in  hand,  the  word  is 
either  formed  after  Num.  i.  16,  xvi.  2  :  formally 
"appointed,"  or  means  generally  :  " summoned." 
— Ver.  24.  The  assembly  was  not  more  conspicuous 
for  its  numbers  than  for  the  completeness  of  its 
equipments,    [s'n  (jVn)  «''•  >-'r-  (something hard, 

cutting,  sharp),  signifying  indefinitely;  weapon,  so 
that  a  threefold  equipment  is  specified.  [Meiek  : 
battle-axe.  Hengst.  :  sabre  (a  Chaldee  military 
word).  Ewald  :  "with  shoulder,  bridle,  and 
wheel,"  as  the  three  modes  in  which  soldiers  ad- 
vance,— shouldering  (with  bent  arm),  riding,  and 
driving.]      The  missing  3  is  easily  understood  ; 

but  it  is  not  required,  as  the  three  expressions 
standing    for   the    concretes,    foot,    horse,    and 

chariots,  could  be  the  subject  to  ^N31- — PHpa? 

(l  explic. ),  since  the  assembly  of  peoples  in  the 
manner  of  the  Israelitish  congregation  (ver.  23) 
supplies  the  proper  element  for  the  judgment 
which  is  to  be  held.  To  indicate  that  they  (while 
on  Jehovah's  mission)  are  secured  against  any 
anxiety  as  to  the  result,  three  pieces  of  exclusively 
defensive  armour  are  now  mentioned,  which  cor- 
respond to  the  above  threefold  description, — the 
shield  which  covered  the  whole  person,  the  smaller 
shield  of  the  light-armed  soldier,  and  the  helmet. 
They  received  from  God  the  right  to  judge  accord- 
ing to  their  judgments,  their  ideas  of  judgment. 
Thus  it  was  a  divine  judgment.  They  were  judges 
in  God's  stead.  But  with  a  reference,  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  fact  that  Judah  had  been  in  fellow- 
ship with  them  politically,  religiously,  and 
morally. — Ver.  25.  "The  jealousy  of  God  was  turned 
against  Israel ;  in  consequence  of  it  the  judgments 
of  the  heathen  were  fierce.  The  mutilation  is  to 
be  understood  in  conformity  with  common  Asiatic 
and  Chaldee  usages,  but,  in  the  present  connection, 
of  the  "severing  of  portions  of  the  national  body- 
corporate"  (Hitz.),  or  with  Hengst.,  of  the 
annihilation  of  their  military  strength,  which  is 
to  a  people  what  "nose  and  ears"  are  to  a  woman. 
The  older  interpreters  understood  Judah's  royal 
splendour,  or  (Kimchi)  kingdom  and  priesthood. 
The  remnant  is  defined  the  first  time  by  "  nose  " 
and  "ears,"  so  that  there  is  pronounced,  on  the 
one  hand,  mutilation,  and  on  the  other,  slaughter ; 
the  meaning  of  the  expression  in  the  second 
instance  is  defined  by  the  carrying  away  of  the 
children,  so  that  it  can  only  refer  to  the  empty 
houses  (ch.  xvi.  41). 

[HENnEliSON  :  "Vers.  25,  26.  Punishment  by 
cutting  off  the  nose  and  ears  was  inflicted  for 
adultery,  not  only  among  the  Chaldeans,  bixt  also 
among  the  Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  It 
was  therefore  most  appropriate  to  represent  that 
which  adulterous  Judah  was  to  suffer,  under  the 
image  of  such  ignominious  and  cruel  treatment. 
They  were  also  to  be  stripped  of  what  lewd  females 
set  most  value  upon — their  rich  dresses  and  costlj 


CHAP.  XXIII.  20-41. 


£3S 


jewels,  by  which  they  attract  the  notice  of  their 
parimours,  eh.  xvi.  39." — W.  F.] 

\'er.  26.  Oh.  xvi.  39,  17.  The  plundering  is 
either  symbolical  or  actual. — Ver.  27.  The  lewd- 
B633  is  made  to  cease  by  God  as  to  subject  and 
object. — Ver.  28.  Comp.  ch.  xvi.  37. — See  vera.  17, 
22. — Ver.  29.  Hatred  (ver.  28)  and  counter-hatie  d 
instead  of  all  the  former  intimacy.  Despoiling 
by  the  Chaldeans  till  she  is  reduced  to  her  original 
condition  in  Egypt  (ch.  xvi.  7),  from  which  results 
the  discover)'  of  her  guilt  and  accumulated  infamy 
(ch.  xvi.  37). — Ver.  31  (ver.  13).  The  figure  of  the 
cup,  to  represent  the  final  issue,  under  the  idea  of 
driukiiig  out.  —  \'er.  32.  The  cup  described  as 
containing  much.     nTID   is  the  3d,   not  the   2d 

pcrs.,  and  the  subject  to  it,  is  either  the  cup  or 
^3^D  (amplitude,  widenees)  ;  but  the  former  is 

preferable,  with  the  latter  as  epexegetical.  The 
cup,  from  its  capacity,  occasions  the  derisive 
laughter  of  the  enemies, — that  the  person,  formerly 
so  wide-moutlieil  and  haughty,  now  become  so 
insignificant,  requires  to  swallow  so  much. — Ver. 
33.  What  the  cup  contains  for  those  who  have  to 
empty  it,  and  hence  what  cup  it  is.  Stupefaction 
with  sorrow  and  woe,  untU  they  are  distracted  by 
tlie  wasting  and  desolation  !  (The  verse  begins 
witli  jiiat;*,  and  ends  with  riiob'.) — Ver.  34.  Not 

so  much  an  intensification  of  the  figure  (Keil),  as 
of  the  drunkenness,  arising  from  the  anguish  of 
thought.  In  the  madness  of  her  pain  she  licks  up 
the  last  dropsof  the  cup.  Her  affliction  is  her  thirst. 
— Tlie  sherds  point  to  an  earthen  cup — nothing  is 
gilded  or  splendid  in  this  Nemesis-song — and  pre- 
suppose a  breaking  in  pieces,  wliich  is  incidentally 
set  forth  in  the  madness  which  follows  ;  but  the 
word  is  especially  intended  to  fit  in  with  'D"lOT> 

which  expresses  the  idea  of  crushing  or  gnawing 
the  sherds  with  the  teeth,  in  order  to  suck  out 
the  last  drops  of  mnisture  left  in  them.  (Hengst. 
says  merely;  "Thou  .shalt  break  the  sherds 
thereof,  as  one  who,  having  taken  a  very  disa- 
greeable potion,  shatters  the  vessel  in  ill-humour. ") 
The  tearing  of  the  breasts  is  placed  besidt  the 
l>reaking  of  the  sherds,  as  if  it  were  done  by 
means  of  the  sherd-fragments.  Or  it  may  even 
liave  been  doiie  in  frenzy  by  her  own  nails.  See 
vers.  3,  8,  in  reference  to  the  breasts.  "We  find 
a  histoiical  illustration  of  this  in  the  treatment 
they  gave  Gedaliali,  the  Chaldean  governor, 
for  which  they  were  compelled  to  suffer,  Jer. 
.xli."  (Heng.st.)  — Ver.  35.  Ch.  xxii.  12. —  She 
followed  after  the  heathen  and  their  gods  (ver. 
30).— Ch.  xvi.  43,  52,  58. 

Vers.  36-49.  Oholah's  and  Oholibah's  Abomina- 
tions together.  Vers.  36-45.  The  Abomina- 
tions.    Vers.  46-49.    The  Judgment. 

Vers.  36-45.    The  Abominations. 

Ver.  36.  Ch.  xxii.  2,  .xx.  4.  Since  the  ripe- 
ness of  both  of  them  for  judgment  is  evident, 
this  refrain  is  most  appropriate. — (Ch.  xvi.  2.) — 
Ver.  37.  Adultery  with  the  idols,  and  blood- 
sheddiug,  as  in  ch.  xxii.  3,  etc.  Ch.  xvi.  38. 
The  latter  illustrated  by  the  bloody  sacrificing  of 
children.  (Ver.  4.  Ch.  xvi.  20,  xx.  31.) — Ver. 
38.  Ch.  XX.  27.— Ch.  v.  11.  (2  Kings  xxi.  4, 
5,  7.)     In  the  same  day,  makes  the  shocking 


contra.st  more  obvious.  Desecration  of  the  sanc- 
tuary and  Sabbath,  as  in  eh.  xxii.  8. — Ver.  39. 
(Ch.  xvi.  21.)  To  their  idols,  explains  "to 
them"  at  the  close  of  ver.  37. — The  doing  of  tha 
one  and  the  other, — this  was  the  special  affront  to 
Jehovah.  Not  that  children  were  sacrificed  in 
the  temple,  but  Jehovah  wa.s  repaired  to  after 
Moloch,  each  in  their  several  places.  That  which 
was  ' '  defilement "  of  the  sanctuary  in  ver.  38,  wheu 
the  idea  of  otfering  to  Moloch  was  included,  is 
here  called  "profanation,"  when  both  are  treated 
separately.  To  profane  it,  however,  seems  to 
mean  sometliing  more,  namely:  that  they  came 
to  the  temple  to  profane  it  also  by  alien  rites  ot 
all  sorts,  as  the  clause:  and  lo  .  .  .  in  the  midst 
of  My  house,  evinces  (ch.  viii.  3  sq. ).  The  im- 
mediately following  change  from  the  plural  to 
the  singular  shows  that  the  background  is  here 
supplied  by  the  period  subsequent  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Israel ;  Judah  appears  before  the  propliet's 
eye  for  Israel,  partly  on  account  of  the  temple, 
but  also  in  consideration  of  all  Israel's  relations 
to  Judah  both  before  and  after  (2  Clirou.  xv.  9, 
.XXX.  11). 

Ver.  40.  Climax,  a  non  phis. — njnPCTl  is  not 

the  2d  plur.  (address),  but  is  said  of  both, 
although  it  could  also  be  the  3d  sing.  Thi 
signification  of  the  imjjerf  shows  the  conduct  as 
continuous ;  not  once  and  again,  but  they  were 
wont  to  do  so.  Ew. :  "They  sent  repeatedly." 
Unless  it  be  merely  a  repetition  of  ver.  16  from  a 
new  point  of  view  ?  The  point  of  the  coming 
from  afar  is  not  in  its  contrast  to  the  near  (vers. 
5,  12),  but  in  the  exertions  which  it  presupposes, 
so  that  it  is  expressly  added  :  to  whom  a  messen- 
ger was  sent,  although  this  was  already  involved 
in:  they  sent.  And,  lo,  they  came,  seems  to  say 
this,  that  those  who  were  far  off  were  at  last 
moved,  and  actually  came.  Which  may  apply  to 
others  besides  the  Chaldeans.  To  this  correspond 
the  special  exertions  she  makes  to  prepare  herself 
for  those  whom  she  has  addressed,  as  "washing;" 

then  painting  the  eyes  (^113,  <"  make  dark) — 

staining  the  eyelashes  and  eyebrows  with  a 
powder,  so  as  to  make  the  glance  of  the  eye  more 
brilliant  (comp.  Wineii,  Realw.);  and  finally  the 
attire  in  general,  2  Kings  ix.  30 ;  Jer.  iv.  30. — 
Ver.  41.  "Sitting "  is  the  most  natural  rendering 
witli  ni3D)  couch,  cushion;  with  which  also  the 

rest  harmonizes.  The  placing  of  the  table  be- 
tokens the  preparation  of  a  meal  (according  to 
the  prevalent  custom).  Hengst.:  "Eating  and 
drinking  play  an  important  part  in  harlotry, 
either    in    the    usual    or    the    spiritual   sense." 

(n — 7,  to   be   refen-ed,   not   to   t^7t^^  whicli   is 

masc,  but  to  HDD.)     Every  effort  was  made  to 

fill  the  heart's  emptiness  in  relation  to  Jehovah, 
by  other  and  remote  associations.  For  this  pur- 
pose slie  placed  even  Jehovah's  holy  incense  (Ex. 
XXX.  1  sq. )  and  oil  beside  herself  on  the  couch, 
so  that  nothing  was  any  longer  sacre  I  to  her. 
Comp.  ch.  xvi.  18.  [Hengst.  :  The  bed  is  made 
fragrant  by  the  incense  and  oil ;  whereby  are 
meant  the  rich  gifts  by  which  Judah  sought  to 
purchase  the  favour  of  the  heathen  sovereigns, 
Isa.  XXX.  6,  Ivii.  9  (?).  HiTZ. :  The  oil  is  used 
at  table  for  anointing,  and  the  incense  kindled 
to  excite   sensuous  feeling.      Adultery  througb 


226 


EZEKIEL. 


:orauiereial  intercourse  is  meant,  so  that  it  ca  i 
be  the  merchant's  table,  where  oil  could  be  ex- 
changed for  incense.  Hav.  understands  it  of  the 
lasciyious  worship  of  the  Babylonish  Mylitta. 
The  wanton  Israel  is  described  as  preparing  her- 
self for  one  of  the  high  festivals  of  this  goddess, 
and  as  abandoning  herself  to  strangers  like  the 
young  women  of  Babylon  ;  incense  and  oil,  there- 
fore, for  the  pui-poses  of  a  religious  ceremony.] — 
Ver.  42.  jion  (non),  a  humming;  hence,  from 

the  sound  of  the  noise  it  makes:  a  crowd.  Loose, 
in  a  bad  sense.  In  her,  pointing  away  from  the 
figure  to  the  fact.  [Hengst.  :  "Secure  murmur," 
arising  from  the  self-confident  intercourse  of  the 
adulterers  with  the  adulteresses,  from  the  festi- 
vals which  were  held  for  the  sealing  of  political 
friendship.  Ew. :  "While  a  godless  shouting 
resounded  thereat."  Keil:  "The  loud  noise 
became  still"  (!?).  Hav.  recalls  the  reckless 
wantonness  which  characterized  the  worship  of 
Aphrodite  in  the  East.]  The  loud,  dominant 
voice,  which  is  alone  heard  in  Jerusalem,  is 
further  e.xplained  as  loose,  from  the  fact  that  it 
is  the  voice  of  the  great  (godless)  multitude,  rich 
and  poor,  high  and  low,  with  whom  those 
brought  from  the  wilderness  (ver.  40,  "men 
coming  from  afar")  associate  themselves  (D»S31D, 

Hoph.  makes  a  paronomasia  with  D^xaio)-     By 

this  the  coalition  against  Nebuchadnezzar,  already 
frequently  referred  to,  must  be  meant,  not  (as 
Hengst.)  "the  great  anti-Assyrian  coalition  in 
the  time  of  Hezekiah,"  which  can  be  no  element 
in  the  ripeness  for  judgment  referred  to  in  this 
chapter.     [According   to   Hengst,   D'xaiD   is  a 

mixed  form  that  signifies  both  Sabeans  and 
topers,  loose  barbarians,  besides  many  others  from 
all  the  world;  and  the  verse  should  be  referred  to 
political  connections  with  Ethiopia.  (Isa.  xx.xvii. 
9,  xliii.  3,  xlv.  14;  2  Kings  xix.  9;  Isa.  xviii.)] 
That  the  people  of  the  multitude,  who  are  the 
same  as  the  "men  coming  from  afar"  of  ver.  40, 
represent  the  Assyrians  (Keil)  cannot  be  evi- 
denced by  Isa.  xxxix.  3,  since  those  mentioned 
there  are  Babylonians,  therefore  Chaldeans;  nor 
can  the  drunkards  from  the  wilderness  (here 
Keil  makes  nsnap  correspond  to  pmBD(!))  be 

the  Chaldeans,  who  are  afterwards  called  "right- 
eous men. "  The  addition :  "from  the  wilderness," 
does  not  (a.s  Hav.)  refer  to  the  Arabian-Syrian 
wilderness,  which  separated  Babylon  from  Pales- 
tine, but  must  be  taken  as  an  antithesis  to  ,":|a, 

— from  the  region  outside  Jerasalem.  Jerusalem 
accordingly  appears  as  a  political  harlot-house,  in 
which  the  counterpart  to  the  native  multitude, 
with  their  noisy  watch-cry,  is  formed  by  the  foreign 
dissolute  rabble,  the  political  sots  of  the  coalition 
against  Babylon.  [Hitz.  supposes  the  Arabians, 
Dedanites,  and  Sabeans,  who  had  in  their  hands 
the  commerce  between  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the 
Mediterranean.  But  commercial  relations  are 
not  in  question,  apart  from  the  fact  whether 
snch  could  be  depicted  as  harlotry.  As  the  com- 
mercial highways  did  not  pass  through  Jerusalem, 
they  must  nave  been  induced  (according  to  Hitz. ) 
to  go  thither  by  special  circumstances.  Ew. 
regards    D^K^iD    as    a    pathetic    repetition    of 

3'K3^0i  since  he  translates:  "And  for  men  .  .  . 


brought  from  the  wilderness,  they  laid  bracelets," 
etc.]  The  giving  of  the  bracelets  and  the 
crown  suggests  how  the  combination  against 
Nebuchadnezzar,  referred  to,  promised  to  reuuite 
Judah  and  Israel  as  one  kingdom  (therefore 
"crown,"  in  the  singular),  and  generally,  as  the 
expressive  parallel  in  ch.  xvi.  11,  12  shows,  to 
restore  them  to  their  ancient  glory.  Such  was 
the  harlot-reward  given  to  the  aUultercaa  women 
on  this  side.  [According  to  Hav.,  the  worOs 
betoken  the  self-adommeht  of  the  women  with 
an  eye  to  the  crowd  (?).  Jerome  supposes  that  the 
women  had  so  adorned  their  lovers,  that  even 
men  wore  bracelets.  Hitz.  finds  in  it  that  both 
lands  had  become  not  only  rich,  but  also  luxuri- 
ous, through  commerce.  ] 

Ver.    43.    The    judgment-boding   sentence   o( 
God  upou  such  abominations.      If  "lONI  tie  taken 

with  n73?,   the  translation  would  be  .  And  I 

said  to,  or  of,  etc.  The  older  translators  con- 
nect the  latter  word  with   Q*SS3,  and  supply 

3,  in  adulteries;  the  more  modern  take  it  in  the 

same  connection,  but  accusatively:  Jn  relation  to, 
no  more  capable  of,  etc.  Hitz.  as  a  question: 
"Does  the  faded  one  prosecute  adulteiy?"  Sc 
also  Hengst. :  "Are  adulteries  to  the  faded?  i.e. 
shall  her  adulteries  still  go  on  to  the  worn  out  ?  " 
The  subject  to  njt'  (for  which  the  Qeri  reads  : 

Ijr  nny)  is,  according  to  some,  the  woman  in 

question  (?);  as  Ewald :  "Now  she  also  prose- 
cutes her  whoredoms, "  i.e.  Judah  is  as  Samaria  : 
according   to   others:   nTI^JTri,    taken    generally 

as  adulterous  character  and  conduct;   and  {<'rn 

fiersonifies  her  still  surviving,  indestructible 
ewdness,  although  the  woman  herself  has  be- 
come shrivelled  :  "  Now  shall  her  lewdness  itself 
go  a-whoring"  (Hitz.).  It  is  less  forced  to 
assume  a  question,  which  applies  the  resultant 

D'BNJ  n?3  to  paramour,  adulteries,  and  adul- 
teress, which  expresses  what  should  be  the  conse- 
quence of  sin,  even  before  judgment  decrees  and 
executes  punishment.  [Hengst.;  "Shall  adul- 
teries be  still  committed  even  with  her  ?  "  The 
Lord  cannot  possibly  suffer  this.  He  must  at 
length  make  an  end  (ver.  45).  Philippson  renders 
STII :     "when  she  is  so  (withered)!"     Eashi; 

"Yet  she  continues  to  play  the  wanton."] — Ver. 
44.  Ki3'1  justifies  our  exposition  of  rur  in  the 

previous  verse.  On  this  account,  therefore,  judg- 
ment is  influenced  to  descend  upon  those  who 
are  ripe  for  it.  Jerusalem,  as  stated,  and  as 
is  expressly  added,  represents  the  whole  people. 
Comp.  also  ch.  xvi.  30. — dWH,  a  unique  plural. 

— Ver.  45.  The  judges  and  executioners  are 
called  righteous — conip.  at  ver.  24 — because  they 
caiTy  out  God's  judgment  conformably  to  the 
judgment  appropriate  to  such  women  (Isa.  xlix. 
24).  A  moral  comparison  between  the  Chaldeans 
and  the  Jews  is  not  intended,  nor  aie  prophets 
and  righteou'j  men  among  the  people  themselves 
to  be  imagined. — Comp.  ch.  xvi.  38.— Comp.  a( 
ver.  87. 


CHAP.  XXIII.  46-49. 


227 


Vers.  46-49.    The  Judgment. 

Ver.  46.  According  to  Hengst.  and  mkny  others, 
»n  address  to  the  prophet:  "Bring  up"  in  the 
might  of  prophecy.  Others  suppose  the  infin. 
absnl.  to  sfand  either  for  the  indefinite  3d  pers. 
fut.,  or  (Hitz.)the  1st  pers.  (eh.  xxi.  31).— The 
company  retains  the  character  of  the  previous 
description  of  the  Chaldeans  as  "  righteous," 
eh.  xvi.  40.  The  heathen  are  thus  solicitous 
about  that  which  Israel,  as  a  congregation,  had 
neglected  to  do  (Judg.  xx.). — As  in  the  previous 
verse,  the  niasc.  suffix  interchanges  with  the  fem., 
the  reference  passing  over  from  the  figurative  to 
the  actual — the  men  in  question.  Comp.  besides, 
ch.  vii.  21,  and  at  Deut.  xxviii.  25. — Ver.  47. 
The  company — the  Chaldeans — again  made  spe- 
cially prominent.  Cleave  (conip.  at  ch.  xxi.  24) 
IS  here  used  in  its  natural  sense. — Comp.  ver.  25. 
—Ver.  48.  Ver.  27,  ch.  xvi.  41. — IIDIJI,  accord- 
ing to  Gesen.,  for  ^IBirU,  if  the  Rabbin,  punc- 
tuation be  maintained  ;  otherwise  it  could  be 
read :  noi].   Niph.  instead  of  a  mixed  Nithpael. 

Deterrent  beacon  for  all  peoples,  as  ver.  10  ;  cli. 
V.   15. — Ver.   49.  IJDJI,  according  to  some:  the 

women,  namely,  with  their  tongues ;  according 
to  most:  the  avengers  noted  in  ver.  45, — in  very 
deed.  [HiTZ.  :  "  the  heavenly  powers."]  In 
consequence  of  this  recompense,  those  who  are 
thus  judged  bear  in  their  punishment  the  Bins  of 
the  idols,  those  occasioned  by  them,  committed 
with,  i.e.  by  means  of  them.  (Vers.  7,  30,  37.) 
— Ch.  xvi.  58. 

["  The  closing  part  of  the  description  represents 
the  two  women,  and  especially  the  one  that  per- 
sonated the  people  of  Judah,  as  persevering  to 
the  last  in  their  wicked  anci  profligate  courses. 
Like  persons  in  the  final  stages  of  abandonment, 
they  went  on  rioting  in  the  ways  of  evil,  unchecked 
by  all  the  troubles  and  humiliations  they  had  ex- 
perienced in  the  past ;  and  now,  therefore,  as 
utterly  reprobate  and  hardened  and  hopeless, 
they  must  be  adjudged  to  the  doom  appointed 
against  such  incorrigible  and  shameless  offenders. 
So  the  doleful  story  ends.  The  prophet  looks 
only,  from  first  to  last,  to  the  course  of  crime  and 
its  deserved  recompense  ;  and  he  allows  the  cur- 
tain to  drop  without  one  gleam  of  hope  as  to  the 
future.  He  sees  that  the  hammer  of  the  law  in 
its  strongest  form  is  needed  to  break  the  hard  and 
stony  heart  of  the  people.  So  urgent  was  the 
call  for  a  work  of  conviction,  and  so  great  the 
danger  of  that  not  being  elTectually  wrought, 
that  he  would  not  drop  a  word  which  might 
lighten  the  impression  of  guilt  upon  their  minds, 
or  afford  the  least  excuse  for  delay.  His  message 
was.  Now  or  never.  Judged  by  the  sense  of  right 
and  wrong  current  among  men,  your  conduct 
toward  God  calls  for  judgment  without  mercy. 
And  if  there  he  not  imnjediately  awakened  the 
contrition  of  sincere  repentance,  you  have  nothing 
to  expect  but  the  most  unsparing  visitations  of 
wrath."— Fairbairn's  Ezekiel,  p.  257.— W.  F.] 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

(See  Doct.  Reflec.  on  ch.  xx.  and  ch.  xvi.) 

1.  As  contrast  is  an  inherent  element  in  all 
human  development,  so  through  the  people  nar' 
^hX"'!  aming  the  peoples,  a  dualism  immediately 


accompanies  the  evolution  of  the  triad  of  the 
patriarchs  to  the  dodeead,  in  its  relativeness  (of  the 
3  to  the  4)  to  the  world  as  a  permeating  influence. 
The  two  foci  of  the  ellipse  illustrate  for  us  the 
history  of  the  chosen  people  in  their  orbit.  Even 
in  Gen.  xlix.  (comp.  therewith  Deut.  x.xxiii. ), 
Joseph,  as  against  Judah,  is  prominent  compared 
with  the  others.  If  the  first  position  in  the 
camp  was  allotted  to  Judah,  and  a  signally  larga 
extent  of  territory  in  Canaan  bestowed  on  it,  to 
Joseph  (and  Ephraim  took  precedence  of  Manas- 
seh.  Gen.  xlviii.)  belonged  the  distinction  of 
furnishing  the  nation  with  Joshua,  the  leader  of 
the  host  and  conqueror  of  Canaan,  as  well  as  ol 
long  retaining  the  tabernacle  in  its  midst.  (Foi 
the  independence  of  Ephraim  in  the  time  of  the 
judges,  comp.  Judg.  viii.  12;  Ps.  Ixxviii.)  The- 
jealousy  which  obtained  between  the  two  appears, 
after  Saul's  death,  in  the  kingdom  of  Ishbosheth. 
Only  the  centralizing  personality  of  a  David  was 
capable  of  unifying  the  existing  dualism.  Yet 
the  fire  of  discord,  which  continued  to  smouldei 
beneath  outward  harmony,  nourished  the  rebel- 
lion of  Absalom  and  the  revolt  of  Slieba.  Under 
Solomon,  it  is  true,  the  glory  of  the  nation  silenced 
for  the  time  the  variance  of  the  two  tribes  ;  but 
Solomon's  polytheistic  aberration  from  the  mono- 
theistic path  introduced  an  additional  element  of 
division.  When  sin,  including  that  of  Rehoboam 
and  the  seceding  tribes,  had  in  this  way  acconj- 
plished  the  division  into  the  two  kingdoms  of 
Judah  and  Israel,  this  result  of  sin  was  at  the 
same  time  a  judgment  of  God  ;  for  which,  however, 
the  foundation  was  laid  in  that  originnl  dualism 
between  Judah  and  Joseph-E]>hraim,  and  the  way 
paved,  in  the  course  of  history.  The  form  of  the 
representation  in  our  chapter  rests  on  this  view 
of  the  subject. 

2.  One  may  regard  Solomon's  polytheistic 
aberrations  {e.g.  1  Kings  xi.  5)  as  a  refined  pan- 
theism, or  a  more  universal,  more  eosmical  Jeho- 
vism  ;  yet  his  marriage  with  Pharaoh's  daughter, 
at  the  very  beginning  of  his  reign,  must  have 
exerted  some  influence  on  the  religious  attitude 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes.  .Vnd  how 
could  the  calf-worship  of  Jeroboam  have  been 
introduced  without  meeting  universal  opposition, 
unless  previously,  during  Solomon's  reign,  re- 
ligion and  politics  had  taken  a  decided  outward 
bias  ?  Note  also  Solomon's  commercial  relations 
with  different  countries,  Syria,  Arabia,  Egypt, 
and  especially  his  alliance  with  the  Phosnicians. 
Thus  a  toleration  sprang  up  under  the  influence 
of  trade  and  intercourse,  which  necessarily  became 
a  religious  toleration,  and  which  was  still  farther 
defined  by  politics  as  a  doctrine.  The  example  of 
the  kingactedonthe  people,  and  it  is  not  .surprising 
that  Solomon's  connections  with  the  world,  and  hi.s 
heathen  culture,  found  their  echo  in  the  craving  of 
Ephraim  and  her  associates  for  a  heathen-worldly, 
revolutionary,  anti-theocratic  government.  Solo- 
mon is  herein  to  be  compared  to  the  church-father 
Augustine,  to  whom  Roman  Catholicism  links 
itself,  as  the  Reformation  also  falls  back  on  him  ; 
so  with  Solomon  are  connected  the  Song  of  Songi 
and  the  form  of  the  apostasy  of  the  ten  tribes. 

3.  The  Egyptian  bias  of  Solomon,  which  gained 
national  expression  in  the  worsliip  of  the  calves, 
was  seconded  by  the  policy  of  Jeroboam,  who, 
imitating  the  example  of  Aaron  at  Sinai,  trans- 

Elanted  to  Israelitish  soil  the  worsliip  which  he 
ad  seen  at  Memphis  and  Heliopolis,   1  Kiiige 


>28 


EZEKIEL 


xii.  26  sq.,  '2.  The  Egyptian  animal  symbol- 
ism, which  was  thereby  applied  to  Jehovah,  was 
a  new  giowth  from  old  roots.  Comp.  ver.  8  in 
our  chapter.  This  corrupt  worship  of  Jehovah 
moved  on  the  same  line  as  ordinary  idolatry 
(1  Kings  xiv.  9),  so  that  the  one  was  as  closely 
related  to  the  other,  as  the  second  command- 
ment to  the  first.  Hengst.  remarks  very  justly  : 
' '  By  the  introduction  of  the  worship  of  images, 
a  breach  was  made  for  heathenism,  through  which 
it  rushed  irresistibly." 

4.  As  Egypt  has  a  very  ancient,  original  signi- 
ficance for  the  sacred  historj',  so  on  the  Egyptian 
monuments,  even  at  a  very  early  time,  the  Assy- 
rians, under  the  name  "Shari,"  are  represented 
as  in  conflict  witli  the  Egyptians.  The  Assyrians, 
who  first  broke  into  the  kingdom  of  Israel  under 
Menahem,  are,  no  doubt,  to  he  considered  in  his- 
torical connection  with  that  ancient  kingdom  ; 
but  their  military  valour,  which  they  made  Israel 
feel,  and  which  e.vcited  its  longing  for  association, 
appears,  however,  to  point  to  a  recent  fresh  revival 
of  the  ancient  A.ssyrian  glory.  Pul,  to  whom 
Menahem  was  tributary,  was  succeeded  by  Tiglath- 
Pileser,  who  led  into  captivity  a  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  ;  to 
him  Shalnianeser  succeeded,  who  conducted  a 
still  more  comprehensive  deportation  to  Assyria, 
which  became  complete  under  his  second  succes- 
sor, Esar-haddon,  so  that  the  Israelitish  kingdom 
was  then  made  a  full  end  of. 

5.  The  subversion  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel 
under  its  last  king,  Hosea,  whom  Shalmaneser 
had  made  tributary,  took  place,  besides,  on  account 
of  the  hankering  of  the  people  after  alliances  with 
Egypt,  which  one  might  call  the  hereditary  sin 
of  tlie  whole  people  (ver.  8) ;  the  attempted  com- 
bination with  Egypt  against  Assyria  had  provoked 
a  new  expedition  by  Shalmaneser.  The  destmc- 
tiou  of  Israel  was  for  Judah  a  "  Remember  whence 
thou  art  fallen,"  a  memento  mon  (ver.  10).  But 
even  before  this,  Ahaz,  the  Ahab  of  the  kings  of 
Judah,  as  he  had  offered  one  of  his  sons  to  Moloch, 
so  also  he  regarded  the  might  of  the  Assyrians  as 
better  than  the  help  of  Jehovah.  Comp.  the  passage 
of  Isaiah  relative  to  him,  and  ver.  11  of  our  chapter. 
"  Thy  servant  and  thy  son  am  1,"  he  had  said  to 
Tiglath-Pileser ;   "come  up  and  deliver  me." 

B.  The  Babylonian-Chaldean  power,  which,  like 
Judah,  was  dependent  on  AssjTia,  affected  the  ima- 
gination of  Jerusalem  so  seductively  in  the  time  of 
the  pious  son  of  the  godless  Ahaz,  that  even  Heze- 
kiali  succumbed  to  the  temptation.  The  expecta- 
tions entertained  from  Egypt  had  faded  away,  and 
the  Lord  had  overwhelmed  the  Assyrians  by  His 
hand  before  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  .xviii.  19);  yet 
Hezekiah's  imagination  lingers  upon  his  treasure.s, 
and  upon  the  emb;»ssy  which  the  then  vice-king  of 
Babylon  had  sent  to  him  (perhaps  also,  as  Bunsen 
conjectures,  ver.  1 4,  frescoes  of  Babylonish  heroes 
and  warriors).  The  preponderating  world-power 
seems  to  incline  from  Nineveh  to  Babylon.  Per- 
haps the  destraction  of  the  Assyrian  array  under 
Sennacherib  incited  the  Babylonians  to  revolt  from 
Assyria.  Niebuhr  {The  Hlstorii  of  Assyria  and 
Babylon)  says  concerning  the  relation  of  Babylon 
to  Assyria :  "Assyria  was  by  no  means  the  foremost 
and  most  ancient  people.  The  inhabitants  of 
Shir.ar,  the  Babylonians,  were  so.  The  Ninevites 
had  elevated  themselves  above  them  through 
bravery  and  good  fortune,  and  the  older  race,  to 
irboin  belonged  the  religious  metropolis,  the  most 


fertile  soil,  the  origin  of  history,  was  compelled  ta 
submit  to  the  younger.  Their  constantly  repeated 
attempts  at  revolt  showed  how  bitterly  the  Baby- 
lonians felt  this  disgrace,"  etc.  Ezekiel  confirms 
what  Isaiah  had  formerly  predicted  to  Hezckiah, 
to  cool  his  carnal  expectations  from  Babylon. 
The  Chaldeans,  after  destroying  Nineveh  in  com- 
bination with  the  Medes,  "stepped  into  tlie  place 
of  the  As.syrians  for  Judah  as  well  as  g6  nerally, 
anil  this  also  on  the  same  arena  "  (HiTZ. ).  Egypt 
maintained  the  same  attitude  toward  Assyria  a3 
toward  Babylon,  and  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  like 
that  of  Israel,  was  subverted  through  its  political 
harlotries  (vers.  19  sij.,  27)  with  Egypt. 

7.  Through  this  fatal  significance  of  Egypt  for 
the  whole  people,  that  motive  of  the  Decalogue, 
"Who  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage,"  acquires  a  striking 
political  prominence. 

8.  When  the  people  which  had  come  out  of 
Chaldea  in  Abraham,  in  the  end  returns  to  Chal- 
dea,  the  circle  of  their  natural  history  is  com- 
pleted. The  beginning  is  also  the  end.  "More- 
over it  is  noteworthy,"  says  Ziegler,  "  that  as  the 
dispersion  of  mankind  into  all  lands  proceeded 
from  Babylon,  now  the  Jewish  people,  or  at  least 
the  kingdom  of  Judah,  is  carried  away  to  Babylon. " 
"The  whole  history,  from  the  exodus  till  now, 
was  a  constant  provoking  of  God  ;  therefore  it 
must  at  last  drink  a  cup  fuU  of  indignation." 

HOMILETIC   HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "We  are  called  Christians,  children 
of  the  one  heavenly  Father  ;  but  do  we  also  bear 
ourselves  worthily  of  the  name?"  (Stck.) — The 
two  women,  Oholah  and  Oholibah,  in  their  re- 
semblance and  difference. — "Oh  that  all  young 
women  from  their  youth  up  would  deport  them- 
selves modestly  and  chastely  !  AVhat  honour  and 
peace  of  conscience  it  would  procure  for  them  in 
old  age  !  Job  xxvii.  6"  (Stck.).  —  "One  can  fall 
from  the  greatest  light  into  the  greatest  darkness 
and  folly,  if  one  be  faithless  to  the  grace  which 
has  been  received"  (TtJB.  Bib.). — " That  is  spiritual 
adultery,  when  souls  fall  away  from  the  Creator  to 
the  creature"  (Luther). — "Since  body  and  soul 
are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  wills  that 
we  should  preserve  both  pure  and  holy,  and  for- 
bids all  unchaste  deeds,  gestures,  words,  thoughts, 
desires,  and  whatever  may  excite  one  thereto " 
(Heid.  Cat.,  quest.  109). — The  youth  of  a  people 
in  its  charm  and  perils. — Harlotiy,  in  all  its  forms, 
stains  before  God,  burdens  the  conscience,  and 
also  brings  disgi'ace  before  men.  — The  allurements 
of  Egypt  for  Israel. — The  coarseness  of  apostasy 
from  God  amid  all  the  refinement  of  so-called 
culture. — For  the  sake  of  truth,  God's  word  speaks 
of  fleshly  things  as  they  are,  and  as  men  practise 
them  ;  discloses  hidden  things,  and  shows  them  in 
their  naked  deformity.  —  Plain  speaking  is  not 
attractive;  flowery  ambiguities  are  of  the  devil. 
— True  religion  leads  to  fellowship  with  God.  — 
"A  Christian  congregation  is  a  spiritual  mother, 
which  should  honour  God  through  its  sons  and 
daughters"  (Cr.). 

Ver.  .5  sq.  "  Under  the  guise  of  piety  they  com- 
mitted the  worst  abominations.  As  adulteresses 
foist  the  children  which  aic  the  fruit  of  adultery 
upon  their  own  husbands,  so  would  Jeroboam  alsr 
serve  the  true  God  under  the  calf-image"  (Stck.). 
— "To  yield  oneself  unreservedly  to  Go  1  is  not  to 


CHAP.  XXIII. 


229 


throw  oneself  away"  (Hengst. ).  —  "To  expect 
help  from  men,  to  rely  on  them,  to  depart  from 
God  for  the  sake  of  profit,  honours,  etc. ,  is  adultery 
or  harlotry  in  religion  "  (Stck.). — "  To  fear  God 
is  the  true  politics." — Ver.  6.  "  He  who  forsakes 
God  is  easily  carried  away  by  semblances,  dress, 
splendour,  honours,  and  such  like"  (Stck.). — 
"  How  highly  tlie  earthly  and  carnal  mind  values 
the  friendship  and  favour  of  the  rich  and  great ! " 
(B.  B. )  —  Ver.  7.  He  who  holds  fellowship  with 
the  world  must  also  go  after  its  idols.  — The  friend- 
ship of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God,  is  idolatry. 
— Ver.  8.  "  Behold  the  power  of  youthful  habit ! 
What  has  been  instilled  into  one  in  the  years  of 
youth  usually  remains  with  one  all  life  through  " 
(Heim.-Hoff.  ). — [M.  Henry:  "This  corrupt  dis- 
position in  the  children  of  Israel,  when  they  were 
first  formed  into  a  people,  is  an  emblem  of  that 
original  coiTUption  which  is  bom  with  us  and  is 
woven  into  our  constitution,  a  strong  bias  towards 
the  world  and  the  flesh.  This  sinful  tendency  of 
theirs  was  bred  in  the  bone  with  them,  and  would 
never  out  of  the  flesh,  though  Egj'pt  had  been  a 
house  of  bondage  to  them.  Thus  the  corrupt 
affections  and  inclinations  whii'h  we  brought  into 
the  world  with  us  we  have  not  lost,  nor  got  clear 
of,  but  still  retain  them,  though  the  iniquity  we 
were  born  in  was  the  source  of  all  the  calamities 
which  human  life  is  liable  to.  "^W.  F.] — Ver.  9 
sq.  "God  e.x'cites  those  against  us  for  punishment, 
to  please  whom  we  have  sinned"  (0. ). — Lovers 
and  scourges. — Honour  makes  a  name  for  one,  so 
also  does  dishonour. 

Ver.  11  sq.  Judah  must  therefore  have  been 
more  coiTupt,  since  she  did  not  take  warning  by 
Israel's  punishment,  and  since  she  misused,  or  at 
least  neglected  to  use,  so  much  greater  grace, 
which  would  have  enabled  her  to  resist. — "Those 
who  go  the  same  way  also  reach  the  same  place  " 
(Stck.). — The  dangerous  power  of  the  imagina- 
tion.— "Worldly  glory  seduces  the  worldly  mind  " 
(Stck.). — Ver.  14  sq.  Seeing  and  longing. — "So 
men  now-a-days  are  chiefly  enamoured  of  that 
which  is  nothing  ;  for  what  is  all  our  honour, 
delight,  external  prosperity,  nobility,  dignity, 
and  glory,  our  power  and  strength,  but  a  picture 
in  which  there  is  no  reality!"  (B.  B. ) — Ver.  16. 
"So  it  comes  to  pass,  unless  one  makes  a 
covenant  with  his  eyes  not  to  look  on  worldly 
glory,  and  that  which  is  alien  to  him,  that  he  is 
presently  absorbed  in  it,  and  turns  away  from 
God"  (B.  B. ). — Ver.  17.  One  must  not  paint  the 
devil  on  the  wall. — Love  becomes  pas.sion,  and 
passion  becomes  satiety,  yea,  hatred. — "Estrange- 
ment is  the  usual  end  of  impure  love,  of  the  self- 
ishness concealed  under  it"  (Hengst.  ). — "Friend- 
ship and  fellowship  in  sin  are  of  short  duration" 
(St.). — Ver.  18.  He  who  gives  himself  up  to 
false  friends  often  loses  thereby  the  true  Friend, 
the  Lord. — Ver.  19  sq.  It  is  sad  when  one  goes 
back  to  his  earlier  sins. — "  When  one  lives  besti- 
ally, he  cannot  be  pictured  otherwise  than  as  a 
beast"  (B.  B.).— Ver  21.  "The  falling  back  into 
the  old  sin  is  like  a  visit  which  is  made  to  her 
whom  one  should  hate  and  avoid"  (HENOsr. ). 

Ver.  22  sq.  The  wicked  are  punished  through 
the  wiekeil. — At  a  death-bed  there  is  often  a  great 
gathering  from  tiygone  days.  Our  sins,  and 
those  with  whom  we  have  sinned,  surround  us  on 
every  side. — Ver.  25  sq.  "The  ungodly  have  no 
power  over  God's  people,  unless  they  are  given  up 
to  them  by  God"  (St.). — Dreadful  judgments 


presuppose  dreadful  sins. — "We  should  not  wait 
till  God  drags  us  away  from  sin  with  violence" 
(O. ). — Ver.  27.  "What  God's  goodness  and  pa- 
tience could  not  accomplish,  that  the  wickedness 
and  tyranny  of  men  shall  bring  about"  (Stck.). — 
Every  one  receives  at  last  his  due. — Ver.  28  sq. 
He  who  surrenders  himself  to  sin  shall  be  sur- 
rendered to  punishment.  Hite  spares  not. — 
What  love  covers,  hate  discloses.  The  unclothing 
through  punishment  shows  well  what  the  clothing 
through  grace  is. — Ver.  30  sq.  Yea,  he  who 
expects  to  cleanse  himself  otherwise  than  through 
the  blood  and  Spirit  of  Christ,  pollutes  himself 
still  more  by  idolatry.  — "  Like  sins,  like  punish- 
ments" (TiJB.  BiB.). — "Him  whom  thou  hast 
followed  in  life,  thou  shalt  also  follow  in  death  " 
(Stck.). — "He  who  accepts  not  the  cup  of  sal- 
vation, must  drink  the  cup  of  wrath"  (St.). — 
Ver.  34.  It  must  be  drunk  out.  As  we  havo 
sided  with  lust,  God  sides  with  punishment. — The 
dreadful  nail-test. — "In  righteous  judgment  God 
causes  sinners  to  be  punished  in  the  members  in 
which  they  have  sinned "  (St.).  — Ver.  35.  "To 
remember  God  is  the  summary  of  all  godliues.s, 
as,  on  the  contrary,  to  forget  God  is  a  summary  of 
all  ungodliness ;  therefore  God  comprehends  all  in 
this  one,  at  the  close  of  the  catalogue  of  sins  ' 
(Jablonsky).  —  "The  sieve  of  man's  memory 
retains  only  husks — that  which  is  useless  "  (St.  ).  — 
["  Men  need  no  more  to  sink  them  than  the  weight 
of  their  own  sins  ;  and  those  who  will  not  part 
with  their  lewdness  and  whoredoms  nmst  bear 
them." — M.  Henry.] 

Ver.  36  sq.  Comp.  at  ch.  xx.  4. — God  is  not 
silent  with  His  sentence,  and  even  the  judgments 
of  God  hasten  like  His  grace.  That  which  seems 
to  be  delay  is  long-suft'ering  ;  but  during  it,  sin 
ripens  all  the  more  quickly  for  judgment. — Ver. 
37.  As  they  literally  shed  blood,  so  also  in  the 
seiTices  of  idolatry,  fleshly  impurity  found  place. 
— Judah  and  Israel  as  Medea. — He  who  serves 
Venus  and  Bacchus  offers  to  them  also  his  children. 
— Ver.  38  sq.  How  largely  profanation  of  the 
Sabbath  is  the  fashion  now-a-days  also! — "To 
run  from  the  harlot-house  to  God's  house,  from 
murder  to  the  place  of  prayer,  from  sin  to  sing- 
ing, is  not  pleasing  to  God"  (Stck.).  —  "Self- 
invented,  hypocritical  worship  of  God  dishonours 
Him,  more  than  love  of  the  world"  (Richt.). 
— From  sin  to  sin, — thus  ruin  is  reached  ;  that 
was  the  way  of  Oholah  and  Oholibah.  —  "What 
holy  thing  is  there  which  the  sinner  does  not 
profane!"  (Stck.)  —  "They  considered  neither 
place  nor  time"  (.Jerome).  —  Ver.  40  sq.  "The 
society  of  the  ungodly  should  not  be  wislied,  still 
less  sought  for"  (Stck.).  —  "Those  who  are 
separate  from  God  go  in  quest  of  men"  (Stck.). — 
"The  sinner  wishes  in  all  thim^s  to  be  pleasing  to 
men  ;  why  not  to  God?"  (Stck.)— Washing  them- 
selves for  men,  remaining  unclean  before  God ; 
thus  hypocrites  act. — How  much  of  the  activity 
of  social  organizations  is  here  literally  described  ! 
— Ver.  43  sq.  "The  longer  a  man  continues  in 
sin,  the  more  shameless  he  tecomes"  (St.). — 
Ver.  45.  God's  righteousness  makes  even  of  thij 
Chaldeans  "righteous  men." — Ver.  46.  "When 
the  judgment-hour  strikes,  judge  and  executionei' 
are  found  so  ready  that  they  only  require  to  be 
called"  (Stck.).  —  Ver.  48  sq.  "Even  still, 
although  men  will  not  depart  from  sin,  they 
must  depart  from  life"  (L. ).  — E*d  examples, 
through  God's  ovemiling,  may  serve  a  good  end 


wo  EZEKIEL. 


IS.  The  Marking  duicn  of  the  Event  that  has  taken  place  (the  Symbolical  Discourse  and  the 

Virtual  Sign)  (ch.  xxiv.). 

1  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me  in  the  ninth  year,  in  the  *enth 

2  month,  on  the  tenth  [day]  of  the  month,  saying,  Son  of  man,  write  [reBiater] 
thee  the  name  of  the  day,  this  same  day  ;  the  king  of  Babylon  has  assailed 

3  Jerusalem  on  this  same  day.  And  utter  a  parable  against  the  house  ot 
rebelliousness,  and  say  to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Set  on  a  caldron, 

4  set  it  on,  and  also  pour  water  into  it.    Gather  its  pieces  into  it,  every  good  piece, 

5  thigh  and  shoulder;  fill  [it]  with  the  choice  of  the  bones.  Take  the  choice 
of  the  flock,  and  also  a  wood-pile  under  it  for  the  bones  ;  let  it  boil  and  boil, 

6  so  that  its  bones  be  sodden  in  the  midst  of  it.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  !  the  caldron  in  [on]  which  its  rust  is,  and 
whose  rust  hath  not  gone  out  of  it !  piece  for  piece  bring  it  out ;  no  lot  ha;^ 

7  fallen  upon  it.  For  her  blood  is  in  the  midst  of  her  ;  on  the  bare  rock  she 
has  put  it ;  she  poured  it  not  upon  the  earth,  that  it  might  be  covered  with 

8  dust.      To  make  fury  to  ascend,  to  execute  vengeance,  I  have  put  her  blood 

9  on  the  bare  rock,  that  it  should  not  be  covered.  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  !  also   I  will  make  the  pile  great. 

10  Heap  on   wood,  kindle  the  fire,   make  ready  the  flesh,  and  let  the  fat  be 

1 1  melted,  and  let  the  bones  be  burned  up.  And  set  it  empty  upon  its  coals, 
that  it  may  be  hot,  and  its  brass  glow,  and  its  uncleanness  in  the  midst  of  it 

12  be  melted,  and  that  its  rust  should  cease.     It  has  wearied  labours,  and  its 

13  much  rust  went  not  forth  from  it  ;  into  the  fire  its  rust  !  In  thy  filthiness  is 
lewdness  ;  because  I  purged  thee,  and  thou  wast  not  purged,  thou  shalt  no 

14  more  be  purged  from  thy  filthiness  until  I  cause  My  fury  to  rest  on  thee.  I, 
Jehovah,  have  spoken  ;  it  comes,  and  I  do  ;  I  will  not  slacken,  nor  spare,  nor 
repent ;  according  to  thy  ways,  and  according  to  thy  works,  they  shall  judge 

15  thee  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me, 

16  saying.  Son  of  man,  behold,  I  take  away  from  thee  the  desire  of  thine  eyes 
with  a  stroke ;  and  thou  shalt  not  mourn  nor  weep,  neither  shall  thy  tears 

17  flow.  Groan,  be  still,  make  not  mourning  for  the  dead,  bind  the  tire  of  thy 
head  about  thee,  and  put  thy  shoes  upon  thy  feet,  and  cover  not  the  beard, 

18  and  eat  not  the  bread  of  men.  And  I  spake  to  the  people  in  the  morning, 
and  in  the  evening  my  wife  died ;  and  I  did  in  the  morning  as  I  was  com- 

19  manded.     And  the  people  said  to  me.  Wilt  thou  not  tell  us  what  this  [imp,iits] 

20  to  us  that  thou  doest  [it]  ?     And  I  said  to  them,  The  word  of  Jehovah  came 

21  to  me,  saying,  Say  to  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Behold,  I  will  profane  My  sanctuary,  the  pride  of  your  strength,  the  desire 
of  your  eyes,  and  the  pity  of  your  soul,  and  youi-  sons  and  your  daughters 

22  whom  ye  have  left  shall  fall  by  the  sword.     And  ye  shall  do  as  I  have  done  ; 

23  ye  shall  not  cover  the  beard,  and  the  bread  of  men  ye  shall  not  eat.  And 
your  tires  shall  be  upon  your  heads,  and  your  shoes  on  your  feet ;  ye  shall 
not  mourn  nor  weep  ;  and  ye  shall  pine  away  in  your  iniquities,  and  sigh  one 

24  to  another.  And  Ezekiel  is  unto  you  for  a  portent ;  according  to  all  that  he 
hath  done  shall  ye  do  ;  when  it  cometh,  then  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 

25  Lord  Jehovah.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  shall  it  not  be,  in  the  day  when  I 
take  from  them  their  stronghold,  the  delight  of  their  glory,  the  desire  of  their 

26  eye.s,  and  the  wish  of  their  souls,  their  sons  and  their  daughters ;  That  in 
that  day  he  that  is  escaped  shall  come  to  thee,  to  cause  the  ears  to  hear  it  'i 

27  On  that  day  thy  mouth  shall  be  opened  [m  the  same  time]  with  him  that  is 
escaped,  and  thou  shalt  speak,  and  shalt  be  no  more  dumb  ;  and  thou  shalt 
be  to  them  for  a  portent ;  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 

Ver.    4.  Sept.:  .  .  .  ixircriip>ciir/i!ix  ix  ran  iman—    Vnlg. :  .  .  .  electa  el  ouibxH ph 

Vcr.    6.  irtrcxail  Ta  eVrot  w!rox«T*  xCraiv —     conipone  struei  ostium—' 

Ym.  10.  Some  codices  read  :  ITH^,  adurtentur, 

T«r.  13.  Vulg.  -  Multo  latore  sttdalvm  est  .  .  .  •MqueptT  tofWMl 


VaAf.   AAIV.    1-0. 


231 


.   T(     iffTXI 


Ky  un  xxBupirOr.s  in  iett —     immundilia  tua  execrabHis,  quia  .  ,  .  el  non  , 


.  Sed  n— 


Ver.  13.  . 
IIMiniia6e;'t^  pi-ius —  ,  , 

Vur.  14.  .  .  .  Ai«  TSI.TO  ;>.«  xp„>,  n  »«™  T«  «.>iT»  rtu.  x~  ««™  TO  ivfc/i^^T.  am  xpitm  rl.  .i  ««a9i(>iK,  r,  ntfLmrr 

m.  ttXXv  rsv  T«f  «Ti»^«i.<.».     AU  the  ancient  versions  read  :  TflDStJ'. 

Ver.  16.  (V  xa>>aTa|li.  ,  , 

Ver.  17.  IrLiy,"".-  «i'|i«t'-«.  ;»-*t.o,-  t!.9«w  io-rai  «iT>I  ..."  •■•»'(  «■•«>  ""■  '<'  *"I  »»C»»*1"1«  "  Z"^'»"  «"«»— 
Ver.  18.  K.  ...  TO  rpt,>i  o»  T^^rof  6»4Te»XaT9  «*',  «.  «*e9at»s* 
Ver.  19   lOS'V  Sept.;  «.  l'to  ...»  x»ot—    For  '3,  "IC'S  is  read. 

Ver.  22.    .   .    .  klt^  g-refi^rc;  Kurani  oil  [J/vi  »a^fiearA*)fl»iJ-£fl-fli— 
Ver.  23.  ...  X.  ra.pajc/jt\nr£Tt  'ixmctk  r.  iSiX^o^ — 


EXEGETICAL  REMAKKS. 

The  threiitened  judgment  of  Jerusalem  and 
.ludah  is  now  a  fact.  The  whole  previous  pre- 
paration for  it,  and  therewith  the  first  part  of  the 
book  —  the  prophecy  of  judgment  — close  with 
tliis  chapter.  Looking  back  from  this  point,  the 
detailed  division  with  respect  to  the  symbolism 
of  numbers  which  was  stated  in  the  Introduction 
justifies  itself.  1.  Under  the  divine  mission  of 
the  prophet  (ch.  i.-iii.  11)  there  was  shown  first 
of  all,  in  the  two  sections  (ch.  i.  and  ch.  ii.-iii. 
11),  the  mutual  opposition  between  God  and  the 
people.  2.  The  first  carrying  out  of  liis  divine 
commission  (ch.  iii.  12-vii.  27)  fell,  through  the 
determining  influence  of  the  more  special  rela- 
tion to  God,  into  the  tliree  sections  (ch.  iii.  12- 
27;  iv.  1-v  17  ;  ch.  vi.  vii. ).  3.  The  succeeding 
instances  of  his  fultilmcr.t  of  his  commission  (ch. 
viii.-x.\iv.),  on  the  other  hand,  in  passing  over  to 
the  subject  of  the  secularized  people,  made  the 
number /our  significant  in  the  first  section  (ch. 
viii.-xi.),  the  <j«o  of  contrast  in  the  second  (ch.  xii. 
1-20),  and— as  this  whole  third  division,  like  the 
second,  is  also  governed  by  the  number  three — 
after  prominence  had  been  given  to  the  fact  that 
the  people  of  God  had  become  like  the  world,  and 
after  their  opposition  to  Jeliovah  had  been  em- 
phasized afresh,  there  followed,  in  the  third  section 
of  the  third  division  of  this  first  part  of  the 
book,  twelve  sub-sections,  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  tribes  of  the  whole  people,  with  a 
notification,  in  the  eleventh  of  these,  that  Judah 
and  Israel  were  parted  from  each  other,  ch.  xii.  21- 
xxiv.  27. 

Vers.  1,  2.    The  Accomplished  Fact. 

Ver.  1.  To  the  accomplished  fact  corresponds 
the  date,  with  which  are  to  be  compared  the 
previously-mentioned  dates,  ch.  i. ,  viii.,  xx.,  and 
tlierewith  2  Kings  xxv.  1 ;  Jer.  Iii.  4,  xxxix.  1 ; 
Zech.  viii.  19.  The  synagogue  still  obsen-es  the 
day  as  a  fast. — Ver.  2.  After  formal  prominence 
has  been  given  to  the  day  by  Ezekiel's  being 
required  to  write  down  not  only  its  name,  but 
the  day  itself  (DVy,  comp.  ch.  ii.  3),  its  historical 

substance,  oi  that  which  happened  in  it,  is  stated 
as  the  beginning  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Ne- 
buchadnezzar.     TjOD  is :   to  tie  hard  upon  (Ps. 

Ixxxviii.  7),  as  n33  is  used  in  Ps.  xxxii.  4  of 

the  hand  of  God. 

Vers.  3-14.    The  Symbolical  Discourse. 
Ver.  3.  As  what  follows  is  expressly  denoted 
18  a  ^{;t3  (comp.  at  ch.  xii.  22,  xvii.  2),  and  the 
Gkldron  is  merely  that  of  cli.  zi.  3,  of  course  no 


external  symbolical  action  is  to  be  supposed  here, 
but  thereby  the  supposition  of  such  action  in  tha 
other  passages  is  made  all  the  more  probable 
(comp.  ch.  xii.,  iv.,  v.).  Comp.  besides,  ch.  ii.  5, 
etc. — The  repeated  demand,  expressing  urgent 
haste,  Bet  on,  is  at  the  same  time  sarcastic  ;  fetcli 
their  caldron  (cli.  xi.  3):  Nebucliadnezzar  has 
planted  himself  before  their  walls;  presently  it 
may  become  apparent  how  far  their  proverb  was 
a  true  word.  The  "pouring  in"  of  the  water 
will,  as  it  were,  jirevent  a  possible  oversight  by 
wliich  the  caldron  could  be  injured.  Don't  forget 
the  water ;  the  next  and  chief  concernment  is  with 
the  inhabitants.  They  are  the  pieces,  Ver.  4. 
It  is  possible  that  there  is  an  allusion  in  e|b{< 

("to  sweep  together,"  comp.  therewith  ch.  xxii. 
19)  to  those  who  fled  before  tlie  Chaldeans  from 
the  country  into   the   city,   and  in   nnj   ("to 

cut  in  pieces  ")  to  the  sword  which  hung  threaten- 
ingly over  all.     The  n —  relates  to  those  who 

come  into  consiileration  (ch.  xxi.  17)  for  the 
caldron  (Jerusalem).  They  are  described  as  the 
marrow  and  strength  of  the  population,  as  the 
best  who  are  still  in  the  land,  as  the  choice  even 
of  the  bones.  Many  interjireters  distinguiso  the 
people  of  quality,  the  wealthy,  the  princes,  the 
king,  as  the  bones.  It  is  perhaps  more  correct  to 
regard  the  expression  as  hinting  at  the  high 
opinion  of  themselves,  entertained  by  the  natives 
of  Jerusalem  (ch.  xi.  15). — Ver.  5  specifies  the 
whole  by  the  choice  of  the  flock,  to  wit,  sheep 
or  goats,  of  which  those  pieces  are  made  ;  and 
then  mentions  the  tuel,  i^ri,  a  round  piled-up 
heap,  composed  of  wood  (like  struea),  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  connection,  and  especially  from 
ver.  10,  so  that  the  genitive,  as  is  also  imme- 
diately explained,  betokens  the  destination ;  for 
as  the  bones  likewise  (which  were  even  brought 
for  the  special  purpose)  are  to  be  sodden,  the 
wood-pile  under  the  caldron  (with  reference  to 
the  investment  of  the  city  round  about)  must 
therefore  be  requisite.  [Fairbairn  ti'anslates  the 
clause  in  ver.  5  :  "and  also  pile  the  bones  under 
it,"  and  adds  in  explanation:  "What  the  pro- 
phet means  is,  that  the  best,  the  fleshiest  parts, 
full  of  the  strongest  bones,  representing  the  most 
exalted  and  powerful  among  the  people,  were  to 
be  put  within  the  pot  and  boiled ;  but  that  the 
rest,  the  very  poorest,  were  not  to  escape :  these, 
the  mere  bones  as  it  were,  were  to  be  thrown  as  a 
pile  beneath,  suffering  first,  and,  by  increasing 
the  fire,  hastening  on  the  destruction  of  the 
others,  ^^r^  is  pro-erly  a  noun,  a  pile ;  literally: 
And  also  let  there  be  a  pile  of  the  bones  under- 
neath. The  expression  cannot  signify,  with  Hav., 
a  pUe  of  wood  for  the  bones ;  for  -)^ri  is  simply  a 
pile,  not  a  pile  of  wood,  and  when  coupled  with 
bones  can  only  mean  a  heap  of  these." — W.  F.] 


?32 


EZEKIEL. 


nm,  "  the  boiling,"  found  here  only,  and  that  in 

>  plural  form,  strengthens  the  idea  of  the  verb  in 

this  interest.     p[^3  =:  "  to  be  cooked. " 

Ver.  6  introduces  with  p5  the  explanation,  but 

At  the  same  time  a  something  additional,  a  new 
element.  In  the  previous  part  of  the  similitude, 
the  fate  of  the  citj-  is  symbolized  with  regard  to 
those  who  are  present  in  Jerusalem ;  the  actual 
fsct  of  the  commencement  of  the  siege  by  the 
Chaldeans  (ver.  2)  is  also  brought  into  view — 
therefore  woe,  etc.  (ch.  xvi.  23) — ch.  xxii.  2. 
The  mention  of  the  blood  leads  to  the  new  fea- 
ture in  the  amplification  of  the  simUitude,  namely, 

the  ruBt,  nx?n,  by  which  can  be  meant  a  stain 

made  by  burning,  or,  still  better,  the  rust-stain 
formed  on  metal  by  the  influence  of  damp, 
whereby  it  is  eaten  away  ;  comp.  Jas.  v.  3  ;  the 
ruddy  colour  being  well  adapted  to  represent 
blootl.  [Homer  .sometimes  uods.  Who  ever 
heard  before  of  tlie  "ruddy  colour"  of  verdi- 
gris !  ?  Schroeder  must  have  forgotten  that 
"the  caldron"  is  a  caldron  of  brass. — W.  F.] 
Thus  judgment  is  motived  by  the  guilt  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  The  destruction  from 
without  merely  completed  that  which  had  begun 
long  before,  from  within.  That  such  rust  is  not 
done  away,  means  that  the  shed  blood  having 
remained  unavenged  (ver.  7),  punishment  must 
therefore  be  executed  on  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
Ealem  as  a  body  (Deut.  xxi.  7,  8). — The  siege  is 
not  a  testing  which  leads  to  repentance,  so  that 
ch.  xi.  3  sq.  could  be  fulfilled,  but,  as  Ewald 
also  understands  the  passage:  "the  pieces  as 
many  as  there  are  pieces,"  in  other  words,  the  in- 
habitants without  distinction  or  exception  shall 
be  fetched  out;  and  as  the  blood-rust  adheres  pro- 
perly to  the  inhabitants,  and  only  in  the  figure  to 
the  caldron,  which  however  is  also  employed 
figuratively  in  relation  to  them,  so  ,r) —  doubtless 

refers  in  point  of  fact  to  the  inhabitants ;  but  it 
can  be  referred,  so  far  as  the  figure  is  concerned, 
to  the  caldron,  i.e.  the  city,  although  the  most 
natural  method  would  be  to  refer  it  to  the  rust, 
with  which  also  harmonises  the  verb,  which  is 
twice  used  in  regard  to  it — nSS^  and  i'lS'Sin.    The 

rust  thus  goes  out  of  the  caldi-on,  only  when  all 
the  inhabitants  go  out  at  the  same  time,  which 
may  either  be  when  they  are  led  captive  or  when 
they  are  destroyed.  The  statement  as  to  there 
being  no  lot  only  confirms  this  result ;  comp.  1 
Sam.  xiv.  42 ;  John  i.  7.  Under  Jehoiakim  and 
along  with  Jehoiachin,  the  choice  of  the  people  had 
been  carried  away. — Ver.  7  passes  from  the  figure 
to  the  reality,  namely,  to  the  city,  as  representing 
the  inhabitants,  and  states  to  what  extent  the  rust 
continues  unrenioved  (ch.  xxii.  13,  xxiii.  37). 
Comp.  Lam.  iv.  12  sq.  Hengst.  -.  Judicial  murders 
perpetrated  by  the  dominant  party,  e.g.  Jer.  xxvi. 
20  si^.     n'DX  (nnv),  from  the  idea  of  solidity 

rather  than  of  dryness,  which  would  have  made 
it  drink  in  that  which  was  poured  out ;  either 
the  smooth  and  non-porous,  or  the  glancing  white 
rock  is  meant.  [Ew.  obscures  the  8im])le  line 
of  thought  by  taking  the  close  of  ver.  6  inten'o- 
eatively :  "  la  not  the  lot  fallen  upon  it,  because 
ner  blood  was  in  the  midst  of  it  ? '  and  still  more 


by  reading,  with  the  Sept. ,  the  first  person ; 
"Upon  the  sunniest  rock  have  I  placed,"  etc. J 
The  shed  blood  is  nothing  hidden, — nothingwhich 
is  covered  over  with  dust  (Lev.  xvii.  13),  but,  Ver. 
8,  notorious  wickedness,  which  is  made  manifest 
under  the  rule  of  Divine  Providence,  and  which 
calls  down  the  vengeance  of  God,  Gen.  iv.  10,  11; 
Job  xvi.  18;  Isa.  xxvi.  21.  "God  would  make 
sin  manifest,  so  that  His  judgment  might  be 
recognised  as  righteous"  (HXv. ).  Jerusalem  was 
distinguished  by  the  openness  and  audacity  with 
which  it  sinned  :  but  the  upshot  of  it  all  was 
simply,  the  bringing  near  of  its  judgment.  The 
bold  openness  of  the  blood-shedding  provoked  the 
fury;  the  fact  of  its  having  remained  unpunished 
provoked  the  vengeance  of  God. 

Ver.  9,  like  ver.  6,  explanation,  and  a  new 
third  element.  As  the  prophet  in  the  similitude 
(ver.  5),  so  also  Jehovah  in  fact.     Or  '3X"D3  now 

adds  to  the  permitting  of  guilt  to  become  ripe,  the 
corresponding  execution  of  punishment  (ch.  xvi. 
43).     As  God  takes  the  matter  in  hand,   nino 

alternates  with  -y^r^  (ver.  5),  Isa.  xxx.  33.  But 
as  the  similitude  is  to  be  carried  still  farther, 
the  prophet,  Ver.  10,  is  enjoined  to  carry  out  the 
divine  purpose  (ch.  xi.  6,  xxi.  20).  As  to  the 
fire,  comp.  ch.  v.   4,  x.  2,  xv.  7. — With  Qnn, 

from  Don,  comp.   ch.  xxii.  15. — np"l  can  mean  ; 

"to  spice;"  Hengst.:  "put  in  the  spice"  (sar- 
castic), which,  however,  fits  into  the  connection 
with  difficulty.  The  word  means  properly  :  to 
make  soft.  Keil  :  to  thoroughly  boil  the  broth. 
Others,  from  its  also  meaning:  "to  make  oint- 
ment," translate  it  by:  "stir  the  mixture." — 
Ver.  11.  The  new  element.  We  know  from  ch.  x. 
2,  i.  13,  what  its  coals  are.  That  the  caldron,  i.e. 
the  city,  is  also  overtaken  by  the  judgment,  is 
a  fact  so  natural,  that  Keil,  in  opposition  to 
Hitzig,  required  to  point  for  proof  merely  to  ch. 
xxiii.  25,  xvi.  41.  The  empty  caldron,  more- 
over, points  back  to  ver.  6,  as  ver.  9  to  ver.  5,  so 
that  with  the  renewed  reference  to  the  rust,  the 
similitude  is  rounded  to  a  conclusion.  Its  un- 
cleannesB  is  its  rust, — the  blood-guilt,  in  which 
are  especially  included  the  polluting  Moloch-offer- 
ings, ch.  xxii.  -3,  4,  15,  21,  22.  As  that  which 
is  before  the  inhabitants  is  not  a  time  of  testing, 
so  that  which  the  city  is  to  experience  is  not  the 
burning  out  of  evil,  or  purification. — Ver.   12. 

nsiri  D'JKn    Gesen.    translates:    "With  hard 

labour  it  (the  caldron)  wearies  me. "  Many  render 
the  close  of  the  verse  :  "in  the  fire,"  or:  "through 
the  fire  its  nist. "  Fruitless  efforts  (comp.  ver.  13) 
at  purification  are  meant.  According  to  Hitz.  : 
"  through  such  extreme  heat  to  remove  the  rust" 
(Jer.  vi.  29) ;  so  that  a  pause  of  expectation  re- 
quires to  be  imagined  between  vers.  11  and  12, 
which,  however,  is  arbitrarily  assumed.  J.  D. 
Mich.:  "When  verdigris  has  eaten  very  deeply 
into  it,  copper  is  made  red-hot  in  the  fire,  anii 
cooled  in  water,  when  the  rust  falls  off  in  scales, 
etc.  It  can  be  partially  dissolved  by  the  applica- 
tion of  vinegar.  Only  one  must  not  think  of 
a  melting  away  of  the  rust  by  the  fire,  since  in 
that  case  the  copper  would  necessarily  be  melted 
along  mth  it.  Also  through  the  mere  heating 
the  greater  part  can  be  loosened,  so  that  it  ran 


CHAP.  XXI  \^.  13-18. 


233 


ue  rubbed  off."  Hengst.  mentions  the  severe 
labour  of  the  true  servant  of  the  Lord,  Isa.  xlix. 
4.  [Dutch  Annotations:  "She  hath  wearied 
(me  ivith)  vanities,  making  sueh  a  continual  stir 
l)v  her  idolatries,  heathenish  covenants,  intestine 
oppression,  lying,  hypocrisy,  and  all  manner  of 

icked  deWces,  whereby  she  would  underprop 
her  ruinous  condition  and  keep  off  threatened 
destruction,  instead  of  repenting  and  turning 
unto  me,  whereunto  I  exhorted  them  by  my  pro- 
phet with  such  patience  and  forbearance,  and 
admonished  them  so  faithfully  and  frequently 
with  sore  threatenings,  that  I  am  even  grown 
weary  of  it,  they  being  not  (in  the  least)  bettered, 
but  grown  still  more  obstinate  and  hardened 
thereby." — W.  F.]  While  the  much  rust  is  des- 
tined for  the  fire,  so  that  the  caldron,  in  contrast 
to  it,  does  not  come  into  account,  the  fate  of  the 
caldron  at  the  same  time  becomes  evident. — Ver. 
13,  departing  from  the  figure,  addresses  Jeru- 
salem. HiTZ.  :  "on  account  of  thy  unchaste 
uneleanness. "  So  also  most  interpreters.  The 
degeneracy  of  the  people  is  described  a.s  one  in 
which  the  death-deserving  crime  of  lewdness 
foims  the  characteristic  element. 

[Henderson:  "The  impurity  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  was  of  the  most  atrocious  cha- 
racter.    ntST,  crime,  deliberate  wickedness,  is  a 

term  employed  to  denote  a  criminal  act,  perpe- 
trated on  set  purpose.    Koot,  0D1>  ^o  think,  devise, 

purpose ;  mostly  used  in  a  bad  sense.  Jehovah 
Lad  used  a  variety  of  means,  both  physical  and 
moral,  to  restore  them  to  purity,  but  they  had 
produced  no  effect.  It  remained  now  only  for  the 
Chaldeans  to  do  their  work.  The  decree  was  irre- 
vocable, and  the  execution  inevitable." — W.  F.] 
Comp.  ch.  xxiii.  44,  48,  xvi.  27,  42,  etc.  (Lev. 
xviii.  20.)  While  they  degenerated  to  such  an 
extent,  both  politically  and  religiously,  they  with- 
drew themselves  from  the  influence  of  the  efforts 
made  by  Jehovah,  who  by  word  (promise  and 
threatening)  and  deed  (chastisements  and  deliver- 
ances) was  all  the  while  bent  on  the  purifying  of 
Israel.  All  promulgation  of  law  was  designed  to 
effect  the  separation  of  the  people  from  the  heathen 
world,  and  their  purification  from  innate  corrup- 
tion (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  15).  The  judgment  which 
has  overtaken  them  brings  to  an  end  thei^e  fruit- 
less efforts  for  their  purification,  and  every  pro- 
spect of  their  being  cleansed.  Henceforth — that 
is  the  immediate  future  of  Israel — the  fury  of 
God  rests  on  them.  Comp.  at  ch.  v.  13  (Jer. 
xiii.  27;  Isa.  iv.  4). — Ver.  14.  The  close  of 
the  symbolical  discourse.  Comp.  ch.  xxiii.  34, 
V.  13.— Ch.  xxi.  12.— Ch.  xvii.  24,— Ch.  vii.  3, 
8,27. —  yiS,  either  with  reference  to  persons :  to 

let  the  guilty  go  free  (Gesen.),  or  in  a  neuter 
sense,  which  is  the  preeiser  idea  :  to  depart  from 
My  word  through  a  procedure  not  conformable  to 
it— (Ch.  XX.  44.)  Ch.  x.\iii.  24,  45.— The  words 
which  are  here  added  by  the  Sept.  (were  they  fol- 
lowing a  different  version  ?)  are  inserted  by  Hitz. 
and  Ew.  as  conformable  to  the  text. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  VERS.  6-14. 

["  After  having  briefly  given  the  ground  of  the 
parabolical  description,  the  prophet  proceeds,  in 
vers.  6-14,  to  make  special  and  pointed  applica- 
tion of  it.     His  leading  object  is  to  show  that  it 


was  the  excessive  and  inveterate  wickedness  of 
t)ie  people  wliich  provoked,  and  even  rendered 
necessary,  the  severe  dealing  to  which  they  were 
subjected. 

"  All  measures  of  a  less  extreme  kind  had  been 
tried  in  vain  ;  those  were  now  exhausted  ;  and  as 
the  iniquity  appeared  to  be  entwined  with  the 
whole  fabric  and  constitution  of  things,  nothing 
remained  but  to  subject  all  to  the  crucible  of  a 
severe  and  overwhelming  catastrophe.  This  is 
represented  by  keeping  the  caldron  on  the  fire  till 
its  contents  were  stewed  away,  and  the  very  bones 
burnt.  And  as  if  even  this  were  not  enough,  as 
if  something  more  were  necessary  to  avenge  and 
purge  out  such  scandalous  wickedness,  the  caldron 
itself  must  be  kept  hot  and  burning  till  the  pollu- 
tion should  be  thoroughly  consumed  out  of  it. 
The  wicked  city  must  be  laid  in  ruins.  It  is  the 
very  same  thought  which  occurs  in  Isa.  iv.  4, 
where  the  filth  of  the  daughters  of  Zion  is  said  to 
be  washed  away,  and  the  blood  of  Jerusalem  to  be 
purged  from  the  midst  of  it  by  the  spirit  of  judg- 
ment and  the  spirit  of  burning  ;  only,  after  the 
manner  of  our  prophet,  the  image  is  extended  to 
many  minute  and  particular  details.  In  plain 
terms,  the  Lord  was  no  longer  going  to  deal  with 
them  by  half-measures  ;  their  condition  called  for 
the  greatest  degree  of  .severity  compatible  with 
their  preseivation  as  a  distinct  and  separate  people, 
and  so  the  indignation  of  the  Lord  was  to  rest  on 
them  till  a  separation  was  effected  between  them 
and  sin." — Faiubaiks's  EzeHel,  pp.  261,  262. — 
W.  F.] 

Vers.  15-27.   The  Virtual  Sign  {the  Silence  of 
Ezekiel). 

Ver.  16.  'nono,  what  the  eyes  desire,  1  Kings 

XX.  6,  what  they  rest  on  with  affection.  —  nD3l3, 

from  njj,  to  smite,  can  be  :  overthtow,  calamity, 

and  means  here  sudden  death.     So  much  the 
more  natural  would  those  gestures  and  expres- 
sions of  feeling  be  which  were  forbidden  to  him. 
HBD  is  almost  always  used  of  lamentation  for 

the  dead.  Even  the  tears  which  were  so  natural 
(thy),  not  to  speak  of  "weeping,"  were  not 
allowed  to  him,  1  Cor.  vii.  29.— Ver.  17.  The 
feeling  of  grief  God  does  not  forbid,  only  its  loud, 
outward  expression  ;  the  pain  felt  in  regard  to  a 
private  experience  shall  be  dumb,  just  as  the  uni- 
versal experience  symbolized  by  it  must  absorb 
every  private  sorrow.  The  opposite  of  the  mourn- 
ing which  was  made  for  the  dead  (D<nt3  is  placed 

expressively  at  the  beginning  of  the  clause)  is 
described  in  detail.     IJJS  isa  "head-ornament" 

(Isa.  Ixi.  3)  in  general  (ver.  23),  not  exclusively 
that  of  the  priest ;  peo'^le  laid  it  aside  in  times  of 
mourning,  and  went  bareheaded — comp.  however, 
Dent.  xiv.  1  ;  strewed  ashes  upon  their  heads, 
Lam.  ii.  10  ;  went  barefooted,  2  Sam.  xv.  30  ; 
covered,  as  did  lepers,  the  lower  part  of  their 
face,  Mic.  iii.  7 — the  beard,  as  man's  adornment  ; 
obtained  food  from  other  people,  as  from  neigh- 
bours, who  sent  it  to  the  house,  in  contiadistinc- 
tion  to  the  food  prepared  by  themselves  at  other 
times,  Jer.  xvi.  7.— Ver.  18.  As  Ezekiel  spake  to 
the  exiles  in  the  morning,  namely,  ver.  3  sq., 
and  his  wife  died  in  the  evening,  the  directions 


23 1 


EZEKIEL. 


which  he  received  for  his  hehavionr  in  regard  to 
this  event,  and  wiiich  he  coni|)lied  with  on  the 
morning  after  the  death,  were  communicated  to 
aim  on  the  same  day  with  the  symbolical  discourse. 
[Heiigst.  refers  the  "speaking"  to  the  commnni- 
lation  of  the  divine  command  to  the  people,  and 
jiakes  the  prophet  appear  before  them  on  the  suc- 
ceeding morningwitli  the  intelligence  that  his  wife 
had  dit-d  the  previous  evening,  when  he  acted  in  the 
already-mentioned  symbolical  manner.] — Ver.  19 
(cli.  xii.  9)  assumes  that  the  death  of  the  pro- 
phet's wife  has  become  known  to  the  people, 
since  their  question  is  occasioned  by  the  incon- 
sistency of  his  behaviour  ^rith  that  fact.  As  it  is 
inexplicable  when  considered  in  relation  to  him- 
self, the  inquiry  as  to  its  bearing  on  them  springs 
to  their  lips.  — <3  either  stands  for  ~,t^s,  or  is  to 

be  explained  thus  :  For  thou  doest  it  for  us  ;  in  rela- 
tion to  thyself  thou  wouldst  necessarily  have  acted 
otherwise.  [The  expressions  which  Hengst.  has 
not  hesitated  to  employ  may  be  quoted  on 
account  of  their  singularity  :  "  The  prophet  ap- 
pears merely  as  a  holy  actor"  (!)  :  "  We  have  to 
do  with  a  mere  figure,"  with  a  "  fact  of  the  holy 
phantasy  ; "  Ezekiel  may  have  had  "  no  wife  at 
all,"  ett^] 

Ver.  20.  The  explanation  of  his  conduct  fol- 
lows, as  he  was  divinely  commissioned  to  give  it, 
— Ver.  21— namely,  that  what  had  happened  to 
himself,  whereby  he  is  placed  before  them  in  a 
more  impressive  manner  as  the  representative  of 
the  hoxise  of  Israel,  as  the  exiles'  "  companion  in 
tribalation, "  was  a  type  of  that  which  was  about 
to  happen  to  them.  As  tlie  expressions  show, 
the  wife  of  Ezekiel  must  typify  the  temple  ;  her 
death  represents  especially  it;  desecration,  when 
.lehovah  allows  it  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
heathen  (ch.  vii.  22),  whereby  the  symbol  of  liis 
marriage-relation  to  Israel,  the  dwelling  together, 
disappeai-s.  4f  this  relation  between  the  wife  and 
the  temple  is  established — coinp.  ver.  16 — by  the 
expression  :  DS'^V  IDHD,  then  the  temple  on  its 

part  symbolizes  all  the  possessions  and  power  of 
Israel.  To  its  existence  in  their  midst  they  ap- 
pealed against  their  brethren,  ch.  xi.  15  ;  and  to 
:his  they  trusted  amid  all  their  wickedness  and 
apostasy,  ch.  viii.  6  ;  Jer.  vii.  4.  Pride  of  your 
strength, — since  they  took  pride  in  it  as  their 
strength.  Conip.  Lev.  xxvi.  19. — Note  the  alli- 
teration   in    ^nno    '""i    "l^np ;    according    to 

Heng.st. :  "the  .sympathy  of  your  soul,"  since  the 
soul  that  is  inwardly  united  with  it  suffers  with 
it(');  Oesen'.  :  "what  your  soul  desires,  loves," 
The  following  would  correspond  better  with  its  sig- 
nification elsewhere  (ch.  vii.  4),  namely:  that  your 
soul  would  sjiare,  —  pledging  life  itself  for  it, 
{Duti-h  Trana.:  the  sparing  of  your  souls. ) — In  the 
symbolical  significance  of  Ezekiel'swife  for  I.srael, 
next  to  the  special  relation  to  the  temple,  the 
people  come  into  consideration.  —  the  sons  and 
daughters;  in  tiie  symbol,  .sudden  death  ;  as  to 
the  people,  death  by  violence.  (HiTZ. :  "On  the 
occasion  o\  the  expatriation,  many  parents  may 
have  been  obliged  to  leave  their  children  with 
lelatives,  from  their  being  of  too  tender  age  to 
•ccompany  them."  Perhaps  also  they  could  be 
left  behind  in  expectation  of  better  times.) — 'Ver. 
22.  In  regard  to  both  the  relations  referred  to,  the 
Bxiles  addressed  shall  imitate  Ezekiel ;  comp.  ver. 


I/-— \'<?r-  23.  Vei-s.  17,  16.  The  direct  applica- 
tion ol'  what  has  gone  before,  which  is  made  hi 
the  prophet  to  his  companions  in  exile,  gives  "a 
symbolical  character  to  wiiat  has  been  said,  which 
becomes  all  the  clearer,  as  what  is  exactly  mea:* 
is  immediately  exiuessed,  namely  ;  Ye  shall  pine 
away  in  your  iniquities,  etc.  (ch.  iv.  17),  which 
describes  a  state  ol  inward  and  personal  woe 
which  is  destitute  of  all  comfort  (Isa.  1.  '. 
lix.  2).  — cnj  is  the  pressing  out  of  the  breath  in 

lowing  and  also  in  roaring  ;  here  it  corresponds  tu 
what  is  said  of  Ezekiel  in  ver.  17, — a  sighing  with 
groans,  and  that  of  the  one  to  the  other,  instead 
of  the  former  mutual  interchange  of  complaints, 
wishes,  and  hopes.  [Hav.  and  others  understand 
it  as  :  i)ain  and  sorrow  on  account  of  sin,  whieli 
is  .said  neither  here  nor  in  Lev.  xxvi.  39  ;  EiCH.  ■ 
dull  indifference  at  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem  iL 
consecjuence  of  the  misery  of  banishment ;  Ew. : 
a  stupified,  unrepentant  state  of  mind  ;  many  :  feai 
and  shame  before  the  Chaldeans  among  whom  they 
dwelt.  Hitz.  makes  them  gi'owl  one  to  another 
like  bears,  discontentedly  seeking  the  source  o' 
their  misfortune  in  others  instead  of  in  them 
selves  ;  Hengst. :  despair.  ]  As,  in  the  prophet' 
case,  the  misfortune  of  his  wife's  death  disappeai-s 
in  the  deep  shadows  of  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem 
and  Judah,  so  all  the  personal  feelings  of  the  exiles 
shall  be  absorbed  in  this  destruction  of  the  last 
remnant  of  the  kingdom  and  city.  One  and  an- 
other shall  be  benumbed  with  p.iin,  so  that  no 
comfort  shall  come  from  any  quarter  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, a  desolating  feeling  of  guilt  shall  be  gene- 
ral,— such  shall  be  their  knowledge  of  the  Lord.— 
Ver.   24.  Comp.  at  ch.  xii.  6.  —  Ver.  14.  n —  is 

referred  by  many  to  ver.  26.     The  introduction  of 
Ezekiel's  name  completes  the  personal  type. 

["  It  appears  to  us  almost  unaccountable  how 
any  person  of  ordinary  discernment  .should  under- 
stand the  prophet  here  to  mean,  that  those  Jews 
were  to  receive  the  coming  catastrophe  in  a  cal- 
lous and  indifferent  manner,  sullenly  yielding  to 
their  fate,  but  without  any  sensible  movement 
of  the  springs  of  sorrow  and  regi-et.  Yet  such  is 
the  vnw  taken  of  the  passage  by  some  leading 
commentators  abroad  (in  particular,  by  Eichhorn, 
Ewald,  Hitzig),  although  the  ex]iress  declaration 
at  the  close,  and  the  whole  character  of  the  repre- 
.sentation,  plainly  lead  to  an  opposite  conclusion. 
In  the  typical  part  of  the  delineation,  it  was  not 
because  the  prophet  was  insensible  to  the  loss  he 
sustained  by  the  death  of  his  wife  that  he  was  to 
abstain  from  the  habiliments  and  usages  of  mourn- 
ing ;  but  because  there  was  another  source  of  gi-ief 
behind,  of  which  this  was  but  the  sign  and  presage, 
and  in  itself  so  much  greater  and  more  ajipal- 
ling,  that  his  spirit,  instead  of  venting  itself  in 
expressions  of  sorrow  at  the  immediate  and  osten- 
sible calamity,  was  rather  to  brood  in  silent  agonv 
and  concern  over  the  more  distressing  ci'il  it  fore- 
shadowed. And  in  like  manner  with  the  people, 
when  all  their  fond  hopes  and  visions  were  finally 
exploded — when  the  (iestruclion  of  their  beauti- 
ful temjile  and  the  slaughter  of  their  sons  and 
daughters  came  home  to  them  as  dreadful  reali- 
ties, they  could  only  refrain  from  bewailing  thf 
loss  of  what  had  so  deep  a  hold  on  their  desires 
and  affections,  by  having  come  to  discern  in  this 
the  sign  of  what  was  still  greatly  more  dreadful 
and  appalling.     And  what  might  that  be  but  the 


CHAP.  XXIV.  20-27. 


23a 


blood  staineil  f;iiilt  of  tlieir  iniquities,  which  had 
brought  on  thi-  t-atastroiih'-  ?  Had  it  been  that 
|io:tion  ot  tlie  jnojile  wlio  dwelt  at  Jerusalem  that 
the  prophet  here  more  imnieiliately  referred  to, 
tiiere  might  have  l)een  some  room  for  supposing 
-witli  Prailus  and  others)  that  he  pointed  merely 
t"  tlie  overawing  terror  of  the  enemy,  and  to  the 
hreathless  horror  and  astonishment  connected 
with  the  capture  of  the  city,  when  he  spake  of 
i\ieli  an  arrest  being  laid  on  the  common  outgo- 
ings ol'  grief  But  it  i.s  the  ca]itives  at  Chebar  of 
sdrom  be  more  immediately  speaks,  who,  he  well 
knew,  would  be  living  in  outwaid  quiet,  far  re- 
inoveii  from  the  scene  of  uproar  and  destruction. 
It  could  not,  in  their  case,  be  the  presence  of  a 
Halpylonian  host,  or  the  turmoil  and  consterna- 
tion caused  by  the  success  of  the  Rabj'lonian 
aruLs,  which  should  check  the  customary  expres- 
sions of  grief ;  it  would  be  the  overwhelming 
sen>.e  that  should  then  break  in  upon  them  of 
the  iniquities  to  which  they  had  clung  with  such 
fatal  perverseness,  absoriting  their  spirits,  and 
turning  their  moanings  into  a  new  and  higher 
direction.  The  agonies  of  bereavement  wouUl  be 
in  a  manner  lost  under  the  self-inflicted  pains  of 
contrition  and  remorse  (comp.  ch.  vii.  16). 

"  Vet,  while  this  seems  obviously  the  meaning  of 
the  prophet's  announcement. — of  the  not  mourn- 
ing in  one  way,  and  still  pining  away  witli  dis- 
tie.ss  and  sorrow  in  another,  —  the  description  must 
in-  understood  with  cei-tain  qualilications,  and 
indeed  is  to  be  viewed  as  the  somewhat  ideal 
ilelineation  of  a  state  of  things  that  should  be 
found,  rather  than  the  exact  and  literal  descrip- 
tion of  what  was  actually  to  take  place.  The 
representation  would  otherwise  staml  in  palpable 
contrariety,  as  well  with  undoubted  facts  as  with 
statements  elsewhere  made  both  by  Ezekiel  and 
by  his  great  contemporary  in  .Judea.  That  many, 
on  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  did  really  exhibit  the 
usual  signs  of  mourning,  and  give  the  fullest  vent 
to  their  feelings  of  distress,  may  be  inferred  with 
the  utmost  certainty  from  what  is  written  in  the 
Lamentations  of  Jeremiali,  where  we  read  of  all 
the  common  symptoms  and  ajtpliances  of  grief: 
•  elders  sitting  upon  tl:e  ground,  casting  dust 
upon  their  heads,  girding  them,selves  with  sack- 
cloth ; '  and  the  prophet  himself — though  he  had 
been  told  not  to  lament  or  bemoan  (ch.  xvi.  5) — 
weej>ing  till  '  his  eyes  failed  with  tears,  and  his 
liver  was  poured  on  tlie  earth,  for  the  destruction 
of  the  daughter  of  his  people.'  Nay,  while  Ezekiel 
here  speaks  as  if  all  the  indications  of  mourning 
should  be  restrained  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, he  had  previously  spoken  of  the  people  being 
so  tilled  with  distress  on  account  of  it,  that  *  they 
should  gird  themselves  with  sackcloth,  and  have 
baldness  upon  their  heads'  (ch.  vii.  IS),  and  had 
himself  also  been  instructed  to  howl  and  cry  in 
cont'-mplation  ol  the  apjiroaching  troubles  (cdi. 
xxi.  12).  There  can  be  no  doubt  also,  on  the 
other  side,  that  the  conscience  of  sin,  however 
powerfully  it  mi;;ht  work  in  some  bosoms,  and 
alisoib  other  feelings,  would  be  veiy  tar  from 
being  universally  felt  as  it  ought  to  have  been. 
Tlie  prophets  were  by  no  means  disposed  to  cherish 
exaggerated  views  on  the  subject.  Jeremiah  had 
even  spoken  of  the  people  carrying  their  iniquities 
with  them  into  other  lands,  and  there  serving 
DthiT  gods  day  and  night  (ch.  xvi.  13).  And 
KiZekiel  himself,  in  ch.  xx.,  represents  them  as 
Jtill   needing,  after  they  had  been  all  scattered 


among  the  nations,  to  be  brought  as  into  the 
wilderness,  that  they  miglit  here  be  dealt  w>tb 
for  iniiiuities  not  yet  forsake  ,  and  purged  from 
still  remaining  aboudnations. 

"  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  the  description  in 
the  passage  before  us  nmst  not  be  understood  ii. 
the  absolute  sense,  as  if  it  were  intendeil  to  por- 
tray what  was  certainly  to  be  realized  among  t'le 
people  at  large  on  the  taking  of  .lerusalem.  It  i^ 
what  should  have  been  realized  in  all  ;  hut  \\  bat, 
in  jioint  ot.  fact,  was  to  have  its  realization  only 
in  part.  The  people  should,  on  the  occurrence 
of  such  a  fearlui  catastrophe,  have  siuik  under  an 
overiiowering  sense  of  their  guilt  and  folly,  and, 
like  the  prophet,  turned  the  tide  of  their  griet 
and  mourning  rather  against  the  gigantic  evil 
that  lay  behind,  seen  only  in  tlie  chambers  of 
imagery,  than  what  outwardly  appeared  ;  they 
should  have  bewailed  the  enormous  sins  that  had 
provoked  the  righteous  displea,sure  of  God,  rather 
than  the  present  troubles  in  which  that  displea- 
sure had  taken  effect.  Their  sorrow  shoidd  have 
chiefly  flowed  in  this  more  inward  and  s]iiritual 
direction,  for  it  was  here  pre-eminently  that  the 
evil  stood.  And  such,  undoubtedly,  was  the  case 
with  the  better  and  more  enlightened  portion  ot 
tlie  people  ;  but  many  still  cleaved  to  their  idols, 
and  would  not  receive  the  instruction  given  them, 
either  by  the  prophet's  parabolical  examjile,  or  bj 
the  reality  of  God's  atiiicting  dispen.sations. " — 
F.^iRDAiiiN-'s  Ezikkl,  pp.  266--J68.— \V.  F.] 

Ver.  2.5.  The  prominence  given  to  the  person 
of  the  prophet  leads  now  to  the  announcement  of 
a  sign  which  is  to  be  given  him  hereafter,  and  to 
the  giving  of  an  instruction  for  his  procedure 
thereupon.  And  thou,  etc.  The  staten.ent  is 
inteiTogative  in  its  form,  but  assumes  an  affirma- 
tive answer.  It  is  equivalent  to  :  1  ask  thee, 
shall  it,  can  it  be  otherwise?  The  time  is  ex- 
jiressed  as  a  definite  day.  A  year  and  a  nalt 
flapsed  before  then,  ch.  xxxiii.  21 ;  comp.  Jcr.  Hi. 
— The  delight  of  their  glory  means  :  that  in 
whose  glory  they  delighted,  ver.  21. — The  wish 
of  their  souls,  that  to  which  they  looked  with 
longing  and  yearning.  According  to  others  : 
"the  burden  of  their  soids,"  namely,  that  which 
oppresses  them.  The  Bons  and  Qaughters  are 
ramed  along  with  the  temple,  without  a  connect- 
ing word,  but  as  in  ver.  21. — Ver.  26.  Ihe 
escaped  is  a  definite  person.  [According  to 
Hengst.  :  an  ideal  person,  comprehending  in  him- 
self the  whole  host  of  those  carried  away  ;  others  : 
a  fugitive,  one  of  their  number.]  As  an  eye- 
witness of  what  had  been  |iassed  through,  he  will 
place  the  fact  before  the  exiles  as  one  which  can- 
not be  donbted. — Ver.  27.  As  he  (which  is  also  a 
virtual  sign,  namely,  for  the  prophet)  opens  his 
mouth,  Ezekiel  does  the  same,  who  consequently 
has  had  to  keep  silence  up  to  that  time.  The 
opening  of  the  prophet's  mouth  at  the  same  time 
with  that  of  the  fugitive  takes  place  in  ch.  xxxiii. ; 
comp.  vers.  21, 22.  The  word  of  Jehovah,  however, 
comes  to  the  i>rophct  in  the  interval,  ch.  xxv.- 
xxxii.  As  these  prophecies  are  directed  against 
non-lsraelite.s,  the  silence  of  the  prophet,  which  is 
introduce-'  ivith  ch.  xxiv.,  must  be  reganled  as  re- 
lative, ana  be  understood  in  reference  to  his  dis- 
courses to  Israel  only  :  to  them  he  will  not  speak  ia 
the  present  period  ;  he  will  doso  only  (ch.  xxxiii. 1 
when,  with  the  renewal  of  his  divine  nii.ssion,  s 
"new  period  for  prophet i  speech"  (Hengst.) 
shall  open,  comprehending  the  seccnd  part  of  hil 


236 


EZEKIEL. 


Kxik.  Comp.  at  ch.  xxix.  21.  As,  now,  this 
lecoi'd  part,  containing  the  prophecies  of  divine 
compassion,  sets  itself  over  against  the  first  part 
which  contains  tlie  prophecies  of  judgment,  and 
the  retrospective  reference  of  ver.  27  (ch.  xxxiii. 
22)  to  ch.  iii.  26,  27  is  unmistakeahle  (comp. 
there)  ;  so  Ezekiel's  becoming  dumb  can  be  taken 
in  relation  to  prophesying  of  mercy  as  distin- 
guished from  prophesying  of  judgment,  so  that 
the  meaning  would  be :  Thou  shall  then  speak  of 
mercy,  and  no  more  of  judgment,  which  has 
become  an  accomplished  fact.  But  therewith  tlie 
prophet's  becoming  dumb  appeal's  as  a  becoming 
silent  touching  mercy,  and  as  a  speaking  concern- 
ing judgment,  just  as  speaking,  of  this  nature,  was 
characteristic  of  the  first  part  of  the  book  ;  so  that 
the  dumbness  of  Ezekiel  aflects,  in  the  first  place, 
the  period  up  to  the  appearance  of  the  fugitive 
from  Jerusalem  with  tlie  news  of  its  downfall ;  but 
further,  on  its  close,  looks  back  on  the  whole  period 
of  the  first  part  of  the  book,  which  it  concludes. 
Thus  it  is  evidently  to  be  understood  as  a  pro- 
phetic dumbness,  not  as  silence  in  a  general  sense. 
The  prophet  speaks  of  judgment  to  foreign  peoples, 
during  the  time  which  is  to  be  assumed  from  our 
chapter,  exactly  as  in  the  first  part  of  the  book,  — 
the  time  of  his  silence  as  to  mercy,  he  spoke  to 
Israel.  Thus  his  becoming  silent  is  liere  also  a 
virtual  sign  to  Israel,  just  as  it  was  so  at  an  earlier 
time,ch.  iii.  26,  27. — Through  all  this  speech  and 
silence  (thus  many  refer  it  to  the  whole  activity 
of  the  prophet),  and  in  other  ways,  he  is  shown  to 
have  been  a  significant  symbol  to  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  [Dutch  Annotatiox.s  :  In  that 
day,  etc.;  "As  if  God  should  say,  Thou  hast 
now  sufficiently  foretold  my  people  of  the  miseries 
that  are  at  hand,  be  now  silent  for  a  while  till  all 
things  be  clearly  fulfilled  and  plain  before  their 
eyes  ;  then  slialt  thou  speak  to  them  again  for 
their  comfort  and  instruction,  that  thou  mayest 
thus  be  unto  them  and  to  ily  whole  church  in 
sundry  ways  a  wonderful  token  of  great  things  to 
come." — W.  F.]  He.n-gst.  :  "When  the  eye-wit- 
nesses report  that  all  has  happened  as  announced 
by  him,  he  will  become  to  them  an  object  of  won- 
der, they  will  recognise  the  Lord  behind  the  son 
of  man."  It  is  more  natural,  however,  to  regard 
it  as  a  simple  repetition  of  ver.  24,  as  Ezekiel's  dull 
pain  (ver.  17)  jireligured  not  merely  the  feeling 
and  behavio:ir  of  the  exiles,  but  also  God's  pain  : 
it  could  be  regarded,  if  one  might  so  s])eak,  as  a 
striking  symbol  of  the  silence  of  the  Judge  in 
regard  to  Israel,  after  the  sentence  had  been  passed, 
which  is  now  being  executed, — of  His  still  con- 
tinued silence  towards  His  people  concerning 
mercy. 

DOOTniNAL  ItEFLECTIONsr 

1.  With  the  prediction  of  our  chapter,  comp. 
Doct.  Ueflec.  on  ch.  xii.  No.  4.  "This  discourse 
is  peculiarlj' ini]iortant,"  says  Hav.,  "owing  to 
the  definiteness  of  its  prediction."  "The  place 
on  the  Chebar  where  the  pro])het  lived  was 
distant  from  Jerusalem  more  than  a  hundred 
German  miles  ;  it  was  therefore  impossible  for 
Ezekiel  tn  know  by  human  means  that  the  siege 
of  Jerusalem  had  commenced  on  that  ver\'  day  ; 
and  wlii'H  it  was  afterwards  ascertained  that  the 
prediction  had  exactly  corresponded  with  fact,  it 
would  lie  regarded  as  an  invincible  proof  of  his 
divini-  nii.ssion  "  (J.  D.  Mich.).  Ew.  makes  the 
prophet    act  on    that  day   "in  an    altogether 


animated  way,  as  if  the  siege  of  the  distant  citj 
had  been  set  in  array  against  himself"  He  sup- 
poses also  that  the  anticipation  of  soon  losing  his 
wife  by  a  sudden  stroke  was  a  "presentiment.' 
Umbreit  interprets  the  matter  in  almost  the  same 
way,  by  regarding  the  wife  of  the  prophet  as 
"prostrated  by  a  severe  illness,"  so  that  he  fore- 
saw her  speedy  death.  Hitz.  admits  that  "any- 
thing fortuitous  is  not  to  be  imagined  ;  and  all  the 
less,  from  the  fact  that  we  have  here  nothing  to  do 
with  premonition,  since  the  certainty  of  the  tone, 
and  the  definiteness  with  which  Ezekiel  speaks  of 
the  subject,  must  rest  on  a  proper  knowledge  of  the 
fact. "  With  his  decision  in  favour  of  a  vatkinium 
post  eventum,  not  only  the  prophetic,  but  also  the 
moral  character  of  Ezekiel  falls  to  the  ground. 

2.  "The  earth  drinks  in  the  blood  which  is 
righteously  shed,  or  covers  it,  so  that  it  is  not 
avenged  on  him  who  shed  it;  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  said  of  the  blood  which  is  to  be  avenged,  that 
the  earth  covers  it  not,  or  discloses  it  in  its 
season.  Job  xvi.  18  ;  Isa.  xxvi.  21"  (Cocc.V 

3.  ["  As  to  the  principle  of  dealing,  there  is  no 
essential  difference  between  what  God  did  then 
with  Israel,  and  what  He  still  does  with  those 
who  stand  in  a  similar  relation  to  Him,  and  pur- 
sue a  similar  course.  AVhere  tliere  is  the  profes- 
sion of  a  belief  in  God's  word,  and  a  regard  to 
God's  authority,  though  intermingled  with  much 
that  is  false  in  sentiment,  or  unrighteous  in  con- 
duct, there  must  still  be  dealings  of  severity  and 
rebuke,  to  bring  the  professor,  if  possible,  to  a 
sense  of  his  sinfulness,  and  lead  him  to  renounce 
it ;  but,  failing  this,  to  vindicate  concerning  him 
the  righteousness  of  God,  and  leave  him  without 
excuse  if  his  iniquity  should  prove  his  ruin.  In 
the  case  of  sincere,  God-fearing  ])eople,  the  severity 
exercised  will  always  be  attended  with  salutary 
results  ;  for  they  have  the  root  of  the  matter  in 
them,  and  are  sure  to  profit  by  the  chastening  of 
the  Lord.  But  with  those  who  have  the  profes- 
sion only,  without  the  principle  of  true  godliness, 
the  iniquity  is  clung  to  in  spite  of  all  the  severity 
that  is  exercised,  until  the  wrath  falls  on  them 
to  the  uttermost.  There  is  enough  in  New  Testa* 
ment  Scripture,  and  the  experience  of  men  under 
the  present  dispensation,  to  warrant  us  to  expect 
so  far  a  similarity  in  God's  method  of  procedure 
to  the  rei)resentation  here  given  of  His  conduct 
toward  Israel.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a  difi'er- 
ence  may  also  be  expected,  in  so  far  as  His  deal- 
ings now,  in  accordance  with  the  genius  of  the 
new  dispensation,  respect  men  more  as  indivi- 
duals, less  as  public  communities,  and  bear  more 
immediately  upon  their  inward  state  and  spiritual 
relations.  He  who  would  regard  aright  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Lord's  hand,  and  profit  by  the  cor- 
rections of  His  rod  of  chastisement,  must  keep  a 
watchful  eye  upon  the  things  that  concern  his 
own  experience  and  history.  There  may  be  signs 
of  the  divine  displdas'.re  sufficient  to  startle  the 
tender  conscience,  and  call  for  deep  humiliation 
of  spirit,  while  nothing  appears  outwardly  wrong, 
and  all  may  even  wear  a  smiling  aspect  as  far  a.", 
regards  social  and  public  relations.  Should  there 
be  a  restraining  of  divine  grace  within,  an  absencf 
of  spiritual  refreshment,  a  felt  discomfort  of  mind, 
or  an  obvious  withdrawal  of  spiritual  privileges, 
there  is  beyond  doubt  the  commencement  of  a 
work  of  judgment ;  and  if  such  marks  of  God's 
displeasure  are  slighted,  others  of  a  more  severe 
and  alarming  kind  may  assm'edly  be  looked  for 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


237 


But  as  men's  tempers  and  ciroimstanees  in  life 
are  infinitely  varied,  so  there  is  a  corresponding 
variety  in  the  njethods  employeil  by  God  to  check 
the  rising.s  of  sin,  and  expel  its  poison  from  the 
heart.  And  it  is  tlie  part  of  spiritual  wisdom  to 
seek  for  the  wakeful  ear  and  the  discerning  eye, 
which  may  enable  one  to  catch  even  the  earliest 
intimations  of  God's  displeasure,  and  so  improve 
tliese  as  to  render  unnecessary  the  heavier  visita- 
tions of  wrath." — FairbaiPiN's  Ezekiel,  pp.  i62, 
263.— W.  F.] 

4.  Hengst.,  in  denying  the  reality  of  the  death 
of  Ezekiels  wife,  states  the  proposition  that  "a 
moral  relation  like  marriage  cannot  be  degraded 
to  a  mere  mode  of  representation  ; "  as  if  this 
would  less  be  the  case  if  we  had  before  us  "only 
a  vividly  drawn  figure  !  "  This  death  is  just  as 
little  a  "'mere  mode  of  representation"  as  any- 
thing else  which,  ordained  by  God,  happens 
specially  to  His  children  and  servants.  But  the 
moral  significance  of  the  event  for  Ezekiel  was 
altogether  subordinate  to  the  prophet's  signifi- 
cance for  the  people.  That  which  was  merely 
purifying  trial  to  him  was  to  be  punishment  to 
them.  "He  endures,"  .says  Schmieder,  "the 
pain,  like  other  sufferings  of  his  prophetic  office, 
as  the  servant  and  instrument  of  God  for  Israel, 
in  order  to  lead  the  people  to  saving  repentance." 
"God  by  no  means  spares  His  servants,  and  they 
endure  willingly,  because  they  know  that  the 
Lord  in  His  own  time  makes  all  things  work 
together  for  good,  and  because  they  are  always 
ready  to  offer  up  to  Him  in  love  and  confidence 
whatever  He  reijuires. "  We  must  not  forget  that 
Ezekiel  was  set  as  a  "portent"  for  the  people; 
uomp.  at  ch.  iv.  (Doct.  Rettec.  4),  ch.  xii.  Tlius, 
according  to  the  individuality  of  his  official  posi- 
tion, for  which  his  loving  sympathy  with  his 
people  is  the  psychological  medium,  he  is  a  type 
in  virtue  of  a  pei-sonal  symbolical  substitution 
or  represeutiition.  Ezekiel  prefigures,  in  a  most 
painful  domestic  experience,  the  judicial  punish- 
ment wliich  is  ordained  of  God  for  the  people, 
with  whom  he  is  joined  by  personal  sympathy,  as 
well  as  by  the  fact  of  being  eijually  an  exile.  It 
might  be  said  that  a  Messianic  element  here 
makes  itself  app.ai-ent  in  the  prophet.  The 
.symbolism  of  marriage  in  relation  to  Christ  and 
tiie  Church  (Eph.  v.  32)  harmonizes  with  this 
theological  explanation  of  the  case.  Consider, 
besides,  the  reference  to  Jer.  xvi.,  on  which  Hiiver- 
uick  lays  stress. 

5.  Tlie  instructions  received  by  Ezekiel  in  con- 
nection with  the  death  of  his  wife  are  very  re- 
markable. They  suggest  various  inferences,  both 
as  to  his  own  character  as  the  servant  of  God, 
and  as  to  the  nature  of  the  prophetic  office. 
While  the  prophet  was  frequently  one  of  the  most 
gifted,  and  always  one  of  the  most  honoured  of 
men,  lie  was  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most 
severely  tried.  Like  aU  places  of  honour  in  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  position  of  a  prophet  in- 
volved the  bearing  of  burdens  which  were  excep- 
tionally heavy.  "The  closeness  of  his  fellowship 
with  God  had  two  sides— a  dark  as  well  as  a 
bright.  For  his  high  degree  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  he  had  to  pay  a  gieat  price,  by  being  pre- 
eminently a  cross-bearer.  He  was  taught,  and 
often  by  painful  experiences,  that  it  was  necessary 
to  "count  all  things  but  loss"  for  God;  "to 
hate  father  and  mother  and  wife  and  children  and 
bretliren  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also, " 


in  order  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  his  high  office. 
Only  in  so  far  as  he  had  learned  tliis  truth  did 
he  attain  to  the  character  of  the  ideal  prophet. 
A  perpetual  spiritual  law  was  enunciated  by  our 
Lord,  when  He  said,  at  least  in  eft'ect,  to  the 
ambitions  sons  of  Zebedee,  that  drinking  of  His 
cup  and  being  baptized  with  His  baptism,  were 
the  conditions  of  occupying  places  of  honour  in 
His  kingdom.  This  law  held  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment period  no  less  than  in  the  New.  The  man 
wlio  was  distinguished  from  his  fellows  by  receiv- 
ing power  to  inherit  all  the  ages,  to  dip  into  the 
future  and  comprehend  the  near  and  the  remote 
in  a  single  gaze  of  his  divinely  opened  eye,  to 
understand  and  proclaim  the  eternal  moral  prin- 
ciples according  to  which  God  detenuines  the 
order  of  world-history,  to  be,  in  short,  a  prophet, 
was  also  distinguished  from  them  by  profouuder 
experience  of  sorrow,  suffering,  and  self-abnega- 
tion. The  words  which  were  spoken  by  God  in 
reference  to  Paul,  when  he  was  about  to  be  intro- 
duced to  the  apostolic  office,  might  have  been 
applied,  with  scarcely  a  verbal  change,  to  Ezekiel, 
or  to  any  of  the  ancient  prophets,  when  they 
were  called  to  their  life-work  ;  "  He  is  a  chosen 
vessel  unto  Me  to  bear  My  name  before  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel ;  .  .  . 
I  will  show  him  how  gi'eat  things  he  must  suffer 
for  My  name's  sake." 

Self-consecration  was  an  essential  condition  to 
the  proper  fulfilment  of  the  duties  of  the  pro- 
phetic ministry.  The  prophet  was  required  to 
devote  to  God  the  energies  of  his  mind  and  soul, 
the  treasures  of  his  heart, — all  that  he  prized 
most  ;  for  God  regarded  them  as  His  own,  and 
might  use  anj',  or  all  of  them,  as  instruments  for 
the  carrying  on  of  His  work.  The  tasks  which 
God  enjoined  presupposed  this  comjilete  surrender 
on  the  part  of  His  servants.  Their  accomplish- 
ment would  have  been  impossible  otherwise. 
The  prophet  was  often  asked  to  do  things  diffi- 
cult, disagreeable,  or  even  unnatural,  in  order 
that  effect  might  be  given  to  his  divine  message. 
For,  when  the  spoken  word  was  not  regarded  as 
sufficient,  it  was  siipplcmented  by  the  acted  word 
or  the  symbol,  in  the  choosing  of  which,  regard 
was  had,  not  to  the  comfort,  convenience,  or  pri- 
vate feelings  of  him  whose  duty  it  was  to  set  the 
symbol  forth,  but  only  to  its  power  to  teach  and 
impress.  Often,  indeed,  the  symbols  chosen  were 
of  such  a  kind  that  the  employmeut  of  them  did 
not  necessarily  involve  self-denial  ;  but  the  case 
was  altered,  when  acts  and  experiences  of  the 
private  life  of  the  prophet  which  touched  his 
deepest  feelings,  were  regulated  and  controlled  so 
as  to  transform  him  into  a  personal  symbol. 
Thus,  for  the  sake  of  perfecting  him  as  a  teacher 
by  signs,  Hosea  was  commanded  to  form  peculiar 
domestic  ties,  to  which  natural  feeling  would  have 
disinclined  him.  And  wha*:pver  view  be  held  as 
to  the  Divine  intention  in  taking  away  Ezckiel's 
wife  by  a  stroke,  her  death  w.as  used  as  a  .symbol 
of  a  great  public  calamity,  whose  character  was 
further  symbolized,  by  the  prophet's  deportment 
under  his  affliction,  in  which  he  was  influenced 
by  a  regard  to  his  mission  only.  When  he  wett 
forth  to  the  people  on  the  morning  after  his  be- 
reavement, he  could  have  said  in  a  double  sense, 
"The  burden  of  the  Lord." 

The  fact  of  God  imposing  upon  Ezekiel  the 
command  to  repress  all  signs  of  feeling,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  suddenness  and  severity  o( 


2n« 


EZEKIEL. 


!hc  stroke,  to  be  calm  and  self-controllHil,  proves 
that  the  servant  of  God  must  lead  a  life  of  self- 
Baorifiee,  that  individual  feeling  must  be  merged 
in  the  higher  claims  of  duty ;  while  the  promptness 
and  perfection  of  his  obedience  show  how  well  he 
had  learned  to  subordinate  all  things  to  the  ful- 
tilment  of  his  ministi'y,  and  how  all-absorbing 
was  his  desire  to  arouse  his  people  to  a  sense  of 
things  S[iiritual  and  divine.  That  the  affliction 
which  came  upon  him  was  most  crushinj,',  may  be 
Tr.farred  from  the  nature  of  the  case  and  from  the 
aaiTative.  To  one  who  could  be  described  as 
"the  desire  of  thine  eyes,"  the  prophet  must 
have  been  knit  in  tenderest  love,  ami  he  would 
feel  the  bereavement  all  the  more  because  his 
nature  was  intense  and  lonely,  his  soul,  one  which 
ilwelt  apart.  Deep  must  have  been  the  sense  of 
desolation  which  filled  his  heart,  when  he  knew 
that  he  was  to  be  for  ever  deprived  of  the  sym- 
patliy  wliich  was  so  grateful  because  so  rare,  so 
helpful  because  so  loving,  an.i  so  trusted  because 
it  had  never  failed.  But  the  manner  in  which 
fiod  communicates  His  purpose,  and  the  use 
which  He  asks  the  prophet  to  make  of  the  be- 
reavement, assume  his  possession  of  the  intensest 
".pirituality  of  mind  and  devotion  to  his  j)ro- 
|)lietic  mission.  The  bereavement  is  regarded 
entirely  as  to  its  ]iossible  bearing  on  public  utility, 
and  not  once  as  to  its  bearing  on  private  happi- 
ness. The  prophet's  private  feelings  are  ignored, 
except  in  so  far  as  their  natural  expres.sion  is  for- 
bidden ;  God  foretells  him  of  his  affliction,  not 
so  much  that  lie  may  be  prepared  to  bear,  a-i  that 
he  may  be  prepared  to  use  it  f  )r  the  fultilment  of 
his  ministry.  No  compejisation  for  the  desola- 
tion nf  his  human  heart  is  hinted  at  except  this 
— that  he  shall  enjoy,  on  account  of  his  aflliction, 
the  opportunity  of  preaching  by  new  symbols  of 
unusual  iinpressiveness — of  becoming  himself  an 
eloquent  symbol.  What  he  suffers  as  a  man  may 
be  counterbalanced  by  what  he  shall  accomplish 
as  a  prophet.  For  the  anguish  of  bereavement, 
for  the  pain  of  self-repression,  of  abstinence  from 
every  expression  of  grief,  from  even  the  swei't 
solace  of  tears,  he  may  find  some  compensation  in 
being  enabled,  by  means  of  his  own  circumstances, 
to  place  tlie  future  before  the  minds  of  his  people, 
in  a  way  fitted  to  make  them  realize  the  coming 
woe,  and  to  arouse  them  to  repentance.  His 
great  sorrow  hiilden  in  his  heart,  Ezekiel,  the 
servant  of  God,  proceeds  to  the  work  which  God 
gave  hira  to  do.  The  shadows  which  appeared  to 
rest  on  his  soul  proceeded,  less  from  the  recollec- 
tion of  his  own  bereavement,  than  from  foresight 
of  the  calamities  of  his  people.  His  private 
sorrow  sermed  to  be  overlaid  by  an  anticipation 
of  the  greater  sorrow  which  was  to  affect  them. 
His  manner  seemed  to  say,  "Weep  not  for  me, 
but  weep  for  yourselves  and  for  your  children." 
As  he  was  a  "  portent "  to  Israel,  so,  by  his  beau- 
tiful, self-forgetting  devotion  to  prophetic  iluty, 
which  was  mide  possible  to  him,  not  merely  by 
the  gnice  of  God  which  accompanieil  the  com- 
mand of  God,  but  also  by  tlie  powerful  .sympathies 
:if  his  own  sanctified  nature,  Ezekiel  is  an  example 
to  the  servants  of  God  in  every  age. — W.  F.] 

lIOMtLETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  si|.  "Ch.  x.xiv.  is  to  be  regarded  as  a 
larewell  "  t  H  e.ng.st.  l. — One  goes  on  speaking  till 
the  last  moment.     "Ab  the  hour  for  bringing 


help  to  the  pious  is  fixed,  so  alsf»  is  the  houi-  foi 
executing  God's  vengeance  on  the  wicked  "  (Stck.  ). 
—  "This  happened  in  our  month  of  December" 
(L. ).— That  which  is  earned  out  at  Jerusalem  is 
written  down  at  Babylon. — "He  vho  is  con- 
demned to  death  knows  not  the  day,  which  hia 
Judge,  however,  knows  well  "  \STCIi. ).  --  <  'ur 
calendar  should  be  a  very  ilifferent  one  w<^re  *he 
days  noted  according  to  God's  bidding. 

Ver.  3.  "God  loves  to  .say  to  man  what  He 
means  to  say  to  him  by  means  of  intelligible 
figures  ;  therefore  preachers  should  avoid  obscuring- 
His  word  with  ambiguities"  (L.).— In  the  wratli 
of  God,  because  it  is  His  despised  love,  as  in  tlie 
love  of  God,  there  are  intensity  and  vehemence. — 
In  the  time  of  God's  judgment  all  the  excuses  oJ 
men  will  fill  to  the  ground. — Ver.  4.  God  is 
already  gathering  to  His  judginent-seat  those 
whom  He  will  judge. — Ver.  5.  Divine  punish- 
ment overpowers  even  the  strongest.  —  Even  the 
best  is  not  too  good  for  God's  chastisements. 

Ver.  6  sq.  Man's  sentence  and  God's  sentence 
upon  cities. — A  woe  follows  on  shf^d  blood, — Tin- 
rust  on  the  caldron. — "Sin  is  the  rust  which 
cleaves  to  us  all  "  (SrcK.). — Ver.  7.  "  On  accouni 
of  the  blood  of  Christ,  shed  at  Golgotha,  Titus 
at  length  burned  the  city"  (.\  L.\i'. )  — Ver.  S. 
God's  leading  and  governing  apparent  amid  the 
sins  of  men. — Ver.  9  si[.  The  ascending  climax 
in  the  judgments  of  God. — He  who  will  not  hear 
must  feel  — "  God  easily  finds  wood  in  abiiudance" 
(Stck.). — The  ungodly  shall  not  stand  in  the  judg- 
ment.— "An  evil  conscience  is  a  small  caldron 
above  a  great  fire"  (A  L.\p.). — Ver.  12.  God's 
fruitless  ert'orts,  what  an  awful  prelude! — The 
abuse  of  divine  grace.  —  "Thus  also  it  was  not 
cleansed  by  Christ,  who  had  wearied  Hiui.''ell 
in  labours  for  Jerusalem  even  to  hot  tiats" 
(Jekome). 

Ver.  15  sq.  God  takes  away, — this  should 
never  be  forgotten  in  any  ca.se  of  bereavement.— 
The  Lord  has  taken  away, — Job's  words,  Ezekiel'a 
experience.  "  God  wills  that  we  should  give  up, 
at  His  command,  all  that  is  dear  to  us  in  this 
world"  (Tub.  Bib.). — Not  lo.st,  but  gone  before. 
"Righteous  people  are  often  snatched  away  from 
the  evil  to  come  "  (L. ). — The  children  of  God  are 
not  therefore  insensate  stone.s,  but  they  desire  to 
observe  the  (iod-appointed  limits  in  their  giief. — 
The  Jews  laid  great  stress  on  pomp  in  tln-ir  mourn- 
ing; and  with  how  many  Christians  that  is  the 
whole  or  the  principal  part  of  mourning! — "No 
one  .should  do  as  Ezekiel  did  unless  e(mimandeil  by 
God  "  (Src-K. ). — Ver.  IS  sq.  "In  all  things,  even 
in  what  is  hard  for  us,  we  should  obey  the  divine 
command  "  (Ti'a  Bib.  ;.  —  "  That  wliich  is  iiiipos- 
sibh'  to  our  own  natural  jiower  C!in  become  pos- 
sible through  the  power  of  grace.  Obey,  then, 
even  when  it  .seems  impossible  to  thee,  and  be- 
lieve that  the  needf'  '.lelji  wi'l  be  given  thee" 
(St.). — Ver.  20  sq.  '  ..1h,  thf  punishment,  when 
God  Himself  prolan:*s  His  s;inctuary,  and  take.' 
away  the  light  of  true  religion  !  "  ('Tub.  B"i.  1  — 
Sorrow  without  comfort  is  gi-eat  sorrow. —Vtr. 
24.  "Preachers  of  repentance  must  be  -iisJns  to 
the  unrepentant,  and  teach  them  not  only  with 
words,  but  also  with  their  whole  lite"  (Cu.).  - 
Ver.  26.  The  lame  post  from  Jerusalem.  —  "Car- 
nally-secure men  believe  a  human  niessen<;ei 
sooner  than  a  messenger  of  God  "  (Stck.  ).--  Who 
believes  our  preaching? — "  Now  the  thunders  o' 
God's  judgment  began  to  speak"  (Hengst.). 


THE  TRANSITION  FROM  THE  PROPHECY  OF  JUDGMENT  TO  THE 
PROPHECY  OF  COMPASSION,  OR  THE  PROPHECIES  AGAINST 
THE   ADVERSARIES. 


UHAP.  XXV.-XXXII  2il 


A-B.     CHAPTERS  XXV.-XXXII. 


THE  TRANSITION  FROM  THE  PROPHECY  OF  JUDGMENT  TO  THE 
PROPHECY  OF  COMPASSION,  OR  THE  PROPHECIES  AGAINST 
THE  ADVERSARIES. 


The  prophecies  against  the  heathen  nations  are  put  here  into  one  collection,  as  is  the  case  aisa 
in  Jeremiah  and  Isaiah  (Introd.  pp.  10,  1 1).  The  common  character  of  their  contents  admits  of 
their  standing  thus  together,  whilst  they  are  also  distinguished  from  each  other  by  occasional 
chronological  notices.  From  ch.  xxix.  17,  it  is  probable  that  the  prophet  made  up  at  that  time 
the  preceding  smaller  collection,  if  not  the  greater  one,  of  his  whole  book ;  comp.  ch.  xl.  1. 
According  to  most,  however,  these  prophecies  actually  lie  between  oh.  xxiv.  and  xxxiii. 

"  The  prophecies  (Kliefoth  remarks)  against  foreign  nations,  that  is,  against  heathenism 
and  the  heathen  world,  against  the  worldly  power  as  opposing  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its 
development,  form  continually,  since  the  prophecy  of  Balaam  (Num.  xxiv.  17-24),  a  separate 
chapter  of  prophecy."  So  is  it  first  of  all  in  Obadiah,  then  also  in  Joel,  Amos,  etc.  The 
later  prophets  in  this  lean  upon  their  predecessors,  whose  prophecies  they  partly  employ  by 
citation,  partly  supplement  and  expand. 

The  thought  which  dominates  the  collection  of  Ezekiel  is  that  of  judgment,  as  seen  in  the 
burning  of  Jerusalem,  the  flight-fire.  Ezekiel,  in  consequence,  limits  himself  in  the  survey 
he  takes  of  the  heathen,  as  that  is  also  still  further  limited,  that  no  reference  is  made  in  it  to 
the  Chaldeans. 

Only  the  idea  of  judgment  connects  exactly  with  ch.  xxiv.  The  discourse  of  judgment  aa 
now  to  go  forth  upon  the  adversaries  was,  as  the  silence  of  compassion  had  been,  "  an 
astonishment,"  in  respect  to  its  being  appointed  to  the  prophet  for  this  particular  time.  If 
the  prophecies  are  viewed  as  an  appendage  to  the  first  main  division,  the  connection  can 
scarcely  be  conceived  of  more  precisely. 

The  judicial  character  of  these  chapters,  however,  still  keeps  within  the  historical  position, 
— the  recompense  which  actually  takes  place  in  the  world's  history.  Among  the  peoples  that 
here  make  their  appearance,  there  occur  the  heathen  members  of  the  coalition  against  Babylon, 
those  who  partook  in  Judah's  breach  of  oath  and  fidelity,  denounced  in  ch.  xvii.  The  pro- 
phets are  "the  divinely-authorized  conscience-preachers,"  as  Tholuck  designates  them,  "the 
directors  of  conscience  whether  wished  for  or  not,"  who  stand  among  the  people,  "as  the 
wakeful  eye  of  the  God  of  Israel."  The  judgment  of  Judah  must  go  forth  from  them  upon 
these  heathens ;  for  that  in  human  affairs  there  prevails  a  holy  ordering  of  retributive  right- 
eousness is  the  general  theme  of  prophecy. 

The  limitation  in  Ezekiel's  predictions  to  judgment  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  exclusion 
of  the  heathen  from  Messiah's  salvation.  For  out  of  the  judgment,  aa  for  Israel,  so  also  for 
the  heathen,  comes  forth  the  great  salvation  of  the  future  destined  to  embrace  both.  Ezekiel 
stands  in  no  antagonism  to  the  other  prophets  as  regards  their  prophetic  announcements  on 
the  heathen  nations.  It  is  enough  to  compare  ch.  xvi.  There  is  merely  a  certain  difference 
between  him  and  them  in  this  respect.  "  But  he  still  holds  by  the  right  landmarks ;  temporal 
subversion  alone,  the  loss  of  their  political  and  civil  existence,  is  what  he  threatens  them  with; 
but  that  a  remnant  of  them  should  survive,  according  to  the  word  of  the  earlier  prophets, 
and  that  this  might  spiritually  attain  to  blessing,  he  leaves  open,  without  contradiction" 
(Kliefoth). 

That  the  idea  of  judgment  specially  controls  the  following  collection  of  Ezekiel  has  its 
explanation  in  his  prophetic  mission.  It  is  so  precisely  adapted  to  this,  that,  in  consequence, 
we  find  in  this  collection  no  prophetic  judgment  against  Babylon.  The  explanation  which  ia 
given,  even  by  Hengstenberg,  that  "no  reason  existed  for  his  braving  the  danger,"  can  afford 
little  satisfaction;  must  "the  personal  relations"  have  been  pleasantly  adjusted  for  an  Ezekiel? 
If  ch.  xxi.  30  sq.  is  not  to  be  understood  as  directed  against  Babylon  (see,  however,  at  the 
passage),  the  silence  of  Ezekiel  generally  respecting  the  judgment  upon  Babylon,  and  in  par- 


242  EZEKIEL. 


ticular  the  absence  of  any  prediction  of  judgment  in  the  section  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.,  finds  iU 
explanation  simply  in  his  position  and  calling  in  the  exile.  That  Amnion,  Moab,  Edom,  the 
Philistines,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Egypt,  were  accessaries  to  the  judgment  upon  Judah,  to  Judah'a 
faithless  breach  of  oath  towards  Babylon, — this  of  itself  would  have  made  Babylon's  place  in 
the  midst  of  them  lit  badly.  In  that  respect  alone  it  would  have  injured  the  moral  nexue. 
Still  more,  however,  in  another  respect  was  silence  upon  Babylon's  judgment  ordered.  It  may 
be  enough  for  this  to  point  to  ch.  xxiii.  45  ;  for  that  other  decisive  respect  is  the  circumstance 
that  Babylon  had,  in  God's  name,  to  execute  judgment  as  well  upon  the  nations  in  question 
as  upon  Judah-Israel.  Ezekiel's  prophetic  mission  we  have  recognised  to  be  that  of  the 
prophet  of  Jehovah's  glory  in  the  exile;  and  likewise,  the  revelation  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah 
meets  us  immediately  in  the  1st  chapter  as  primarily  taking  effect  in  judgment  and  through 
righteousness.  Hence  it  follows  that  it  was  also  very  suitable  to  the  prophetic  mission  of 
Ezekiel,  since  it  accords  with  the  glory  of  Jehovah  as  now  manifesting  itself,  that  Babylon,  its 
instrument,  should  directly  appear  only  as  such,  in  the  light  of  the  divine  judgment  and  the 
divine  righteousness  upon  Israel,  and  upon  the  related  heathen  nations.  The  exile  in  its 
primary  aspect  was  judgment,  the  judgment  of  God,  which  Babylon  inflicted.  With  this  did 
not  suit  a  prophetic  judgment  also  upon  Babylon.  [More  especially  as  one  of  the  prevailing 
tendencies  of  the  time  was  to  overlook  the  hand  of  God  in  the  present  elevation  of  Babylon  to 
its  high  ascendency,  and  to  fret  against  the  dominion  which  God  had  for  a  season  given  her 
over  the  nations. — P.  F.]  It  should  necessarily,  too,  have  obscured  the  more  direct  impression 
to  be  produced.  "  Whosoever,"  says  Hengstenberg,  "obtained  an  insight  into  the  whole  of 
God's  judicial  acts,  must  have  been  powerftdly  drawn  away  from  politics  to  repentance." 

That  the  announcement  of  judgment,  and  of  judgment  alone,  upon  the  heathen  was  done 
for  the  sake  of  consolation,  which  was  implied  therein  for  the  exiled, — that  such  a  consoling 
must  here  already  be  regarded  as  the  prophetic  mission  of  Ezekiel,  is  without  warrant,  accord- 
ing to  ch.  i.-xxiv.,  and  is  certainly  not  agreeable  to  the  manner  in  which  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.  are 
connected  with  that  principal  portion  of  our  book. 

It  becomes,  then,  a  matter  of  special  importance  to  justify  the  position  of  this  collection  of 
predictions  here  against  the  heathen  after  ch.  xxiv.,  with  the  contents,  design,  etc.,  of  these 
predictions.  The  question  of  place  goes  first;  the  question  of  time  follows  as  the  second.  For 
as  their  fulfilment  took  place  later  than  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem-Judah,  so  their  announce- 
ment also  took  place,  and  consequently  the  reading  of  them,  first  at  the  time  of  the  second 
main  division,  so  that  they  might  also  serve  as  a  foil  for  this.  Considered  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  later  pubhcation,  we  may  therefore  conjoin  with  the  mode  of  connecting  this 
collection  relatively  to  the  first  main  division,  a  transition-character  to  the  idea  of  the  second 
main  division  of  our  book,  as  scattered  and  occasional  indications  of  such  a  transition  are  to 
be  found  in  ch.  xxviii.  24  sq.,  xxix.  21.  "  These  prophecies  present  themselves  as  forerunners 
of  cheering  intelligence,  in  so  far  as  the  downfall  of  the  heathen  powers  here  announced  is 
throughout  total  and  definitive,  whereas  hope  is  still  always  left  to  Israel"  (Hengst.).  This 
is  also  to  be  considered  in  accordance  with  the  same,  that  the  injury  done  to  Israel  is  brought 
prominently  forward  among  the  causes  of  the  divine  judgment  upon  the  heathen,  ch.  xxv.  3, 
8,  12,  15.  Ewald  remarks,  besides,  that  the  pimishment  of  Edom  was  expected  from  Israel, 
and  for  the  Philistines  immediately  from  Jehovah  Himself,  which  would  connect  more  closely 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  prophet,  onwards  from  ch.  xxxiii.,  is  going  to  speak  of  Israel 
(comp.  also  Introd.  §  6). 

In  agreement  with  the  general  considerations  affecting  the  whole,  which  serve  to  justify 
the  position  and  character  of  the  following  collection,  there  is  also  to  be  noticed  this  and  that 
individual  trait  in  the  particular  parts,  which  belong  alike  to  the  form  and  to  the  substance 
of  these  predictions. 

There  are  seven  separate  prophecies;  and  to  this  nmnber,  says  Hitzig,  "he  very  per- 
sistently adheres."  With  a  symbolic  tendency,  the  Philistines  are  reckoned  in  t'je  number, 
who  do  not  appear  as  members  of  that  coalition  in  Jer.  xxvii. ;  and  so,  too,  Tyiw  and  Sidon 
are  kept  quite  apart  from  each  other,  as  in  Jeremiah.  "  The  placing  together  *'so  of  four 
nations  immediately  at  the  beginning,  while  three  follow,  indicates  the  clear  oo^jsciousness 
with  which  the  author  is  minded  to  make  out  a  seven  number"  (Hitzig).  This  intentional 
form  should  be  reckoned  as  belonging  to  the  transition-character  of  the  portion  ch.  xxv.- 
xxiiL:  On  the  ground  of  the  covenant  of  the  Eternal  with  Israel,  the  judgment  upoj  their  open 
and  secret  enemies  goes  forth.  In  these  judgments,  therefore,  Jehovah  brin£,f  to  remem- 
brance His  covenant  with  Israel. 

Ewald  delineates  the  particulars  of  the  prophetic  series  geographically  as  berDuing  on  the 
north-east  from  Judah  with  Ammon,  thence  turning  southwards  toward  Moab,  ^f  lUg  down  with 
Edom  entirely  to  the  south,  thereafter  bending  in  a  western  direction  to  the  Plv'i'Stines,  then  in 
the  west  stretching  again  to  Tyre  and  Sidon,  lastly  to  Egypt.  Havernick  fi  jds  •>  beautiful 
harmony  in  the  following  connectiou  between  the  individual  predictions : — Fi/bt,  p  >oples  that 
were  in  open  enmity  to  the  theocracy,  ch.  xxv. ;  then,  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  h/.aghti-  'as,  fleshly 
wcuritj,  ch.  xsvi.-xxviii. ;  finally,  their  combinatioa  in  Egypt,  ch.  xxix  -zxxi.     /.eiJ  h«j 


CHAP.  XXV.  243 


with  good  right  perceived  a  distinction  between  Eyypt  and  the  other  nations;  but  to  suppose 
a  formal  twofold  division  on  that  account  of  six  ami  one,  destroys  tlie  symbol  of  the  number 
seven,  and  is  not  warranted  by  that  distinction,  which  lies  much  deeper  tlian  Keil  has  indicated 
(comp.  Doct.  Reflections,  ch.  xxi.x.-xxxii.,  3).  The  idea  of  the  coalition  rather  appears  to  have 
been  distributed  after  this  manner:  first  the  four  nearer  are  mentioned,  then  the  two  more 
remote  members,  whereupon  the  proper  fulcrum  of  the  whole  conspiracy  discovers  itself 
according  to  its  real  signiticancy.  The  coalition  could  as  such  also  iiistorically  have  been  one 
first  against  Babylon,  and  the  last  Egypt  alone  (comp.  at  Jer.  xxvii.),  and  so  giving  play  to 
the  sequence  in  respect  to  time.  With  this  agrees  the  just  remark  of  Keil,  that,  as  well  in 
ch.  xxviii.  24  sq.  as  in  ch.  xxix.  21,  a  prospect  full  of  promise  for  Israel  forms  a  cx-tura  in  the 
heroic  measure  of  the  members. 

According  to  the  specific  chronological  statements  (see  Introd.  §  C),  there  result,  as  succes- 
sive series  of  prophecies  against  the  heathen,  since  the  indeterminate,  if  special  rea.<.ons  to  the 
contrary  do  not  exist,  become  determinate  through  tlie  immediately  preceding  chronological 
indication  : — 1.  Ammou,  Moab,  Edom,  the  Philistines,  ch.  xxv. ;  2.  Egypt  (first  and  second 
word),  ch.  xxix.  1-16,  xxx.  1-19;  3.  Tyre  (first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  word)  and  Sidon, 
ch.  xxvi.-xxviii. ;  4.  Egypt  (third  word),  ch.  xxx.  20-26  ;  6.  Egypt  (fourth  word),  ch.  xxxi. ; 
6.  Egypt  (fifth  word),  ch.  xxxii.  1-16 ;  7.  Egypt  (sixth  word),  ch.  xixii.  17-32  ;  S.  Egypt 
(concluding  word),  ch.  xxix.  17-21. 


1.  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  akd  the  Philistines  (Ch.  xxv.). 

1,  2        And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying  :    Son  of  man,  direct  thy  face 

3  to  the  sons  of  Ammon,  and  prophesy  upon  them.  And  say  to  the  sons  of 
Ammon,  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Because  thou  sayest  "  Aha  " 
to  My  sanctuary,  for  it  is  profaned,  and  to  Israel's  ground,  for  it  is  desolate, 

4  and  to  the  house  of  Judah,  for  they  have  gone  into  banishment :  Tlierefore, 
behold  !  I  give  thee  to  the  sons  of  the  east  for  a  possession,  and  they  place  in 
thee  their  enclosures,  and  make  in  thee  their  dwellings :  they  shall  eat  thy 

5  fruit,  and  they  shall  drink  thy  milk !  And  I  have  given  Rabbah  for  pasture- 
ground  [stable]  of  camels,  and  the  sons  of  Ammon  for  the  lair  [resting-places]  of 

6  flocks ;  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Because  thou  didst  strike  the  hand  [in  the  tiand],  and  with  the  foot  didst  stamp, 
and  didst  rejoice  thyself  in  all  thy  despite  in  the  soul  upon  the  ground  oif 

7  Israel ;  Therefore,  behold  !  I  have  stretched  out  My  hand  against  thee,  and 
have  given  thee  for  food  [booty]  to  the  heathen ;  and  I  root  thee  out  from 
among  the  peoples,  and  make  thee  to  perish  from  among  the  lands  :  I  will 

8  destroy  thee  !  and  thou  dost  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah :  Because  Moab  says,  and  [as]  Seir  :  Behold,  as  all  the  heathen 

9  is  the  house  of  Judah.  Therefore,  behold,  I  open  the  shoulder  of  Moab, 
from  the  cities,  from  his  cities,  from  his  end,  the  ornament  of  the  land,  Beth- 

10  Hajesimoth,  Baal-Meon,  and  toward  Kirjathaim,  To  the  sons  of  the  east,  to 
the  sons  of  Ammon  ;   and  I  have  given  it  for  a  possession,  that  the  sons 

11  of  Ammon  may  not  be  [any more]  a  remembrance  among  the  heathen.     And 

12  on  Moab  will  I  do  judgment;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Because  Edom  exercises  vindictive  revenge  upon  the 
house  of  Judah,  and  they  made  themselves  guilty  and  guilty,  and  avenged 

13  themselves  upon  them;  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And  I  have 
(there  have  I)  stretched  out  My  hand  upon  Edom,  and  I  root  out  from  him 
man  and  beast ;  and  I  have  given  it  for  salvation :  from  Teman  and  to  Dedan 

14  shall  they  fall  by  the  sword.  And  I  have  given  My  vengeance  on  Edom  by 
the  hand  of  My  people  Israel ;  and  they  do  on  Edom  as  My  wrath  and  My  fury 

15  is;  and  they  know  My  vengeance — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Jehovah :  Because  the  Philistines  act  in  revenge,  and  vengefully 
revenged  themselves  in  disdain,  in  the  soul,  for  destruction,  everlasting  enmity; 

16  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  stretch  out  My  hand 
against  the  Philistines,  and  root  out  the  Cherethim,  and  destroy  the  remnant 

17  by  the  coast  of  the  sea.  And  I  do  on  them  great  revenges,  in  punishments 
of  fury;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  in  that  I  give  on  them  My  revenger 


lU 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.    7.  a'1J3.  Sept.  Arabs. 

Ver.    8.  Sept.:  .  .  .  o  olxa;  'Iff-^arA  xou  \ouia.. 

Ver      9.  .    .  .    iT»  TMfArv  otxpairr.ptan  aurou,  Ix^iXTzv  y^.t,   .    .    .  irTxvai  rrr/rs  TeXtM;  Titpix.Qa.Kavfflat 

Vei"    1*2.  ..  .  ;5ai  £tA»»:ffu«««>:(rav  x.  \\lhiKr,sa.v  Sixri', 

Ver.  13.   asaw  \x  Scu^uav  oivxei^yoi  £v  pou^c^ta — 

Ver.  lo    Sept.:  .  .  .  rovl^x^-it^eu  iai;  a!itvi^y — impJeiitti  inimicitias  vettres — 

Ver.  16,  Vulg. :  .  .  .  e(  ituerficiam  interftclores. 


EXEGETICAL  KEMAEKS. 

Vers.  1-7.   The  Ammonites. 

The  time  is  not  specified  iu  ver.  1.  As  will  be 
seen  from  wliat  follows,  however,  the  final  execu- 
tion of  judgment  on  Jerusalem  is  presupposed. 
If  the  actual  fact  is  assumed,  the  prediction  would 
have  its  proper  place  after  ch.  xxxiii.  (Jercme). 
The  presupposition,  however,  is  that  only  of  an- 
ticipation, the  position  of  the  prophecy  being 
taken  from  the  idea  of  the  connection  with  ch. 
xxiv.  As  the  prophet  foretells  how  it  is  going  to 
be  with  Ammon,  there  is  a  pointing  backwards  also 
to  what  Ammon  has  been.  It  cannot  behave  itself 
otherwise  than  it  has  been  perpetuaUy  manifest- 
ing itself.  See  Doct.  Keflections,  i.  3. — Ver.  2. 
Comp.  ch.  vi.  2,  xxi.  2,  xiii.  17.  With  eye  and 
hand. — Comp.  for  the  following  prophecy  that 
already  pronounced  against  Ammon  in  ch.  xxi. 
28  sqq.— Ver.  3.  Ch.  vi.  3,  xiii.  2.  Where 
parties  look  merely  at  results  that  are  pleasing  to 
them,  they  ought  assuredly  at  the  outset  to  be 
called  upon  to  hear,  and,  indeed,  what  Jehovah 
says,  not  what  they  may  themselves  think,  and  ap- 
provingly give  one  another  to  hear. — The  cuiTent 
speech  of  Ammon  (•niDN) —feminine  ^  *  nation, 
the  popular  community — significantly  places  itself 
directly  over  against  My  sanctnary.  In  the 
judgment  of  it  His  people  vanish,  as  in  His  com- 
passion their  sins  vanish  ;  He  meets  on  behalf  of 
this  people  the  Aha,  the  malignant  joy,  of  their 
enemies ;  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  21.  At  the  same 
time,  the  enmity  of  Ammon  is  thereby,  from  the 
first,  marked  as  blasphemy  of  the  Spirit  who 
ruled  over  and  in  Judah-Israel.  It  is  not  merely 
injury  to  the  land  and  people  (ch.  xxi.  23),  that 
theii'  national,  human  fonu  of  existence  should 
be  shattered  to  pieces,  although  there  should  be 
this  also,  in  accordance  with  what  follows.  In 
the  latter  respect,  the  neighbourly  relation  has  to 
be  thought  of,  which,  in  point  of  space,  was  re- 
lationship of  the  nearest  kind,  to  say  nothing  of 
what  there  was  of  blood-relationship,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  derivation  through  Lot. — n?1J3, 
Hengst.  :  "  went  as  exiles  ;"  comp.  ch.  xii.  11. — 
Ver.  4.  The  offence  draws  after  it  the  punish- 
ment, wherein  Nebuchadnezzar  entirely  falls  into 
abeyance.  Jehovah  comes  forth,  and  the  sons 
of  the  east — according  to  Grotius  and  others,  un- 
doubtedlj-  the  Chaldeans :  according  to  that  which 
is  here  declared  of  them,  and  always  elsewhere, 
the  Arabian  tribes — descendants  of  Ishmael,  the 
Bedouin,  especially  as  in  the  text  it  is  not  pro- 
perly the  execution  that  is  a.ssigned  to  them ;  but 
they,  after  the  judgment  took  effect,  only  gave 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  completed  fact.  They 
are  in  a  sort  of  way  classical  for  this,  since  "  they 
always  appear  where  fire  and  sword  have  wasted 
a  country  ''  (Hengst.),  or  generally  where  a  place 
has  become  desert.  "The  old  Ammonitis,  the 
ruin  of  which  began  in  the  time  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and  continued  thenc  forward  without  in- 
terruption, is  abandoned  to  tlie  Bedouin  Arabs  to 


this  day  "  (Hen'gst.'). — Hitzig  translates  :  "ind 
settled  in  thee  shall  be  their  pens  ; "  but  136" 
is  probably  Piel,  though  only  here.  nil'D  "r« 
the  enclosures  (for  cattle)  of  a  nomad  village. — 
The  repeated  riDH  impressively  dismisses  the 
Ammonites  Irom  their  territory,  because  othera 
have  taken  their  place. — Besides  the  fruit  of  the 
ground  ("inS),  there  is  mentioned  exhaustively 

the  produce  from  the  cattle -tending. — Ver.  5. 
There  is  here  still  an  especial  signalizing  of  the 
old  Ammonite  capital  city,  Rabbah,  ch.  xxi.  20 
(later,  Philadelphia).  Hengst.  :  "  the  name 
(the  populous)  in  melancholy  contrast  to  what 
follows,  as  camel  and  wilderness  go  inseparably 
together;"  comp.  Amos  i.  14;  Jer.  xlix.  2.  The 
sons  of  Ammon,  parallel  for  "their  other  cities" 
(Zeph.  ii.  9).  [Surely  a  somewhat  peculiar 
parallel ;  the  sons  of  Ammon  ai-e  just  the  Am- 
monites ;  men,  not  cities  or  places.  But  they 
were  to  be  given  "for  the  couching  of  flocks" — 
flocks  for  men,  and  not  that  merely,  but  flocks 
in  a  state  of  perfect  repose.  In  plain  terms,  the 
agricultural  parts  of  the  country  were  to  become 
pastoral  —  where  men  were  wont  to  be  seen 
labouring,  there  should  only  be  found  sheep 
browsing  or  resting. — P.  F.  ]  In  the  present 
day,  Rabbah,  while  it  has  great  ruins,  for  ex- 
ample, of  a  theatre  belonging  to  the  Roman 
period,  yet  it  is  wholly  destitute  of  inhabitants. 
Arabians  with  camels  met  Seetzen  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, dangerous  people  for  a  visit  to  these 
rains.  When  Buckingham  spent  a  night  among 
the  ruins,  an  Arab  was  pitching  there  ;  and  the 
traveller  could  not  sleep  for  the  bleating  of  sheep, 
the  neighing  of  horses,  and  the  barking  of  dogs. 
— The  transition  to  the  Ammonites  themselves  is 
prepared  for  ver.  6  (DPJJT'l)- 

Ver.  6.  Comp.  for  the  gestures,  ch.  xxi.  14, 
17,  vi.  11.  The  undoubted  import  is  given  by 
the  and  thou  didst  rejoice.  The  malicious  joy 
is  strengthened,  marked,  and  deepened,  since,  as 
hand  and  foot  were  not  wanting  in  it,  nothing 
failed  of  despite  ;  it  was  whole  and  entire  :  in 
the  innermost  soul.  (Hitzig:  "So  that  one  is 
therein  with  the  soul,  with  passion  ;  therefore 
with  the  whole  heart's  contempt  of  which  you 
are    capable.")  —  Ver.    7.    Hand    against    hand. 

Instead  of  ja^,  for  food,  the  Qeri  has  |3^,  for 
booty.  But  ' '  booty  "  expresses  too  little,  where 
an  "allotment,"  a  portion  had  been  explicitly 
assured,  and  in  the  comparison  at  ver.  4  is  so 
very  suitable.  Hitzig  only  objects  that  "  the 
book  of  Daniel  is  not  contemporaneous  with 
Ezekiel;"  for  in  Dan.  i.  5,  8,  etc.,  J3nS  is  used 

of  court-food  [this  latter  word  being  thought  by 
Hengst.,  Hav.,  and  others  to  countenance  the 
text  against  the  Qeri  here. — P.  F.] 

Vers.  8-11.   The  Moatites. 

The  association  of  Edom,  by  means  of  t&e 
mountain  (Seir),  with  Moaj  in  this  affair,  'm- 


CHAR  XXV.  9-17. 


■2U 


plies  that  the  sentiment  uttered  was  one  that 
had  a  much  more  extensive  prevalence,  and 
already  pro\ides  a  gronnd  for  the  later  judicial 
sentence  upon  Edoin.  What  they  say  amounts 
•o  disavowal  and  lilasphemy  of  the  Spirit  in 
fudah.  Comp.  with  Amnion  (=  where  is  now 
their  God?). — Ver.  9.  The  punishment  is,  as  in 
the  case  of  Aminon,  that  the  land  is  ojiened  to 
the  nomadic  Arabians  (ver.  10),  and  primarily, 
indeed,  with  an  eye  to  the  fortified  cities.  The 
portion  contemplated  therein,  because  it  was  the 
upper  nortii  side  which  leant  on  Amnion,  is 
called  the  shoulder  of  Moab,  on  account  of 
the  position,  which  is  more  clearly  indicated  in 
what  follows,  probably  not  without  respect  to 
the  gradually  ascending  or  sloping  ground  ;  but 
hardly,  with  Grotius  and  Hengst.  :  "  because 
there  blows  and  sword-strokes  are  most  easily 
applied,"  of  which  nothing  is  said.  From  the 
cities  (the  p  on  no  account  to  be  taken  in  a 
privative  sense,  with  Hitzig:  "bare  of  cities") 
commences  the  opening  very  intelligibly ;  then 
occurs  the  strongest  opposition,  and,  indeed, 
from  the  cities,  which  are  designated  as  from 
the  end  {not :  "to  the  last,"  for  to  how  far  has 
not  yet  been  said),  that  is,  as  border  cities  in 
the  extremity  of  the  land,  according  to  the  sup- 
posed side  ;  so  must  the  rest  of  the  land  assuredly 
lie  open,  as  it  is  called  the  ornament  of  the 
land,  therefore  that  which  is  brilliant  by  its 
fruitfulness,  or  perhaps  by  rich  pastures.  After 
some  cities,  mentioned  by  way  of  example,  there 
is  expressed  in  to  Eirjathaun  the  point  how 
far,  and  the  intended  compass  is  marked  off. — 
niO'Cn  n''3.  south  or  south-east  from  Jericho, 
on  the  Dead  Sea  (Bethsimuth,  Besimoth),  signi- 
fies house  of  the  wastes — might  it  be  Suaime,  on 
the  north-east  border  »f  the  Dead  Sea  ? — Baal- 
meon,  now  Maein,  the  considerable  ruins  of  which 
Seetzen  saw  from  a  distance,  lying  on  the  east  of 
Attanis,  where  there  are  said  to  be  springs. — 
Kixjathaim,  west  of  Medaba,  el  Teym  (?).  These 
cities  clearly  point  to  the  ancient  inheritance  of 
Reuben  (Josh,  xiii.) ;  but  when  the  Assyrians 
led  into  captivity  the  transjordanio  tribes,  the 
Moabites  obtained  possession  of  them.  Comp.  on 
ch.  xxi.  36  [28]  sq.  (Ewald  :  "  Therefore  I  now 
loose  Moab's  crown  from  the  cities.") — Ver.  10. 

'?]}<  on  to,  upon  Ammon  and  also  Moab  (ch.  xvi. 
37).  Havernick  :  "primarily  upon  Ammon, 
then  pouring  itself  forth  upon  Sloab. "  The  Am- 
monites still  stand  forth  directly  before  the 
Moabites.  Comp.  on  ch.  xxi.  37  [32]. — Ver.  11. 
When  the  land  of  the  Ammonites  should  fall  into 
the  enemy's  hand,  then  would  similar  divine 
judgments  be  executed  on  Moab,  ch.  v.  10. 
(Comp.  besides,  Isa.  xvi.  6  ;  Jer.  xlviii.) 

Vers.  12-14.   The  Edomites. 

The  charge  in  respect  to  sinning  mounts  up ; 
for  as  Edom  appears  in  ver.  8  as  the  ringleader 
against  the  people  of  the  Lord,  so  is  it  as  to  intel- 
lectual supremacy. — Ver.  12.  The  old  spirit  of 
revenge,  in  which  he  had  acted  from  the  olden 
time,  still  keeps  by  his  side.  While  in  the  more 
distant  relationship  of  Ammon  and  Moab,  malig- 
nant joy  is  the  expression  of  hostile  feeling, 
with  Edom,  in  his  much  nearer  relationship,  the 
«ame  feeling  vents  itself  in  actions  of  revenge 
'Dpi  OpjaTIICy) :   hence  the  charge  of  sinful 


procedure  as  the  incurring  of  guilt ;  coniii.  be- 
sides. Gen.  xxxvi.  31  sq.,  xxvii.  17  sq.;  Obad. 
10  S(|.  ;  Amos  i.  11  ;  Ps.  cxxxvii. — Ver.  13.  Id 
such  dealings  the  stretching  out  of  the  hand  is 
plain  enough  (ver.  7).  The  \  and,  denotes  con- 
tinuation of  the  foregoing  punishment.s,  which 
form  one  chain. — Ch.  xiv.  13,  17. — Cli.  v.  14. — 
From  Teman  to  Dedan  designates  the  land  of  the 
Edomites  from  south  to  north. — Ch.  xxiv.  21. — 
Ver.  14.  Revenge  for  revenge.  So  also  My 
people  Israel  is  set  over  against  Eiloni,  with- 
out, however,  thereby  referring  to  the  mode  of 
the  execution.  Since  Israel  is  here  so  exjircssly  an- 
nounced as  the  executor  of  the  divine  \engeance, 
Nebuchadnezzar  cannot  possibly  be  thought  of  in 
connection  with  it ;  but  we  must  think  of  the 
times  of  the  Maccabees  (John  Hyrcanus).  The 
Messianic  interest  must  not  be  brought  into  view. 
The  compulsory  reception  into  Israel,  whereby 
the  Edomites  ceased  as  a  people,  is  plainly  to  be 
regarded  as  the  proper  execution  of  judgment,  as 
this  national  annihilation. 

Vers.  15-17.   The  Pltilistines. 

The  Philistines  are  in  ver.  15  joined  to  Edom 
on  the  side  of  their  doinr;  (ver.  12  sq.):  to 
Ammon-Moab  on  account  of  their  contempt  of  the 
people  of  God.  The  latter  was  the  inmost  feeling, 
hostility  the  impelling  force,  wherein  the  dis- 
tinction from  Edom  lay.  For  destruction,  this 
is  the  design,  the  Abiding  tendency.  The  ever- 
lasting enmity  reaches  back  to  the  earliest  days. 
A  perpetually  enduring  war  is  the  standing 
feature  of  the  relation,  while  fixed  hostility  was 
the  root  of  it. — Ver.  16.  The  outstretched  hand, 
as  in  vers.  13,  7. — The  effect  of  the  action  on  the 
Philistines  is  the  extirpation  of  the  Cherethites, 
a  name  manifestly  given,  not  to  a  part  of  this 
people,  but  to  the  whole  of  the  Philistines,  for 
the  sake  of  the  paronomasia.  Hengst.  :  "  The 
name  Philistines  probably  signifies  the  emigrants, 
those  from  the  regions  on  the  Black  Sea,  from 
Colchis  and  the  adjacent  Pontic  Cappadocia, 
Kaphtor.  Of  substantially  the  same  import  with 
this  name  is  Kretim  (Eng.  form  :  Cherethites), 
that  is,  the  extirpated,  namely,  from  their  native 
country.  These  Kretim  are  now  to  become  a 
second  time  Kretim ;  their  name  sh.iU  verify 
itself  anew." — The  annihOation  is  announced  as 
total,  including  the  remnant  also  by  the  coast  of 
the  Meiiiterranean  Sea.  To  this  also  corresponds 
the  closing  word,  ver.  17 :  in  punisliments  of 
fury,  as  at  ch.  v.  15.  "  Jehovah  Himself,  never 
again  ceasing  "  (Hitzig). 

DOCTKINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  Ammon  and  Moab  share  together,  not  merely 
the  incestuous  nature  of  their  origin  (Gen.  xix. 
30  sq.),  but  the  juxtaposition  of  their  residences, 
their  historical  outcome,  in  particular  their  hos- 
tility toward  the  people  of  God,  wliich,  having 
respect  to  what  is  said  of  them  in  the  time  of 
Moses  (Dent.  ii.  9-23),  was  the  more  unjustifiable 
in  its  manifestations.  (See  Doctrinal  Reflections, 
4,  at  the  passage. )  There  is  nothing  to  be  alleged 
in  vindication  of  it,  for  its  root  is  to  be  traced  to 
the  strife,  in  Gen.  xiii.  6  sq.,  which  led  to  the 
separation  from  Israel, — a  separation  which  wat 
kept  up  by  the  latter  with  the  utmost  care  and 
vigilance.   It  is  therefore  the  natural  controstcf  the 


246 


EZEKIEL, 


jarnal  spirit  against  tlie  Spirit  of  God — haiigliti- 
ness  its  nianifestatiun  on  thf  one  side,  injuiious 
treatment  on  the  otlier,  blasplu-niy  of  tlie  Spirit 
in  all.  The  prescription  iu  the  kw  (Deut.  xxiii.  3) 
is  already  a  significant  one  as  to  the  relation  which 
existed  between  Israel  and  Amnion- Moab. 

2.  In  the  dark  contrast,  however,  between 
Israel  on  the  one  side  and  Ammon-Moab  on  the 
other,  the  analogy  is  not  to  be  overlooked  ;  here 
also  the  elder  (Moab),  as  there  Esau,  is  the  one 
that  falls  into  the  background.  The  younger 
(Amnion),  on  the  other  hand,  bears  the  sword, 
and  is  named  before  the  other.  Both,  as  distinct 
tribes,  disappear  wholly  at  last  in  the  Arabians. 

3.  Ammon  and  Moab,  the  demoniacal  counter- 
part to  Judah-Israel. 

4.  The  people  of  God  must  undergo  the  experi- 
ence which  the  man  of  God  undergoes.  Matt.  x. 
36  ;  Mic.  vii.  6.  Out  of  his  blood-relationships 
there  springs  a  hostility  even  to  blood.  Whue 
this  revolves  around  the  Spirit  that  wrought  in 
Israel,  it  could  not  but  finally  array  itself  against 
the  Messiah,  as  He  has  Himself  said  that  we  shall 
be  hated  for  His  name's  sake. 

5.  Edom  might  be  the  bad  conscience  of  Israel. 
Esau  himself,  however,  after  Israel's  night-con- 
flict, met  him  in  a  gracious  spirit,  and  parted 
from  him  in  peace  (Gen.  xxxiii.).  He  who  has 
wrestled  with  God,  and  has  obtained  mercy,  has 
also  overcome  man.  Thus  it  was  only  the  respect 
paid  to  the  kin-relationship,  which  in  the  case 
also  of  Ammon  and  Moab  came  into  consideration, 
but  was  specially  made  mention  of  in  regard  to 
Edom  (Deut.  ii.  4),  that  determined  the  holding 
aloof  on  the  part  of  Israel.  But  the  nearer  the 
affinity  was  in  Edom  to  Israel,  so  much  the  more 
horrible  appears  the  spirit  of  revenge,  which  wiU 
even  avenge,  because  grace  has  been  shown  to  the 
other,  because  to  him  on  that  ground  precedence 
has  been  granted,  in  order  to  compensate  for  the 
disadvantage  on  the  territory  of  nature.  The 
revenge  of  Edom,  whieh  was  just  a  relapse  into 
the  feeling  of  Esau  (Gen.  xxvii.  41),  could  not 
endure  that  Israel  should  be  a  separate,  and  what 
was  called  God's  chosen,  people.  "  Edom  holds 
his  ground  constantly  as  the  bitterest  denier  of 
the  right  of  the  first-born,  of  the  divine  preference 
of  Israel"  (Kliefoth).  The  vengeance  of  God 
could  not  in  a  more  marked  retribution  manifest 
itself  upon  Edom  than  by  the  extirpation  of  his 
nationality,  and  that  precisely  in  the  form  of  an 
absorption  by  Israel. — Robinson  delineates  a  scene 
in  the  land  of  IdumfEa  as  it  has  come  to  be.  Res. 
ii.  p.  502:  "We  were  now  upon  the  plain,  or 
rather  the  rolling  desert,  of  the  'Arabah ;  the  sur- 
face was  in  general  loose  gravel  and  stones,  every- 
where furrowed  and  torn  with  the  beds  of  torrents. 
A  more  frightful  desert  it  had  hardly  been  our  lot 
to  behold.  Now  and  then  a  low  shrub  of  the 
Ghudah  was  almost  the  only  trace  of  vegetation. 
The  mountains  beyond  presented  a  most  uninviting 
and  hideous  aspect :  precipices  and  naked  conicsu 
peaks  of  chalky  and  gravelly  formation  rising  one 
above  another  without  any  sign  of  life  or  vegetation." 

6.  "The  revenge  of  Edom  on  account  of  the 
precedence  granted  to  Israel  by  God,  his  superiority, 
viewed  in  respect  to  its  deep  religious  significance, 
is  nothing  dse  than  the  constant  resistance,  the 
permanent  protest  raised  against  the  higher  dis- 
pensation established  by  God,  His  method  of 
nlvation  ;  and  in  that  is  mirrored  a  fundamental 
■haracteristic  of  heatlbendom  ({eaerally  "  (Hat.). 


7.  As  in  Ammon,  Moab,  and  Edom  there  appeal 
three  degenerations  toward  heathenism,  so  the 
whole  picture  is  fitly  closed  in  by  the  heatlieuisb 
Philistines  (the  ' A^Xi>fi/t.ei  of  the  Septuagint  and 
the  Apocrypha).  Heathendom  w;is  round  about 
Israel  ;  it  was  the  background,  the  soil  from 
which  his  relief  comes  out  so  much  the  more  dis- 
tinctly. 

8.  "The  four  number  (remarks  Kliefoth)  points 
to  the  four  regions  of  the  world,  and  so  to  man- 
kind at  large  ;  it  indicates  tliat  it  will  not  fare 
otherwise  with  collective  heathenism  throughout 
the  whole  eartli,  alike  inimical  to  the  people  of 
God,  than  it  did  with  those  hostile  tribes  which 
on  all  the  four  sides  surrounded  that  people." 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "  The  fall  of  Jerusalem  was  in  a 
religious  point  of  view  a  catastrophe  for  the 
world.  The  subjection  of  the  covenant-people 
under  heathenish  ascendancy  is  therefore  no  victory 
of  heathendom  over  the  true  theocracy.  Exactly 
the  reverse :  the  apparent  annihOation  of  Israel 
leads  to  a  new  resurrection  of  it.  Out  of  its 
death-conflict  there  breaks  forth  a  new  glorious 
life,  salvation  in  its  world  -  overcoming  power. 
Precisely  now  on  this  account  does  the  period 
always  more  decidedly  approach  when  the  worldly 
power  will  discover  itself  as  a  broken  one,  when 
the  kingdoms  of  heathendom,  with  all  the  splen- 
dour of  their  earthly  glory,  shall  appear  as 
evanescent  powers  of  the  past.  Accordingly,  the 
judgment  upon  the  theocracy  and  the  heathen  on 
the  one  side  stands  in  inseparable  connection ;  on 
the  other  side,  it  is  an  essentially  different  one  " 
(Hav.). — "  Judgment  indeed  begins  at  the  house 
of  God  ;  but  if  the  Father  of  the  household  does 
not  spare  the  sons,  how  sbon  must  it  alight  upon 
the  others !  This  doctrine  first  of  all  shines  forth 
from  the  connection  of  this  chapter  with  the  pre- 
ceding chapters.  Then,  also,  we  see  here  how, 
with  all  the  special  solicitude  wherewith  God 
interested  Himself  in  Israel,  He  still  by  no  means 
let  the  heathen  out  of  His  sight,  since  He  must 
show  Himself  to  be  a  God  also  for  the  heathen  " 
(L.). — "If  thou  wilt  not  rightly  apply  the  gifts 
and  loving-kindnesses  of  God,  God  can  take  them 
from  thee  and  give  them  to  another"  (St.). 

Ver.  3.  Hear  :  Ah,  yes,  it  depends  on  the 
hearing  I  Give  right  ears,  0  God,  to  hear !  He 
who  suffers  the  damage  need  not  care  for  the 
mockery  ;  but  sit  not  where  the  mockers  sit : 
their  seats,  however  festive  they  may  be,  have 
nothing  to  make  them  fast. — Ver.  4  sq.  The 
Arabians,  through  Mohammed,  were  executors  of 
punishment  of  quite  another  sort. — Ver.  7.  "Thou 
canst  think  of  no  man  so  poor  as  thou  thyself 
mayest  actually  become  "  (Stck.). 

Ver.  8  sq.  However  degenerate  Christian  people 
may  become.  Christian  truth  can  never  be  as  one 
ring  among  the  well-known  three  rings. — "But 
we  must  watch  that  we  do  not  cause  the  adver- 
saries of  the  Lord  to  blaspheme"  (W.). — What 
unites  the  world,  separates  it  from  the  kingdom 
of  God. — The  Almighty  God  is  in  possession  of  a 
universal  passport. — Grace  makes  friends,  but 
also  enemies ;  God,  however,  is  expert  with  His- 
enemies. — "  It  is  best  to  learn  to  know  God  from 
His  benefits  "  (Stck.). 

Ver.  12  sq.  Edom's  revenge  his  special  heredi 
taiy  Bin. — "Revenge  ia  fGod's,  and  not  man's, 


CHAP.  XXVI. 


247 


whosoi'ver,  therefore,  anticipates  Him  in  this,  on 
him  will  He  be  again  avenged.  Let  no  one,  then, 
recompense  evil  for  evil"  (Tub.  B. ).  —  "When 
relatives  by  aihnity  or  blood  become  inimical  to 
one  another,  they  are  much  more  embittered 
against  each  other  than  strangers"  (O. ). — Even 
the  olil>'3t  gradge  that  nations  have  toward  one 
another  must  be  turned  to  peace  through  the 
power  of  the  gospel  ;  else  God  will  place  Himself 
between  tliem,  and  finally  root  oiit  the  haters, 
who  will  not  abandon  their  hatred. — Disdain  and 
frivolous  sconi  may  stalk  on  before  ;  so  much  the 
more  surely  will  God's  judgment  come  after. 

Ver.  15  sq.  "  It  is  an  essential  part  and  property 
belonging  to  the  judicial  administration  of  God, 
that  He  exercises  vengeance  on  the  ungodly  ; 
theiefore  He  will  have  the  same  also  preserved 
as  an  especial  royalty,  Deut.  x.xxii.  35"  (Cr.  ). 
Above  all  else,  survey  the  old  world — where  re- 
main those  who  were  enemies  to  God  and  His 
kingdom  ?  Their  places  know  them  no  more. 
But  God's  word  remains,  as  it  has  been  verified  in 
them. — The  depopulated  places  of  the  ancient 
historical  world. — "  Israel  was  hated  of  all  those 
nations,  not  on  account  of  his  sins,  but  for  the 
sake  of  his  religion.  Thus  the  cause  of  Israel  was 
God's  cause.  Blessed  people,  whom  men  cannot 
hate  and  slander  without  hating  and  slandering 
God  Himself  I  The  malignant  contempt  was  re- 
compensed with  the  extirpation  of  the  remem- 


brance, the  hostile  revenge  with  a  divine  revenge," 
etc.  (Keith). — "  If  these  prophecies  of  judgment 
only  came  into  complete  fulfilment  after  the  lapse 
of  centuries,  one  still  sees  their  fulfilment  to  this 
day  before  the  eyes  of  travellers"  (Right.). — [It  is 
still  to  be  remembered,  however,  that,  as  the  pre- 
diction had  respect  not  simply  to  the  land  of 
Edom  (and  the  same  applies  ec(ually  to  the  other 
predictions  of  judgment),  but  to  tlie  land  as  con 
nected  with  the  Edomite  race,  "  these  desolations 
of  later  times  have  no  direct  relation  to  the  Edom 
of  Scripture  ;  and  if  they  are  to  be  taken  into 
account  at  all,  it  should  only  be  as  affording  a 
collateral  (or  supplementary)  proof  of  the  judg- 
ment that  Wiis  to  befal  the  children  of  Edom. 
But  it  is  the  desolations  of  an  earlier  period,  and 
above  all,  the  utter  extinction  of  Edom  as  a  people, 
and  that  by  the  hand  of  Jacob,  in  which  the  more 
direct  and  proper  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  is  to 
be  sought.  ...  At  the  present  day  there  are,  in 
certain  parts  of  what  was  the  territory  of  Edom, 
'  wadys  full  of  trees,  and  shrubs,  and  flowers,  and 
the  eastern  and  higher  parts  are  extensively  cul- 
tivated, and  yield  good  crops '  (Kobinson).  Still 
the  Edom  of  prophecy — Edom  considered  as  the 
enemy  of  God  and  the  rival  of  Israel  —  has 
perished  for  ever :  all,  in  that  respect,  is  an  un- 
trodden wilderness,  a  hopeless  ruin  ;  and  therein 
the  veracity  of  God's  word  finds  its  verification." 
— P.  F.  on  Propheq/,  p.  219  sq.] 


2.  Tyre  and  Sidon  (Ch.  jcxvi.-xxvni.). 

Ch.  XXVI.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  eleventh  year,  in  the  first  of  the  montli, 

2  that  the   word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,    saying :  Son  of  man,  because  Tyre 
[Heb.  zor]  says  upon  Jerusalem,  Aha,  broken  is  [has  become]  the  gate  of  the  people ; 

It    turns    itself    [or,  is  tnmed]    tO    me  ;    I    will     be     [become]     full  ;      she    is    [has  become] 

3  desolate.     Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  I  am  against  [over]  thee,  Tyre, 
and  I  bring  up  upon  thee  many  nations  [heathen  peoples],  as  the  sea  mounts  up  by  his 

4  waves.     And  they  destroy  the  walls  of  Tyre,  and  break  down  her  towers ;  and  I 

5  sweep  her  dust  out  of  her,  and  give  her  as  a  mere  [baia]  rock.     A  spreading  of 
nets  shall  she  be  in  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  for  I  have  spoken — sentence  of  the 

6  Lord  Jehovah — and  she  is  for  a  booty  to  the  nations.     And  her  daughters  which 
are  in  the  field  shall  be  slain  with  the  sword  :  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 

7  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  bring  against  Tyre  Nebuchadnezzar 
king  of  Babylon,  out  of  the  north,  a  king  of  kings,  with  horse,  and  with  chariot, 

8  and  with  riders,  and  company,  and  much  people.     Thy  daughters  in  the  field  he 
will  kill  with  the  sword,  and  he  gives  against  thee  a  battering-tower,  and  casts  up 

9  a  wall  against  thee,  and  places  against  thee  a  buckler.     And  the  thrust  of  his 
breaker  will  he  give  against  thy  walls,  and  break  down  thy  towers  with  his 

10  swords.  From  the  abundance  of  his  horses  their  dust  shall  cover  thee  ;  from  the 
sound  of  the  rider,  and  the  wheel,  and  the  chariot  shall  thy  walls  shake,  at  his 

1 1  entering  into  thy  gates,  as  one  cometh  into  a  broken  city.  With  the  hoofs  of 
his  horses  shall  he  tread  all  thy  streets  :  thy  people  shall  he  slay  with  the  sword, 

]  2  and  the  pillars  of  thy  strength  he  shall  throw  down  to  the  earth.  And  they 
plunder  thy  wealth,  and  despoil  thy  merchandise  [thy  commercial  goods],  and  break 
down  thy  walls,  and  the  houses  of  thy  pleasure  shall  they  pull  down,   and  shall 

13  lay  thy  stones  and  thy  timbers  and  thy  dust  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  And  I 
make  to  cease  the  noise  of  thy  songs,  and  the  sound  of  thy  harps  shall  no  more 

1 4  be  heard.  And  I  give  thee  as  a  mere  [bare]  rock  :  a  spreading  of  nets  shalt  thou 
be  ;  thou  shalt  be  built  no  more  :  for  I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken  it — sentence  of  the 

15  Lord  Jehovah.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  Tyre,  Shall  not  the  isles  shake 
St  the  sound  of  thy  fall,  of  the  groaning  of  the  pierced-through,  at  the  murder  and 


US 


EZEKIEL. 


16  murder  in  tli}-  midst?  And  all  the  princes  of  the  sea  descend  from  their 
thrones,  and  lay  aside  their  robes,  and  s"hall  put  off  their  embroidered  garments : 
in  terror  shall  they  clothe  themselves  :  upon  the  ground  shall  they  sit  and  tremble 

17  every  moment,  and  are  astonished  at  thee.  And  they  raise  over  thee  a  lamen- 
tation, and  say  to  thee  :  How  art  thou  destroyed,  inliabited,  out  of  the  seas, 
renowned  city,   which  wast  strong  in  the  sea,  she  and  her  inhabitants,  which 

18  gave  their  terror  to  all  her  inhabitants !  Now  shall  the  isles  tremble  in 
the  day  of  thy  downfall,  and  the  islands  which  are  in  the  sea  shall  be  amazed  at 

19  thy  disappearing  [lit,  going  out].  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  When  I  give 
thee  as  a  desolate  city,  as  cities  [are]  which  are  not  inhabited,  when  I  make  the 

20  flood  to  come  over  thee,  and  the  waters,  the  many,  cover  thee ;  and  I  make  thee 
to  come  down  with  those  that  go  down  to  the  i)it,  to  the  people  of  ancient  time ; 
and  I  cause  thee  to  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  depths,  in  wildernesses  from  of  old, 
with  those  that  go  down  to  the  pit,  so  that  thou  mayest  not  be  inhabited  :  there 

21  have  I  given  beauty  in  the  land  of  the  living.  For  a  terror  will  I  give  thee, 
and  thou  art  not  [any  more] ;  thou  shalt  be  sought  for,  and  shalt  not  be  found  any 
more  for  ever.     Sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.    1    Sept.:  .  .  .  fjux  Tea  fAvatu  t»  itpwrw — 

Ver.  2.  .  .  .  ffT;»iT/»)9(,  aTflAftfAiv,  T»  efli'»i  erirr^ir^  »^o?  ;t«i,^irX»j^f  )7/«5j[**Ta8/— Sept.  read:  nK?03  >  soalaoChald., 
At.,  Syr.:  daolata  est. 

Ver.    4.  .  .   .  wvpyovf  ffov,  XXI  } ixur.ff-m  Toy  %tfuv  ecvTfit  «t'  aintt. 

Ver,   6.  Sept :  .  .  .  a'l  Iv  tm  niiu — 

Ver.    7.  .  .  .  XBU  owctyaryris  rroXXr);  tdvin  afo^pet. 

Ver.  8.  .  ,  .  xp9fvX»xy\f  X.  irtptoixoiofjLnvli,  X.  TTiptTotnrti  in  rt  xuxXai  rao  x^flKxtt  x.  ptXorTccinif  iTXtn^  x.  rat  A*>XM 
■ffw  irt  n  imru.    (9)  Ta  Tvxri  cm  x.  tov;  wpyovs — Vulg. :  Et  tineas  et  arietu  .  .  ,  destruet  in  armatura  swx. 

Ver.  10.  Sept.:  .  .  ,  we  c  lirveptue^ifot  .  .  ,  ix  TlS;ev. 

Ver.  11.  ...     *.  Trr  iiTerrxtnt  T,  Itr^vK  rov  tTl  .  ,  .  xxTot^u. 

Ver.  13.  K.  KeLTetXvni  .  .      t.  f^eutrixatit  cov  .  .  .   Tt/v  '^xXrrjpton  rov— 

Ver.  16.  .  .  .  ix  r.  iSfmr  t.  daXxrtrtjt  .  .  .  t.  furpxt  kTO  T.  xt^xXm  eci/TOn  .  .  .  xeu  ixCTaffli  ixnyjrotTou  ,  .  .  f*0^ 
^inyTxi  T.  o^rmXtimr  avTon. — Vulg. :  .  .  .  auferent  exuvias  suas  .  .  .  et  attoniti  super  repentino  casu  tuo  admirabuntur, 

Ver.  17.  Sept. :  .  ,  .  xeu  xxTiXvSrit  ix  Bot\xrms  .  .  .  ^  iovret.  t.  ^o0or  aw-nj? — Vulp. :  .  .  .  quot  formidabant  univer$L  ' 

Ver.  18.  Vnlg. :  ,  ,  .  eo  quod  nuUus  egrediatur  ex  te  (other  read.  D^^KH). 

Ver.  19.  Sept.:  .  .  .  it/  «i  r.  ufiutre-ey— 

Ver.  20.  .  .  .  rpaf  r.  xarafittitorTxt  lU  floB^  ,  .  ,  it  ifiiifjtof   euoniof  ulTx  xxTxfixtf.  .  .  .  ivK  ,  ,  .  ftviU  kjoorvetS^c 

«•  /rw  C"W.    (Some  Codd.  have  *TlV  PS-) 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Ver.  1.  The  Starting-point  of  the  Prophecy. 

The  year  indicated  in  this  verse  is  that  of  the 
conquest  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Jer.  xxxix. 
2) ;  therefore  the  parallels  suggested  are  :  Tyre 
against  Jerusalem,  Tyre  as  Jerusalem.  The  blank 
month  (as  also  atch.  xxxii.  17)  some  (for  example, 
Hengst.)  would  supply  out  of  ch.  xxiv.  1,  there- 
fore the  tenth,  as  pointing  back  to  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  ;  others,  and  of  these  already  the 
Sept.,  by  taking  the  number  given  for  the  day  (on 
the  first)  as  applying  also  to  the  month.  If  we  do 
not  resort  to  a  slip  of  the  scribe  (Keil),  we  may  as 
well  suppose,  with  Havernick,  the  fifth  month 
suggested  by  the  specified  year  as  that  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  as,  with  Kimchi,  the 
fourth  month  of  the  same  year  for  the  conquest 
of  the  city  (Jer.  Hi.  5,  6,  12).  With  both  sup- 
positions ver.  2  agrees,  where  the  hostUe  utter- 
ances might  well  enough  have  proceeded  on  the 
ground  of  what,  if  not  actually  done,  was 
certainly  in  the  course  of  being  done. 

Vers.  2-6.  Outline  of  the  Judyment  in  the 
general. 

Ver.  2  (ch.  xxv.  3).  iv.  "llV="11Vi  that  is, 
0int-8lone,  rock  (sarra) — the  Greek  designation 
Til^,   from  the   Chaldaic  form  1^0— ^'is   that 


Phenician  city  which  for  a  long  course  of  time 
possessed  the  supremacy  that  had  previously  been 
exercised  by  Sidon.  In  the  present  time  it  is 
pronounced  by  the  Arabians  Ssur,  On  account 
of  its  connection  with  the  coalition,  Tyre  forms 
the  more  clamant  an  occasion  for  God's  judg- 
ment, as,  being,  according  to  Havernick,  "on  the 
summit  of  external  splendour,  it  then  deemed  itself 
to  be  invincible ;  "  and  according  to  Hengst.,  it 
was,  "  along  with  Egypt  and  Babylon,  the  most 
glorious   concentration   of  the  worldly  power." 

niD/'lj  plural,  the  gate-leaves,  for  the  gate,  hence 
with  the  sing,  of  the  verb.  Jerusalem  was  not 
thus  spoken  of  by  Tyre,  because  many  people 
were  generally  going  and  coming  there,  which 
also  would  not  have  been  expressed  by  Q^ovn 
(the  peoples),  but  either  with  reference  to  the 
messengers  of  the  coalition,  who  assembled  there 
(Jer.  xxvii.),  or,  as  Hitzig  supposes,  as  a  centre  of 
foreign  commerce,  a  business-mart,  for  which  a 
natural  jealousy  could  speak,  since  Solomon  had 
established  the  commerce  of  Palestine.  Hengst. 
iJooks  upon  Jerusalem  as  a  "  world-city,  because  it 
regarded  the  true  religion  as  the  highest  good, " 
and  makes  the  Messianic  expectations  of  Zion  to 
have  been  known  in  Tyre,  and  to  have  awakened 
bad  blood  in  the  proud  queen  of  the  seas  (?). 
The  streaming  of  the  peoples  thither,  on  account 
of  which  the  gate  was  said  to  be  broken,  is  to 
him  the  Jerusalem  for  the  future  brought  to  view 


CUAP.  XXVI.  2-9. 


34» 


(isa.  ii.  2;  Mic.  iv.  1),  as  Jeiusilcm  was  at  all 
times  a  magnet  for  the  raiiuls  in  lieatLeniJom  that 
sought  after  GoJ.—n3Dj.  Niph.  from  33D.  fitly 
spoken  of  a  gate  (comii.  Prov.  .\xvi.  1-4).  If  with 
reference  to  Jerusalem  it  was  broken  down,  tlien 
with  reference  to  Tyre  it  is  turned  towards  him  ; 
that  is,  the  commerce  of  the  people  is  open  to 
him  :  he  has  tliat  alone  now  w  hioli  hitlierto  he  had 
to  share  with  Jerusalem.  [Kliefotu  :  into  Jeru- 
salem's gate,  hitherto  shut  to  the  peoples,  on 
religious  grounds,  Tyre  might  now  especially 
draw  in,  turn  it  to  account  (?)•  Hitzig  derives 
the  subject  from  what  follows,  and  translates  ; 
"her  fulness  turns  itself  to  me."] — The  being 
full  (eh.  xxvii.  25)  hiis  respect  to  traffic  and  the 
wealth  which  flows  from  it. — Ver.  3  (ch.  xiii. 
8,  20) — the  many  nations  correspond  as  well 
to  the  general  comprehensive  outline  of  the 
prophecy  in  this  first  section,  as  they  answer  to 
the  outspoken  scorn  of  Tyre  and  his  malicious 
arrogant  speculations  (ver.  2). — The  pictorial 
representation  is  derived  from  the  marine  situa- 
tion of  Tyre.  Hitzig,  who  thinks  of  the  particu- 
lar bands  of  the  host  to  be  brought  up,  makes 
the  sea  the  accusative,  supplies  the  subject  from 

the  context,  and  takes  V?J^   distributively  ;  as 

the  sea  in  regard  to  its  waves,  one  after  the 
others,  and  over  the  others.  According  to  Ewald, 
^  denotes  the  accusative.  Hengst.  explains  ac- 
cording to  ver.  19  :  "as  if  I  brought  up  the  sea 
and  its  waves."  This  representation  already 
suggests  the  younger  Tyre  (*iiiti<r<rx  yxra;  in  Euri- 
pides), which  stood  upon  the  island-rock  hard  by 
the  coast,  that  is  now  united  to  the  land.  The 
vails  and  towers  in  ver.  4  appear  to  be  quite 
in  accord  with  the  general  cnaracter  of  the 
prophecy,  and  to  go  fartlier  beyond  the  time 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  than  some  have  supposed 
(CuRTius,  iv.,  AnRiAN,  ii.),  although  the  five 
years'  siege  which  it  sustained  against  Salman- 
assar  seems  to  imply  the  existence  then  of  walls 
and  towers  (JosEPHtJs,  Atitiq.  viii.  5).  Hiram 
II.  not  only  built  the  temple  of  Melkarth,  and 
formed  both  the  islands  into  one,  but  also  added 
an  entirely  new  quarter  to  the  city  (Eurychoron), 
and  surrounded  the  city  with  a  strong  wall.  A 
second  harbour  was  besides  added  by  him,  and  a 
palace  erected  for  him,  while  old  Tyre  fell  more 
into  the  background.  What  is  here  said,  how- 
ever, of  the  fortifications  might  equally,  if  not 
rather,  be  said  of  the  old  city,  which  was  built 
upon  the  land ;  since  insular  Tyre  came  into 
consideration  pre-eminently  on  account  of  the 
Melkarth  temple,  the  old  national  sanctuary  of 
the  "Tyrian  Heracles,"  which  stood  upon  its 
north  side,  on  a  second  small  island  somewhat 
farther  to  sea,  on  account  also  of  the  maritime 
power  of  the  state,  what  belonged  to  it  as  a 
fleet-station.  Whence  the  name  very  specially 
reflected  its  insular  position  ;  so  that  insular 
Tyre  must  here  be  regarded  as  a  pregnant  title 
for  the  whole. — Her  dust  is  the  rubbish  of  the 
demolished  buildings.  TITID)  ^  sweep,  only 
here,  from  nriD.  to  sweep,  forms  a  paronomasia 
with  <nnt;')  ^Qtl  prepares  for  the  following,  in 
which  Tyre,  that  in  ver.  2  had  boasted  it  over 
the  desolated  Jerusalem  as  being  full,  should  be 
reduced  to  its  original  bare  condition.  A 
papyrus   roU,   which  has  preserved    to    us    an 


accouut  of  an  Egj'ptiau  officer's  journey,  describe* 
insular  Tyre  in  its  beginnings  as  a  village,  which 
lies  on  a  rock  in  the  midst  ot  the  sea  :  people 
bring  water  to  it  in  wlierries,  and  the  place 
abounds  with  fish. — Ch.  xxiv.  7, 8.  Nomen  omen. — 
Ver.  5.  riD'^'O  denotes  a  place  where  something 
is  spread  out,  here  :  the  fishermeu  lay  out  their 
draw-nets  to  dry.  So  precisely  did  EoMnson 
find  it.  —  Ch.  vii.  21. — Ver.  6.  The  daughters  of 
Tyre  in  the  field  are  manifestly  to  be  regarded  as 
distingaished  from  insular  Tyre,  but,  according  to 
the  general  style  of  the  section,  in  correspondence 
too  with  the  plural,  such  as,  if  not  dependent  on 
her,  submitted  to  the  supremacy  of  Tyre,  and  then 
had  under  the  ascendency  of  Assyria  withdrawn 
from  this  relationship — as  the  insular  city 
Aradus  (Arvad),  on  the  coast  Antaradus  (Tor- 
tosa),  and  Marathus  (Amrit),  Simyra  (Surara), 
Botrys  (Batrun),  Gebal<Byblos,  Dschebeil),  Bery- 
ton  (Beirut),  Sidon  (Saida),  Ssarpat  (Sarepta), 
etc.  ;  so,  too,  Palaetyrus,  the  old  city,  where 
still  exists  the  gi'eat  old  aqueduct,  the  Khan, 
and  the  smithy  of  Ras  Al  Ain. 

Vers.  7-14.  The  Execution  by  Nehuchadne:::Mr. 

In  these  verses  the  general  outline  is  exhibited 
in  a  detailed  description  suited  to  the  time  of 
Ezekiel,  as  it  was  to  be  carried  into  execution 
by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Here  and  elsewhere  he  is 
named  Nebuchadrezzar  (Greek :  Nabuchodonosor, 
Nabuchodonosorus,  Nabukodrosoros),  upon  the  old 
Persian  inscriptions  at  Bisutun :  Nabuqadratschar, 
Nabuqudratschar,  a  name  compounded  of  Nabn 
(Nebo),  the  name  of  God,  Zar  or  Sar  (prince), 
and  Kadr  (in  Arab,  might).  According  to 
Niebuhr,  the  form  given  here  in  the  text  would 
come  very  near  to  the  native  one.  That  he  should 
be  represented  as  coming  out  of  the  north  points 
to  the  way  by  which  he  was  to  come  on  Judah. — 
King  of  kings,  on  account  of  the  vanquished 
princes,  along  with  Oreat  King,  a  common  title 
in  the  inscriptions. — The  rhetorical  delineation 
of  the  army  is  not  to  be  pressed.  Horse  and 
chariot  look  away  in  the  first  instance  from  the 
manning  ;  they  fetch  up  the  riders  for  horse,  for 

chariots,  perhaps  company  (?np),  in  order  to  close 
with  the  great  multitude  of  people  on  foot. 
Hengst.  understands  by  the  riders  the  chariot- 
warriors  (ver.  10).  According  to  others,  the  com- 
pany consists  of  much  people  (3TDJJ) ;  comp.  ch. 
xxiii.  24. — Ver.  8.  The  population  of  the  towns 
on  the  land  fall  under  the  enemy  directing  his 
attack  from  thence,  chiefly  put  to  the  sword ;  and 
so  ver.  6  is  fulfilled. — Ch.  xxi.  27,  iv.  2.— Buckler 
designates  the  long  bucklers  held  close-together,  so 
that  in  a  siege  men  could  work  under  their  cover, 
and  get  near  to  the  walls.  On  account  of  the 
distinction  indicated  by  thy  daughters  in  the 
field,  the  expression  against  thee  is  used,  and  it 
must  consequently  be  the  insular  Tyre  against 
which  the  siege  conducted  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  directed. — Ver.   9.    <nD  from   nno   is  the 

thrusting,     pap  must,  according  to  Gesenius,  be 

that  which  lies  over  against,  therefore,  with  'nO, 
percussio  oppositi,  for  wall-breaker  (battering- 
ram).  73p  without  doubt  indicates  a  besieging 
instrument  in  general,  if  not  some  one  in  parti- 
cular.    (Chald.  percuasio  tormentorum  suorum.) 


250 


EZKKIEL. 


Meier  tliiiiks  of  what  envelopes,  protects,  covers 
(jJ31p'  I'lickler),  liciiec  of  the  protecting  cover 
uuder  wliich  men  attacked  with  the  battering-ram, 
similarly  as  njV  i"  ver.  8.  "The  thrusl  of  his 
protecting  cover,"  that  is,  what  lie  eHects  uuder 
the  same,  etc.  Havernick  translates  <nD  by  ''-''■ 
tirpation,  and  ^3p  by  defence  (?).  Heugst. :  "The 
destruction  of  his  battering -ram,  or  engim." 
["  nnD>  from  which  'no  comes,  is  always  used 
ill  the  sense  of  destroying,  extirpating,  etc. ;  and 
so,  not  thrusting  or  striking,  but  destruction  is 

the  natural  meaning  of  the  noun.  ^3p  is  any- 
thing in  front  of,  or  opposition  to,  another  ;  hence 
kaballo  is  a  general  designation  of  what  the  enemy 
was  to  put  in  hostile  array  against  the  walls  of 
Tyre — Iiis  enginery.  And  the  two  words  together 
may  be  titly  e.xpressed  by,  his  enginery  of  destruc- 
tiou." — P.  F.}— The  swords  kill  the  defenders  of 
the  towers,  in  consequence  of  which  the  towers 
are  torn  down.  As  Hav.  justly  remarks,  the  un- 
usual, the  superhuman,  the  fact  that  God  Himself 
was  in  the  work,  is  meant  to  be  represented. 
[This  idea,  however,  is  found  by  Hav.,  not  in  the 
swords  killing  the  defenders  of  the  towers,  but 
being  said  to  break  down  the  towers — as  if  the 
swords  had  imparted  to  them  a  supernatural  force, 
to  do  a  work  not  proper  to  them. — P.  F.]  Most, 
however,  generalize  the  expression  V^13^^3  iito : 
"  through  his  iron, "  thinking  of  iron  hooks,  which 
were  driven  in,  cutting  into  the  hook-work 
(J.  H.  MiCHAELis:  securibus). — Ver.  10.  The 
expressions  here  are  of  a  poetico-rhetorical  cha- 
racter. The  land  moves  into  the  sea,  as  it  were, 
with  its  dust,  through  the  excessive  number  of 
cavalry  moving  into  the  island-city.  Wheel  and 
chariot  are  distinguished  with  reference  to  the 
Bound,  which  is  ascribed  to  them,  rolling  and 
rattling.  As  the  siege  already  described,  so 
now  the  pressing  into  the  taken  city  presupposes 
silently,  because  quite  self-evidently,  a  connecting 
mound  between  the  land  and  insular  Tyre,  which, 
according  to  Hengst. ,  must  already  have  existed, 
but  probably  was  thrown  up  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
for  the  purposes  of  the  siege.  It  is  made  perfectly 
clear  by  the  ''SU03  that  Tyre  as  well  as  every 
other  (land-city)  was  vanquished.  ("  The  un- 
common sea  -  fortress  must  sink  down  before 
this  power  into  a  common  stronghold. ")  nVp3D> 
Hitzig:  "more  exactly,  one  burst  open,  taken  by 
storm." — Ver.  11.  n2XD.  from  2'ii,  is  something 
set  right  up,  a  pillar,  not  to  be  thought  of  as 
applying  to  memorial  pillars  of  heroes  or  kings, 
but  monuments  of  national  strength  in  the  temple 
of  Hercules,  such  as  the  two  mentioned  by  Hero- 
dotus (of  gold  [chrysolith]  and  emerald).  Sepp. : 
"At  the  entrance  into  the  temple  of  Melkarth 
stood  two  pillars  (like  Boaz  and  Jachin  at  Jeru- 
salem), as  the  well-known  boundary-pillars  or 
sun-stadia  in  front  of  all  the  temples  of  Hercules, 
which  should  set  a  bound  to  deluges  and  confla- 
grations— water  and  fire. "  According  to  others: 
the  gods  of  Tyre  go  down  in  t.'ie  dust.  Hengst. : 
"These  pillars  were  symbols  of  the  power  and 

glory  of  Tyre.  "—Ver.  12,  ^31  of  going  about, 
trafficking.  Treasures  and  wares.— -[mon  TiaV 
Hengst.;  "Thy  beautiful  houses,"  corresponding 
to  palaces,  Isa.  xxiii.  13.  Hitzig:  "  More  exactly 
•fter  which  one  has  desire,  which  please  one. " 
Ewaid  :   "  The  beautiful  turreted  dwellings  and 


summer  tove's  of  the  rich  merchant -princes.' 
Hiiv. :  "On  account  of  tl.  •.  limited  space,  very  high 
houses,  such  as  did  not  exist  even  in  Home" 
(Strabo,  xvi,).  These  weri^  to  the  home-returning 
inerchaiits  the  object  of  their  longing  desire  ;  as 
in  Isa.  xxiii.,  it  is  with  the  imjires.sioii  upon  such 
home-voyagei  s  tliat  the  propliecy  opens.  Arsenals, 
and  whaifs,  the  buildings  adapted  lor  marine 
trade,  might  also  be  meant.  —  Stones,  wood, 
dust,  point  to  the  entire  ruins  ;  conip.  ver.  4. — 
Ver.  13.  So  comes  the  constrained  Sabbath  upon 
song  and  lyre,  noise  and  jdeasure.  Notliing  re- 
mains but  the  silent  rocks  and  the  desert  sea. — 
Ver.  14.  The  resumption  (as  already  at  ver.  12) 
of  vers.  4,  5  conducts  back  what  was  accomplished 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  the  general  outline  at  the 
beginning,  just  as  what  is  said  in  Isa.  xxiii.  15sq. 
is  to  be  thought  of  episodically  in  the  Epos  on 
Tyre.  To  this  latter  point  matters  were  tending 
with  Tyre,  and  Nebuchadnezzar  was  a  force  in 
regard  to  it. 

Vers.  15-18.  The  Impfession  made  by  the  Fall  of 
Tyre. 

Ver.  15.  ^57^,  in  the  form  of  a  question  we 
have  the  sure  prognostication  of  what  would, 
on  the  spreading  of  the  report  of  Tyre's  fall,  be 
the  impression  made  by  it  in  the  colonies.  The 
same  enemy,  indeed,  did  not  harass  them  ;  but 
what  can  now  any  longer  be  placed  aloft  above 
others  ?  What  can  still  be  secure  before  others  ? 
— The  fall  must  be  rendered  palpable  by  the  groan- 
ing, etc. — QiifC  are  the  seaboard  regions  as  well 
as  the  isles. — Hitzig  notices  the  excellent  choice 
of  the  expression,  as  the  coasts  and  islands  of  the 
Mediterranean  are  precisely  those  which  have  been 
commonly  visited  by  a  shaking  (earthquake,  E'jn). 
— Ver.  16.  We  must  call  to  mind  the  settlements 
of  the  Phoenicians  in  the  Sidonian  and  Tyiian 
period  along  the  various  coasts,  in  Cypru.s,  Rhodes, 
Malta,  in  Spain,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  the  Baleares, 
and  think  of  Utica,  Gades  (Cadiz),  Kalpe  (Gibral- 
tar), Malaka  (Malaga),  etc.  On  the  princes  of  the 
sea,  comp.  Isa.  xxiii.  8.  One  can  imagine  the 
princely  might  and  pomp  of  the  chief  men  in 
these  places  of  commerce,  the  aristocratic  style  of 
their  public  appearances.  —  What  follows  is  a 
description  of  the  Eastern  way  of  mourning. — 

Jon.  iii.  6  ;  ch.  xxi.  31  [26]. — P'JfD>  outer  garment, 
wide  for  display. — Ch.  xvi.  18.- — Instead  of  all 
glory,  which  they  lay  aside,  they  clothe  themselves 
in  terrors. — Ch.  vii.  27;  Jobxii.  13. — niril  repeats 

nmn.— D'yjli'.  *■*  moments,  so  that. the  trem- 
bling, like  a  fever,  never  for  a  moment  leaves  them 
(Hitzig). — Ver.  17;  ch.  xix.  1. — The  catastrophe 
and  ruins  ask.  How  could  so  peculiar,  wonderful, 
famous,  powerful  a  place  have  met  its  overthrow  t 
— Hav.:  "Ah  !  how  art  thou  condemned  to  the 
ground,  thou  inhabitress  of  the  seas  !  "  since 
D'D'D  is  =  upon  the  seas  there  ;  but  the  city  that 
dwelt  away  upon  the  seas  is  that  whose  inhabit- 
ants spread  themselves  over  the  seas,  settled  down 
there.  Others:  inhabited,  peopled  from  the  seas, 
that  is,  sea-dwellers,  sea-peoples.  Hitzig:  "Thou 
populous  in  the  sea,"  properly,  forth  of  the  sea, 
or  more  exactl j',  from  out  of  the  sea.  ' '  Bearing 
a  human  population,  it  jutted  up  immediately 
above  the  surface  of  the  water,  as  if  it  had  spninj; 
from  the  lap  of  the  sea. " — Ewald  reads,  after  ch. 


ciiAi'.  ::xvi.  18-21. 


25\ 


Kivii.  34,  r\l2C'i>  ihatlereil  out  of  the  sens.    Some 

have  also  read  D'D'D  =  fi'om  days  (of  old),  from 

everlasting  inliabited. — n^pnri  from  p^n,  to  make 
shining,  to  praise. — She  is  ealled  strong  in  the  sea 
(D*3);  Hitzig:  throiigli  tlie  sea,  her  maritime 
position.  More  correctly;  in  the  sea,  in  the  strong 
element  it  was  a  strong  city  ;  tlierefore  not  only 
a  sea-power,  but  a  power  in  the  mighty  sea. — 
Dn'nn  's  the  terrors  ascribed  to  Tyre  and  its  in- 
habitants. These  terrors  of  her  name  she  gave 
far  and  wide  tlirongh  the  sea  (in  consequence  of 
lier  wealth,  her  greatness,  and  power),  to  all  her 
inhabitants,  wliich  would  point  to  Venice  similarly 
situated,  if  therewith  it  were  meant  that  the  city 
with  its  population  inspired  before  it  fear  into  all 
its  individual  inhabitants,  held  them  over  against 
one  another  in  fear  and  trembling  (Core).  It 
must  rather  be  meant  that  the  terror  of  the 
Tyiian  supremacy  stuck  and  adliered  to  every 
Tyrian,  as  later  something  of  the  same  sort  to 
every  Roman.  Comp.  Hitzig.  [Hen'Gst.  :  "Tyre 
had  a  double  class  of  inhabitants — her  citizens, 
and  her  connections  in  the  colonies,  who,  ideally 
tiken,  dwelt  in  Tyre,  because  the  roots  of  their 
existence  were  there.  The  inhabitants  in  the  one 
sense  were  the  terror  of  the  inhabitants  in  the 
other.  They  must  bow  before  them,  and  obey 
their  commands."  So  previously  Havernick. 
(Isa.  xxiii.  2.)  Ewald  refers  the  second  n*at;'1' 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea,  which  is  hardly 
feminine.  The  Syriac  supplies  jnxn.  omnibtis 
habitatoritius  lerrce.] — Ver.  18.  Hitherto  Tyre 
had  frightened  all;  now  all  are  frightened  over 
Tyre.  D<3  HK'N  sharpens  the  idea  of  island,  and 
intensifies  the  preceding  pxH- — Comp.  ver.  16. — 
If  Tyre  fell,  what  issue  then  awaits  even  islands  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea  ?  The  issue,  ontgoing,  is 
more  nearly  defined  by  the  fall.  Others  have 
thought  of  emigration,  flight  in  the  ships. 

Vers.  19-21.   The  End  and— a  Beginning. 

An  epilogue  in  these  verses. —  n3^^J  looks 
back  to  nainn  in  ver.  2.— m^J^na  parallel  to 
'nna.  l*"'  containing  the  thought  of  destruction 
in  an  image,  which  at  the  same  time  prepares 
for  vers.  20,  21.  The  flood  rises  out  of  the  depth 
to  fetch  down  the  city  covered  with  many  waters, 
with  its  nibbish  and  its  corpses. — Qinn.  from 
am  (non),  is  the  swelling  depth,  the  boiling 
mass  of  water  up  from  the  sea.  [According  to 
Hengst.,  it  is  ideal :  the  overflowing  of  the  nations 


— for  which  ver.  3  supiilies  no  ground.]— Ver. 
2J.  The  city  goes  along  with  it,  as  with  th« 
dead  generally,  Q^y  DV^JX,  either  general  :  tfl 
the  people  among  the  hidden,  in  the  darkness  cl 
tlie  realms  of  death  ;  or  more  special  ;  to  the 
people  of  ancient  time  ;  or  ijuite  special  :  to  the 
people  covered,  buried  by  the  deluge  (Hkngst.  : 
the  ancestral  guests  of  hell.  Gen.  vi.  4). — ni'nnn, 
the  lowest  depths,  pictured  out  by  Q^ljfo  m3^^3, 
in  the  uninhabited  places  from  tverlasting.  by 
means  of  which  "the  image  of  the  destruetion,  the 
annihilation  of  all  liuinaii  gieatness,  is  thoroughly 
completed  "  (Hav. ).  As  the  going  down,  so  also 
the  dwelling  is  coloured  by  the  fellowship  of  the 

dead,  in  parallel  sentences. — ^3{;'n  V\?  \]!Kh, 
some,  so  that  thou  dwellest  not,  namely,  longer 
where  thou  dost  dwell ;  Hengst  :  "  that  thou  sit 
not,"  but  mayst  lie  down.  The  intention  ia 
perhaps  to  be  understood  of  the  entire  disappeai- 
ance  from  among  the  dwelling-places  of  men; 
comp.  at  ch.  xxix.  11. — ^nnSli  unless  dependent 

upon  |j;D7i  introduces  a  new  sentence,  and  then 
fitly  a  conclusion.  Or  ver.  20  :  "  Then  I  make 
thee  go  down, "  sq. ,  "then  I  make  thee  dwell," 
sq.,  "  then  give  I  thee,"  sq.  Over  against  the 
ruin  of  Tyre  comes  beauty  (ornament,  ch.  xxv. 
9)— (with 'that  nvnnn  psa,  with  this  px3 
D"n)— the  land  of  tlie  living,  earth  with  its  life- 
hope,  life-development,  over  against  the  lower 
world  separated  by  death;  Ps.  xxvii.  13.  [Hitzig: 
"And  that  thou  shed  not  forth  renown  in  the 
land  of  the  living."      Ewald  reads   '3Vlin  N^, 

and  translates  :  "that  thou  remain  not,  nor  exist 
in,"  etc.  Kliefoth  ;  "  that  thou  be  not  inhabited, 
and  I  do  not  make  glorious  (namely,  in  respect 
to  thee,  Tyre  (?))  in  the  land."  The  neg.ative 
ought  to  be  applied  to  both  clauses  of  the  verse  : 
not  be  inhabited,  and  not  set  as  an  ornament. 
The  Chaldee  and  those  who  followed  it  under- 
stood the  last  clauses  of  Judah,  and  hence  took 
it  positively.  But  the  Sept.  properly  understood 
both  clauses  of  Tyre,  and  took  both  negatively. — 
P.  F.]  — Ver.  21.  Close  of  Tyre,  mnbl,  of 
frightful  judgments,  and  indeed  of  sudden  destruc- 
tion. Therefore  to  be  made  an  example  of  such. 
Gesenius  concretely  :  I  will  make  thee  for  the 
down-going,  that  is,  into  something  that  goeth 
down.    Philippson:  "I  suddenly  annutilate  thee." 

—The  "av  "Tinj  is  met  by  this  -]3ns<  mn^a-— 
Comp.  besides,  Ps.  xxxvii.  10,  36. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


1,  2         And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying  :  And  thou,  son  of  man,  raise 

3  over  Tyre  a  lamentation.     And  say  to  Tyre  that  dwells  at  the  entrances  of  the 
sea,  trafficker  of  the  peoples  in  many  islands  [coasts]  :     Thus  saith  the  Lora 

4  Jehovah,  Tyre,  thou  sayest,  I  am  perfect  in  beauty.     In  the  heart  of  the  sea 
6  is  thy  territory,  thy  builders  have  perfected  thy  beauty.     Of  the  cypresses  of 

Shenir  they  have  built  for  thee  all  thy  boards ;  cedars  of  Lebanon  they  have 

6  taken  to  make  a  mast  for  thee.     Of  the  oaks  of  Bashan  have  they  made  thy 

oars ;  thy  rudder  they  made  of  ivory,  inlaid  in  larch,  from  the  isles  of  Chittim 


252  EZEKIEL. 


7  Byssus  ia  embroidered  work  from  Egypt  was  thine  outspread  [flag],  to  be  for  a 
sign  to  thee  ;  purple-blue  and  purple-red  from  the  islands  of  Elishah  was  thy 

8  covering.     The  inhabitants  of  Zidon  and  of  Arvad  were  thy  rowers  ;  thy 

9  skilled  men,  Tyre,  were  in  thee,  they  were  thy  pilots.     Gebal's  masters  and 
its  wise  men  were  in  thee;  they  fastened  [lepasred]  thy  leaks.     All  the  ships  of 

10  the  sea  and  their  mariners  were  in  thee  to  carry  on  thy  traffic.  Paras,  and 
Lud,  and  Phut,  were  in  thy  [maiine]  force,  thy  men  of  war  :  the  shield  and 

11  helmet  they  hung  in  thee  ;  they  gave  thy  ornament.  The  sons  of  Arvad  and 
thy  force  were  on  thy  walls  round  about,  and  Gammadim  (])  were  in  thy 
towers:  their  shields  they  hung  upon  thy  walls  round  about;  they  completed 

12  thy  beauty.  Tarshish  traded  with  thee  because  of  the  fulness  of  all  kinds  of 
wealth   [goods] ;  in  silver,  in  iron,  in  tin  and  lead  tliey  paid  for  thy  wares. 

13  Javan,  Tubal,  and  Meshech,  they  were  thy  merchants;  in  souls  of  men  and 

14  articles  of  brass  they  made  thy  traffic.  From  the  house  of  Togarmah 
they  paid  with  steeds  [horses],  and  riders  [steeds],  and  mules  were  thy  wares. 

15  The  sons  of  Dedan  were  thy  merchants;  many  islands  [coasts]  were  the  traffic 
of  thy  hand ;  horns  of  ivory  and  ebony  they  brought  as  thy  barter-payment 

16  [to  thee  as  exchange  in  vaine].  Aram  was  thy  trader  because  of  the  abundance  of 
thy  works ;  in  carbuncle,  red  purple,  and  embroidery,  and  byssus,  and  corals  (]), 

17  and  rubies  they  paid  for  thy  wares.  Judah,  and  the  land  of  Israel,  they 
were  thy  merchants ;  in  wheat  of  Minnith,  and  pastry,  and  honey,  and  oil, 

18  and  balm  they  made  thy  traffic.  Damascus  was  a  trader  with  thee  on  account 
of  the  abundance  of  thy  works ;  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  all  riches,  in 

19  wine  of  Helbon  and  white  wool.  Bedau  and  Javan  from  Uzal,  for  thy 
wares  they  paid  wrought  iron  ;  cassia  and  calamus  were  among  thy  goods. 

80,  21  Dedan  was  thy  merchant  in  broad  coverings  for  riding.     Arabia  and  all  the 
princes  of  Kedar,  they  were  dealers  of  thy  hand  in  lambs,  and  rams,  and  he- 

22  goats  :  in  these  they  were  thy  dealers.  The  merchants  of  Sheba  and  Raamah, 
they  were  thy  merchants  :  in  the  best  [the  chiefest]  of  all  spices,  and  all  sorts  of 

23  precious  stones  and  gold,  they  bought  thy  wares.     Charan,  and  Khanneh,  and 

24  Eden,  the  merchants  of  Sheba,  Asshur,  Chilmad,  were  thy  dealers.  These 
were  thy  merchants  in  ornaments,  in  mantles  of  purple  and  embroidery,  and 
in  treasures  of  many-threaded  [many-coioured]  yarns   [rich  damask],   bound   with 

25  cords,  and  firm,  in  thy  market.  The  ships  of  Tarshish  were  thy  caravans, 
thy  traffic  ;  and  thou  wast  very  glorious  [mighty]  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

26  They  that  rowed  thee  have  brought  thee  into  great  waters ;  the  east  wind 

27  broke  thee  in  the  heart  of  the  sea.  Thy  riches  and  thy  wares,  thy  mer- 
chandise, thy  mariners  and  thy  pilots,  the  repairers  of  thy  chinks,  and  the 
traders  in  thy  merchandise,  and  all  thy  men  of  war  that  are  in  thee,  also 
with  thy  whole  company  which  is  in  thy  midst,  they  shall  fall  into  the  heart 

28  of  the  sea  on  the  day  of  thy  fall.     At  the  sound  of  the  cry  of  thy  pilots  the 

29  suburban  grounds  shall  shake.  And  from  their  ships  shall  come  down  all  that 
handle  the  oar,  the  mariners  and  all  the  pilots  of  the  sea,  that  are  in  thy 

30  midst,  they  shall  stand  upon  the  land.  And  they  shall  make  their  voice 
heard  over  thee,  and  shall  cry  bitterly,   and  cast  dust  upon  their  heads : 

31  they  shall  strew  themselves  with  ashes.  And  they  shave  themselves  bald  for 
thee,  and  gird  themselves  with  sackcloth,  and  weep  upon  thee  in  bitterness  of 

32  soul  with  bitter  lamentation.  And  they  raise  over  thee  in  their  wailings  a 
lamentation,  and  lament  over  thee  :  Who  is  like  Tyre  1  as  the  destroyed  one 

33  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  1  When  thy  wares  went  forth  out  of  the  seas,  thou 
didst  satisfy  many  people  with  the  abundance  of  thy  riches  and  thy  merchan- 

34  dise  ;  thou  didst  enrich  the  kings  of  the  earth.  At  the  time  thou  wtrt  broken 
by  the  seas  in  the  depths  of  the  waters,  thy  merchandise  and  thy  whole 

35  company  fell  in  the  midst  of  thee.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  isles  are 
astonished  at  thee,    and   their   kings  shudder  greatly,    their  countenances 

36  tremble.  The  merchants  among  the  peoples  hiss  over  thee ;  terrors  shalt  thou 
be,  and  shalt  be  no  more  for  ever. 


CHAP.  XXVir.  1^.  2£3 


VbT.     3,   Sept.:    .   .   .   Tm  \uTO£ia)  t.  >.aut!».  eiTO  n-iffon  rroKXatv  .   .   .    tyai  TipaOr.zae  Itucvrr,  xetkkog  luv,—' 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .  BaXocfftrr;  t^  Br:>iiu,x.  vloi  traa  (ofher  read.:    37^3'  "l^^l^J-  ?]^33i    fhy  sons.)  Arabs,  Syr.,  Hei.). 

Ver.  5.  .  .  .  tuxoSeu.r.S'i;  iroi,  reciviin  o'a.^ihan  xuTotpir<riv^¥ — other  read. :  "]7  IX^  i  -M'r. :  adiluxenint.  Hexapl. :  tfdl 
0[ata  est  ttbi,  as  Sept. 

Ver.  (>....  (iiTTO'Ji)  fXacTtvM/i,  Ix  .  .  .  SToircav  r.  xaiTa;  rov.  Tx  tipx  ffov  .  .  .  olxom  a.\T:u^iti  atio  *>;fl'onf— (Othfll 
read.:  "jCnp,  Arabs  as  Sppt.  in  pliir.— Sept.  read  D^"lt;*&5    ^fl^)- 

Ver.     7.  .   .  .   Tou  ^ipiBeiveti  trci  ho^a-v  x.  vipi^otXuv  trt  i/a.xt*06v  .   .   .   xoti  frspi^oKcucc  lyiitTa  coi. 

Ver.     8.   K.  o/  ipyenTn  e-ov  oi  xoLTOixoutrn  It'haiva. — 

Ver.  9.  .  .  .  Oi  Tpur^t/Tipoi  Bi^Aiaiv  .  .  .  oiroi  imo'X'uov  t.  ^ouX*:v  itou  .  .  .  iyivdyTO  ffoi  l^i  tuff-ua;  hvrfJMt.  Vul(f . :  ,  .  . 
^buenint  nautas  ad  min'sterium  varix  svpelfectttis  tux. 

Ver.  10.   .  .   .   'sxpiuM.jatv  iv  tret  — 

Ver.  11.  Sept.:  .  .  .  tffXaxn  i*  t.  Tvpyets  .  .  .  tT<  ran  opuMv  ffov — (other  read.:  D^^DJI,  et  Chnmerii.    Sept.  read 

D^^Dt^l):  Vul^r.:  .  .  .  sedetPygmxi— 

Ver.  12.  .   .   .    Kot;3;>Se**fiJ  £(zT6^0(  ffoi   .   .  .   xau  ^^triov  *.  j^otAxai'   .   .   .  IZaixxv  r.  acyopxv  irov.      VulfJ. :    CdrthaginensiS 
Ver.  13.  'H'E/Aoc!  xon  «  evfj^-rxaa.  x.  tx  ■JctpoLTttvovza.      Vulg.:   advexeruut pnpulo  too. 

Ver.  14.  Other  read.:  nDJIIH. 

Ver.  15.   Sept.:   TiOi  "Pohi^*  .    .   .   octo  wiaan  tTX*i&t/vctf  t.  ifx,Topiatv  irpu  oSevraj  if't^xfrivovi,  x.  ran   iitrxyeuiyois   etHTtSiiouf 
Ver,  16.  oiy9pat<T6'Js   EUTopixv   <roi>  .  .   .   raw    cvu,/mxtcv   rov,   ffretXTr.v   x,  TdixikfMtTx   ix    Sxpiru;   x.   "Pac,fi.u^B    x.    ^opx*^ 

i^uxa.*  (other  read. :  D"1N,  Edoni,  Sept.  in  the  sense  of  man,  followed  by  Arabs,  Syr.,  Hesapl.). 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  iv  eiTOu  -i pa.ru  x.  fj^ptn^  x.  xaunea,  x.  vpatroy  fMXi  .  .  iU  r.  <rvfx.f^iKre*  <rou  (3iS1,  nonnuUi  per:  "el 
bal$amum,'*  alii  3jDX  '' et  ficux,  grossulos,^'  vel  ex  Arab.  " angurias, pepones  Indicos").  Vulg.:  .  .  .  in  frumento  prima: 
balsamum  .  .  .  et  resinam  (Sept.  pr.nvyiv)  proposuerunt  in  nundinis  tuts. 

Ver.  18.  Sept.:  ...  as.  ipict.  ix  M.iXr.Tov  (19),  x.  olvov  tij  t.  ayopar  ffov  l^vxav.  'E^  "ArrA.  fftirpov  .  .  .  rTetprto*  «. 
*p»X'otf  i^vxxv  if  T.  irvu.fAiXTtu  cro'j  irriv.  Vnlg. :  ...  in  vino  pinguid  in  lanis  coloris  optimi.  Dan  et  Crrtecia  et  Mosel— 
(other  read. :  pl)- 

Ver.  20.  .   .  ,  furoL  xTr.y»n  s«A£*Ta»y— Vulg.:  ...  IB  tapetibus  ad  sedfndum. 

Ver.  21.  ,  .  .  8j«  z*'P^^  "'^^i  «aj"-*;^«'f-^ (other  read.:  D^*1D3,  in  tauris  vet  juvencis. — Chald.}. 

Ver.  23.  .  .  .  XXI  ^xiixv  .  .  .  x.  XxpfAxt.     (For  pH  it  is  read  mn,  and  for  HJDI  a  reading  exists  HJpSV) 

Ver.  24.  .  .  .  £v  |U.«3;aXiu.  as.  sv  ya?-.ifjcx  vxxitOev  x.  frep^vpxf  x.  Bria-xvpoui  ixXtxTWf  i(Ztf>u*Ofs  a-xotvioii  i¥  xt/vxptira'it0tf 
(25)  rrXeiot;  iy  xvroti.  Ka^^r^i"0J  iu-xopoi  ffav,  SxpTUs  iuTepoi  rou  iv  t.  ^Ky^Qu  l»  t.  ovf^f^xrai  treu,  x.  ,  .  .  x.  ifixpvySrti.— 
Vulg.:  .  .  .  muUtfariam  inrolucris  hyacinthi  et  polymitorum  gazarumque pretiotamm  .  .  .  cedros  quoque habebant  in  ntgo- 
tiationibtis  tuis.    A'aves  maris  principes  tui  in  negotiatione  tua — 

Ver.  26.  Div.  read.:  D^DD* 

Ver.  27.  Other  read.:  ?D1.  Sept. :  xrxv  ivnafUif  ffou,  x.  o  putrdoi  cw  it  r.  nf^fjuxra/  a-ov  .  .  .  xxt  oi  rvptBovXn  rov  xmi 
1  rvfMfjJXToi  cw  ix  T.  ffvpLfuxToiy  trou,  x,  .  .  .  irxcx  n  awxytgyfi. — 

Ver.  28.  .  .  .  ms  xpxvyy;^  cot/  ol  xu$ipvriTxt  cou  i?o)S4'— Vulg. :  ,  .  .  conturbabuntur  classes. 

Ver.  29.   .  .  .  xati  tl  i^i^xrxt  x.  el  xpotpM  Tr,i  BxXxccra. 

Ver.  32.  Sept.,  Arabs,  Syr.  read  DrT^JS,  "their  sons."  Kxt  Xyt^ovrxi  el  uiei  xurtn  .  .  .  xaraciyrdticx  iw  fuc^t 
§mXarcr,( ; — 

Ver.  33.  Oecev  xxi  rtvx  iCpit  f^icBev  xta  r.  BxXxccr.Si  'Ev!TO(r«'af  iBtr,  xto  t.  wXfiBetif  ceu  x.  xto  t.  avfx,fjuxT6v  cou  .  .  . 
wmtTXt  ras  fixctXuf — 

Ver.  34.  "Svt  m>iTpt^r,(  st  BxXxccr},  tv  0x8u  uixrof  0  cufAfuxres  cetf.  Vulg.:  .  .  .  contrita  es  a  mart;  in  profunda 
.  .  .  ceciderunt. 

Ver.  35.  CE^lcei/)   *«»«?  .   .   .  xxi  el  xtfrrXxTXi  cou  Icrvytxcaf  isri  n  .  .  .   K.   thxxpvcxv  reu    rpocairai    xCtm*  iti  r«. 
Volg.:  .  .  .  tempestate  perculsi  mutaver-unt  vultus. 
Ver.  3t>.  Sept.  add  Xiyu  xvpioi  i  Bis;. 

EXEGETICAL  REMAKKS. 

Vers.  1-25.   The  Ohry  of  Tyre. 

The  lamentation  over  Tyre  is  closely  connected 
with  the  prophecy  in  ch.  x.xvi.,  and  is  prepared 
for  by  the  17th  verse  of  that  chapter. — Ver.  2. 
For  that  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem  was  the  pro- 
phetic prolepsis,  for  this  the  overthrow  of  Tyre. 
"With  the  lamentation,  expression  is  at  the  same 
time  given  to  the  righteous  pain  occasioned  by 
the  misuse  of  the  fulness  of  divine  gifts,  which 
Tyre  had  enjoyed. — nHXV  J-  H.  Michaelis  makes: 
tu  etiam,  ui  alii. — Ver.  3.   jci^o  is  the  entrance 


tion  of  a  northern  and  southern  harbour  of  Tyre, 
and  at  the  same  time  of  the  deficiency  elsewhere 
of  proper  harbours  on  the  Syrian  coast.  Hengst.  : 
"  from  whence  the  sea  is  readily  accessible  on  all 
sides,  in  the  centre  of  the  then  civilised  world  : 
thus  Tyre  went  forth  for  purposes  of  trade  to  visit 
the  nations." — For  ^riDC'^n  (to  be  thus  pointed) 

the  Qeri  has  nQtiTH- — On  n^31.  comp.  at  ch. 

xxvi.  12. — 'D^*N"/'St  which  for  the  sake  of  mer- 
chandise frequents  many  coasts. — The  address  to 
Tyre  holds  up  to  her,  as  previously  in  ch.  xxvi.  2 
her  scornful  malicious  joy,  so  here  her  complete 
into  a  city,  the  entrance  of  the  gate;  and  so  here  '  self-satisfaction.  Perfect  in  beauty  is  as  much 
nSUD.   tl»*'  openings  or  entrances  of  the  sea, 'as:  perfectly  beautiful,  that  is:  of  perfect  beauty. 


into  which  people  entered  from  the  sea,  and  again 
*?ent  out  into  the  sea — therefore  the  harbours  or 
ports  (porta  and  portus).  Havernick  refers  to 
etrabo  zvi.  2,  Arrian  li.  20,  21,  who  make  men- 


but  not  as  well :  the  completion  of  beauty.  Ob- 
serve the  parallel  with  Jerusalem  in  Lam.  ii  15. 
What  is  indicated  thereby  appears  from  ver.  4  ; 
for  the  *'I  am  perfect  in  beauty,"  in  the  moatt 


254 


EZEKIEL. 


of  Tyre  is  the  thome  of  the  ih>tailed  ih'scriptions 
that  follow. — In  the  heart  of  the  6ea=:iii  the 
midst  of  the  sea,  surrounded  on  every  hnml  by  the 
same.  J.  H.  Xliehaelis  cites  the  wonls  of  Alex- 
inder  the  Great  to  the  Tyrian  ambassador  ((.'ui:- 
riu.s,  iv.  2):  Vo>i  quidem  fiducia  loci^  tiii^xl  insnlam 
incolilis,  pi'deMrem  hunc  exercitum  speniUin. — A 
strait  of  four  stadia  separated  the  city  from  the 
continent. — The  boundaries,  the  strict  meaning 
of  'isiaj,  are  the  territory  enclosed  by  these. — 
Hence  the  perfectness  of  its  local  position ;  hence, 
also,  tills  [lerfectness  under  the  notion  of  tlie 
beautiful,  which  certainly  comprehends  not 
merely  the  architectural  (though  this  primarily), 
but  also  generally  the  civic  beauty  of  Tyre. 

Ver.  5.  In  this  further  look  Tyre  is  allegorized 
by  our  prophet — after  his  own  peculiar  manner — 
under  the  image  of  a  state-ship.  The  builders 
(in  ver.  i)  mediate  the  transition ;  not  less  (as 
Hitzig  acutely  remarks)  was  the  image  suggested 
by  the  local  position  of  Tyre, — in  the  midst  of  the 
sea,  sun'ounded  by  a  wilderness  of  masts,  the  city 
had  the  appearance  of  a  sea -ship. — Because  a 
state-ship,  hence  the  finest  kinds  of  wood  for 
material  (accusative). — (Hav.  remarks,  that  in 
reality  the  palaces  of  Tyre  were  made  of  cedar 
from  Lebanon,  Joseph.   Anliq.   viii.   5.) — TJC' 

(:=  p'nB',  Deut.  iii.  9),  the  Amorite  name  for 
Hermon,  though  from  this  in  the  stricter  sense 
distinguished,  was  renowned  for  its  cypresses  (Sir. 
xxiv.  17),  which  were  recommended  by  the  firm, 
durable  nature  of  the  wood  (Viiir.iL,  Gear;/,  ii. 
444). — The  framework  of  the  vessel,  with  which 
the    delineation    commences,    presents    itself   as 

dualistic  (□•nin?). — the  boards  or  timbers  both 
right  and  left,  especially  where  the  whole  is 
meant,  as  here.  The  mast  (main-mast),  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  representative  character  (comp. 
ver.  7),  is  of  wood  of  the  nobler  kind,  cedar,  Ps. 
x.xi.\.  5. — Ver.  6.  Bashan,  on  the  farther  side  of 
Jordan,  from  Jabbok  to  Hermon,  and  eastward 
to  the  outermost  limits,  on  the  south-west  moun- 
tainous— so  called  from  its  oaks.  It  belongs  to  the 
world-embracing  character  of  Tyre  that  all  lands 
contributed  to  her  glory. — DIE'D  =  DiB'D,  ver. 

29,  from  cm',  to  row.  The  oars  must  be  of  heavy, 
in  particular  of  firm,  wood. —  \^p  is    "  board  " 

or  plank,  from  E>"lp,  to  split ;  here  collectively, 

either  of  the  benches  for  rowers  (vers.  2,  3)  over 
each  other,  or  of  the  deck  (Hitzig).  Hav.  :  the 
thick  plank-work  as  stays,  the  scaflTold  of  the 
mast.  Meier  :  table-work,  wainscoting,  for  the 
laying  out  of  the  .ship.  Rashi  :  the  helm  ;  which 
recommends  itself  more  than  the  others,  on 
account  of  its  importance  for  the  vessel,  and  its 
suitableness  in  respect  to  the  adorning  that 
follows.  The  s'range  |t;>,  ivory  (elephant's  tooth), 
is  anyhow  moilified  liy  D'lw'XTia.  daughter  of 
— wliat?     "IIB'K  is   "ste]i,"  from -|;;'}{.     .\  kind 

of  wood,  however,  must  be  meant.  As  it  is  more 
nearly  indicated  by  the  isles  of  Chittim,  and  by 
these  are  to  be  understood  in  the  larger  sense  the 
islaiiils  and  coasts  of  the  Jlediterranean,  Kosen- 
niiiller  thinks  of  Sardinia  and  Corsica,  and,  with 
many,  supposes  the  box-tree  to  be  meant,  which 
•8  quite  common  in  the  latter  island  (ViuoiL, 


^■En.  X.  137).  The  expression,  however,  more 
particularly  denotes  the  islands  and  coasts  of 
Greece.  Hei'ent  expositors  umlerstaiiii  it  of 
Cyprus,  on  account  of  the  ohl  I'hrenician  city 
in  it,  Kir;i>»,  K.>T/5>  (Cliethi),  and  of  the  islands 
and  coasts  in  the  neighbourhood.  Huv.  is  in 
favour  of  the  Cyprian  pines  (Tiieoi^jikamt.  Hiit. 
pi.  V.  8) — very  suitable ;  Cyprus  was  i)articul,arly 
famous  tor  its  excellent  ship-building  materials. 
The  regularly  successive  coin[iact  growth  of  the 
pine  would  agree  well  with  "itJ'X,  also  its  firm, 
sure  position,  and  its  thick  wood,  Gesen.  takes 
the  word  as  ^ -)^tJ'Sn,   Sherbin- cedar.      Hitzig 

throws  the  two  words  together,  and  reads 
D'lB'Xna;     which    is    unnecessary,     since    03 

denotes  simply  the  subordinate  dependent  rela- 
tionship— more  exactly  expressing  that  which  is 
enclosed  by  another  (py  n3.  the  pupil :  also  in 
Lam.  iii.  13,  nsU'S  n3.  the  arrow),  and  indicat- 
ing that  the  ivory  formed  only  the  costly  article 
inlaid  in  the  wood  mentioned.  This  wood  itselt 
was  the  material ;  of  it  was  the  helm  made,  and 
the  handle  and  other  parts  were  ornamented  with 
ivory. — Ver.  7.  Comp.  on  ch.  xvi.  10.  Out  of 
Egypt,  with  its  famous  looms,  went  forth  "em- 
broidered linen  "  (HiTZ.),  "embroidered  byssus" 
( H  e.sgst.  ),  with  flowers  and  figures. — The  more 
immediate  destination :  to  be  to  thee  for  a  sign 
(D3,  visible  from  afar),  leads  one,  with  "jcnQD, 

to  think  either  of  sails  proviiled  with  emblems 
and  devices,  after  the  Egypti.in  fashion,  or  rather 
of  the  flag  placed  by  the  ancients  on  the  fore-part 
of  the  ship. — |03"1X  is  the  red  purple,  purple-red 

cloth,  from  a  shell -fish  (raffifx)  found  on  the 
Syrian  and  Peloponnesian  coasts.  The  islands  of 
Elishah,  according  to  Jerome,  were  the  islands 
of  the  Ionian  Sea ;  according  to  Bocliart,  the 
Peloponnesus,  in  which  was  Elis  (Hellas).  As 
derived  from  so  great  a  distance,  this  purple 
figures  here  as  a  foreign  commodity,  and  does 
so,  indeed,  by  means  of  its  finely  coloured  fabric ; 

its  si)lendid  colour  was  much  prized. — 07371; 
comp.  at  ch.  x.xiii.  6. — nD3D  (part.  Piel  of  nD3) 
is  the  covering  of  the  shij)  above  deck,  against 
the  heat  of  the  sun. 

Ver.  8  forms  a  transition  to  the  manning,  not 
of  the  ship,  but  of  the  Tyrian  state-constitution. 
Zidon,  the  oldest  city  of  Phoenicia,  on  this  account 
designated  "the  mother, "  and  Arvad,  the  island 
Aradus,  entirely  covered  by  the  city  of  the  same 
name, — hence  a  second  Tyre,  which,  as  did  also 
Zidon,  always  possessed  its  own  kingdom, —  serve 
to  illustrate  the  commonwealth  represented  by 
Tyre,  each  conti-ibuting  its  sliare  of  help  ;  but 
illustrate  also  the  relation  of  the  several  parties, 
the  oarsmen  being  from  those  places,  but  the 
helmsmen  (cajitains),  those  skilled  in  navigation, 
were  Tyrians,  so  that  Tyre  stands  forth  as  the 
guiding  intelligence.  And  so  also  in  ver.  9  figure 
the  ancients;  they  were  the  experienced,  ap- 
proved masters  and  skilled  architects  from  Gebal 
(\\diere  was  the  burial-place  of  Adonis,  whence 
the  name),  in  Tyre,  employed  in  its  maiine  force. 
Comp.  1  Kings  v.  32  [18].  For  the  allegory  of 
the  ship,  their  expeitness  in  healing  breaches, 
renovating,  instantly  repairing  wliat  was  decayed, 
is  drawn  into  consideration.  (May  there  not, 
however,  withal  be  meant  to  be  conveyed  an  im 


CHAP.  XXVII.  10-:.-.. 


pression  of  the  supremacy  which  Tyre  in  this 
position  exercised  upon  the  other  Phoenician 
states  0  But  the  sentence  that  follows  intro- 
duces the  principal  point,  for  which  all  that  pre- 
cedes was  merely  preparatory,  namely,  that  Tyre 

was  a  mercantile  power.  — rOD  is,  in  the  general, 

Bcamen,  so  designated  from  the  "salt,"  for  sea 
(ix,iis,  from  iXt).  Tyre  included,  as  it  were,  aU 
navigation  in  itself;  the  sea-world  was  its  fleet. 
(HlTZiG  :  foreign  merchant  -  vessels  lie  here  at 
anchor.  Hbncst.  :  all  the  Tyrians  with  their 
colonies  are,  as  it  were,  in  this  one  giant  ship,  as 
the  joUy-hoats  in  an  ordinary  large  ship,  and  are 
sent  out  from  it.) — 3"|J?,  "to  exchange,"  hence: 
"to  trade." 

Ver.  10.  Before  the  main  tendency  indicated 
was  given  way  to,  the  representation  turns  back 
from  the  image  of  the  ship,  through  an  emphasiz- 
ing of  the  military  weapons  of  defence  and  offence, 
in  which  Tyre  prided  herself,  to  the  beginning, 
and  so  to  the  city.— Dia  (Pares,  Fares,  Fars,  in 
the  cuneiform  inscriptions  Parana)  must  be  Persia. 
Hitzig  contends  for  those  who,  in  primeval  times, 
settled  in  Africa.  Hengstenberg,  as  also  Hav., 
holds  firmly  by  their  Asiatic  character,  and  as 
having  even  then  probably  entered  into  con- 
nection with  the  anti  -  Chaldaic  coalition  in  a 
relation  to  Tyre, — the  first  germ  of  their  later 
victorious  lifting  of  the  shield  against  the  Chal- 
dean ascendency ;  comp.  at  ch.  viii.  16.  Lud  and 
Phut  are  African  populations :  the  former,  not  the 
Semitic  Lydians,  may  well  enough  be  the  Hamitic 
Ludim  (Gen.  x.  13);  the  latter,  the  Libyans  of 
antiquity — both  well  known  as  soldiers  in  the 
Egyptian  army  (Jer.  xlvi.  9).  Either  to  picture 
the  far-extending  relations  of  the  Tjiian  mercan- 
tile power  are  they  named,  or  because  the  most 
foreign  among  the  foreign  ;  as  in  Rome,  in  Byzan- 
tium, they  were  purposely  taken  into  pay,  whether 
for  display  or  as  a  security  against  internal 
tumnlts.  We  learn  the  existing  relations  best 
from  Carthage.  Rich  enough  to  pay  the  costs, 
the  mercenary  army  secured  for  the  Tyrian  mer- 
chant ability  to  ply  his  traffic ;  he  found  in  it 
military  protection  for  his  settlements,  and  ad- 
vantage also  for  prosecuting  new  undertakings. 
If  the  hanging  np  of  shield  and  helmet  is  not  a 
poetical  expression, — their  arms  were  thy  arms, 
their  conquests  thine,  or  such  like, — we  must  think 
of  a  military  custom,  as  to-day  still  the  armour  is 
hung  up  when  there  is  no  service.  The  garrison 
of  the  city  they  did  not  likely  form  (Hitzig),  as 
Ver.  1 1  shows  that  the  protection  of  the  city  was 
committed  to  domestic  and  allied  troops.  But 
what  were  the  Sammadini  ?  Havernick  explains 
the  word  from  the  dialects  hy  "valiant,"  "auda- 
cious," and  thinks  that  it  was  the  favourite 
expression  for  the  national  militia,  as  there  was 
among  the  Carthaginians  a  "sacred  host."  The 
latter,  however,  would  not  be  designated  the 
proper  troops,  in  contrast  to  the  mercenaries ! 
Hence  Hexgst.  :  "bold  champions"  — a  Tyrian 
designation  for  a  select  hand.  Hirz. :  "deserters 
from  the  neighbouring  countries,  to  whom  the 
rich  republic  offered  more  favourable  conditions 
than  the  kings," — if  there  may  not  have  been  the 
marring  of  tlie  original  D1-133,  with  reference  to 

Cant.  iv.  4!     [Jewish  expositors  made  out  of  the 
word  pigmies— from  loj,  an   e^   therefore  ell- 


high — because  they  appeared  such  in  tlie  towers. 
Others  conjectured  a  particular  Pha'iiician  allied 
people  to  be  meant  by  it  (Gamale);  the  Targum: 
Cappadocians.  Meier,  with  an  eye  to  loy,  ex- 
plains it:  "as  posts."  We  must  then  render: 
"The  sons  of  Arvad  and  thy  force  were  on  thy 
walls  round  about,  and  posts  in  thy  towers."] — It 

is  to  be. remarked  that  tipt'  is  a  noble  shield, 
while  in  ver.  10  only  common  armour  is  men- 
tioned.    So,  too,  the  language  rises ;  while  it  is 

there  "ja-l^n.  here  it  is  'Dirrbv  I^Tl ;  the  home 
element  is  heightened.  Hence,  also,  instead  of 
Tnn  13n3>  w-hich  is  as  much  as  :  it  ornamented 
thee  (ch.  xvi.  14)  thus  to  have  distant  ones, 
foreigners,  in  tliy  pay,  to  do  thee  service,  now  it  is; 

1'B<  1P73,  they  completed  thy  beauty,  forming 
at  the  same  time  a  close  of  the  detailed  theme. 

Ver.  12.   The  mercantile  glory  of  Tyre  begins 
here;  comp.  v.  9. — Tarshish,  the  most  renowned 
mart  of  commerce  in  the  West,  a  city  and  district 
of  Spain,  Tartessus,  between  the  two  mouths  of 
the  Bsetis  (Guadalquivir).     It  traded  with  Tyre 
not  so  much  by  means  of  things  brought  thither, 
;is  because  the  fulness  and  variety  of  the  Tyrian 
wares,  the  costly,  rich  articles  which  the  Tyrian 
vessels  brought,  were  given  (]nj)  in  payment  for 
the  abundance  in  precious  metals  for  which  Tar- 
tessus was   renowned   in   antiquity  (Diodor.  v. 
35  sq. ;    Strabo,  iii. ;   Plin.    HUt.    Nat.).     But 
trader  agrees  better  with  that  than   merchant. 
It  was  a  barter-dealing,  as  was  very  commonly 
the  case  in  antiquity. — J13TV  (only  in  plural),  from 
2fj;,  to  let  go ;  and  hence  better,   with   Hitzig, 
taken  as  equal  to  wares,  than,   with   Ewald,  as 
"sale." — Ver.  13.  Javan  is  the  land  of  Greece 
(Ionia);  Tubal,  often  joined  with  Meshech,   are 
together  the  Tibareni  and  Moschi  of  the  ancients, 
in   Lesser  Asia, — the  former  to  the  west  of  the 
latter,  who  were  the  inhabitants  of  a  mountainous 
region    between   Iberia,    Armenia,    and    Colchis. 
The  enumeration  of  the  traders  in  Tyre's  mer- 
chandise turns  now,  therefore,  northwards. — In 
Boulg   of  men,    slave-traffic ;   if  we    have   not   a 
special  case  in  Joel  iv.   6  (Eng.  V.   iii.   6),  then 
it  was  reciprocal.     Hav.  is  of  opinion  that  female 
slaves  Irom  Greece  were  of  old  highly  estimated  in 
the  East,  and,  on  the  other  side,  male  slaves  (?). — 
For  tk-i  copper  (or  brass)  articles,   Hitzig  makes 
account   of  the  name  Tibareni,   as   well  as   the 
neighbours  of  the  Moschi,  the  Chalybes,  and  re- 
marks that  to  this  day  the  Colchian  mountains 
in  Trabosan  contain  unexhausted  mines  of  copper. 
Hav.   notices  that  in  the  hilly  Caucasian  region 
inliabited  by  Tubal  and  Meshech,  the  people  have 
been  ever  distinguished  for  their  beauty,  and  that 
through  all  time  they  have  been  noted  for  com- 
merce in  slaves  (see  Bochart,  Phaleg. ).     Comp. 
besides,  at  ver.  9.  — Ver.  1 4.  Togarmah  is  Armenia. 
— From  the  house,  either  out  of  the  region,  or  the 
race  of  people  from  it(?).  Armenia  was  distinguish- 
ed for  its  breeding  of  horses.     Herodotus  speaks 
of  its   asses   (i.    194).  —  D'KHBl   D'DID.    usually 
draught  hoi-ses  and  riding  liorses. — Ver.  15.   The 
sons  of  Sedan,  occasioned  by  fl'SD  g'ii"g  before, 
are  the  Cushite  Dedanites  (Gen.  x.  7),  as  middle- 
men in  the  trade.     As  such,  and  as  representa- 
tives of  the  land-trade  with  their  caravans,  yet 
as  idehtical  with  those  in  ver.  20,  since  Scrijjture 
knows  only  of  one  Dedan,  the  Arabian  one,  Ihej 


25C 


EZEKIEL. 


are  regarded  by  Hengst. ;  but  he  admits  of  no  con- 
nection on  the  part  of  Dedan  directly  with  the 
many  islands.  On  the  other  hand,  Hiiv.,  foUow- 
ing  Heeren's  guidance,  thinks  of  a  south  Arabian 
tribe,  and  the  three  Bahrein  islands  (Gesen.  : 
"perhaps  the  island  Daden"?),  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Pei-sian  Gulf,  where  were  the  ' '  many  coasts" 
of  the  East  Indies,  with  which  the  articles  men- 
tioned of  ivory  and  ebony  very  well  suit.  With 
Hitzig,  also,  the  Dedanites  ai-e  the  traders  with 
TjTe  in  the  south  -  east,  from  the  Persian  Gulf 
(Isa.  xxi.  13).  If  we  should  understand  by  D"}{ 
Islands,  we  must  suppose  it  to  be  said,  that  what 
the  caravans  transported  had  also  by  Tyre  been 
conveyed  by  sea.  According  to  Philippsen,  it  is 
meant  that  those  caravans  of  the  Indian  wares 
contained  others  also  from  distant  sea-coasts  un- 
known to  us. — ^niriD.  according  to  Hitzig  to  be 
pointed  as  a  participle  (?),  is  merchandise  or 
traffic,  in  the  sense  of  the  abstract  for  the  con- 
crete. The  addition:  of  thy  hand,  marks  the 
dependence,  the  intermediate  sort  of  traffic ;  they 
were  agents  for  Tyre. — The  horns,  used  of  ivory, 
since  it  was  the  teeth  of  the  elephant,  must  be 
understood  by  way  of  comparison.  Pliny  recog- 
nises it  as  denies,  and  yet  names  it  comaa 
elephanti.  It  is  commonly  connected  with  ebony 
{Diospyros  Ebenum,  which  has  white  bark,  dark 

f-een  leaves,  and  medlar-like  fruit).     For  both, 
thiopia  was  famous  in  the  old  world. — "lag'X 

(iDtS*)  laM—comp.  Hupfeld  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  10 — 

-  T  T   T 

might,  with  O'E'D  (to  bring  back,  restore),  be 
understood  in  the  sense  of  a  sort  of  tribute,  since 
Tyre  would  represent  herself  as  having,  through 
her  merchandise,  made  the  products  of  all  lands, 
as  it  were,  tributary  to  her.  It  suits  with  "latJ'S 
(payment),  however,  as  with  a'K'n,  to  think  of 
barter,  in  which  the  value  of  the  goods  purchased 
is  brought  back,  restored. 

Ver.  1 6.  Those  who  read  Edom  [that  is,  instead 
of  Aram,  which  was  done  by  the  Sept. ,  exists  also 
in  several  codices,  and  is  preferred  by  Ewald, 
Hitzig,  etc.  ]  conceive  that  Aram  lay  too  far  out 
of  the  way  from  Dedan,  in  the  direction  of 
Israel  (!);  also,  that  first  in  ver.  18  it  comes  in 
regular  order.  Edom,  however,  and  in  particular 
Petra,  was  important  as  a  goods  emporium.  And 
not  less  so  was  Aram,  i.e.  Syria,  in  the  wider 
sense  Mesopotamia,  for  an  agency-traffic.  The 
Syrians,  according  to  Jerome,  were  born  mer- 
chants, madl}-  intent  on  its  gains.  [Usqiie  hodie 
permanet  in  Syris  ingenihis  negotiationie  ardor, 
qui  per  Mum  mundum  liicri  ciipiditate  discur- 
runt,  el  ianiam  mercamli  habent  vesayiiam,  etc.] 
— "I'w'VO  3"tO.  for  which,  at  ver.  12,  there  is 
nn"73  31J3>  designated  as  (artistic)  work,  manu- 
factured   goods.      Carbuncle  (nsj),   a    precious 

stone;  see  at  Ex.  xxviii.  18.  On  the  rest,  comp. 
at  ver.  7. — JIQ  apjjears  to  designate  the  Syrian, 
in  contradistinction  from  the  Egj'ptian  byssus 
(w'BO — fifi  finest  white  cotton? — B.ibylon  was 

renowned  for  its  weaving,  as  it  was  also  a  market 
for  precious  stones.— niONI,  I'art.  act.  plur.  for 
niDI ;  Hengst.  :  precious  things,  what  stands 
high,  is  vahiable.  In  particular,  red  (dark) 
corals  or  pearls,  have  been  thought  of. — Tal3, 
t  gem  of  glittering  splendour  (Gesen.);  jasper 


has  been  suggested,  also  garnet,  crystal,  ruby. — 
Ver.  17.  Palestine  gave  wheat  in  merchandise  t* 
Tyre  (D'Dn.  'n  grains). — Hinnith  (H'JO).  a  P'ac 
in  the  territory  of  the  Ammonites  (Judg.  xi.  33); 
comp.  2  Chron.  xxvii.  5;  1  Kings  v.  25  [11];  Acts 
xii.  20. — J33,  according  to  Meier,  might  be  :  "  tli* 
rubbed  oH,"   "the  shaved  oS"=x(irix,  njTVp. 

or  more  generally:  "something  soff'^swejt, 
which  dissolves  itself.    R.  Parchon  in  his  Lexicon 

makes  it=:C*3T  ni^n,  placenta  mellis.  Some 
have  refen'ed  to  pJB,  deliciari,  and  combined 
therewith  several  operations.  Comp.  Rosen- 
raiiller.  Balsam,  however,  has  also  been  given  as 
an  interpretation,  but  'iv  is  the  term  for  that, 
namely,  the  resin  from  the  balsam-powder  (opo- 
baUamum),  Jer.  viii.  22.  Hitzig  recurs  to  pan- 
naga  (serpent),  a  Sanscrit  word  for  a  healing 
aromatic  wood. — E'31.  the  honey  of  bees,  as  well 
as  grape-syrup  (dibs)  and  fruit-syrup  generally — 
a  great  article  of  merchandise  in  Palestine,  ch. 
xvi.  13;  Deut.  xxxii.  13. — On  oil,  comp.  Dent, 
viii.  8,  xxviii.  40;  1  Kings  v.  25  [11];  2  Chron. 
ii.  10;  Hos.  xii.  2  [1]. — Ver.  18.  Damascus  is 
here  specialized,  because  it  was  a  particularly  im- 
portant mart  of  commerce  for  T)Te ;  comp.  vers. 
16  and  12.  Hengst.  remarks  on  the  riches,  that 
they  must  therefore  have  paid  for  wares  also  with 
gold. — Helbon,  now  Aleppo,  famous  for  its  wine, 
the  wine  of  the  Persian  kings,  still  a  notable  city 
(Strabo,  XV.).  Instead  of  white  wool,  Ewald  has 
"wool  of  Sachar,"  a  Sj-riac  town,  where  was  then 
the  best  wool.  But  ^^rS  expresses  the  shining 
white  wool,  as  wool  of  that  sort  was  especially 
derived  from  the  pasture-lands  of  Syria  and  Arabia 
(Ha  v.).  "The  finest  and  most  sOky,  because  the 
sheep  pasturing  in  the  deserts  were  always  under 
the  open  heaven"  (J.  D.  Mich.).  The  Sept.: 
Milesian  wool. — Ver.  19.  pi  can  neither  be  a 
third  Dedan  (Ewald),  nor  "  and  Dan,"  but  it 
must  be  taken  for  an  unknown  Arabic  district ; 
according  to  Movers,  it  would  be  the  trade-re- 
nowned Aden.  Javan,  too,  is  perhaps  to  be  taken 
for  a  Greek  settlement  in  Arabia,  and  to  be  dis- 
tinguished, as  Arabic,  from  that  in  ver.  13;  and 

?T1N0  ™*y  serve  as  a  nearer  determination  of  it — 
only  not  as  part.  Pual  from  pjX)  to  turn,  wind 
(a  thread) ;  in  the  Talmud :  to  spin,  "i^iKD.  that 

is,  "the  spun"  yam  (Gesen.,  Meier) — such  a 
mention  of  a  particular  sort  of  ware  being  scarcely 

suitable  here,  but  as   PRSD,  agreeably  to  Gen. 

X.  27  =  out  of  Sanaa,  the  capital  of  Yemen.  It 
accords  with  this  that  a  Javan  in  Yemen  is  men- 
tioned, and  the  articles  which  are  referred  to  like- 
wise agree.  Tuch  very  jiroperly  calls  to  remem- 
brance, in  connection  with  nW  703,  wrought 
iron,  the  sword-blades  of  Yemen,  along  with  the 
Indian  so  famous  through  all  the  East. — VHT),  the 
Arabic  cassia  (a  kind  of  cinnamon),  and  T\^\),  a 
reed,  acortis  calamus,  likewise  native  to  Arabia  : 
according  to  others  an  Indian  product,  which 
Yemen  ti-aded  in  from  there. 

Ver.  20.   Dedan — ch.   xxv.   13;  Gen.  xxv.  3 — 
Semitic — comp.  ver.   15  —  in  Northern  Arabia. 

naai^    C'Drrnaai   Gesen.  :    tajpeta  straUe  at 


CH.VP.  XXVII.  21-26. 


2S7 


eqnitaiKhim :  from  the  verl)  t'Bn,  to  stretch. 
Others:  "robes,"  "garments  of  the  nobles," 
which  wouhl  be  e.\pre.->sed  through  the  meaning 
'  setting  free. "  Hav.  questions  the  signiticutiou 
cf  spreading  out  (comp.  Hupfehl  on  Ps.  Ix.vxviii. 
6  [5]);  holds  "to  cover,"  "to  bind,"  "to  wind 
round,"  as  the  radical  meaning;  and  as  to  the 
matter,  compares  Judg.  v.  10.  The  allusion  pro- 
bably is  to  the  splendid  riding  or  horee  apparel, 
which  in  the  East  (like  the  stirrups,  for  example) 
arc  marks  of  distinction  and  luxury. — Ver.  21. 
Arabia  (3-iy  ;  comp.  riQiy,  a  steppe),  here 
together  with  "all  the  princes  of  Kedar"  (Gen. 
XXV.  13)  —  in  Pliny,  Cudrei  —  a  particularizing 
of  the  small  trafficking  nomadic  tribes  in  the 
interior  of  Arabia  ;  comp.  ver.  15.  Their  large 
property  in  flocks  is  well  known  ;  comp.  also  Jcr. 
xlix,  28  sq. — Even  the  roving,  unsettled  Bedouins 
of  the  desert  were  Tyre's  ready  instruments  for 
his  merchandise. — Ver.  22.  The  merchants  of 
Sheba  and  Baamah  (nDJTI),  that  is,  Sabfea,  in 
Arabia  Felix,  and  the  Cushite  'Piyfta,  on  the 
Persian  Gulf. — C'^<^,  the  head,  for  the  highest 
of  their  kind  ;  here  of  the  foremo.st,  most  excel- 
lent perfumes  (Db'3,  or  Db'3i  of  tl*^  balsam- 
shrub),  if  the  genuine  balm  is  not  meant  by  it. 
The  mountains  of  Hadramaut  and  Yemen  yield 
all  sorts  of  precious  stones,  and  the  latter  was 
esteemed  among  the  ancients  as  a  very  rich  gold 
region. — Ver.  23.  Haran  (Gen.  xi.  31,  Kiffxi, 
the  Carrae,  noted  in  later  times  for  the  defeat  of 
Crassus)  comes  into  view  as  on  the  cross-way  of 
the  caravans  when  they  were  passing  through 
Mesopotamia.     Khanneh    (n33i    contracted    for 

n3^3),  the  later  Ctesiphon,  as  a  commercial  city 
on  the  Tigris.     Eden  (nj?)  is  the  Mesopotamian, 

aa  distinguished  from  the  Syrian,  to\vn,  which 
has  been  sought  in  the  delta  of  the  Euphrates — 
Maadan  ? — By  the  Sheba  here  Rosenmiiller  un- 
derstands another  Sabsea  than  that  mentioned  in 
ver.  22.  Hav.  translates  :  "  Haran  and  Canneh 
and  Eden  are  the  merchants  of  Saba  ;  (on  the 
otlier  hand)  Asshur,  Chilmad  are  thy  custo- 
mers "  (?).  Keil  and  Movers  understand  the 
meaning  to  be,  that  the  Sabaeans,  who  held  a 
yearly  market  in  Carrie,  were  named  as  negotia- 
tors between  the  districts  of  Mesopotamia  and 
Tyre. — Asshur  must,  according  to  Keil,  not  be 
Assyria,  but  (Moveks)  the  emporium  of  Sura 
(Essurieh),  on  the  Euphrates,  above  Thapsacus, 
in   a  caravan   road   which   branches   off  toward 

1D73>  Charmande.  Hav.  sees  in  Chilmad  a 
Tj'rian  emporium  for  the  trade  with  As>)Tia. — 
Ver.  24.  D'feo.  fro™  iiiss.  ornaments,  perfectly 
fine  articles,  finished  productions;  by  which  may 
be  understood,  with  Hav.,  works  of  art  of  fciste- 
ful,  perfectly  beautiful  workmanship,  or,  with 
others,    of  splendid   garments.       {Ewald  :    full 

equipments. ) — Q153  (from  Qpj,  to  roll,  wind  up) 
is  a  mantle,  a  wide  garment,  well-nigh  corre- 
sponding to  the  Chlamys  ;  comp.  ver.  7. — D'HJi 
treasures,  which  signification  Hengst.  firmly 
retains;  but  what  were  "treasures  of  damask"? 
The  word  must  specify  the  preceding  more  general 
objects  of  beantifid  workmanship.  Hav.  takes 
U  for  a  Persian  word,  intended  to  designate  a 


foreign  object,  ami  naturalized  in  Syriac  ;  either 
girdles,  or  pouches,  or  trousers.  (Gesen.  :  chests 
for  packing  and  preserving  in  ;  Hitzig:  "and  in 
cords. "  tJJ,  what  is  twined,  wound  up.  Ewalp  : 
pouches  of  Damascus.)— n'Dn3 ;  Gesen.  :  a  kind 
of  cloth  with  a  many-coloured  wool,  the  TaXvfuiTot 
of  the  Greeks,  damask.  Hav.  :  garments  of 
peculiar  sorts  of  weaving  (iiTXalin;  '!).  The 
Tyrians  then  dyed  silk-yarn,  silk,  and  cotton 
wool. — 'D'i!3n3  Hav.  translates;  "with  threads 
wound  round  and  firm,"  as  a  nearer  description, 
partly  in  respect  to  the  costly  threads  with  which 
the  cloth  in  question  was  inwrought,  and  partly 
in  respect  to  its  durability. — mx  the  ancients 
mostly  connect  with  pn,  cedar,  and  understand 

by  it  che.'ts  of  cedar.  PniLirpsox  :  packed  in 
cedar.  n'">3n  must  be  taken  for  cords  or  strings. 
t;'3n>  to  bind.  Hengst.  :  "  bound  with  cords 
and  fastened."  "  Ezeldel  describes  the  bales  of 
such  stuffs  probably  according  to  his  own  view." 
HiTZir.  :  "with  many -threaded,  tight -drawn 
cords." — Ver.  25.  The  sum  from  which  the  ten- 
dency of  the  whole  representation  clearly  appears. 
Hav.  unsuitably  connects  this  verse  with  ver.  26. 
Tarshish  alone  points  back  to  the  commencement 
of  the  representation,  in  ver.  12.  Ships  of  Tar- 
shish, however,  were  those  prepared  for  distant 
voyages  generally,  as  we  speak  now  of  "India- 
men,"  "Greenlanders." — nnC'i  according  to 
Hiiv.,  must  mean  "walls,"  as  if  the  Tarshish 
fleet  had  formed,  in  a  manner,  the  breastwork 
of  Tyre — had  been  the  secmity  of  the  Tyrian 
commerce.  According  to  other  explanations, 
"singers,"  who  celebrate  thee  on  account  of  thy 
merchandise  ;  Hitzig  :   ■!l«nilt:'=thy  fields,  thy 

lands.  It  probably  comes  from  -1^^,  Chald. 
KTC',  caravan  ;  and  the  sense  will  be :   they 

moved  off  caravan-like  to  drive  your  traffic  (Ges.). 
Hengst.  :  "  The  skips  of  Tarshish  visit  thee,  thy 
wares  ;  these  were  the  special  object  of  the  visit." 
But  this  made  nothing  for  the  aim  of  the  repre- 
sentation ;  and  the  sentence  that  follows  stands 
better,  if  the  ships  are  conceived  of  as  trading 
towards  Tartessus,  and  then  always  bringing  back 
their  gains  from  the  distant  world,  which  filled 
Tyre,  and  lent  to  it  its  singular  importance  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea.  Comp.  on  ch.  xxvi.  2. — 
'13nyD  <^f"i  te  the  accusative :  in  respect  to  thy 
merchandise  ;  as  to  the  sense,  much  the  same  as  : 
navigation,  on  a  grand  scale,  was  thy  business  ; 
it  was  his  lever. — Ver.  4. 

Vers.  26-36.   The  Overthrow  of  Tyre. 

In  ver,  26,  already  introduced  by  ver.  25,  the 
lamentation  upon  Tyre  resumes  the  image  of  a 
ship,  which  was  dropped  at  ver.  10.  Hav.  justly 
draws  attention  to  the  contrast,  since  T)Te  re- 
ceived his  deathblow  in  the  midst  of  his  glory, 

and  to  the  impressive  repetition  of  Q'C  373,  in 
the  heart  of  the  sea.  "The  overthrow  of  the 
city  was  its  shipwreck  "  (Hitzig).  'd*03  ;  comp. 
Ps.  Ixxvii:  20  [19].  Therefore  like  a  vessel  that 
was  brought  upon  the  high  sea  by  its  rowers, 
who  moved  it ; — which,  indeed,  did  not  bespeak 
a  policy  that  adventured  into  danger,  but  migbt 


2&8 


EZEKIEL. 


^ell  enough  indicate  tlie  proud  self-sutiicieni-y 
which  inspirited  the  whole.  Hengst.  :  "The 
many  waters  an' image  of  great  dangers  and  suf- 
ferings " — The  east  wind  (ch.  xvii.  10,  xix.  12\ 
■ixactly  as  at  Ps.  xl\iii.  7.  Peculiar  to  it  are 
strong,  continued  bla-sts  ;  if  the  vessel  strengthens 
itself  to  the  storm,  then  the  danger  beconit?s  very 
great.  "  In  the  midst  of  the  .sea"  is  no  deliver- 
ance, it  now  becomes  the  grave  for  all  and  of  all. 
— Ver.  27.  A  recai)itulation  ;  comp.  vers.  12,  18, 
19,  22,  9,  17,  8,  10— ch.  xxvi.  15.— Ver.  28.  Cry 
of  the  pilots,  which  depicts  the  perfect  hopeless- 
ness of  deliverance.  — {;n3t3>  from  BJnj,  a  sejiarate 
piece  of  ground  :  a  common,  pasture-ground,  but 
this  as  the  environs  of  the  city,  so  that  the  con- 
tinent with  its  adjoining  territory  will  be  meant. 
The  death-cry  on  the  high  sea  finds  its  echo  on 
the  continent, — Pahutyre  ? — Tlie  sensation  upon 
the  land  is  connected  in  Ver.  29  sq.  with  a  pro- 
longed representation  of  the  same  on  the  sea. 
Very  fitly  those  who  stood  in  a  marine  relation- 
ship to  Tyre  took  up  the  lamentation  over  her. 
Whether  it  might  be  to  give  a  strong  impression 
of  the  general  insecurity  since  Tyre  had  fallen, 
or  to  add  solemnity  to  the  lamentation,  in  the 
one  way  or  the  other  is  the  coming  down  of  the 
persons  concerned  to  be  understood  ;  either  all 
will  as  quickly  as  possible  find  deliverance  on  the 
land,  or  sympathy  makes  them  come  nearer  to 
the  scene  of  the  disaster. — Ver.  30.  Comp.  ch. 
xxvi.  16  sq.  A  collection  of  all  sorts  of  expres- 
sions of  mourning,  with  the  view  of  representing 
the  grief  aa  at  once  great  and  general. — Ver.  31. 
Comp.  ch.  vii.  18. — Ver.  32.  <j,  contracted  from 
»n3,  suited  for  the  yelling,  sharp  wail-cry  (Hav.); 
against  which,  Hitzig  gives  as  an  emendation: 
gn'Ba,    raised  up  in  their  mouth  :=  took  upon 


their  lips.  —  -)iv3  »o,  Hitzig  quite  correctly 
groumls  in  vers.  33,  34 :  from  so  great  a  height 
so   deeply   simk   down  !— nD13    ^Gesen.  ;  niSSIi 

destruction,  that  which  is  destroyed;  Kf.il,  part. 
Pi.  with  o  dropt  off:  "as  the  annihilated  in 
the  midst  of  tlie  sea";  Hitzig,  part.  Pual)  is  the 
destination  suitable  to  a  place  like  Tyre.  Hengst. : 
nai  is  not  the  participle,  but  the  perf.  Pual, 
which,  as  often  with  the  perf.,  stands  in  place  of 
the  participle:  "like  one  that  is  destroyed." 
Ew.iLD  :  "like  her  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.' 
Hav.  :  "wlio  is,  like  Tyre,  become  so  still!  " — 
c  impared  with  the  earlier  noisy  bustle  of  the  city. 

In  the  a<n  lina  there  sounds  again  Q'o'  253. — 
Ver.  33.  When  thy  wares  went  forth.  Hengst.  : 
"from  the  seas  they  were  brought  into  all  the 
harbours  of  the  world."  Kosejjmijller :  out  of 
all  seas  to  Tyre.  Hitzig  :  like  the  production.s, 
the  fruits  of  the  field  from  all  soils.  — Satisfy  is : 
to  meet  the  desire,  the  demand,  the  necessity. 
Tyre,  on  the  one  siile,  satisfied  the  world's  need  ; 
on  the  other,  it  enriched  those  of  whom  it  bought 
or  trafficked  in  respect  to  gold  or  costly  goods. 
The  "  Suri "  or  Tyrian  gold  pieces  were  well 
known  in  antiquity. — Ver.  34.  The  contrast,  ni/ 
mac':,  indication  of  the  time,  which  so  far  is 
specified  as  to  be  identified  with  that  of  Tyre's 
overthrow.  Others:  now.  (Ewald  improves  thus, 
fliagjj  nV,   "  now  art  thou  shattered.")    The 

going  down  of  a  Teasel,  where  all  goes  down.  — 

Ver.  35.  The  closing  chorus  in  a  manner ;  those 
who  were  friendly  to  the  commerce  ;  and  in  ver. 
36,  the  co-operators  and  rivals  in  it.  Amazement, 
terror,  but  also  malicious  joy.  The  close  agreei 
with  ch.  xxvi.  21. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


1, 2  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,  Son  of  man,  say  to  the  prince 
of  Tyre,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  thy  heart  is  high,  and  thou 
sayest,  I  am  God,  the  seat  of  the  gods  I  occupy  in  the  heart  of  the  seas ;  and 
thou  art  man,  and  not  God,  and  thou  makest  thy  heart  as  the  heart  of  the 

3  Grodhead  :     Behold,  thou  art  wiser  than  Daniel ;  nothing  concealed  is  dark  to 

4  thee :     In  thy  wisdom  and  in  thy  prudence  thou  hast  made  for  thee  wealth, 

5  and  makest  [procurest]  gold  and  silver  in  thy  treasures  :    In  the  fulness  of  thy 
wisdom  in  thy  traffic  thou  didst  increase  thy  wealth,  and  thy  heart  was  high 

6  in  thy  wealth  :     Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because  thou  makest 

7  thy  heart  as  the  heart  of  the  Godhead ;     Therefore,  behold,  I  bring  strangers 
upon  thee,  the  violent  of  the  heathen  ;  and  they  draw  their  swords  upon  the 

8  beauty  of  thy  wisdom,  and  they  dishonour  thy  shining  beauty.   ■  To  the  grave 
they  will  bring  thee  down,  and  thou  diest  the  death  of  the  pierced-through 

9  in  the  heart  of  the  seas.     Wilt  thou  say  and  [stiii]  say,  I  am  God,  in  the 
presence  of  him  that  slayeth  thee  ]  and  thou  art  man,  and  not  God,  in  the 

10  hand  of  him  that  pierceth  thee  through  !     Deaths  of  the  uncircumcised  shalt 

thou  die  in  the  hand  of  strangers  :  for  I  have  spoken :  sentence  of  the  Lord 

11,  12  Jehovah.     And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  tean,  raise 

a  lamentation  over  the  king  of  Tyre,  and  say  to  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 

Jehovah,  Thou  confirmedst  the  measure,  full  of  wisdom,  and  perfect  in  beauty! 

IS  In  Eden,  the  garden  of  God,  wast  thou ;  every  precious  stone  was  thy  covering, 
•ardine,  topaz,  and  diamond,  Tarshish-stone,  ony.x,  and  jasper,  sapphire, 
carbuncle,  and  emerald,  and  gold  :  the  work  of  thy  kettledrums  and  of  thy 


CHAP.   XXVIII.  1-2.  269 


pipes  was  with  thee  ;  in  the  day  that  thou  wast  made  they  were  prepared. 

14  Thou  cherub  of  the  anointing,  that  covered  ;  and  I  liave  given  thee  [therefor, 
therctiij  ;  upon  the  holy  mountain  of  God  wast  thou,  in  the  midst  of  fiery  stones 

15  thou  didst  walk.     Blameless  wast  thou  in  thy  ways  from  the  day  that  thou 

16  wast  made,  till  perverseness  was  found  in  thee.  In  the  abundance  of  thy 
merchandise  they  filled  thy  midst  with  mischief,  and  thou  sinnedst ;  and  I  will 
profane  thee  from  off  the  mountain  of  Godhead ;  and  I  will  destroy  thee, 

17  covering  cherub,  from  the  midst  of  the  stones  of  fire.  Thy  heart  was  high 
in  thy  beauty  ;  thou  didst  corrupt  thy  wisdom  on  account  of  thy  shining 
beauty  ;  to  the  earth  will  I  throw  thee  down  ;  I  give  thee  before  kings,  that 

18  they  may  look  upon  thee.  From  the  multitude  of  thy  iniquities,  in  the 
corruptness  of  thy  traffic,  thou  hast  profaned  thy  sanctuaries  ;  and  I  will  make 
fire  go  forth  from  the  midst  of  thee,  which  burns  thee  up;  and  I  will  give  thee 

19  to  ashes  upon  the  earth  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  see  thee.  All  who  know  thee 
among  the  people  are  amazed  at  thee  ;  for  terrors  thou  art  become,  and  thou 
art  no  more  even  to  eternity. 

10,  21         And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  direct  thy 

22  face  toward  Zidon,  and  prophesy  upon  it,  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah ;  Behold,  I  [come]  upon  thee,  Zidon,  and  glorify  Myself  in  the  midst 
of  thee  :  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  I  do  judgments  in  [oh]  her, 

23  and  sanctify  Myself  in  her.  And  I  send  pestilence  into  her,  and  blood  into  her 
streets  ;  and  the  pierced-through  fall  in  the  midst  of  her  by  the  sword  upon 

24  her  round  about ;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  there  shall  no 
more  be  to  the  house  of  Israel  a  pricking  thorn  and  a  smarting  sting  from  all 
round  about  them,  who  despised  them ;  and  they  know  that  I  am  the  Lord 

25  Jehovah.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  When  I  gather  the  house  of  Israel 
from  the  peoples  among  whom  they  have  been  scattered,  then  I  sanctify 
Myself  in  them  before  the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  and  they  dwell  upon  their 

26  ground  which  I  have  given  to  My  servant  Jacob.  And  they  dwell  upon  it  in 
security,  and  build  houses,  and  plant  vineyards,  and  dwell  in  security,  when 
I  do  judgments  on  all  who  despised  them  of  those  round  about  them ;  and 
they  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  am  their  God. 

Vff.  8.  Sept. :  fi-ti  ffc^atnpn  u  tu\  .  .  .17  ro^u  §u*  irguitvfccf  n  i*  rri  irirryif>ui  xirtu  ; 

Ver.  4.  fAft  i>  T7]  i^irrnf^v  rw,  .  .  . 

Ver.  5.  i]  iv  T»j  (rcXA*j ;  •  .  . 

Ver.  7.  Sept.:  iXXorfimt  ynftmi  •»  iO>M  .  .  .  i»i  n  x.  iTi  re  xitXt.K  .  .  .  »«u  irtptiireuiri<  to  xiXKk  rau  lis  i^mUimr. 

Ver.  8.  Rsi  K»Tct$i^a.rovffit  rft  .  . 

Ver.  9.  Sept.,  Valg..  Syr.,  Ar.  read:  ■l'3^1^  and  "I'^'HO. 

Ver.  12.  Sept.:  .     .  2wij  xroa-^pxytarfnc  ifjuiaiffuts  .  . .  x.  ff-n^xio;  xxXXoue  —  DJIin,  Or  In  Stat,  const. — For  H^JSH 

Mme  codices  read  n'33n. 

Ver.  13.  Another  reading:  j*iy3  =  7ua<(   Eden.     Sept.:   iy  rrt  rpufn  r.  lexpaittirotj  .  .  .  x.  ipyvpmt  k.  xp^"^""  «• 

ijfyvpivi  as.  xxOfnTiV  X.  afjtt9vffT6t  K.  XP^O-oXlBov  X.  BvipvKXiCf  X.  ovvx'"*,  X.  xPf^'Of  i»ITA»5ffaf  Toyf  6%Jctvpovs  con,  X.  T«f  aTo6^xm4 
9,  n  961.    ^Aif'  ii  ru.tpaf  'ixTiir6r,f  tfT*  — Valp. :  In  diliciis  parodist  .  .  .  aurttm  opus  decoris  tut;  H  foramina  tita  tn  die — 
Ver.  14.  Sept.:  ^!t«  Xtpeu^,  i8ti««  « i>  Spii  .  .  .  tyt>ri6r,s  in  ^™.— Vulg.:  Tu  Cherub  exientus  et  protegent,— 

Ver.  16.   ('Eyly»5fl»if)  acuMLLOi  if  vixli  f.utpxis  ffou — 

Ver.  16.  *Ato  irXtj^ous  .  .   .  i-rXitSotcts  r.  Titf^uct  ff«y  .  .  .   «.  irpmufiXTtirByiS  etirc  epoue  .  .  .  «.  ^yetj^f  «  T9  Xipevfi  n 
nrxix^ar.     VnlR.  ;  .  .  .  repleta  sunt  interiora  tua — 

Ver.  17.  Sept. :  .    .  .  liiifQxpyt  h  WfirTv;u.ri  .  .  .  purtt  rev  xtK\Xove  rcu  Jiot  T.  *A*i6ff  T.  afiapTian  ffou  in  T.  yr»— 

Ver.  18.  .  .  .  xxt  otiixian  T.  iu-ropiet;.     Vulg. :  poUuisti  sanctijicationem  tuam — (Some  codd.  read.:  ^31V  sing,  ftnd 

Ver.  19.  ,  .  .  «*ikrXeia  iytvoti — nihili  foetus  et — 

Ver,  22.  .  .  .  xati  7***71 — Sept.  for  n3  read  twice  ']3:  Chal.,  Ar.,  a  few,  DS- 

Ver.  23.  Sept.:  .  .  .  iv  irot  vtpixvxXa/  cev — 

Ver.  24.  K<w  oi/xlri  icovToti  rxo>.e^  mxpietg  x.  etxavBet  eiuvzi — 

Ver.  25.  ,  .  .  xctt  evyixlat  ...  fa:  T.  x^^*'^  ov  .  .  .   ixtt  .  ■  .  hairio*  r.  Aaa/y  too  Itnatr.     Sept.  read     DC/* 

Ver.  26.   .  .  .   ev  iAtjS*  ...   0  Slos  Avran,  X    0  ©£0f  r.  rtxTip^v  xiran. 


EXEfiETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-10.  Tlie  Prophecy  on  the  Prince  of  Tyre. 

Ver.  1.  There  is  first,  therefore,  a  prophecy  of 

judgment,  as  in  ch.  xxvi.,  with  reference  to  Tyre. 

— Ver.  2.  *i'>j}  ;  Meier  :  one  who  holds  together, 


a  governor,  director.  In  Ethiopic,  Nigua  is  king. 
Gesex.  :  he  who  goes  before,  duke,  doge.  The 
special  prominence  given  to  this  person,  desig- 
nated king  in  ver.  12,  was  natural  from  tlie 
marked  parallel  with  Jerusalem  ;  conip.  ch.  xvii 
19.    But  there  was  expressed  in  the  kingd'im,  and 


260 


EZEKIET,. 


especially  in  the  case  of  Tyre,  also  a  ohuracteristie 
state-constitution.  Small  as  many  of  the  Plia'ni- 
2ian  cities  were,  each  still  liaii  its  king,  and  Tyre, 
in  particular,  kept  by  a  hereditary  kingdom,  so 
that  even  in  the  latest  times  only  those  related  to 
the  old  royal  house  were  admitted  to  the  throne. 
This  kingdom  combined  with  a  rich  and  powerful 
aristocracy  the  mercantile  interest,  the  gains  of 
commerce,  which  founded  it  (ver.  16).  After  the 
analogy  of  Carthage,  a  senate  stood  by  the  side  of 
the  king,  of  the  old  families,  which  must  in  many 
respects  have  limited  him,  so  that  the  Oriental 
despotism  couhl  not  develope  itself  here.  Accord- 
ing to  Josephus,  it  was  Ethbaal  ii.;  but  not  the 
person,  only  the  position  comes  into  consideration, 
and  especially  as  in  him  the  mercantile  power  of 
Tyre  had  its  proud,  secure  representative. — As 
elsewhere  also  (ch.  xxv. ),  so  here  the  sinning  goes 
first  on  to  ver.  6. — The  self-exaltation  which  is 
ascribed  to  him  has  respect,  on  one  side,  to  the' 
high  opinion  entertained  of  himself ;  on  tlie  other, 
to  the  same  in  connection  with  his  dwelling-place. 
What  is  to  be  made  account  of  in  the  latter  re- 
ipect  is  plain  from  the  assertion,  I  am  God, — to 
be  distinguished  from  the  likeness  of  the  Most 

High  (p''^j)^  nons)  in  Isa.  xiv.  14,  also  from 

Acts  xii.  22  ;  it  expresses  the  heathenish-mytho- 
logical consciousness.  The  rock  on  which  Tyre 
was  built  is  at  the  same  time  to  be  viewed  in  its 
connection  with  the  oft-mentioned  temple.  The 
Phcenician  myth  represented  the  two  islands  as 
moving  about  in  the  sea,  until  an  eagle  was 
sacrificed  as  an  atonement.  Down  to  the  third 
century  Tyrian  coins  exhibit  the  two  islands,  with 
the  inscription,  iifil3po{r!i  ■rirpi  (immortal  rock). 
According  to  Sanchoniathon,  Astarte,  when  wan- 
dering through  the  world,  consecrated  a  star  that 
fell  down  before  her  eyes  to  the  island  Tyre. 
The  foundation  of  the  temple  to  Melkarth  was 
represented  by  its  priests  as  contemporaneous 
with  that  of  the  city — about  2750  B.C.  So  Hero- 
dotus relates  ;  and  Arrian  calls  it  the  oldest  sanc- 
tuary known  in  the  annals  of  mankind.  Thus 
D'n^N    nCJ'ID    is    sufficiently    explained ;    while 

Hengst.  still  thinks  of  an  "  absolute  inaccessible- 
ness,"  and  Hitzig  of  the  circumstance  that  this 
kingly  residence  ' '  sprang  up  out  of  the  water,  as 
the  palace  of  God  out  of  the  heavenly  ocean." 
["  Sanchoniathon  expressly  calls  it  '  the  holy 
island  '  ;  and  it  is  known  that  the  TjTian  colonies 
all  reverenced  it  as  the  mother-city  of  their  religion, 
not  less  than  the  original  source  of  their  political 
existence.  It  was  only  in  the  spirit  of  ancient 
heathenism  to  conclude,  that  a  state  which  was 
not  only  strong  by  natural  position,  and  by  im- 
mense maritime  resoiu'ces,  but  also  stood  in  such 
close  connection  with  the  divine,  might  be  war- 
ranted in  claiming,  through  its  head,  something 
like  supernatural  strength  and  absolute  perpetuity 
of  being." — P.  F. ] — In  the  heart  of  the  seaa  is 
an  echo  from  ch.  xxvii.  4,  25,  26. — The  rejoinder, 
and  thou  art  man,  etc. ,  is  sharp,  yet  at  the  same 
time  sober — the  simple  contrast  between  man  and 
God  (El). — And  thou  makest  thy  heart,  stc, 
continues  the  thou  sayest,  as  well  explaining  nUJ 

137>  fs  giving  forth  the  speech  that  naturally 

flowed  from  it,  the  thoughts,  the  ebullitions  of  a 
heart  which  was  the  heart  of  Godhead. — Hitzig : 
|fU  indicates  what  is  made. 


Ver.  3  begins  an  interlude,  which,  however, 
docs  not  picture  forth  the  imagination  of  liif  lieing 
(iod,  to  which  the  mention  of  Daniel  would  as 
little  suit  as  what  thereafter  folhiw.s  ;  but  rather 
proceeds  on  the  ground  of  the  admitted  manhood, 
and  so  does  only  the  more  feelingly  censure  the 
loftiness  of  spirit.  It  needs  not  be  understood 
either  as  a  (juestion,  or  as  spoken  ironically.  Be- 
hold, what  exists,  according  to  thy  niistaken 
notion  ;  it  shows  the  being  wiser  than  Daniel 
to  be  merely  an  imagination.  There  hence  arisfs, 
at  the  .same  time,  a  clear  confirmation  of  the  bo>k 
of  Daniel  (comp.  Hengst.  here),  since  Daniel'.'" 
wisdom  was  at  any  rate  well  known  in  the  ciicle 
of  Ezekiel,  one  also  recognised  at  the  Chaldean 
court,  and  therefore  to  be  held  up  against  the 

Tyrian  sovereign.     On  the  DinD"^3i  that  to  him 

nothing  concealed,  sei-ret,  was  unknown,  comp. 
Dan.  ii.  10,  11,  19,  iv.  6.  Here  also,  indeed,  ia 
only  a  man,  but  with  a  generally  admitted  super- 
human, truly  divine  wisdom,  which  God  had  in 
reality  given  (that  is  the  main  element  in  the 
comparison  with  Daniel),  which  he  has  not,  as 
thou  hast  done,  in  his  imagination  appropriated 
to  himself.  Hengst.  lays  stress  also  upon  the 
statesmanlike,  the  really  princely  position  of 
Daniel,  which  so  excellently  grounded  the  kind 
of  counter-position  assigned  him  in  relation  to  the 
king  of  Tyre. — Ver.  4  goes  a  step  deeper  still, 
namely,  to  the  real  standpoint  of  the  Tyrian 
prince, — his  wisdom  and  prudence  in  the  matter 
of  worldly  riches  (1  Kings  iv.  21)).  In  connection 
therewith,  one  naturally  thinks  of  the  traditions 
according  to  which  an  ancestor  of  the  royal  house 
was  the  first  sailor,  who  was  borne  to  the  Island 
in  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  tree,  and  there  erected 
pillars  to  the  wind  and  fire  ;  that  the  forefathers 
of  the  Tyrian  kings  alleged  they  had  found  purple 
on  the  island  (the  Tyrian  colour,  scarlet,  the  lack- 
dye  of  Sor). — 7<n  is  presently  specified  in  the  gold 
and  silver. — IVIS  is  :  provisions,  treasure,  trea- 
sury (Zech.  ix.  2,  3). — Ver.  5.  However  great 
this  wisdom  might  be,  however  much  and  varied 
its  manifestations,  it  centred  in  the  merchandise; 
and  with  the  growth  which  accrued  to  the  wealth, 
the  heart  also  became  swollen,  as  its  self-elation 
found  in  that  wealth  its  proper  element. 

Ver.  6  connects  itself  in  a  summary  way  with 
ver.  2,  and  prepares  for  the  conclusion  in  Ver.  7, 
which  joins  the  punishment  to  the  course  of  sin 
that   had  just  been   described. — y")]!,   terrible, 

powerful  and  violent :  those  who  are  so  pre-emi- 
nently above  others — the  Chaldeans  (ch.  xxvi.  7). 
Hitzig  :  "  Against  (why  not  upon  ?)  the  beauty 
of  thy  wisdom. "  'What  is  meant  is  :  that  the 
beauty  of  the  mercantile  state  of  things  in  Tyre 
was  the  offspring  of  the  wisdom  which  distin- 
guished its  king.  <a'  and  flVB'  ^■'^  almost  the 
same,  the  latter,  however,  indicating  more  the 
shine  or  glitter  of  the  beauty.  The  shine  of  the 
beauty  may  be  referred  especially  to  the  prince- 
hood  of  Tyre.    [Ewald  :  "  they  draw  their  swords 

upon  thy  most  beautiful  wisdom."]  p'pn.  to 
pierce  through.  Pi.  to  dishonour,  to  make  com- 
mon.— Ver.  8.  nnB'  =  ni3,  ch.  xxvi.  20. — The 
plural  'nilOID.  deaths,  admits  of  explanation  partly 
from  the  representative  character  of  the  Tyrian 
princehood,   partly  from  the  feeling   therewith 


CHAP.  XXVIII    10-U. 


261 


connected,  of  liis  ilying  in  the  death  of  every 
Tjrian  that  Wiis  slain.  Hengst.  coniiiai'e.s  eli. 
xxi\.  5;  Gen.  xiv.  10.  Othefs  :  as  the  pierced- 
chrough  dies  of  many  death-wounds  (ch.  .xxi.  30, 

19  [25]).  Even  without  rendering  ppn,  "  pro- 
fane," there  is  a  pointing  back  to  ip"ini  in 
▼er.  7  in  this  way,  namely,  that  the  princehood 
should  at  last  share  the  fate  of  every  one  who  was 
pierced  through,  and,  stripped  of  all  splendour, 
should  be  cast  into  the  grave. — Ver.  9.  The  word 
here  goes  still  farther  back  than  nnoi  '"  '''•'i'-  S, 
and  transfers  the  scene  to  the  very  moment  of 
being  killed,  ami  confronts  the  vaunting  discourse 

(in  ver.  2).  ^ann  ijaij,  ch.  xxi.  16  [11].— The 
extremely  cutting  argumentation,  and  thou  art 
man,  etc.— i^^iriD,  'Pi-=hhnnc,  Poel  (Isa.  li.  9). 
— Ver.  10.  D^niDi  plur.  from  niD.  comp.  at  ver.  8. 
— inv  is  uncircumcised  (comp.  ch.  xliv.  9;  Isa. 

lii.  1);  for  Jews,  on  account  of  the  sacramental 
import  of  circumcision,  it  designates  the  heathen 
world  as  outside  the  covenant  of  God  (1  Sam. 
xvii.  36,  xxxi.  4,  barbari?).  The  opposite  in 
Num.  xxiii.  10:  "the  death  of  the  righteous." 
Also  for  the  Tyrian,  as  here,  it  is  hardly  to  be 
understood  without  the  circumcision  reported  by 
Herodotus  of  „he  Phojnicians  (11.  104).  Earlier, 
in  ver.  8:  as  every  one  that  is  pierced  through  ; 
here  there  is  an  ascension:  as  a  uon- Tyrian 
through  strangers. 

Vers.  11-19.  Lamentation  over  tJie  Prince  of 
Tyre. 

Now  ver.  11,  as  ch.  xxvii.  — Ver.  12.  The 
lamentation  is  in  fitting  adaptation  to  the  person 
who  was  just  killed.     Comp.  at  ch.  xxvii.  2. — 

In  the  connection  with  nD3n  X^D  snd  'a<  ^'^3, 
which  in  themselves,  and  after  what  has  preceded, 
are  quite  clear,  n'33n  DJlin  cannot  possibly  be 
rendered,  with  Hitzig  :  "thou  art  a  curiously 
wrought  seal-ring."  Ewald  has:  "0  thou  seal 
of  the  completion."  Dmn  means  :  to  cut  in,  to 
impress  with  a  seal,  to  seal ;  therefore  partic. : 
thou  wast  sealing.     Also  DJlin,  the  seal-ring,  is 

properly  the  impressor.  The  transfen-ed  signifi  • 
cation :  to  seal,  that  is  :  to  attest,  to  confirm,  to 
verify,  recommends  itself  thi-ough  ri'33n  (from 
pJli  to  determine  exactly,  to  weigh),  the  measure, 
the  determinate,  that  which  must  have  a  certain 
amount  (ch.  .xliii.  10)  :  accordingly  :  thou  con- 
finuedst  the  measure,  thou  fuliillcdst,  madest  the 
right  measure  good  ;  therefore  a  threefold  thing 
is  boasted  of  the  Tyrian  kingdom  :  measure,  wis- 
dom, and  beauty.  The  first  of  these  may  be  said 
against  despotism ;  comp.  at  ver.  2.  ["According 
to  the  present  text  and  punctuation,  the  expres- 
sion plainly  means  ;  thou  art  the  one  sealing 
exactness  (the  noun  Qnin  denoting  anything  that 
is  of  an  exact  or  perfect  nature).  To  say  of  the 
king  of  Tyre  that  he  sealed  up  this,  was  in  other 
words  to  declare  him  every  way  complete  ;  he 
gave,  as  it  were,  the  finishing  stroke,  the  seal,  to 
all  that  constitutes  completeness ;  or,  as  we  would 
now  say  it,  he  was  a  normal  man — one  formed 
ifter  rule  and  pattern.    Hence  it  is  immediately 


explained  by  what  follows  :  '  full  of  wisdom  and 
perfect  in  beauty  ' ;  in  this  stood  his  si-aling  com- 
pleteness."— P.  F.] — Ver.  13.  In  Eden  ;  con-j 
ch.  xxxvi.  35  ;  Isa.  li.  3.  And  the  delightsome 
land,  wherein  the  garden  for  primeval  man  lay, 
brings  up  the  garden  of  God  (El,  not  Jehovah) ; 
ch.  xxxi.  8,  9;  Gen.  xiii.  10.  As  the  Tyrian 
king  himself  was  cerbiinly  not  God,  but  what  was 
said  of  him  in  ver.  12,  so  his  dwelling  was  un- 

iiuestionably  not  pK  a^D,  the  habitation  of 
God  ;  it  might,  however,  be  named  paradisiacal, 
since  all  fulness  of  what  was  j)leasant,  and  all  pos- 
sible magnificence,  surrounded  the  same,  covered  it 
("jnaDOJ-  Hitzig  freely :  "every  precious  stone 
was  thy  figure-work  ;"  because  out  of  the  stones 
tlie  figuration  of  the  ring  must  be  composed  I 
The  transition  to  every  precious  stone  brings  to 
remembrance  Gen.  ii.  11,  12.  The  distribution 
of  the  particulars  forms  three  groups,  each  having 
three  precious  stones,  rounded  off  by  the  gold, 
which  makes  ten  (the  symbolical  number  of  com- 
pleteuess).  This  emblematic  representation  of 
kingly  greatness  and  glory,  therefore,  carries  no 
respect  to  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest  and 
its  twelve  stones,  where  also  they  are  ranged  in  a 
different  order ;  comp.  however,  on  the  significa- 
tion of  the  particular  names,  at  Ex.  xxviii.  17  sq., 
xxxix.  10  sq.     Comp.  also  here  at  ch.  i.  16,  26, 

xxvii.  16.- — nSXTD  ^^7  siguify  business,  perform- 
ance, work,  also  goods.  Manifestly  ?nusic  iji 
meant  by  it  here,  as  the  older  expositors  have 
rendered,  an  ordinary  accompaniment  of  the 
pomp  of  royalty  (comp.  Uan.  iii.  5)  !  ;|n  '» 
therefore  the  (hand)  kettledmm,  as  a  specimen 
of  all  instruments  that  were  struck  (fjQn);  and 
3p3  will  be  the  pipe  (from  apj,  to  push  through, 
bore  through),  for  the  mnd  instruments  as  they 
were  then  constructed.  [Ges.  takes  nn  'or  the 
socket  in  which  the  gem  is  put,  and  apj  as  ring- 
socket.  Ewald:  "  were  appointed  for  thy  oracle 
and  soothsaying  work  on  the  day  of  thy  creation." 
He  would  take  it  ironically:  the  man — who  might 
be  called  the  seal,  that  is,  the  consummation,  etc., 
was  once  certainly  as  the  first  of  all  men  in  para- 
dise (Job  XV.  7),  so  that  he  has  a  completeness 
beyond  any  other  person — took,  doubtless,  for  his 
holy  ornament,  which  covered  him  from  the  first 
day  of  his  life,  all  the  twelve  stones  of  the  high 
priest's  oracle -sign,  and  was  doubtless  made  by 
God  a  cherub  upon  the  mountain  of  the  gods,  and 
was  also,  doubtless,  unblameable  from  his  birth — 
only,  alas !  till  his  guilt  was  discovered  !  Others 
thought  of  n2p3,  the  female  (woman).     So  Hav.: 

"  the  service  of  thy  kettledrums  and  of  thy  women 
was  ready  for  thee  on  the  day  of  thy  creation," 
which  (by  a  reference  to  Gen.  i.  27)  must  indicate 
the  king's  entrance  on  his  government,  and  the 
ladies  of  his  harem,  who  surrounded  him  with 
dance  and  song.] — On  the  TK'n3n,  comp.  ch.  xxi. 
35  [30].  With  the  creation  of  this  princedom,  as 
it  took  in  Tyre  precedence  of  the  still  older  Zidon, 
there  forthwith  existed  all  sorts  of  parade  and 
glory,  such  as  could  be  found  only  in  kings' 
courts.  (pi3,  Pual  from  pa  ?).  Firm  and  well 
prepared  did  this  kingdom  start  into  being. 

Ver.  14.  As  the  colour  given  to  the  representa- 
tion has  already,  with  its  kettledrums  atd  its 
pipes,  forsaken  Eden  and  paradise,  and  "the  day 


262 


EZEKIEL, 


of  creation  "  does  not  quite  constitute  the  Tyriaii 
king  a  second  Adam — as  the  whole  representation 
generally  appears  to  take  into  account  only  tlie 
very  ancient  origin  on  wliich  this  kingdom  prided 
itself,  perhaps  also  not  without  some  touch  of 
irony — so  certainly  the  cherub  here  has  little  or 
nothing  at  all  to  do  with  paradise  (comp.  at  ch. 
i.,  ix.  3,  10);  for  it  is  unnecessary  fur  the  fallow- 
ing context  to  think  of  tlie  history  of  the  Tyi-ian 
kingdom  after  the  analogy  of  the  history  of  the 
fall.  Kather  may  we  suppose  that  the  clesigna- 
tion  of  cherub  points  simply  to  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  and  esjiecially  to  the  most  holy  phice 
there.  Tliere  is  thereby  symbolized  out  of  the 
history  of  this  kingdom  that  historical  epoch 
when  it  came  through  Hiram  ii.  into  connection 
with  David  and  with  Solomon,  so  important,  in 
particular,  for  the  design  of  the  temple-building, 
and  important  also  for  the  commerce  of  Tyre. 
Already,  as  architect  of  the  temple  of  Solomon 
{and  that  Hiram  was  a  connoisseur  as  well  as  a 
promoter  of  the  building  art  is  testified  by  Jose- 
phus,  in  addition  to  what  is  said  in  the  Bible, 
from  the  fragments  of  Dius  and  Menander  in  his 
possession),  the  king  of  Tyre  takes  beside  Solo- 
mon in  this  respect  a  position  which  makes  his 
appearance  under  a  name  borrowed  from  the 
architecture  of  the  holy  of  holies,  the  cherub, 
not  unsuitable.  That  cherub  is  applied  to  him 
only  symbolically  is  rendered  plain  by  the  other- 
wise incomprehensible  addition  of  rmiOD,  that  is, 
of  the  anointing,  which  imports  as  much  as : 
anointed  cherub,  therefore:  who  is  king.  What 
Hengst.  concludes  from  Ex.  xxx.  22  sq.,  that 
"  anointed  "  =  holy,  because  all  the  vessels  of 
the  temple  were  anointed,  to  impress  on  them  the 
character  of  holiness,  runs  out  to  this  result,  that 
the  king  of  Tyre,  as  king,  was  res  sacra,  because 
God  had  communicated  to  him  of  His  greatness — 
therefore,  that  he  is  said  to  be  anointed  because 
he  was  king.  Since  "ijion,  "the  coYering,"  re- 
peated in  ver.  16,  refers  to  Ex.  xxv.  20,  and  we 
know  (comp.  Doctrinal  Reflections  on  ch.  ix. )  that 
the  cherubim,  screening  with  their  wings  the  ark 
of  th  covenant,  symbolized  the  life  of  creation, 
confessing,  as  it  actually  does,  the  heavenly  King, 
the  Holy  One  in  Israel,  the  Most  High  over  all, 
so  it  is  not  out  of  the  way  if  the  king  of  Tyre, 
who  has  shown  himself  to  be,  along  with  Solomon, 
the  protector  of  the  temple, — a  building  which 
unquestionably    culminated   in    the  most    holy 

Elace, — should,  agreeably  to  this  testimony,  be 
onoured  as  ' '  the  anointed  cherub  that  covereth. " 
Yea,  as  the  whole  creation  serves  the  eternal  King 
of  Israel,  so  also  has  the  Tyrian  kingdom  served 
Him  in  His  house  at  Jerusalem  (on  which  al.so 
Isa.  xxiii.  18  leans),  and  thus  a  proper  contrast 
to  the  self-elevation  in  vers.  2  and  5  is  brought 
out,  as  is  expressly  said  through  the  immediately 
following  "^'rinj.  I  have  given  thee.  Upon  the 
holy  mountain  of  God  is  here,  therefore,  as  always, 
to  be  understood  of  the  temple-mount  at  Jerusalem 
(2  Chron.  iii.),  where  He  right  truly  waa,  as  archi- 
tect of  the  temple.  And  because  there  the  sanc- 
tuary for  the  ministrations  of  the  priestly  service 
in  Israel  was  executed  through  him,  and  in  the 
high  priest  of  Israel  the  whole  Israelitish  priest- 
hood culminated,  it  might  be  said,  with  reference 
to  the  high-priestly  Urim  and  Thummim,  of  the 
Tyrian  king,  that  "  he  walked  in  the  midst  of 
(tones  of  fire." 


[Other  Ejcplanations. — Hiiv.  thinks  that  the 
king  of  Tyre  was  named  cherub  as  the  ideal  of  a 
creature  (so,  too,  Bahr  previously  in  his  Si/nibolik)' 
nC'CD   is   with   him   to    be   distinguished   from 

n'L''Di  iiu   anointed   object   (Ex.    xxx.    26),   and 

"]31Dn  is  as  much  as  ;  a  reflection  of  the  divine 

glory.  He  thinks  of  a  holy  gods'-mountain  (Isa. 
xiv.  13),  wherein  the  king  of  Tyre,  as  one  of  those 
mighty  mouutain-guils  (1  Kings  xx.  23)  whom 
the  Tyii.ms  honoured,  was  located  ;  and  the  fiery 
stones  were,  according  to  Hav.,  those  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Herculus  as  the  fire-god,  which  may  have 
been  illuminated.  Hengst.  takes  tlie  cherub, 
with  Hiiv.,  as  a  representation  of  the  earthly 
creature-life  in  its  highest  grade,  and  in  its  highest 
perfection  ;  which,  however,  cannot  be  conceived 
of  as  proper  to  the  Tyrian  king.  As  "covering,' 
he  covered  Tyre  so  long  as  God's  favour  was  wiib 
him  and  his  people.  The  mountain  of  God  must  be 
his  elevation  to  the  holy  mount  of  God,  a  partici- 
pation in  the  divine  greatness  ( Ps.  xxx.  8);  and  the 
fiery  stones  correspond  to  the  walls  of  fire,  which 
indicate  the  divine  protection  (Zech.  ii  9).  Ewale. 
"  thou — into  the  wide-covering  cherub,  into  that 
I  make  thee; "  and  from  the  holy  mountain  of  the 
gods  rush  down  the  sparkling  stones  of  fire,  namely, 
thunderbolts  against  the  wicked  ( !).  Hitzig,  like 
the  Sept.,  takes  nx  *s  DN,  with;  "beside  the 

cherub,  etc.,  so  have  I  set  thee  ;"  then:  "cherub 
of  the  width  of  the  covering. "  But  he  is  in  some 
doubt ;  he  thinks  by  the  mountain  of  God  might 
be  meant  Horeb;  but  it  might  ':ie  the  Albordsch 
of  Asiatic  mythology,  and  in  the  stones  of  fire 
there  lies  at  bottom  the  idea  of  a  Vulcan.  One 
sees  the  despair  which  attaches  to  every  rational- 
istic exposition.  ] 

[The  rationalistic  explanations  of  this  singular 
passage  are  certainly  bold  and  unsatisfactory 
enough  ;  but  our  author's  own  appears  to  make 
greatly  too  much  account  of  the  historical  relation 
of  Hiram  to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  too 
little  of  the  poetical  element  which  pervades  the 
representation.  "It  is  one  of  the  most  highly 
figurative  representations  of  prophecy,  and  is  only 
to  be  compared  with  Isaiah's  lamentation,  ch.  xiv., 
over  the  downfall  of  the  king  of  Babylon.  It 
characteristically  differs  from  this,  however,  in 
tbat,  while  it  moves  with  equal  boldness  and  free- 
dom in  an  ideal  world,  it  clothes  the  ideal,  accord- 
ing to  the  usage  of  our  prophet,  in  a  historical 
drapery,  and  beholds  the  past  revived  again  in 
the  personified  existence  of  which  it  treats.  It  is 
a  historical  parable.  The  kings  of  Tyre  are  first 
personified  as  one  individual,  an  ideal  man — one 
complete  in  all  material  excellence,  perfect  man- 
hood. And  then  this  ideal  man,  the  representa- 
tive of  whatever  there  was  of  greatness  and  glory 
in  Tyre,  and  in  whom  the  Tyrian  spirit  of  self- 
elation  and  pride  appear  in  full  efilorescence,  is 
ironically  viewed  by  the  prophet  as  the  type  of 
humanity  in  its  highest  states  of  existence  upon 
earth.  AH  that  is  best  and  noblest  in  the  history 
of  the  p^ist  he  sees  in  imagination  meeting  in  this 
new  beau-ideal  of  humanity.  It  was  he  who  in 
primeval  time  trod  the  hallowed  walks  of  paradise, 
and  used  at  will  its  manifold  treasures,  and  regaled 
himself  with  its  corporeal  delights.  It  was  he 
who  afterwards  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  cherub 
— ideal  compoimd  of  the  highest  forms  of  animal 
existence — type  of  humanity  in  its  predestined 


CHAP.  XXVni.  15-21. 


263 


state  of  ultimate  comiileti-ness  and  glory;  ami, 
as  such,  hatl  a  place  assigned  him  among  the  con- 
secrated symbols  of  God's  sanctuaiy  in  the  holy 
mount,  and  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Most 
High.  Thus,  occupying  the  highest  spheres  of 
created  life,  and  familiar  even  with  the  sight  of  the 
divine  glory,  he  knew  what  it  was  to  dwell  amidst 
the  consuming  fire,  and  to  walk  as  on  burning 
stones  of  sapphire  (Ex.  .xxiv.  10).  So  thou 
thinkest,  thou  ideal  man,  thou  quintessence  of 
human  greatness  and  pride — thou  thinkest  .that 
manhood's  divinest  qualities,  and  most  honourable 
conditions  of  being,  belong  peculiarly  to  thyself, 
since  thou  dost  nobly  peer  above  all,  and  standest 
alone  in  thy  glory.  Let  it  be  so.  But  thou  art 
still  a  man,  and,  like  humanity  itself  in  its  most 
favoured  conditions,  thou  hast  not  been  perfect 
before  God  :  thou  hast  yielded  thyself  a  servant 
to  corruption,  therefore  thou  must  be  cast  down 
from  thine  excellency,  thou  must  lose  thy  cherubic 
nearness  to  God,  etc.  ...  So  that  the  cry  which 
the  prophet  would  utter  through  this  parabolical 
history  in  the  ears  of  all  is,  that  man  in  his  best 
estate — with  everything  that  art  or  nature  can 
bring  to  his  aid — is  still  corruption  and  vanity. 
The  flesh  can  win  for  itself  nothing  that  is  really 
and  permanently  good  ;  and  the  more  that  it  can 
surround  itself  with  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of 
life,  the  more  only  does  it  pamper  the  godless 
pride  of  nature,  and  draw  down  upon  itself  calamity 
and  destruction. " — P.  F.] 

Ver.  15.  To  wish  to  bring  D<)on  into  connection 

with  Adam's  sinless  constitution,  has  against  it 
the  expression  "^'a-na,  in  thy  ways.    It  is  simply 

the  contrast  to  the  expression :  perverseneas  was 
found  in  thee ;  therefore;  blameless  in  thy  walk. 
One  might  suppose,  after  the  exposition  given  of 
the  walking  in  the  midst  of  the  fiery  stones  in 
ver.  14,  an  allusion  to  the  D'snil     The  earlier 

procedure  of  the  kingdom  of  Tyre,  as  seen  in  the 
fellowship  it  then  maintained  with  the  David  and 
Solomon  of  Israel,  must  be  viewed  as  set  over 
against  the  corruption  into  which  it  latterly  fell 
(ch.  xxvi.  2,  xxvii.  3,  xxviii.  2  sq.).  A  dogmatic 
antithesis,  such  as  Hengst.  supposes,  is  not  to  be 
imagined.  — Ver.  16.  Here  now  foUows  the  origin 
of  the  perverseness  that  was  found  in  him,  namely, 
in  his  vast  commerce  (ver.  5);  and  so  one  has  to 
think  of  the  Tyrian  kingdom  as  carrying  on  and 
lying  merchandise,  and  that  in  all  sorts  of  ways, 
y  which  it  fell  into  pernicious  and  sinful  courses. 

— vD'  indeterminate  as  to  its  subject,  or(HENGST.): 

thy  inhabitants  (?);  more  properly:  fellow-citizens, 
subjects,  if  they  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  the 
merchants-. from  all  countries.  Rosenm.  pre- 
ferred the  intransitive  signification  of  the  verb: 
"through  the  multitude,  etc.,  was  thy  interior 

filled."     [Hitzig;  i^a  =  Sii'D,   "the   filling   of 

thy  interior  was  injustice."]  Thus,  in  place  of 
the  former  blamelessness,  there  has  come  to  be  a 
ground  for  punishment.  Hence  for  the  punish- 
ment there  must  now,  through  God,  be  a  with- 
drawal from  the  relations  once  held  to  Israel,  the 
most  elevated  reminiscences  of  its  history,  as 
through  God  it  had  been  introduced  to  these. 
This  lies  in  inD  i  ^n*!  tli*t  it  is  contemplated  as 
a  holy  downfall,  with  a  view  to  the  building  up 
of  the  sanctuary  in  Israel  at  the  time,  we  perceive 


t 


from  the  "l^^nSI— ch.  vii.  21,  22.  [HiTZlG :  "an.i 
thou,  covering  cherub,  art  quite  rooted  out"  !  !] — 
For  the  rest,  comp.  at  ver.  14. — Ver.  17.  The  dis- 
course here,  with  n^J.  again  reverts  to  the  subject 
announced  at  the  very  beginning  (ver.  2),  the 
corruption  of  the  Tyrian  kingdom  :  the  proud 
self-elation  in  or  on  account  of  his  beauty;  comp.  at 
ver.  7.  The  higher  man  raises  himself,  so  much  the 
poorer  does  he  become  as  to  his  wisdom.  A  proud 
man,  a  fool ;  so  it  is  said  in  common  life,  for  this 
special  i-eason,  that  the  splendour  of  wealth,  the 
whole  attractive  display  of  its  outward  position, 
so  apt  to  bewitch  strangers  even  and  to  beget 
envy,  brings  the  possessor  so  much  the  sooner 
and  the  more  to  a  self-pleasing  condition.  This 
is  distinctly  involved  in  the  •>]},  on  account  of, 
which  does  not  need  to  be  taken  as  =  with,  together 
with.  Ew.iLD:  "  thou  hast  lost  thy  wisdom  upon 
thy  splendour." — The  self-destruction  and  anni- 
hilation (n^t^')  of  such  self-elation  corresponds, 
as  to  time,  with  the  casting  down  effected  by  God 
(jnS'^y).  an<l>  with  respect  to  the  preceding 
glory,  with  the  abandonment  to  the  astounded 
and  at  the  same  time  malicious  gaze  of  those  who 
were  companions  as  to  rank  and  position.  Hengst. 
remarks  that  nSI.  with  a,  marks  the  affecting 
contemplation,  especially  with  a  joyful  participa- 
tion,    mxii',  the  infinitive  form,  like   n3Kl7> 

nans^. 

Ver.  18.  •yi'iy  aio  is  parallel  with  -jriPa"!  2'2 
in  ver.  16,  and  -]n^3"l  i)1J?a  throws  light  on 
T3iy- — The  profanation  proceeded  from  the  moral 
offence  ;  the  unrighteous  mammon  in  commerce 
brought  along  with  it  sin  and  guilt.  After  what 
is  said  in  ver.   16  in  reference  to  God  as  to  the 

profaning,  the  words  y^pli  Dp^n  can  occasion 
no  difficulty.  The  sanctuaries  of  the  Tyrian 
kingdom  are  those  holy  reminiscences  regarding 
the  mountain  of  God  and  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Lord,  and  of  Israel's  high-priesthood.  One  cannot 
possibly  serve  God  and  mammon.  (Others  have 
thought  of  the  temple,  which  T)Te  made  on  his 
holy  island  ^? !).  With  Hengst.  eveiy  sort  of 
greatness  ordained  by  God,  or  of  glory  distributed 
by  Him,  is  a  sanctuary.) — The  fire,  according  to 
Hitzig,  must  be  the  perverseness  with  which  hi» 
interior  was  penetrated,  as  fire  bound  up  in 
him  (! !).  Some,  too,  have  under  it  thought  of  » 
traitor,  who  would  pass  over  to  Nebuchadnezzar. 
Vatke  has  also  mentioned  the  phoenix,  giving  itsell 
to  be  burnt.  It  is  a  biblical  form  of  speech,  fre- 
quently used,  for  the  punishment  of  divine  wrath 
which  comes  from  sin,  and  which,  as  is  evident 
from  the  term  ashes,  was  to  annihilate  the  king- 
dom  of  Tyre  (ch.  xix.  12).— IJnKI.  contrast  to 
TnnOI  in  ^^i"'  1*- — The  seeing  once  more  em- 
phasizes the  spectacle,  which  will  be  presented  to 
every  one  in  the  subject  so  judged. — Ver.  19. 
Here  at  last  is  the  conclusion.  With  the  seeing 
with  the  eyes  there  is  conjoined  the  knowing, 
the  understanding  with  the  spirit. — Comp.  en. 
xxvi.  16.  They  are  prophetic  preterites. — Ch. 
xscvii.  36,  xxvi.  21. 

Vers.  20-26.   The  Prophecy  on  Zidon. 
Vers.   20,  21.    The  brief  and  supplementwj 


164 


EZEKIEL. 


manner  in  which  this  prophecy  respecting  Zidon 
is  introduced  arose  from  the  backgoing  charac- 
ter of  this  city,  though  it  was  more  ancient  tlian 
Tjrre  (hence  sung  of  by  Homer,  wliUe  T}Te  is  not), 
and,  accordiug  to  such  tradition,  still  very  com- 
monly represented  the  Phcenician  state  (for  exam- 
ple, Isa.  xxiii.  4,  12);  comp.  Gen.  x.  15,  xlix.  13. 
On  coins,  as  among  the  Greeks,  Zidon  is  called 
the  metiopolis  of  Tyre.  On  account  of  its  still 
always  preserved  independence,  whence  it  took 
part  in  the  coalition  against  Babylon  (.Jer.  xxvii.), 
— one  may  saj',  the  Genoa  of  the  old  world,- — there 
was  due  to  it  a  word,  however  short,  especially 
since,  as  a  representative  of  Canaan,  with  which 
no  such  relations  were  maintained  as  bet^veen 
Tyi-e  and  Israel  under  Hiram  and  Solomon,  it 
formed  most  fitly  the  contrast  for  the  promise 
which  bore  respect  to  the  people  of  God.  Comp. 
Judg.  X.  12. 

Ver.  21.  rn>v,  that  is,  "fishing,"  which  indi- 
cates the  earliest  employment  of  its  inhabitants, 
lay  in  a  plain,  which  resembled  an  orchard,  several 
hours'  walk  along  the  sea,  and  had  a  summer  and 
a  winter  harbour  ;  at  present  a  small,  insigni- 
ficant place.  Of  the  old  fortress  there  still  re- 
mains a  square  tower.     Fishing  and  traffic  in  fish 

are  stUl  practised  there.— Ver.  22.  y'py  <:jn,  as 
atch.  xxvi.  3. — irna33l;  comp.  Ex.  xiv.  4,  17, 18. 
May  a  preparation  have  been  intended,  through 
this  reference  to  Egypt,  for  what  follows  in  ch. 
ixLx.  ?  In  such  a  being  sanctified,  or  in  God 
sanctifying  Himself,  as  is  done  by  means  of  a 
judicial  punishment,  there  is  presupposed  the  cer- 
tainty that  Zidon  would  not  have  sanctified  Him. 
The  impressive  transition  from  the  second  to  the 
third  person  makes  the  fact  appear,  in  a  manner, 
as  already  accomplished,  so  that  one  speaks  of 
Zidon  as  of  such  a  person. — Ver.  23.  For  which 
sort  of  judgments  see  ch.  v.  17.  Pestilence  in 
connection  with  war, — that  in  the  houses ;  this  as 
the  shedding  of  blood  in  the  streets,  as  is  presently 

brought  vividly  out. — i)^31,  Pil.  equivalent  to 
Kal,  but  strengthening,  enhancing,  as  also  alliter- 
ating ;  producing  a  resemblance  of  sotmd  which 
has  in  it  something  graphic  (Hiv. ).  Continually, 
as  it  were,  the  pierced-through  fall — The  Bword, 
through  which  God  will  act  upon  them,  comes 
upon  Zidon  from  round  about,  so  that  there  is  no 
escape. — The  representation  of  the  predicted  judg- 
ment is  kept  general.  With  Zidon  the  analogous 
prophecies  respecting  judgment  first  reach  their 
end.  And  thus  also  can  the  following  be  joined 
to  it  the  more  fitly. 

Ver.  24.  The  point  of  contrast  is  presented  by 
the  -idea  of  neighbourhood — the  nearer  (ch.  xxv. ), 
or  the  more  remote,  as  was  the  case  with  Tyre  and 
Zidon ;  it  is  said  expressly :  from  all  round  about 

them.  On  p^Di  comp.  at  ch.  ii.  6.  Ges.  :  "like 
the  young  shoots  and  twigs  of  the  palm. " — ^^>KDO, 
partic.  Hiph.  from  ^XD,  to  thrust ;  intransitive : 

to  be  sharp,  bitter.  Ges.  :  "  raising  bitter  pain." 
y^p  is  something  cutting,  stinging.  — 2t<2,   to 

bend  oneself  for  pain,  hence  Hiph. :  to  cause  pain. 
^The  promise,  accordingly,  amounts  to  this,  that 
the  sensible  pain  which  the  people  of  Israel  must 
have  experienced  through  tne  contempt  of  their 
neighbours  shall  cease  in  the  future.  The  figura- 
ave   representation  is  a  majked   repetition   of 


Num.  xxxiii.  ,55;  the  pain  experienced  was  pun- 
ishment ;  comp.  Gen.  .w.  18  sq. ;  Josh.  xiii.  19; 
.Tudg.  i.  31,  32,  iii.  3.  But  now  the  Lord  accom- 
plishes what  His  people  had  slightingly  neglected. 
Comp.  also  ch.  xvi.  57. — The  negative  side  is 
followed  by  the  positive  in  Ver.  25  ;  the  scornful 
heatlien  go  down,  but  the  people  in  whom  the 
Lord  sanctifies  Himself,  in  contrast  to  them,  come 
gloriously  up  Comp.  ch.  xi.  17,  xx.  41. — The 
change,  also,  from  Israel  to  Jacob,  is  to  be  noticed, 
and  the  relation  of  house  of  Israel  to  My  servant 
Jacob. — Ver.    26.    In  consequence  of  the  added 

definition:  DDS^t  iu  security,  it  is  repeated  that 

they  should  dwell  upon  their  home-soil.      nt33) 

according  to  Meier  :  to  stretch  forth  oneself, 
i.e.  give  away  oneself,  confide  ;  hence:  to  be  care- 
less, secure.  Ges.  :  the  same  derived  from  a 
primary  meaning,  "to  be  void,  empty." — But 
also  the  secure  possession  in  the  confidence  o£ 
faith  is  in  this  comforting  promise  repeated,  and 
finally,  such  grace  of  God  is  again,  and  stUl  more 
expressly  than  before,  set  over  against  the  divine 
judgments.  Comp.  besides,  Isa.  Ixv.  21.  Hitzig: 
"  the   first   latJ*'!    preceding  the  building  and 

planting  is  inchoative  :  they  settle  down  ;  the 
second  :  they  are  established,  dwell,  or  abide.' 
Hengst.  remarks  :  "It  is  designed  to  meet  the 
despair  which,  after  the  opening  of  the  siege  o. 
Jerusalem,  had  become  the  most  formidable  enemy. 
So  that  here,  in  the  onesidedness  which  so  com- 
monly adheres  to  prophecy,  because  everywhere 
connecting  itself  with  definite  temporal  relations 
and  issues,  only  the  light  side  of  the  future  of  the 
covenant-people  is  brought  into  view.  Along 
with  that  there  was  also  a  shady  side,  which  is 
supplied  by  the  successors  of  Ezekiei,  Zechariah 
and  Malachi.  A  great  national  judgment  was 
destined  to  follow  the  Chaldean."  Hav. :  "  This 
is  the  eternal  blessing  which  rests  upon  Israel, 
that  it  shall  one  time  attain  to  a  blessed  peace, 
while  the  heathen  powers  shall  lie  under  the 
penal  judgment  of  God."  He  calls  to  mind  the 
gathering  through  the  gospel.  That  here,  as  in 
ch.  xxvi.  20,  in  the  shape  of  a  brief  glance  into 
the  future,  there  are  traits  of  Messianic  colouring, 
is  manifest.     Comp.  also  at  Amos  ix.  14. 


DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  The  time  for  the  fulfilment  of  these  pro- 
phecies against  the  aliens,  where  no  dates  of  a 
definite  nature  are  to  be  found  in  the  prophecies 
themselves,  depends  on  the  kind  of  realization 
applied  to  them.  Tholuck  admits  of  a  wide  in- 
terval "  in  the  relation  between  truth  and  reality 
in  the  prophecies. "  But  when  he  presently,  again, 
limits  the  principle,  that  ' '  the  mode  of  realiza- 
tion may  be  to  us  a  matter  of  indifference, "  since 
"the  simply  religious  spirits"  are  to  be  distin- 
guished from  divine  seers,  nothing  is  gained  but 
the  arbitrary  definition  that  the  prophets, ' '  though 
not  uniformly,  yet  in  great  part,  saw  the  truth  o* 
the  future  not  merely  in  abstracto,  but  under  the 
concrete  veil  of  their  historical  realization."  And 
what  is  meant  by  "seeing  the  truth  in  abalracto"  ? 
Is  there  not  a  self-contradiction  in  this  as  applied 
to  the  prophets,  to  whom  the  ideas  presented 
themselves  as  matters  of  fact,  and  these  lacts 
in  this  or  that  actual  form  ?  There  must,  firet  oj 
all,  be  admittedly  something  of  human  weakness, 


CHAP.  XXVI.-XXVIII. 


966 


cepeoially  in  the  subsequent  reproduction  of  the 
prtviously  received  di<'ine  communications  and 
visions.  Many  an  intermediate  link  in  this  way 
was  lost ;  but  thereby  tlie  end  came  so  much  nearer 
to  the  beginning,  the  ultimate  background  to  the 
foreground.  In  this  and  other  respects  there  is 
the  dust  of  finiteness  on  these  proplietic  paintings, 
which  but  so  much  the  more  furnishes  a  pledge  of 
their  divine  origin.  With  this  agrees  what  is  said 
in  1  Pet.  i.  10-12, — said,  indeed,  with  reference 
to  the  time  of  the  Christian  salvation,  yet  admit- 
ting also  of  a  more  general  application, — where 
there  is  ascribed  to  the  prophets  an  "  inquiring" 
and  ".searching  into," — a  matter  of  study,  there- 
fore, also  for  them,  since,  when  the  meaning  had 
not  been  expressly  made  manifest  to  them,  they 
sought  for  traces  [of  the  fulfilment],  and  made 
trial  of  them  in  regard  to  the  times  which  lay 
near  at  hand.  If  their  prophecies  had  been  the 
product  of  their  own  spirit,  such  want  of  know- 
ledge in  regard  to  the  cases  in  question,  and  their 
procedure  in  consequence  thereof,  must  have  been 
strange  ;  but  in  this  way  we  have,  with  their 
searcliing  concerning  their  prophecies,  perhaps 
the  proper  soul  of  their  so-called  literary  activity. 

2.  In  the  prophecies  of  judgment  contained  in 
the  earlier  chapter  [i.e.  ch.  xxv.],  the  execution 
of  the  judgment  rests  wholly  in  the  hand  of  God. 
So  upon  Ammon,  upon  Moab,  upon  the  Philis- 
tines ;  only  in  respect  to  Edom  was  it  said  that 
the  accomplishment  would  be  made  specially 
through  Israel.  The  divine  sentence  speaks 
throughout  of  the  extirpation  of  the  very  name. 
As  regards  place  and  time,  no  other  fulfilment 
could  lie  nearer  to  the  prophet  and  his  contem- 
poraries than  that  through  Nebuchadnezzar.  That 
this  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  end  could  not 
Oefoncluded  without  some  insight  into  the  divine 
patience,  and  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  the 
flesh.  Still  more  clearly  do  these  relations  dis- 
cover themselves  in  the  case  of  Tyre. 

3.  The  transition  to  Tyre  is  made  by  our  pro- 
phet through  the  Philistines.  Considered  gene- 
rally, this  has  its  ground  in  the  heathenish 
character  of  the  race.  More  specially,  for  their 
appearance  in  this  connection,  account  has  been 
made  of  a  notice  (see  Movers,  Phcen.  ii.  313), 
according  to  which  the  Zidonians,  after  they  had 
(B.C.  1209)  been  brought  into  subjection  by  the 
Philistines,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  island-city 
of  Tyre.  Lenormant  {Manuel  d'Hist.  Anc.  de 
I'Orient),  and,  leaning  upon  him,  M.  Busch,  have 
woven  thence  the  story,  that  a  Philistine  fleet, 
sailing  from  Askalon,  had  surprised  Zidon,  and 
put  an  end  to  the  hitherto  Zidonian  supremacy. 
Thus  would  the  Philistines,  as  having  furnished 
the  occasion  for  the  origination  of  Tyre,  have  had 
their  proper  place  assigned  them,  in  a  historical- 
genetical  respect,  at  the  close  of  ch.  xxv.  and 
before  the  beginning  of  ch.  xxvi.  of  Ezekiel.  M. 
Duncker  {Hist,  of  Antiq.  i.  519)  merely  says: 
"  In  the  year  B.C.  1254,  a  number  of  the  Zidonian 
race  emigrated  from  Zidon,  and  over  against  Old 
Tyre,  upon  an  island-rock,  beside  the  temple  of 
Melkarth,  founded  New  Tyre.  This  New  Tyre 
grew  into  a  commonwealth  with  the  old  city  on 
the  land.  The  strengthening  which  Tyre  hereby 
received  put  it  in  the  position  of  setting  up  a 
rivalry  with  the  commerce  and  the  colonization 
of  Zidon.  From  B.C.  1100  Tyre  saw  herself  at 
the  head  of  the  Phoenician  cities." 

4.  Tyre,  as  very  commonly  happens  with  com- 


mercial states,  and  still  more  with  commercial 
cities,  presents,  in  tlie  few  and  disconnected  thing! 
that  we  know  of  its  liistory,  an  image  of  ups  and 
downs,  and  inversely.  Commonly  it  is  said,  id 
connection  with  our  chapter,  that  Tyre  was  tlien 
at  the  summit  of  its  power.  But  this  might 
rather  be  said  of  the  times  of  Da\-iJ  and  Solomon 
(DrxiKER,  p.  520).  For  the  period  under  con- 
sideration it  comes  nearer  to  the  ruth  to  say, 
that  Tyre  had  again  revived,  and  continued  to 
maintain  a  certain  precedence  among  the  Plionyi- 
cian  cities.  For  though  the  revolt  of  Kition  in 
Cyprus  had  been  suppressed,  and  the  island  strong- 
hold of  TjTe  had  under  King  Elularos  successfully 
withstood  the  Assyrians  (Salnianassar),  yet  the 
dependent  relationship  of  the  Plicenician  cities 
toward  Assyria  from  the  year  B.C.  900  became 
more  and  more  marked,  and  TjTe  had  to  stretch 
all  her  powers  to  preserve  her  position,  or  again 
to  make  it  good.  During  the  Assyrian  siege  it 
lost  its  last  colony  in  the  Thracian  seas,  namely, 
Thasos ;  and  an  Assyrian  fleet  ere  long  robbed  it 
anew  of  the  island  of  Cypras,  which  it  had  again 
reconquered.  A  memorial  stone  in  the  Berlin 
Museum  commemorates  this  success  of  Salma- 
nassar  against  Tyre.  According  to  Lenorraant's 
representation  (ii.  p.  313  ;  Busch,  p.  247  sq.), 
while  Salmanassar,  B.C.  720-15,  had  been  suc- 
cessfully resisted,  there  were,  about  B.C.  700,  de- 
cided failures  against  Sennacherib,  who  conquered 
the  island  Tyre,  and  set  up  there  a  vassal  (Ton- 
baal)  as  king.  The  bas-reliefs  in  the  rocks  of 
Nahr  el  Kelb,  around  Beirut,  even  to  the  present 
time,  according  to  Lenormant,  bear  witness  to 
the  complete  subjection  of  Phoenicia  by  Senna- 
cherib (?  Sargana-Salmanassar ! ),  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  Tyrian  supremacy.  (If  this  French 
representation  were  to  be  trusted,  the  prophecy 
of  Isaiah  in  ch.  xxiii.  would  have  to  be  applied 
to  it,  though  the  Chaldeans  were  already  to  be 
descried  in  the  distance  ;  and  Ezekiel  would  con- 
nect with  the  restoration  which  intervened  (Isa. 
xxiii.  15  sq.)  the  prophecy  of  a  new  judgment 
upon  Tyre  by  the  hand  of  the  Chaldeans,  as  gene- 
rally the  judgment  upon  Tyre.  But  also  in  the 
otherwise  general  representation,  which  knows 
only  of  the  unsuccessful  siege  of  the  island -city 
by  Salmanassar,  is  the  reference  thereto  of  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  in  its  first  aspect  to  be  held 
fast.  What  Isaiah  predicts  in  ch.  xxiii.  accords 
quite  well  with  the  Assyrian  issue  of  things. 
For  Salmana,ssar  did  subject  the  Phoenicians  to 
himself,  and  also  Old  Tyre  ^JosEPH.  Antiq.  ix. 
4.  2),  so  that  Salmanassar  could  cause  himself  to 
be  glorified  at  Lykos  beside  the  monuments  of 
the  Egj'ptian  Ramses.  The  five  years'  siege 
assuredly  did  not  pass  without  inflicting  serious 
injuries ;  and  it  is  anyhow  matter  of  fact,  that  King 
Elulfeos   recognised  the   sovereignty  of  Assyria, 

for  he  henceforth  took  the  title  of  Pha  (nnS), 

that  is,  governor,  vassal.  As  the  Chaldeans  and 
the  siege,  through  Nebuchadnezzar,  emerge  behind 
the  Assyrian,  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  certainly  has 
a  much  more  distant  background,  precisely  as  is 
the  case  also  with  Ezekiel.)  That  the  catastrophe 
at  Jerusalem  should  have  inspired  new  courage 
into  Tyre,  called  forth  words  that  were  expressive 
of  new  hopes  (ch.  xxvi.  2),  is  sutBciently  ex- 
plained not  through  any  position  she  occupiesl 
on  the  height  of  power,  but  rather  through  the 
relations  wnich  arose  out  of  events  in  connection 


2f,fi 


EZEKIEL. 


vrllh  Assj'ria.  (As  Lenormant  mentions  {ii.  p. 
31-11.  if  the  Tyrian  ascendency  had  been  ill  borne 
by  the  other  rhoenician  cities,  since  Tyre  in 
;nany  ways  abused  her  position  (conip.  at  ch. 
xxvii.  S  sq. ),  there  would  hence,  on  this  side, 
have  been  no  farther  interest  for  Tyre  ;  also,  at 
the  end  of  the  Assyrian  period,  it  is  rather  Zidon 
which  appears  at  the  head  of  an  insurrectionary 
movement  against  the  son  of  Sennacherib,  Esar- 
haddon,  as  is  testified  by  an  inscription.  That 
Zidon  was  worsted  in  the  affair  is  shown  by  an 
inscription  found  in  the  British  Museum,  which 
represents  Tyre,  indeed,  as  among  the  tribntaries 
of  Assyria,  but  takes  no  notice  whatever  of  Zidon. ) 
In  consequence  of  the  decay  of  the  Assyri;in 
power,  Egypt  also,  through  Pharaoh  Nechoh,  at- 
tained to  the  position  of  making  the  Phcenician 
states  subject  to  it.  This  took  place  at  the  period 
to  which  belongs  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa, 
through  Tyrian  mariners  in  the  employ  of  the 
king  of  Egypt.  During  this  whole  time,  how- 
ever, and  in  spite  of  the  Assyiian  supremacy,  the 
merchandise  of  Tyi'e  flourished,  and  there  was  no 
diminution  of  the  resources  and  wealth  which  it 
brought  to  the  hand  of  Tyre.  The  place,  so  favour- 
ably situated,  always  raised  itself  anew  ;  its  walls 
were  rebuilt-  "othat,  in  its  re-established  condition, 
it  was  able  \j  offer  resistance  to  Nebuchadnezzar. 
5.  The  determination  respecting  the  issue  of 
the  thirteen  years'  siege  of  the  island  Tyre  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  has  been,  on  one  side,  made  de- 
pendent on  ch.  xxix.  17  sq.,  while  on  another, 
Gesenius,  Winer,  Hitzig  have  turned  to  a  wrong 
account  the  silence  which  is  observed  upon  the 
consequence  of  the  siege  in  question,  in  the  pass- 
ages quoted  by  Josephus  regarding  it  (Antiq.  x.  1 1, 
con.  Ap.  1.  21).'    They  thence  draw  the  conclu- 

^  The  point  which  Josephas.  In  the  first  passage,  confirms 
from  dilTerent  authors  Is,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  had  been 
*'  a  more  energetic,  more  enterprising,  and  more  prosperous 
man  than  the  kings  who  had  been  before  him."  Thus 
BerosuB,  in  the  third  book  of  his  Chaldean  History,  writes 
of  his  deeds — that  with  a  part  only  of  his  father's  host,  and 
while  hitnself  but  a  stripling,  he  had  vanquished  those  who 
were  in  a  state  of  revolt — nretyfjutoi  ffttrptLvris  it  rat  Aiywru 
uai  T»it  frtpi  rr*  Ko'A*iv  ^ptett  Keu  r^  ^otmxrir  roTets,  xtci  Tfjv 
Xttpt^*  f*  Tot/Trf  TTf  otpx^f  it^o  TXf  xl/rov  0(xai\lictf  't^otr,ffxro. 

On  the  report  of  the  death  of  his  father,  xctt  x/xTectr-rrtroLs  la. 
««r«  «!>  Aiyi/!rTO>  ^pacyfJutrtt  x.  ntv  XoJTr*  x^P^*'  and  after 
entrusting  the  Jewish,  Phcenician,  and  Syrian  prisontrs  to 
certain  of  his  friends,  to  convey  them  to  Babylon,  together 
with  the  heavy-armed  soldiers  and  baggage,  he  himself 
went  thither  and  assumed  the  government.  Megasthenes, 
also  (Book  III.  of  his  Indian  Ilistory),  is  cited  by  Josephus, 
and  Diokies  (Book  ll.  of  his  Persian  History) ;  finally,  Philo- 
srratus,  by  whom  it  is  said,  as  well  in  his  Indian  as  his 
Ph(Bnician  History,  ttiat  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged  Tyre 
thirteen  years.  .If  this  long  siege  was  to  serve  as  a  proof  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  practical  energy,  and,  in  particular,  of 
his  extraordinary  prosperity.  Jc^ephus  could  not  have  been 
of  opinion  that  Nebuchadnezzar  liad  been  obliged  to  with- 
draw from  Tyre  without  result.  That  Josephus  was  con- 
vinced of  the  agTeement  *of  the  profane  wTiters  with  the 
historical  accounts  of  his  own  people  in  the  point  under 
consideration,  is  still  mure  clear-  fiom  his  work  against 
Apion.  He  there  repeats  from  Berosus.  what  he  had  else- 
where 8»id  upon  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  the  latter,  after  the 
revolt  of  Egypt  and  Judea,  obtained  the  mastery  over  all — 
Egj'pt.  Syria.  I'ltcenicia.  Arabia:  and  that  he  surpassed  all 
the  Chaldean  and  Babylonian  kings  who  had  been  befure 
him  by  his  deeds,  for  which  he  again  quotes  the  words  of 
Berosus,  and  in  the  fnllowing  section  ('.'0)  adds,  that  in 
iuch  things  "the  Chaldean  history  must  be  deemed  tm~t- 
wolthy,  — 6i>  !*»:►  aAAat  xect  Ton  otp^BHen  Twv  ^etytxan  rvu^ana, 
T«s  Jt«  ^rpaiiriTOt/  ktyofMvon  eivtty.ypatTTal,  vtpi  TOV  Toiy  Ba,3u- 
X«»<«v  ^affiXfrnit  on  xoti  ty,v  ^ptun  xect  TT:*  ^oiyixx*  etrxcoti 
imutc;  xKTitrTpf^txra.  With  this,  also,  he  says,  Philostratus 
agrees,  in  tlie  place  where  he  makes  mention  of  the  siege 
of  Tyre,  and  Megasthenes;  so  that  that  siege  Is  throughout 
to  be  understood  in  the  light  of  the  result  stated,  that  "he 
trettbrew  all  Syria  and  PtaoBnlda." 


sion  that  the  Chaldeans  did  not  get  the  city  into 
their  power,  nor  inflict  any  damage  upon  it.  The 
silence,  however,  observed  in  this  respect,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  practised  by  Phiinician  historio- 
graphers, speaks  rather  for  the  opposite  view. 
For  if  the  siege  had  really  been  \nthout  any  re- 
sult, how  should  it  have  made  for  the  side  in 
question,  that  no  notice  was  taken  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's leaving  his  affair  with  Tyre  in  an  un- 
finished state  ?  The  very  honourable  report  foi 
Tyre,  of  its  having  withstood  a  thirteen  years' 
siege,  which  is  given  by  .Josephus  from  the  original 
sources,  does  not  exclude  the  supposition  that 
the  siege  ended  in  a  capitulation  (in  573),  but  in- 
volves the  assumption  of  a  coiTesponding  pressure 
thi'ough  Nebuchadnezzar ;  although  in  this  Chal- 
daic  siege  of  Tyre,  as  in  the  Assyrian,  a  much 
wider  and  more  comprehensive  view  must  be 
taken  (as  already  said)  of  the  pi'ophetic  announce- 
ments pointing  in  that  direction.  The  evidence  for 
the  subjection  of  Tyi'e  to  the  sovereignty  of  Baby- 
lon may  be  .seen  in  Movers,  ii.  1,  p  448  sq., 
461  sq.  ;  comp.  Hav.  Comm.  p.  429  sq.  On 
King  Ethbaal  being  obliged  to  abdicate,  or  how- 
ever the  act  may  be  designated,  Nebuchadnezzar 
brought  in  Baal  in  his  place.  The  royal  family 
was  carried  away  to  Babylon.  Berosus  says  that 
all  Phoenicia  became  subject  to  Nebuchadnezzar. 
At  all  events,  we  see  the  Tyrians,  and  Phoenicians 
generaUy,  in  a  still  more  marked  state  of  depend- 
ence upon  Babylon  than  formerly  on  Assyria. 
Twice,  as  we  learn  from  Assyrian  sources,  did  the 
people  of  Tyre  receive  their  king  from  Babylon — 
with  which  Hitzig  compares  1  Kings  xii.  2  sq. ; 
but  Delitzsch  rightly  judges  2  Kings  xxiv.  12,  14, 
Dan.  i.  3,  more  worthy  of  comparison,  for  the 
quite  undoubted  supremacy  of  the  Persians  over 
all  Phoenicia  appears  plainly  as  the  taking  over  of 
a  subject-relationship  which  had  already  existed 
under  the  Chaldeans.  "  How  also  should  princes 
have  been  brought  back  by  the  Tyrians,  who  had 
not  long  before  sought  refuge  in  a  coitrt  so  hostile 
to  Tyre  as  Babylon  was?"  (Hav.)  As  Lenor- 
mant represents  the  matter  (ii.  p.  818  sq. ),  the 
city  on  the  mainland  was  first  attacked  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, taken,  and  wholly  destroyed.  There- 
upon came  Nebuchadnezzar  in  person  (s.c.  574), 
to  press  forward  the  slumbering  work  ;  and  now 
the  island-city  was  taken  by  storm,  sacked,  and 
partly  destroyed.  A  number  of  the  people  had 
previously  escaped  by  sea  to  Carthage.  Tyre 
henceforth  merely  vegetated ;  Carthage  was  hei 
heiress. 

6.  Tyre,  in  the  prophets,  comes  into  considera- 
tion not  in  a  political  respect,  but  as  the  repre 
sentative,  the  might,  of  the  world's  commerce. 
Jehovah  and  Mammon  is  the  counterpart  to 
Jerusalem  and  Tyre.  "  This  last "  (says  Delitzsch) 
"gained  as  peacefully  as  possible  the  treasures  oi 
the  nations,  and  secures  for  itself  the  advantage 
it  won  by  means  of  colonies  and  factories." 

7.  The  judgment  upon  Tyre  is  history — an 
entire  development  of  judgment  even  to  utter 
extinction,  as  is  now  most  clearly  manifest. 
Assyria  is  in  this  judgment-history  one  chapter, 
Nebuchadnezzar  also  one,  and  Alexander  the 
Great  still  another  :  Assyria  the  type  of  the 
Chaldeans,  the  Chaldeans  the  tj'pe  of  the  Mace- 
donians— each  one  surpassing  the  other  in  the 
power  of  inflicting  judgment,  like  wave  upot 
w-ave  of  the  sea,  till  the  flood  had  overwhelmed 
all  (comp.   ch.   xxvi.   8,   19).     "  The  deeds  ct 


CHAP,  xxvi.-xxvnr. 


2€' 


Nebucliadnezzai-  rank  with  the  prophet  for  more 
than  an  isolated  fact.  In  the  coiKiue.st  by  that 
monarch,  he  behohls  from  the  historical  gro'imd  of 
the  present  tlie  whole  ma.ss  of  destruction  concen- 
trated, whicli  links  itself  in  histoiy  thereto  as  a 
closely  connected  chain  of  events.  The  niiglit  of 
Tyre,  broken  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  coincides  ni  his 
view  with  the  entire  annihilation  of  the  same. 
This  was  demanded  by  the  internal  theocratic 
significance  of  that  fact  in  relation  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  The  conquest  of  Tyre  by  the 
same  hand  which  struck  the  city  of  Gid  has  the 
counter  signification  of  a  future  glory  (ch.  x.xix 
21,  xxviii.  25,  26).  Nebuchadnezzar  infiicts  on 
Tyre  the  death-wound,  and  its  whole  subsequent 


existence  is  a  struggle  with  death  "  (Hiv. ).  '  The 
Macedonian  conqueror  first  destroyed  Old  Tyre  ; 
then  out  of  the  niins  he  constructed  a  mound  to 
the  island — the  idea  having   been   suggested  to 
him,  it  is  said,  by  Hercules  appearing  in  a  dream, 
md  from  the  temple  in  the  island  stretching  out 
the   hand   to   him  ;    and  at  last,    by  means   of 
treachery,   he  conquered   the  island-city  in  the 
■jeventh  month,   and  dealt   with   it   so  severely, 
;hat  what  remained  of  it  was  but  the  ashes  of  the 
Tyre  which  had  formerly  existed  (comp.  ch.  xxviii. 
18).      After  this  manner  is  prophecy  and  fulfil- 
ment to  be  made  out.     That  Tyre  still,  even  in 
lerome's  time,  was  an  active  place  of  trade,  he 
had  no  difficulty  in  understaniling,   because  he 
took  into  account,  on  the  other  side,  the  ancient 
world-wide  ascendency  of  the  Tyrian  state.     From 
the  time  of  Alexander  the  island  Tyre  continued 
to  be  united  to  the  mainland  :  its  sacred  position 
In  the  sea  had  reached  its  end.     A  pathway  con- 
iuctcd  every  one  quietly  over  to  the  once  splendid 
harbour  of  ships,  and  the  alluvial  deposits  from 
the   sea  continually    added   to   this    connecting 
mound,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  waves  wasted 
the  rock  (Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  v.  17 ;  Pomp.  Mela 
I.    12  ;    Ptol.   v.    15).     Alexandria   became   the 
centre  of  the  world's  commerce.     From  the  hands 
t  *v     1^^^"'^''!'*  ^^^  <=ity  passed  under  the  sway 
of  the  Romans  ;  and  it  is  known  as  still  existing 
in  the  Gospels,  and  in  the  book  of  Acts  (Acts  xxi. 
3  sq. ).     In  the  early  times  of  Mahommedanism  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Arabians.     The  crusades 
m  the   12th   century  again  lent  to  it  a  sort  of 
poetic  glimmer  ;  but  at  the  end  of  the  13th  cen- 
tury it  was  brought  to  desolation  by  the  Saracens. 
'  WTiere  once  waved  the  forest  of  the  ships  of 
rarshish"  (says  Sepp,  Jerusalem  and  the  Hohj 
Land,  ii.  p.  409),  "there  scarcely  now  rise  out  of 
the  water  two  well-rigged  keels  of  English  mer- 
chants ;  commerce  has  found  another  centre.    The 
lucrative  trade  in  purple  cloth  passed  over  to  the 
Jews,  who  as  merchants  and  dyers  pervaded  the 
Lebanon;  and  in  the  Greek  cities,  as  at  Thebes 
founded  purple  -  dyeing  establishments.     Venice 
transplanted  to  itself  from  Tyre  the  manufacture 
ot  glass.     The  rocky  part  of  the  old  island  actually 
serves,  according  to  the  prophetic  wonl,  as  a  place 
nierely  for  the  spreading  of  fishing-nets.     Under 
the  sand  of  the  old  island  there  are  still  discovered 
traces  of  streets,  etc.     Thus  has  the  pride  of  the 
old  sea-princess  been  humble<l,  and  she  wears  now 
none  but  a  beggar's  attire.     From  the  time  of 
Abulfeda  onwards  into  the  17th  centur>',  all  tra- 
ToUers  represent   Tyre  as  a  hean  of  ru'ins,  with 
broker:  up  arches  and  vaults,  towers  cast  down 
and  shaky  walls,  so  that  the  inhabitants  had  to 
shelter  themselves  in  the  lioDow  places  that  re- 1 


mained  between  poition.s  of  the  rubbish.  Maun- 
drell  did  not  find  a  .single  dwelling-house  in  good 
preservation,  but  only  a  couple  of  iishermen  occu- 
pying a  soit  of  vaults.  To  the  present  time  it  is 
not  frequented  by  .lews,  so  little  is  there  now  o< 
chattering  and  trading  in  the  old  merchant-city. 
Something  is  done  in  corn  and  tobacco,  which 
grows  upon  the  western  side  of  the  place.  The 
earthquake  of  1837  drove  into  flight  those  who 
were  not  destroyed  by  it.  Only  the  knowledge  of 
ancient  times  and  a  number  of  waving  palms  lend 
an  interest  to  the  Tyre  of  the  present  day  ' 
Comp.  He.scst.  de  Rebus  rijrionim,  p.  88  sq. 

8.  Cocceius  makes  application  of  Tyre  spirit- 
ually to  the  gi-eat  city  which  commits  fornica- 
tion with  all  nations,  aud  desires  to  install  herself 
in  the  place  of  Jenisalem,  and  interprets  the 
prince  of  Tyre  as  a  hieroglyph  of  the  Pope.  He 
does  not  deny  the  historical  basis,  but  it  is  to  hiu 
an  allegory. 

9.  The  special  prophecy  upon  the  Tynan  king- 
dom, and  the  lamentation  in  ch.  xxviii.,  receive 
also  a  light  from  particular  points  in  the  history 
of  Tyre— not  so  much  through  the  revolt  which, 
in  the  twenty -sixth  year  after  the  death  of  Firam 
II.,  drove  the  legitimate  dynasty  from  the  throne, 
and  the  horrors  which  led  a  part  of  the  old  Tyrian 
race  to  emigrate  with  Elissa  (Dido),  and  found 
Carthage— as  rather  through   the   translation  of 
the  government,  after  the  death  of  the  king  intro- 
duced by  Nebuchadnezzar, '  to  judges,  who  were 
chosen  from  among  the  priests  and  considerable 
men  of  Tyre.     Havemick  is  of  opinion  that  the 
appearance  of  judges  in  the  midst  of  a  regular 
succession  of  Tyrian  kings  might  only  be  regarded 
as  a  Chaldaic  arrangement  for  the  punishment  of 
insubordination  or  the   like;   just  as  Ti,Te  was 
deprived  by  Alexander  of  its  ancient  constitution, 
in  the  way  of  punishment.     For,  as  ch.  xxviii. 
shows,   the  kingdom  belonged  to  the   pride  of 
Tyre,  as  generally,  according  to  the  Oriental  mode 
of  contemplation,  and  especially  would  it  do  so 
with  a  race  of  such  old  renown  as  the  Tyrian. 
Internal  factions  might  readily  enough  have  called 
into  existence  rival  kings,  but  never  the  removal 
of  the  kingly  state  altogether. 

10.  The  prophetic  collocation,  Tyre  and  Zidon 
(Joel  IT.  [iii.]  4;  Zech.  ix.  2;  Isa.  xxiu. ;  Jer. 
-xxv.  22,  xxvii.  3,  xlvii.  4  ;  here  in  Ezek. ;  comp 
on  the  other  hand,  1  (;hron.  xxii.  4  ;  Ezra  iii.  7), 
—not  a  geographical  or  political  point  of  view,— 
determines  the  New  Testament  allusion  to  both 
in  this  order.  From  its  antiquity  alone  the  men- 
tion of  Zidon  would  admit  of  explanation.  In 
the  Pentateuch,  as  in  Homer,  notice  is  taken  only 
of  It ;  its  name  stands  for  Phoenicia  at  large. 
The  ups  and  downs,  also,  experienced  by  Tyre 
occasionally  brought  Zidon  to  the  summit,  or,  at 
least,  placed  Tyre  at  her  side  ;  so,  too,  it  is  in  the 
highest  degree  probable,  that  the  governors  of 
Syna  and  Phojnicia,  who  succeeded  one  another, 
w-ould  probably  in  their  own  interest  not  allow  the 
old  nvalry  between  Zidon  and  Tjtc  to  remain  un- 
touched. While  the  Chaldean  conquest  humbled 
'This  person,  called  in  the  Plicenicinn  sources  from 
which  Josephns  draws  in  his  con.  Apion.  §21  (where  he 
mentions  for  the  third  time  the  siege  of  Tyre)  Baal— suc- 
ceeding, and  in  connection  with  the  siege,  Ithobal,  was 
most  piobahly  made,  or  at  least  conflimed  as  liing  by 
Nebuchadnezzar;  whereupon,  after  ten  years  "Jud™ 
were  appointed,  who  Judged  the  people''';  after  tliem 
■^  reigned  Balatorus';  and  -attev  his  death  [hey  sent  will 
brought  Merbalus  from  Babvlon.  who  reigned"-  lutlT 
"after  his  death  tliey  sent  for  his  brother  HJrom." 


•J66 


EZEKIEL. 


Tyre,  Zidon  appears  to  have  from  tlic  first  bowed 
to  the  coni^iieror,  and  still  more  so  afterwards. 
Butanvhow,  under  the  Persian  rule,  Zidon  appears 
as  "  tlie  first  city  of  Phcenicia,  and  its  kings'take 
precedence  of  those  of  Tyre,  and  of  the  other 
states"  (DuxcKER,  ii.  p.  738;  Hehzog,  Beal- 
encyc.  xi.  p.  626).  About  the  middle  of  the  4th 
century,  when,  in  the  self-consciousness  of  its  jiosi- 
tion  as  at  the  head  of  the  Phojnician  States,  it 
had  revolted  under  Artaxer.xes  Ochus  (B.C.  351), 
it  was  again  destroyed  by  the  Persians,  and  re- 
quired to  be  built  anew— whereupon  it  readily 
submitted  to  Alexander  the  Great.  We  learn 
from  Diodoms,  that  at  the  fall  of  the  city  40,000 
perished ;  and  Artaxerxes  also  sold  the  burnt  ruins 
for  the  sake  of  the  gold  and  silver  they  contained. 
Under  the  Macedonians  and  Romans,  Zidon  was 
nothing  but  a  provincial  city ;  at  the  time  of  Caesar 
pre-eminently  a  Jewish  city.  After  coming  into 
view  in  the  time  of  the  crusades,— being  destroyed 
again  and  again  by  the  Saracens,  Crusaders,  Mon- 
gols, — it  stUl  exists,  and  has  some  exports  of  silk, 
cotton,  and  gall-nuts.  This  survey  of  Zidon  also 
confirms  with  reference  to  Ezekiel  the  far-reaching 
view  of  his  prophetic  word. 

11.  Neteler  remarks  on  our  chapter:  "Through 
the  most  extraordinary  wonders  God  placed  His 
covenant-people  on  such  a  height,  that  all  the 
Chaldeans  must  bow  before  the  giant  spirit  of 
Daniel,  and  Nebuchadnezzar  himself  proclaim  to 
the  whole  world  that  there  is  no  god  who  can 
delirer  as  the  God  of  Israel.  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  his  Chaldeans  consequently  had  the  calling, 
as  heroes  standing  in  the  service  of  God,  to  over- 
throw the  Hamitic  worldly  power,  and  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  kingdom  of  God." 

12.  Schmieder  says,  that  the  threatening  of 
the  Lord  against  the  historical  Tyre  was  as  little 
accomplished  to  the  full  through  Nebuchadnezzar 
as  the  similar  one  against  Babylon  (Isa.  xiii.  20), 
and  many  other  threatenings,  which  were  pro- 
claimed for  the  very  purpose  that  they  might 
not  need  to  be  executed.  Certainly  God  promises 
only  to  conversion  the  removal  of  the  threatened 
punishment  (Jer.  xviii.  7,  8);  but  He  sometimes 
also  mitigates  the  punishment,  where  the  measure 
of  sin  has  not  been  so  full,  or  the  means  for  con- 
version may  have  been  exhausted  (Matt.  xi.  21, 
22).  The  historical  Tyre  is  only  an  imperfect 
type  of  the  spiritual  Tyre,  on  which  account  the 
severest  threatening  was  uttered  against  it,  though 
still  not  in  its  entire  severity  was  it  executed. 
This  early  denunciation  of  judgment,  this  sparing 
alleviation  as  to  the  execution,  begins  already  at 
Gen.  ii.  17,  etc.  In  ch.  xxviii.  the  prophet  ex- 
hibits, first,  the  highest  glory  of  the  true  king, 
who  has  been  set  up  by  God,  as  it  can  alone  per- 
fectly appear  in  Christ  (vei-s.  12-15);  and  second, 
the  deep  fall  of  the  king,  who  would  make  himself 
a  god,  as  such  fall  shall  only  be  completely  mani- 
fested in  the  Man  of  Sin,  and  in  the  Prince  of 
this  world.  The  king  of  Tjrre  is  a  type  of  both,— 
of  the  King  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  his  office, 
of  the  prince  of  darkness  by  his  misuse  of  the 
dignity,  his  pride  and  fall.  Thus  does  Ezekiel 
teach  us  to  understand  and  explain  the  history  of 
the  world. 

HOMILETICAL  HINTS 

On  Ch.  xxvi. 
Vew.  1-6.  Tyre,  the  home  of  the  first  learned 
'aiiit,  I'lpian,  is  the  burial-place  of  the  gifted 


theologian  Origen;  and  the  ruins  of  its  onc€ 
gorgeous  cathedral  cover  the  bones  of  the  Emperor 
Frederick  Barbarossa.  —  "  Selfishness  is  a  very 
great  sin,  especially  when  one  seeks  to  become 
rich  through  other  people's  hurt"  (Or.). — Tyre 
against  Jerusalem  :  a  study  for  the  times. — "The 
prophet  would  check  the  despondency  which  a 
sight  of  the  world  shining  in  its  glory  can  so 
readily  evoke  in  the  people  of  God  when  sighing 
under  the  cross"  (Hengst.). — The  loud  triumph 
of  the  world  over  the  Church  is  still  only  an 
apparent  triumph. — The  Church  may  be  brought 
down,  but  the  world  with  all  its  lust  must  utterly 
go  down.  —  Ver.  3.  Yes ;  many  nations  shall 
come;  God  took  Tyre  at  her  word,  but  how? — 
Against  the  high  wave-stroke  of  the  towering 
heart,  there  come  the  high  beating  waves  of 
retribution. — "God  serves  Himself  of  men  in 
executing  punishment,  where  an  angel  might 
rather  have  done  it  (Sennacherib),  in  order  that 
we  may  become  more  sensible  of  our  impotence" 
(Stck.). — The  sea,  which  had  been  the  hope  of 
Tyre,  now  its  terror. — God,  the  Leader  of  the 
enemies  of  His  enemies. — Ver.  4.  Walls,  towers, 
all  is  nothing,  if  God  is  not  all. — What  survives 
if  God  falls  upon  us? — The  comforting  and  the 
terrible  faithfulness  of  God  to  His  word. — All 
things  and  persons  are  included  in  the  annihilat- 
ing judgments  of  God. 

Vers.  7-14.  Nebuchadnezzar,  a  servant  of  God: 
in  Egypt  the  insects  were  such.  —  The  world- 
conqueror  and  the  world-niler.— The  king  out  of 
the  north  is,  above  all,  death  ;  and  if  he  draws  up 
in  array,  he  has  a  multitude  also  for  his  host, 
and  there  will  be  pain  for  the  soul  as  well  as  foi 
the  body. — No  fortress  stands  so  secure  and  so 
firmly  guarded  that  God's  judgment  cannot  reach 
and  enter  it. — Every  power  is  broken  at  last. — 
' '  Whosoever  does  not  tremble  before  the  divine 
law  will  be  only  the  more  affrighted  before  the 
divine  punishment  when  it  alights"  (Stck.). — 
Ver.  12.  The  spoiling  of  our  goods  is  the  final  end 
of  all  upon  earth  ;  therefore  should  we  lay  up  for 
ourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  which  remain  for 
ever.  Sic  transit  gloria  mnndi. — Vers.  13,  14. 
The  lust  of  the  world  shall  be  one  day  suffering; 
the  suffering  of  the  pious  eternal  glory.  ^Let  not 
thy  heart  be  so  stunned  by  the  noise  which  the 
world  makes  as  not  to  mark  the  bare  rock  which 
lies  beneath ;  be  not  deceived  by  the  merry  songs 
and  lively  instruments  of  music :  upon  the  graves 
even  of  the  rich  and  the  great  all  is  stOl. — Here 
the  fishing-net,  elsewhere  the  cobwebs. 

Ver.  15  sqq.  The  interest  in  the  do\vnfall  of 
others,  arising  from  the  consideration  of  the 
nothingness  and  perishableness  of  all  earthly 
things,  from  the  feeling  of  one's  own  impo- 
tence and  weakness,  from  the  consciousness  of  sin 
and  guilt. — The  echo  of  misery. — "'When  God 
punishes.  He  does  it  not  merely  on  account  of 
the  ungodly,  who  must '  feel  such  punishment, 
but  also  on  account  of  other  ungodly  persons, 
that  thev  may  become  better  by  such  examples  " 
(St.).— Herakles,  the  strength  of  TjTe,  the  might 
of  commerce  (comp.  the  Heb.  word  rakal). — The 
fall  of  T)Te  an  impressive  preaching  of  repent- 
ance.— "The  downfall  of  the  ungodly  is  more 
readily  mourned  and  bewailed  than  the  tribula- 
tion of  the  righteous"  (St.).-- "That  may  be 
accomplished  in  a  moment  which  was  not  ex 
pected  to  take  place  in  years"  (Stck.). — The  Bible 
also  represents  tragedies,  in  which  whole  peopla 


CHAr.  XXVII. 


269 


may  weep  and  kiiij^s  take  tlieir  place  in  the  ilust. 
—  "When  earthly  well-being  departs,  the  world 
complains — only  its  eternal  perdition  troubles  it 
act"  (Stck.).— Tiie  fall  of  the  great  should  make 
us  shy  of  seeking  after  sueh  jierishable  greatness. 
— The  unrighteous  grief  of  the  world,  and  the 
righteous  lament;ition  of  the  world. — The  terror 
before  Tyre,  and  the  terror  upon  Tyre. — If  thou 
art  frightened  at  sin  in  time,  thou  shall  not  need 
to  be  frightened  at  its  puuishment  when  it  is  too 
late. 

Vers.  19-21.  "These  thrive  vei-ses  hang  together. 
The  overthrow  of  the  great  city,  and  the  glori- 
fication of  the  church.  The  one  is  the  conse- 
quence of  the  other.  There  was  a  time  when 
Rome  was  desolated,  and  the  peoples  covered  it 
like  water.  At  last  it  also  went  down  to  the 
dead  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  where,  by  its 
anathemas,  it  cnt  itself  otf  from  true  believere. 
God  has  delivered  His  church,  the  land  of  the 
living,  from  Babylon,  and  adorned  her  with  peace 
and  manifold  gifts  "  (Cocc). — TjTe  in  the  going 
down,  Zion  in  the  rising  up  again. — "  He  who 
has  such  hope  may  well  let  the  scorn  of  Tyre 
pass — respice  finem"  (Hexost.). —  "Just  as  God 
overthrows  the  proud  antichristianism,  so  much 
the  higher  will  He  one  ddy  raise  His  church" 
(Tub.  Bible). — "Even  in  the  hardest  threaten- 
ings  there  is  an  under  current  of  promise  for  the 
children  of  God"  (St.). — Ver.  21.  As  there  is  a 
seeking  and  not  finding,  so  also  shall  there  be  a 
being  sought  and  not  found. — "This  is  likewise 
said  of  every  ungodly  one  who  has  been  pro- 
sperous, Ps.  xxxvii.  36.  He  is  not  to  be  found  in 
heaven  for  ever,  and  in  hell  none  cares  to  seek  or 
to  be  found"  (B.  B.). 

On  Ch.  xxvii. 

Vers.  1-10.  "When  Tyre  rejoices  over  Jeru- 
■alem,  then  the  prophet  raises  a  lamentation  over 
Tyre :  this  is  the  recompense  of  the  pious " 
(Stck.). — If  we  must  not  repay  evil  with  evil, 
there  still  is  with  God  a  recompensing  of  evil  with 
evil. — "All  human  and  earthly  things  go  out  at 
last  in  lamentation"  (Stck.  ). — This  is  the  lamen- 
tation of  the  Spirit,  that  the  world  sows  to  the 
flesh,  and  of  the  flesh  reaps  corruption. — With 
kettledrums  and  flutes  the  world  begins,  but  it 
ends  with  wailing  and  misery. — "We  must  pro- 
foundly know  the  gloria  mundi,  if  we  are  to  take 
to  heart  the  sic  transit  gloria  mundi "  (Hengst.  ). 
— Vers.  3,  4.  "Let  no  one  boast  of  his  strength 
or  worldly  elevation ;  how  soon  can  the  Lord,  if 
His  judgments  should  break  forth,  bring  all  to 
the  dust  of  desolation!  Jer.  ix.  23,  25  "  (Tub.  B.). 
— There  is  a  perfection  of  beauty  which  is  nothing 
else  than  ripeness  for  judgment. — Beauty  is  a 
transient  splendovu-,  but  the  knowledge  of  the 
Eternal  leads  from  glory  to  glory. — "In  boasting 
one  sees  what  things  the  heart  is  full  of"  (Stck.). 
— The  contrast  between  TjTe  and  the  daughter  of 
the  king,  Ps.  xlv.,  who  is  all  beautiful  within. — 
"The  security  is  very  difl'erent:  one  is  of  faith, 
since  we  know  that  we  are  reconciled  through 
Christ,  and,  even  if  the  world  should  fall  in  ruin, 
can  remain  in  peace  ;  the  other  proceeds  from 
unbelief,  which  has  respect  to  men,  walls,  etc., 
and  relies  upon  these"  (L.). — "There  are  many 
kinds  of  beauty,  but  none  perfect  without  godli- 
Uness"  (Stck.). — "We  shaU  also  have  to  think 
»{  that  woman  who,  Sev.  xviii.,  anja,  I  am  it" 


iB.  B. ). — The  buildings  of  men  and  the  building 
of  God,  namely.  His  church,  against  which  not  even 
the  gates  of  hell  can  prevail. — Vers.  5-9.  Comp. 
with  the  splendid  ship  Tyre  the  heavenly  Jeni- 
salem,  Rev.  x.xi. — "  When  people  once  siurender 
themselves  to  pride,  pomp,  and  dissipation,  they 
can  hardly  lay  them  aside  again  ;  nay,  they  often 
know  not,  from  inconsidei-ation  and  wantonness, 
wh.at  they  should  do,  Ueiit.  .\.\xii.  15  sij."  (0.) 
— Trim  the  lamps!  —  K.ery  land  has  its  peculiai 
gift  froni  G"d,  and  the  gifts  of  God  must  thus 
shamefnlly  minister  to  the  vanity  of  men  ! — God 
foi'bids  the  misuse  of  His  gifts  :is  an  unprofiUible 
\\"a.ste.  —  It  is  i[uite  right  to  take  into  one's 
service  and  pay  nualitied  persons,  but  woe  to  him 
who  makes  flesh  his  arm,  and  ^\'hose  heart  de- 
parts from  the  Lord  ! — Ver.  10.  The  best  defence 
is  after  all  another  thing  than  soldiei-s,  Ps.  x.vxiii. 
16,  17. — The  angel  of  the  Lord  encamps  round 
about  those  who  fear  Him,  I's.  xxxiv.  8  [7]. — 
God's  camping  host  for  lielievers.  Gen.  .xxxii.  ;  2 
Kings  vi.  17. — We  must,  according  to  Epli.  «. 
10  sc|q.,  put  on  the  divine  armoui',  which  protects 
land  and  people. 

Vers.  12-25.  Men  run  through  the  wide  world 
for  the  sake  of  merchandise,  while  the  word  of 
God,  which  makes  rich  without  trouble,  and  im- 
parts treasure  which  neither  moth  nor  rust  cor- 
rupts, nor  can  thieves  steal,  is  so  near  us  ! — The 
one  pearl  of  great  price  Tyre  did  not  make  an 
article  of  traffic. — What  advaut.iges  it  to  gain  the 
whole  world  if  the  soul  snllers  damage? — "Ezekiel 
writes  as  little  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  minister 
of  commerce,  as  Isaiah  in  ch.  iii.  does  from  that 
of  a  milliner"  (Hengst.).— Cove tousness  must 
serve  all. — "0  how  many  gifts  of  God  are  in  the 
service  of  sin!"  (RtCHT. ) — "Great  merchant- 
cities,  great  cities  of  sin"  (TiJB.  B. ). — \'cr.  13. 
How  often  and  in  how  many  ways  are  men's  souls 
the  object  of  buying  and  selling  I  —  Ver.  24. 
"With  things  perfectly  beautiful  man  was  cer- 
tainly to  occupy  himself  But  where  are  they 
to  be  found  in  the  earthly  sphere?  Col.  iii.  2" 
(B.  B.).— Ver.  25.  "That  Tyre  was  so  full  and 
honoured,  while  Zion  became  always  poorer  and 
poorer,  and  sunk  miserable — this  formed  a  stum- 
bling -  block  to  the  people  of  God.  But  what 
has  become  of  all  the  fulness  and  glory  of  Tyre  ? 
Zion,  on  the  other  hand,  has  gloriously  blossomed 
anew"  (Hengst.). 

Vers.  26-36.  "  The  glory  of  the  earth  shall  be- 
come dust  and  ashes." — The  higher  we  reach,  so 
much  the  more  precipitous,  and  so  much  the 
deeper  will  be  the  fall.  — The  element  of  our 
security  can  so  easily  become  the  element  of  our 
misery  :  here  the  sea,  elsewhere  gold,  one's  posi- 
tion, etc. — A  person  of  high  estate  when  cast 
down  is  lower  than  one  who  has  always  been  in  a 
humble  position.— The  wind  does  not  always  fill 
our  sails  ;  it  often  also,  and  suddenly,  tears  them 
short  and  small.  —  In  prosperity  men  so  rarely 
consider  how  vain  it  is,  that  in  adversity  they  cry 
out  the  more  loudly ;  but,  alas !  only  upon  the 
vanity  of  earthly  things,  and  not  upon  the  vanity 
of  their  earthly  hearts. — It  is  with  that  which 
men  build  for  themselves,  such  that  if  one  stone 
should  fall  out  of  the  wall,  all  the  other  stones 
will  follow  it. — Remember  that  thou  art  dust, 
and  bethink  thyself  that  thou  hast  a  soul !— Fear 
is  salutary,  but  there  is  also  a  fear  which  we  again 
shake  off,  and  which  we  do  not  sufl'er  to  warn  us. 
—The  loss  of  earthly  things  gives  surh  trouble 


^70 


EZEKIEL. 


aud  for  the  loss  of  lieavenly  goods  men  will  laugh ! 
— ^'A  Christian  should  not  so  mourn,  but  should 
smite  his  breast  alike  iu  prosperity  ami  in  adver- 
sity.— Ver.  32.  Michael  and  Tyre. — Who  is  as 
thou  ?  This  it  is  proper  to  say  only  of  God  in 
reference  to  glory.  In  respect  to  nothingness,  on 
the  other  hand,  one  of  us  i;  as  another. — Mournful 
times  should  be  times  of  repentance. — Tlie  holy 
sense  of  the  nil  mirari. — Ver.  33.  Our  striving 
should  be  to  become  rich  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  to  make  rich  in  regard  to  such  know- 
ledge should  be  our  pui-pose  in  life. — Ver.  34. 
The  end  of  earthly  things,  their  scale,  value,  and 
true  estimation. — All  this  world  is  nothing;  how 
surely  must  there  be  what  is  something! — But 
faith  cries  out  of  the  depths  to  God. — The  glory 
of  the  children  of  God,  and  the  world's  glory. — 
Formerly  and  now,  two  resting-points  for  the  con- 
sideration of  Tyre. — Vers.  35,36.  Fear  and  shame 
have  their  limit  only  at  a  throne,  that  is,  where 
the  king  reigns,  who  represents  us. — -"So  one  at 
length  becomes  an  object  of  the  world's  mockery 
witt  his  pride  and  his  sins  "  (TtjB.  B.). 

On  Ch.  xxviii. 

Vers.  2-11.  "  The  prophet  had  the  more  ^ason 
to  bring  forward  the  king  of  Tyre  in  his  fall,  as 
he  thus  obtains  a  counterpart  to  the  glorious  rise 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  in  Christ"  (Hengst.). — 
•*  God  resisteth  the  proud,  1  Pet.  v.  5.  Whoever, 
therefore,  is  proud  has  God  forhisenemy"  (Stck.). 
"  I  am  God — many,  indeed,  will  not  speak  plainly 
out ;  but  they  bear  themselves  so  as  if  no  one 
had  the  right  to  say  anything  to  them.  God 
may  well  enough  call  governors  gods,  but  they 
are  not  themselves  to  assume  anything  on  that 
account,  else  their  divinity  will  soon  come  to  a 
disgraceful  end  with  Dagon,  1  Sam.  v.  3,  4 " 
(B.  B.). — "  The  new  wisdom  teaches,  man  is  God, 
and  there  is  no  God  except  in  man — which  points 
to  the  man  of  sin,  2  Thess.  ii.  4,  whose  typical 
foreshadowing  the  king  of  Tyre  was"  (Sohmieder). 
— "It  belongs  to  the  nature  of  God  to  be  and  have 
everything  out  of  Himself ;  to  the  nature  of  man, 
to  derive  all  from  the  fulness  of  God"  (Hengst.). 
— "  Nothing  is  more  foolish  than  when  a  man  for- 
gets his  human  condition"  (Stck.  ). — Thou  sayest, 
I  am  rich,  etc.,  see  Rev.  iii.  17. — Ver.  3.  The 
fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  true  wisdom. 
— "  Our  wisdom  puffs  us  up,  when  love  fails  " 
(H.  H.). — "  Imaginary  wisdom  hinders  prayer  for 
the  true  wisdom"  (St.). — The  worldly  wisdom  of 
Daniel,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  prince  of 
Tyre. — Ver.  4.  The  husbandman,  also,  gathered 
much  into  his  granary  ;  yet  he  was  a  fool,  whose 
soul  was  that  night  to  be  required  of  him,  Luke 
xii. — Ver.  5.  God  demands  the  heart ;  mammon 
lifts  it  up,  that  it  may  not  betake  itself  to  God. 
— No  one  can  become  happy  by  means  of  riches. 
— Ver.  6.  The  king  of  Tyre  and  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, Dan.  iv.  27. — "  The  punishment  for  pride  is 
humiliation  "  (H.  H.). — "  To  come  from  a  pit  to 
a  high  position  is  an  agreeable  change,  as  with 
Joseph  and  David  ;  but  the  coming  for  the  un- 
godly is  in  the  opposite  direction  "  (Stck.). — God 
must  bring  us  to  the  height,  and  keep  us  in  the 
height,  if  we  are  not  to  fall  from  all  real  and 
imaginary  heights  into  the  depths  of  the  abyss. — 
Ver.  9.  "  In  the  day  of  trouble  men  employ  quite 
taother  language  than  in  prosperity,  nay,  learn. 
dMD  what  they  would  not  learn  throughout  their 


whole  life  "  (Stck.). — Ver.  10.  "  Balaam  desired 
to  die  the  death  of  the  righteous  "  (Stck.). — The 
death  of  the  ungodly  is  death  manifold — bodily, 
spiritual,  eternal. 

Vei-s.  11-19.  Even  this  lamentation  shows  that 
God  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked. — 
"  Impress  of  the  original,  therefore  the  image  of 
God,  Heb.  i.  2.  ilore  e.xactly  :  he  who  not  onlj 
in  himself,  but  also  in  all  his  works,  e.xpresses  the 
prototype.  This  .Tesus  testifies  of  Himself,  .John 
v.  19,  36"  (ScHMiEDEK).— Ver.  13  sq.  To  whom 
much  is  given,  of  him  also  shall  much  be  required. 
— The  great  spirits,  who  think  the  law  was  not 
given  for  them,  in  the  judgment. — "  So  also  we 
must  regard  as  precious  stones  Christ  and  His 
name,  the  Holy  Spirit,  faitb,  the  prophet.s,  God'a 
word,  the  sacraments,  the  virtues,  the  patience  of 
the  saints,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  etc. — with 
which  a  false  Christ  seeks  to  bedeck  and  to  adorn 
himself.  Rev.  xvii.  4"(B.  B.). — " Ungodly  people 
have  their  Eden  in  this  world,  but  believers  seek 
it  in  heaven"  (St.), — Ver.  15.  "On  the  common 
ground  of  hereditary  corruption,  there  still  are  iu 
the  life'  of  individuals  and  of  whole  nations  differ- 
ences, times  of  comparative  innocence  as  well  as 
of  deep  declension,  provoking  the  judgments  of 
God.  As  a  rule,  youth  is  the  better  time  ;  the 
older  the  worse.  Sin,  when  not  combated,  is 
continually  on  the  increase,"  etc.  (Hengst.) — 
"  It  does  not  always  happen  that  they  who  pio- 
mise  well  in  j'outh  shall  be  the  same  in  advanced 
Ufe,  for  many  change  their  habits  "  (St.). — 
' '  Every  man  flatters  himself,  and  every  king  is 
flattered  by  his  Tyre  "  (Schmiedee). — Ver.  16. 
The  perils  of  merchandise  for  entire  peoples,  and 
for  individuals. — "They  who  aim  at  being  rich 
fall  into  dangerous  snares"  (Stck.).- — Ver.  17. 
"The  foundation  of  wisdom  is  humility,  which 
sees  things  as  they  are,  has  an  open  eye  for  one's 
own  weaknesses  and  the  excellences  of  others, 
and  is  on  its  guard  against  dangerous  undertak- 
ings, Ps.  cxxxi.  1.  TTie  '  brightness '  received 
into  the  heart  blinds  the  eye,  so  that  one  regards 
himself  alone  as  great,  everything  else  as  little, 
and  rushes  wantonly  into  dangers  for  which  he 
is  not  prepared,  adventures  upon  paths  which  lead 
to  perdition — as  the  combat  (of  Tyre)  with  the 
flourishing  Chaldean  monarchy.  But  haughtiness 
itself  works  its  own  nun.  This  is  the  rock  on 
which  all  the  heathen  powers  of  the  old  world  were 
wrecked"  (Hengst.). — "But  God-fearing  kings 
will  thence  derive  the  instruction  that  the  king, 
not  less  than  the  meanest  subject,  has  to  pray  daQy 
to  God  on  his  knees  for  a  wise  and  humble  heart  ' 
(Schmiedek). — The  dust  of  kings  appears  and  is 
treated  exactly  as  the  dust  of  the  very  poorest 
Sursum  corda,  but  in  the  right  sense  ! — Our  heart 
should  be  a  sanctuary  of  God.— Vers.  18,  19.  "The 
fire  of  lust  and  covetous  desire  draws  after  it  the 
other  fire  of  judgment "  B.  B. ). — "  A  destruction 
like  that  of  Sodom  in  the  olden  time,  in  which 
the  sin-root  of  Canaan  first  came  to  full  develop- 
ment, while  the  judgment  upon  Tyre  forms  the 
close  of  the  long  series  of  judgments  upon  the 
Canaanitcs"  (Hengst.). — "On  the  other  hand, 
he  who  does  the  wiU  of  God  abides  for  ever, 
1  John  ii.  17  "  (Stck.). — "Where  thou  wilt  not 
be  for  ever,  there  seek  for  thyself  no  fixed 
abode  "  (B.  B.). 

Ver.  20.  "  In  the  judgments  of  God  shines  forth 
His  glory,  so  that  men  are  obliged  to  confess  that 
He  is  righteous,   aud  that  ifis  judgments  Ht 


CHAP.  XXIX.  27-. 


righteous"  (Stck. j.^VtT.  24.  "God's  judgment  Land  of  our  enemies  to  serve  Him  without  fear,' 
on  the  ungodly  tends  to  the  good  of  His  church  "  ,  etc.  (H.  H.) — "  Then  do  believers  first  come  to 
(Cr.  ). — Gcid  sets  His  own  free  at  length. — "  How  -  theii-  true  and  perfect  rest,  when  all  their  bodilj 
easOy  is  a  thorn  drawn  out!"(STCK.) — "How  well  j  and  spiritual  enemies  have  been  rooted  out"  (0.). 
is   it   to   be   under   the   protection  of  the    Lord, — "This  prophecy  is  fulfilled  in  the  Christian 


Messiah,  and  under  His  gracious  wings  to  dwell 
securely  !"  (TtJB.  B. ) — "  Hence  has  it  been  fully 
made  good  through  Christ,  as  Zacharias  says 
(Lake  i.  74  s(]. ),  that  we  are  redeemed  from  the 


Church,  which  is  the  true  seed  of  Abraham,  Isaau, 
and  Jacob.  Those  born  under  the  Old  Covenaa* 
were  in  bondage,  while  believers  under  the  New 
Testament  are  free  "  (CoccEius). 


3.  Egypt  (Ch.  xxix.-xxxii.). 

Cn.  XXIX.  1.  In  the  tenth  year,  in  the  tenth  [month],  on  the  twelfth  of  the  month, 

2  came  the  word  of  Jehovah  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  Set  thy  face  upon  [aRainst] 

3  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  and  prophesy  upon  him,  and  upon  all  Egypt !  Speak 
and  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  [come]  upon  thee,  Pharaoh,  king 
of  Egypt,  the  great  dragon  that  lieth  in  the  midst  of  his  streams,  who  saith,  To 

4  me  [belongs]  my  stream,  and  I,  I  have  made  myself.  And  I  give  rings  in  thy 
jaws,  and  hang  the  fish  of  thy  streams  on  thy  scales,  and  draw  thee  out  of  the 
midst  of  thy  streams,  and  every  fish  of  thy  streams  [which]  hangs  on  thy  scales ; 

5  And  I  set  thee  free  [drive  thee]  into  the  wilderness,  thee  and  every  fish  of  thy 
streams ;  upon  the  plains  of  the  field  shalt  thou  fall,  thou  shalt  not  be  picked  up, 
and  not  gathered ;  to  the  beast  [living  creatures]  of  the  earth  and  to  the  fowl  of  the 

6  heaven  I  have  given  thee  for  food.  And  all  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  shall  know 
that  I  am  Jehovah  !     Because  they  were  a  staflf  of  reed  to  the  house  of  Israel, — 

7  When  they  take  hold  of  thee  by  thy  hand,  thou  art  broken,  and  splittest  to  them 
every  shoulder  [the  whole  shoulder] ;  and  when  they  lean  upon  thee,  thou  art  shattered, 

8  and  lamest  for  them  all  loins, — Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold, 

9  I  bring  upon  thee  a  sword,  and  root  out  of  thee  man  and  beast.  And  the  land 
of  Egypt  is  [shall  bel^for  desolation  and  a  waste,  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  ! 

10  Because  He  said.  The  stream  [belongs]  to  me,  and  I,  I  have  made  it.  Therefore, 
behold,  I  am  against  thee,  and  against  thy  streams,  and  I  give  the  land  of  Egypt 
for  deserts  of  waste  of  desolation,  from  Migdol  to  Syene  [seveneh],  and  even  to 

1 1  the  borders  of  Cush.    Foot  of  man  shall  not  pass  through  it,  and  foot  of  beast 

12  shall  not  pass  through  it,  and  it  shall  not  be  inhabited  forty  years.  And  I  have 
given  the  land  of  Egypt  [for]  desolation  in  the  midst  of  desolate  lands,  and  ita 
cities  shall  be  desolate  forty  years  in  the  midst  of  desolate  cities,  and  I  disperse 

13  Egypt  among  the  heathen  and  scatter  them  in  the  lands.  For  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  At  the  end  of  forty  years  will  I  gather  Egypt  out  of  the  peoples 

14  whither  they  were  dispersed  :  And  I  turn  the  misery  of  Egypt,  and  bring  them 
back  to  the  land  of  Pathros,  to  the  land  of  their  birth ;  and  they  are  there  a  low 

15  kingdom.  Lower  than  the  kingdoms  shall  it  be,  and  it  shall  not  lift  itself  up  any 
more  above  the  heathen ;  and  I  diminish  them,  so  that  they  do  not  rule  among 

16  the  heathen  [have  dominion  over  them].  And  it  shall  no  more  be  for  confidence  to  the 
house  of  Israel,  a  remembrancer  of  iniquity,  when  they  turn  after  them ;  and  they 

17  know^that  I  am  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seven  and 
twentieth  year,  in  the  first  [month],  on  the  first  of  the  month,  the  word  of  Jehovah 

18  came  to  me,  saying,  Son  of  man,  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Babylon  has 
caused  his  army  to  serve  a  great  service  against  Tyre  :  every  head  became  bald, 
and  every  shoulder  peeled ;  and  there  was  not  reward  for  him  and  his  host  out  of 

19  Tyre  for  the  work,  which  he  has  wrought  against  it  [the  city].  Therefore  thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  give  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Babylon 
the  land  of  Egypt,  and  he  takes  away  its  tumult,  and  plunders  its  spoil,  and 

20  seizes  its  prey ;  and  it  is  a  reward  to  his  host.  As  his  hire  for  which  he  has 
wrought  against  it  [ryre],  I  have  given  him  the  land  of  Egypt,  because  they  did 

91  [it]  for  Me — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  In  that  day  will  I  make  a  horn  to 
Dud  forth  to  the  house  of  Israel,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  opening  of  the  mouth  is 
tbe  midst  of  them;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 


rs 


EZEKIEL. 


V«r.    1.  Sept  : 


fjuet  t.  urtes — 


Ver.    2.  .  .  .  rrripirov  t.  apoaHTttt — 

Ver.    3.  .   .  .  EU4I  uViy  ai  ^crxijut  xou  iyn  :Toifir»  airm;. 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .  Ta;  Totj-jSat;  .   .   .   Tau;  Xi^irnf  rou  T^off-«oAA.*i9ijr»>T«j. 

Ver.     5.    zotJ  xt^Tet^ecXn  rt  i*  Ta^^  *■  Tavrot; — > 

Ver.    7.   Sept.:   .  .  .  -rrt   x^'P'   *ir«ir,   ifl>.«ff-0r?.  x.  org  5)rs«^3m£riv  it'   ac/rou;  T«r«    %[j/)  «.  on  iT«»l!rai/ra*r«  '. 
lv?jT/)i#3»ij  ».  ffwn*Aa*-af  air«« — Valg. :  ...  re  »wnu  -  .  .  et  lacerasli  .  .  ,  el  dissotristi  omnes  renes  eorum. 

Ver   10.  .   .  .  xmi  iTj  xctvT»s  T.  TtfTotiwm^  ffiu  .  .  .  i'l;  't(»iu»v  X.  pocc^duav   «.   liTiiXwa*  •T«  M.   x.   2(rti»iif— Vulg. ; 
w  soUtudines,  gjadio  dissipalam  a  turre  Scenes — 

Ver.  12.  .  .   .  t'i  aToiXutcv  U  f^-ta-u  7.  lpnu,ov,  .   .  .   a^ati^fMo;  itmxi^ 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:  .  .  .  zai  xxrotxm  ixurou;  .  .  .  oSsv  iXr,^^*;ff-flt* — in  terra  nativUatis  sux — 

Ver.  15.  vxpa.  Txatti  r.  «/);(;«;.    Oi  fiv  .   .   .  Toy  fjtri  tlveti  xiroui  rrkitotrac;  £* — 

Ver.  16  .    .  .   ii;  jXTiSa  etux/ju/^vtirxovrx^   a,}jutp7nx.v  it  Ttti  cci/TOUt   ixokovB^rsti   »nnTm  T.  XBLp'htan  olItWi — docenitt  tl 
talim,  ul  /ugiant  et  sequanlur  eos ; — 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  /jjet  T.  ^*)vo>  T.  npvTmj — 

Ver.  19.  ...  T.  TA*iflos  aurrj  — 

Ver.  20.  'A>«  T.  Kurmpyiiet;  ct.'jrwj  rrf  liovXiufiv — 19  .  .  .  exercitui  tlUui  (20)  et  operi  quo  Bervivit — 

Ver.  21.  .  .  .  avBCTiAfi  xtfixi  iToeyri  t.  eixu — pullulabit  cornu. 


EXEGETIOAL  REMARKS. 

In  reference  to  the  anti  -  Chaldean  coalition, 
Egypt,  as  the  mainstay  of  the  undertaking, 
justly  forms  the  conclusion  of  those  prophecies 
toward  such  as  were  without.  But  even  apart 
from  this,  the  significance  of  Egjrpt,  as  well  in  its 
Mitagonistic  position  to  the  Chaldean  monarchy 
»8  in  its  relation  to  the  people  of  God,  and  there- 
with to  the  world  in  general,  demanded  an  ade- 
quate treatment  at  the  close. 

Vers.  1-16.  Outline  of  the  Prophecy  as  a  whole. 

"Vers.  1,  2.  As  to  time  (b.c.  588  ?),  this  first 
prophecy  upon  Egypt  goes  before  ch.  xxvi.  (two 
months,  eighteen  days,  Schmieder).  That  not- 
withstanding it  is  placed  later,  shows  the  position 
of  Egypt  at  the  close  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  in- 
tentional one ;  comp.  also  vers.  18,  19.  Hengst. 
remarks:  "The  prophecy,  as  appears  from  ch. 
ixiv.  1,  was  delivered  during  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  occasion  is  the  hope  of  recovery 
through  Pharaoh."  (Schmieder  :  six  months, 
except  three  days,  before  the  taking  of  the  city 
(Jer.  xxxix.  2),  one  year  and  two  days  after  the 
prophet's  mouth  had  been  shut  for  his  people. ) — 

Ver.  2.  ^j;  ■]'3a  D'B',  elsewhere  with  ^{j  ;  for 
example,  at  ch.  vi.  2. — njDE.  the  title  of  all  the 
native  kings  of  Egypt  down  to  the  Persian  times ; 
according  to  Josephus  and  the  Coptic,  as  much  as 
king  (comp.  JTlBi  prince) ;  Jer.  xliv.  30,  Hophra. 

The  prophecy,  in  accordance  with  its  general  cha- 
racter, stretches  over  king  and  people,  or  more 
precisely,  the  land. 

Vers.  3 -6a.  This  portion  has  respect  to  the  king 
of  Egypt. — D'jrii  only  here,  according  to  Gesen. 
a  mere  corruption  for  nT\  \  according  to  Hengst. 
intentionally  thepfor.  majestaiis  from  jn=pn: 
"since  this  dragon  blows  himself  up  so  much, 
sets  himself  forth  as  the  ideal  of  all  dragons." 
What  is  meant  by  it  is  no  great  sea-fish  or  great 
serpent,  but  what  was  so  distinctive  of  Egypt,  as 
also  suitable  for  the  description  in  ver.  4,  the 
crocodile;  Job  xl.,  xli.  25,  26.  For  a  farther 
symbolical  application  of  the  idea,  comp.  Isa. 
xxviL ;  Ps.  Ixxiv.  13,  14 ;  Eev.  xii.  ()3n— njn — 
Tu»6<,  to  stretch,  of  the  long-stretching  body ;  also 
of  the  long-protracted  sound,  the  jackal.) — The 
consciousness  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  Pharaohs, 
their  pride  of  sway,  is  visibly  expressed  by  yaT 
(ch.  xiz.  2),  the  secure  rest,  the  undisturbed  com' 


fortable  lair,  after  the  manner  of  the  crocodile, 
and  by  the  nearer  designation ;  in  the  midst  of  hil 
streams.    -|j{»  (lIN')  Gesen.  :  an  Egyptian  word, 

on  the  Rosetta  inscription,  jor — here  of  the  (seven) 
arms  of  the  Nile  (Isa.  vii.  18),  elsewhere  of  its 
canals,  when  those  are  called  nnnj-  The  NQe  is 
"  the  heart  of  Egypt,"  on  account  of  which  divine 
honours  were  of  old  paid  to  it,  in  particular  by 
the  kings,  with  devout  regard,  "  as  the  vivifying 
father  of  all  that  exists"  (Champollion).     As  he 

already  says  my  stream  (ch.  xxviiL  2),  the  <5 
may  not  merely  import  that  it  belongs  to  him,  is 
his  property,  but :  it  belongs  to  me  of  right,  or 
so  that  it  cannot  be  taken  from  me — therefore 
lawfully  and  inalienably.  It  gives  expression  to 
the  loud  boast  on  the  ground  of  natural  might  as 
from  primeval  time  and  for  ever ;  in  which  lies 
the  heathenish  contrast  to  Jehovah,  who  alone  is 
unchangeable,  eternal,  gives  and  takes  according 
to  His  wUl. — 'jn^CV.  either  (*3X1.  iio™-  absol.), 
that  he  had  made  himself,  which,  apart  from  the 
fact  that  the  Egyptians  boasted  of  being  the  oldest 
men  (Herod,  ii.  2;  Diodor.  i.  10,  50;  Plato  in 
Tim. ),  accords  well  with  the  Egyptian  deification 
of  the  kingdom.  So  upon  the  monuments  the 
priests  ever  are  represented  as  kneeling  in  the 
dust  before  the  kings.  The  Pharaohs — and  this 
is  peculiarly  Egyptian — were  not  merely  sprung 
from  the  gods,  but  were  themselves  gods  of  the 
land  (Duncker,  Hist,  of  Antiquity,  i.  150). 
Therefore,  as  the  king  of  Tyre  (ch.  xxviii.  2) 
with  his  gods'-seat  asserts  his  divinity,  so  does 
the  king  of  Egypt  with  his  stream  at  least  his 
independence  of  any  other  origin  =  what  I  am, 
that  am  I  of  myself.     Or,  we  may  take  the  suffix 

as  equivalent  to  vp,  for  which,  however,  ver.  9 

cannot  be  adduced,  and  which  cannot  be  under- 
stood with  Hiiv.  as  meaning :  "I  have  secured 
for  myself  its  blessings,"  or,  as  still  more  strongly 
put  by  Hitzig :  "  I  have  made  it  for  me  in  a  right 
condition,"  with  its  canals,  embankments,  sluices, 
etc.,  as  the  Dutch  also  have  been  named  the  crea- 
tors of  their  land.  [Targum  Jonathan  :  meum 
est  regnum,  etegosuhjugaviillud.]  Jerome:  He 
trusts  in  the  peculiar  overflowings  of  the  NOe, 
which  belongs  to  him  ;  the  rain  of  heaven  is  of 
no  moment  for  him.  Thus  also  the  old  expositorf 
of  Homer  understood  the  2iit(ti«  of  the  ' '  Aigyp- 
tos,"  i.e.  the  Nile,  of  the  annual  overflowirgs 
(Odya.  iv.  477).  In  its  application  to  Phsraoh 
Hophra  (Apries),  the  notice  of  Herodotus  is  cba- 


CHAI".  XXIX. 


278 


racteristic,  that  be  tlii>Ui:lit  neither  the  power  ol' 
men  nor  of  goiis  could  destroy  his  kingdom  (ii.  c. 
169). 

Ver.  4.  The  sin  referred  to  is  followed  by  a 
corresi  onding  pujiishnient,  as  the  threatening  is 
given  forth,  that  from  both  king  and  people  the 
ground  of  their  pride  and  prosperity  should  be 
taken  away. — The  "behold  1  am  against  thee  "  of 
ver.    3    explicates    itself.  —  D'Tin,    Qeri    D'nn, 

from  nn,    ring,    such   as   is   jiut   into   the  nose 

of  beasts,  or  about  the  most  tender  and  sus- 
ceptible parts  of  the  head,  for  timing  them. 
Hengst.  :    "a  double  ring,"  in  the  Dual,   like 

D"n7>  so  that  both  halves  join  together  in  the 
mouth  (corap.  ch.  xix.  4).  Rosenm.  imderstands  it 
of  the  iiooks,  by  which,  according  to  Herodotus, 
the  crocodiles  were  taken  (Job  xli.  2). — The  fish  of 
the  arms  of  the  Nile  signify  the  living  and  well- 
conditioned  Egyptians  in  general,  who  had  felt 
themselves  like  tish  in  the  water,  but  were  now 
to  be  placed  upon  dry  ground.  Hnzu;:  specially 
Pharaoh's  men  of  war  ;  Jo.nathan  :  the  princes 
and  nobles.— 'n pain,  ch.  iii.  26. — For  py\T\. 
supply  IS'N-— ■'^3  to  what  historical  signification 

is  to  be  put  upon  the  image,  which  is  of  a  quite 
general  kind,  uo  indication  whatever  is  given. 
But  see  tlie  Doctiiual  Kertections,  No.  2. — Ver.  5. 
The  wilderness  forms,  as  to  the  sense,  the  con- 
trast to  might  and  pomp  and  all  sort  of  abund- 
ance; as  to  the  figure,  it  is  a  contrast  tn  the  Nile, 
which  formed  an  oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  wihler- 
uess,  being  secured  by  the  heights  on  the  west 
against  the  quicksands  and  stoiius  of  the  gieat 
lesert,  and  separated  by  the  mountains  on  the 
;ast  from  the  rocky  cliHs,  the  desolate  plains,  and 
sand  downs.  The  irrigation  of  the  ground  in 
consequence  of  the  abundant  waters  of  the  Nile, 
especially  at  the  season  of  the  yearly  overflowing, 
the  cooling  of  the  atmosphere  precisely  at  the  time 
when  the  heat  is  greatest,  are  the  more  impor- 
tant, since  the  blue  and  sliiuiug  heaven  is  never 
troubled  by  I'ain-clouds,  the  heat  is  strong,  and 
the  south-west  gales  sometimes  drive  the  sand  and 
dust  of  the  Sahara  over  tlie  Libyan  mountains  as 
far  as  the  Nile.  ("  Egypt  is  a  land  without  rain, 
without  springs,  without  refreshing  winds,  with- 
out alternating  seasons.  Instead  of  these,  how- 
;ver,  it  possesses  a  fertile  stream,  which  has  not 
its  like  upon  earth.  In  the  far-reacliing  expanse 
one  sees  only  the  dead  wilderness  ;  but  on  ap- 
proaching the  Nile,  all  is  life  and  prosperity.  The 
camel  of  the  desert  scents  the  fresh  Nile  air  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  day's  journey.  The  Arabs  call 
it  Baclir,  the  sea  ;  it  is,  however,  one  of  the 
gi'eatest  and  longest  rivers  of  the  earth,  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  Amazon,  Mississippi,  aud  Yenisei." 
— Sepp.)  Hence,  for  the  very  reason  that  it 
reckons  it.self  distinguished,  as  fonning  a  green 
.lasis  of  luxuriant  fertility  and  coolness  in  the 
ludst  of  a  boundless  waste,  Jehovah  brings  it  into 
that  wilderness  condition.  A  deeper  parallel, 
however,  also  lies  in  this  relegation  to  the  wilder- 
ness, in  re.spect  to  the  divine  guiding  of  Israel  into 
the  wilderness  when  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt. — 
"  Upon  the  face  of  the  field  "  means  the  same  as 
"the  wilderness;"  according  to  Hengst.:  "the 
open  field  as  contra.sted  mth  the  splendid  mau- 
soleums in  which  the  'Egyptian  Pharaohs  were 
Ijuiied  in  the  times  of  their  glory. "    Not  even  an 


honourable  buri.d  would  be  given  him  (T.vnr.rM) 
At  all  events,  in  the  place  where  he  falls,  there 
he  remains  lying  ;  ami,  indeed,  what  previousl/ 
were  separate  from  each  other,  thee  and  every 
fish,  now  come  to  be  united  in  the  reprt.sentativj 
person  of  the  king.  ' '  Every  one  of  his  dccea.sed 
subjects  was,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  Pharaoh,  as  in 
the  retreat  from  Moscow  Napoleon  was  seen  in 
every  dead  Frenchman  "  (Hengst.).  They  are 
simply  abandoned  to  the  wilderness  ;  hence  there 
is  found  no  gathering  up  and  carrying  away  (;]DS). 
no  bringing  together  IJ'ap). — Corap.  Matt,  xiii 
47  sq. — Ver.  6a.  A  knowledge  which  is  the  very 
reverse  ot  what  was  distinctively  Egyptian,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  Pharaohs  were  honoured,  on  the 
monuments,  as  "  the  dispensers  of  life,"  the 
' '  ever-living, "  and  such  like.  (Comp.  the  Rosetta 
inscription.) 

Vers.  6A-12.  This  section  has  respect  to  the 
land.  The  words :  all  the  inha,bitants  of  Egypt, 
mediate  the  transition  from  the  king  to  the  land. 
— The  'tj;'  can  scarcely  be  the  reason  for  the 
fact  of  the  Egyptians  knowing  God  ;  but  this 
sentence  properly  breaks  off  here,  and  a  new  sen- 
tence begins,  to  which  ver.  8  foniis  the  conclusion; 
so  that  ver.  7  comes  in  parenthetically  UvL.). —  . 
The  image  of  the  reed-staff  is  derived  from  Isa. 
xxxvi.  6,  the  more  suitably  as  it  is  there  found 
in  the  mouth  of  the  -Assyrian  king,  whose  heritage 
passed  over  to  the  Chaldeans  ;  and  to  repeat  with 
the  fact  the  addition  of  broken,  used  there  by 
him,  was,  as  a  judgment  already  openly  pro- 
nounced upon  Egypt,  so  much  the  more  a  ground 
of  shame  for  Israel.  What  had  discovered  itself 
even  in  the  Assyrian  time  should  have  needed  no 
fresh  proof. — Ver.  7.  It  means  that  a  reed-stalf 
is  not  only  no  sujiport,  but  a  hurtful  support  ;  it 
Cannes  with  it  a  show  and  deceit  of  a  dangerous 
kind.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  forgotten,  that 
there  is  a  characteristic  allusion  involved  i::  the 
figure  to  the  p'-olificness  of  Egypt  in  r" ids  and 
bidrushes  (Isa.   xix.   0). — Instead   cf  Tis^S.   '''* 

Qeri  has  B33,  as  if  the  personified  Zgr/.,  t'  this 

as  addressed  in  its  king,  could  have  no  i.anc  '  In 
order  to  hold  fast  by  the  image  of  the  reed,  .^hich 
is  certainly  continued  by  the  |>yn  (Isa.  xjxvi.  6), 
Kliefoth  translates-:  "  by  thy  tivig  "  ;  l>ut  who 
would  lay  hold  thus  of  a  reed  if  he  means  to 
support  himself  upon  it? — That  Israel  promised 
himself  support  from  Egypt  is  evident  Irom  the 
result  of  the  breaking  of  this  reed-stati';  while  the 
wounded,  torn  shoulder  leant  upon  it,  the  splinters 
of  the  reed  ran  thereinto. — Klief.  :  "the  staff  of 
reed  pierced  through  the  hand  and  arm,  up  even 
to  the  shoulder."  The  [j;e>  expressly  says  this, 
at  the  same  time  strengthening  the  "  laying 
hold  of"  to  a  resting  thereon  with  the  whole  body. 
— 'mDVni>  Gesen.:  only  the  Hiphil,  transposed 
for  mvoni  (Ps.   Ixix.   24  [23]),    "  and  makest 

shake."  Hengst.:  sarcastically,  " a  juetty  .stay- 
ing, which  was,  in  fact,  a  casting  down."  If  the 
root-meaning  of  IDV  is  to  draw  together,  it  might 
stand  here  as  =  laming  :  "and  drawest  together 
for  them  the  whole  loins"  (Meier).  "To  make 
to  totter,"  or  shake,  certainly  says  very  little,  and 
"  to  make  to  stand,"  so  that  they  must  use  their 
own  loins,  without  any  stay,  can  hardly  be  the 
right  explanation.     Ku£F. :  it  pierced  through 


274 


EZEKIEL. 


their  shoulders,  and  made  these,  bj'  injuring  their 
muscles,  ligaments,  and  joints,  stitf  and  rigid,  so 
tliat  they  could  but  stand,  and  move  no  more. 
("So  fared  it  with  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes 
under  Hosea  in  connection  with  Egypt,  and  like- 
wise with  the  kingdom  of  Judah  under  Zedekiah." 
— J.  D.  MiCHAELis.) — Ver.  8.  Solemn  conclusion, 
with  ferainit.0  salBxes,  on  accouutof  the  reference 
to  the  litaJ.  The  sword  indicates  war  ;  ch. 
xiv.  17. 

Ver.  9.  The  consequence  of  this  desolation  of 
the  land.— jj)',  as  in  ver.  6. — Comp.  at  ver.   3. 

Bcoause  Pharaoh,  regarding  himself  as  all  Egypt, 
in  his  lordly  spirit  asserts  for  himself  the  right 
and  power  of  all, — 'JKI  points  back  to  iJX  '3  ; 
'n'C'y'  "ot  so  properly  the  Kile  as  generally  what 
is  to  be  made  (Isa.  x.  13),  always,  however,  with 
reference  to  the  arms  of  the  Nile, — therefore,  in 
Ver.  10,  Jehovah  falls  upon  this  pompous  "  I," as 
well  as  its  sujjports,  the  streams  which  it  calls  its 
own,  and  gives  the  land  of  Egypt,  with  which 
this  "  I  "  had  identified  itself,  to  a  state  of  most 
lomplete  desolation.  The  heaping  together  of  the 
synonyms,  and  the  double  genitive,  express  a  super- 
'ative.  Here,  as  at  ver.  5,  the  wilderness  in  con- 
trast to  the  Nile.     [Hitzig  points  ni3"l^i'^  "  for 

leserts,  desolation  of  the  waste."  Schmieder 
remarks  on  it,  that  definite  pre-intimations  of  in- 
jvitable  chastisements  are  commonly  milder,  and 
iraw^  attention  to  an  uumistakeable  softening  in 
what  follows  (vers.  12-16),  which  might  be  still 
more  lightened  in  the  execution  of  the  punish- 
ment.] From  Migdol,  a  similar  bounding  to  that 
in  ch.  XXV.  13  (Sept.  :  airo  JActyiuXov)  ;  placed 
over  against  Syene  (Aswan),  the  most  southerly 
boundary,  on  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  and  to 
be  take^i  as  the  boundary  on  the  north.  It  was, 
as  th:  name  imports,  a  "fortress,"  perhaps  the 
border-watch  toward  Syria  ;  on  account  of  which 
Jerome  :  a  lurre  Syenes.  T\y\D,  according  to 
ChamiTOllion,  from  ounn,  to  open,  and  sa,  through 
which  it  acquires  the  sense  of  "the  opener,  "the 
key  (of  Egypt).  Here  rise  the  mighty  terraces  of 
reddish  gianite  (Syenite),  which  formed  the  build- 
ing material  of  the  Egyptian  kings.  The  deter- 
mining expression  'ijn  does  not  go  beyond,  but 
lixes  Syene  as  the  boundary  on  the  Ethiopian 
side. — Ver.  11  paints  the  desolation  (vers.  9,  10), 
-.orresponding  to  ver.  8.    Neither  traffic  nor  travel. 

— aCJTl  vh\i  Hekgst.  :  "and  it  shall  not  sit"  (!); 
therefore  it  shall  lie  down.  The  forty  years  are 
(according  to  him)  historical,  to  be  branched  off 
from  the  seventy  of  Jeremiah,  ch.  xxv.,  xxix., 
»'hich  began  in  tlie  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  when, 
with  the  slaughter  at  Circesium  on  the  Euphrates, 
the  power  of  Egypt  was  for  ever  broken.  Thirty 
years  had  it  continued,  till  the  war  passed  over  to 
the  proper  head  of  the  anti-Chaldean  coalition, 
and  EgJ7)t  was  laid  waste.  Hitzig  takes  the  num- 
ber for  a  round  one  (1  Sam.  xvii.  16 ;  Ex.  xxiv. 
18,  eV  ,),  after  the  analogj'  of  ch.  iv.  6  (but  see 
therf;.  The  p.irallel  already  indicated  at  ver.  5, 
■8  vi;il  as  tile  general  character  of  the  prophecy, 
N',  luchadnezzar  not  being  named  here,  recom- 
tti'  iid  the  si/mholienl  import  of  the  number:  Israel, 
K-h;t  delivered  from  Egypt,  forty  years  in  the 
ivllderness  :  Egy|)t,  with  respci  t  to  Israel,  forty 
years  a  wilderness  ;  there  a  proving,  here  a  judg- 


ment, punishment.  [Tholuck  is  of  opinion  that 
the  number  is  indeed  a  round  one,  but  still  of  an 
approximate  nature  as  regards  the  probable  reckon- 
ing, about  36  or  37.  ] — 0*2t»»n.  comp.  ch.  xxvi.  20. 
3{J»'  signifies  :  "  to  be  master  of  something,'  to 
possess,  therefore ;  to  tarry  somewhere,  and  so 
here:  to  occupy  house,  be  at  home.  We  are  not 
to  regard  it  as  a  poetical  phrase  for  being  inha- 
bited (Klief.),  but  rather  to  consider  it  as  spoken 
with  reference  to  the  scattering,  etc.,  of  the  in- 
habitants in  ver.  12. — Ver.  12.  As  an  ahxolute 
contrast  to  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  corresponds  in 
a  symbolical  respect  the  repeated  delineation  »J 
the  like  total  desolation  of  Egypt  (ch.  xii.  20,  xiv. 
15).  Iti  reality,  this  can  only  be  understood  reUi- 
lively,  as  compared  with  Egypt's  former  Jlourish- 
ing  condition  as  a  land. — The  twice  repeated  "^103 
points  to  the  neighbouring  lands,  with  their  cities, 
or  to  the  provinces  of  Egypt,  or  to  the  members 
of  the  coalition  against  Babylon  (Hengst.). 
Hiiv.  regards  it  as  purely  ideal,  since  othei-wise 
the  article  must  have  stood  before  mS^K-  -'Re- 
cording to  Hengst.  ;  "  the  desolation  is  not  so 
precise  a  fact  as  the  supremacy,  which  was  decided 
by  a  single  battle.  It  is  sufficient  if  the  begin- 
ning of  the  desolation  took  place  within  the  fourth 
decennium  from  its  end  (?).  The  end  of  the  forty 
years,  at  all  events,  coincides  with  that  of  the 
seventy  years  in  Jeremiah,  of  which  the  first 
seventeen  had  elapsed  at  the  time  our  prophecy 
was  published — seven  under  Jehoiakim,  ten  under 
Zedekiah.  Therefore  there  still  were  thirteen  years 
to  expire  before  the  beginning  of  the  forty  years. 
In  ch.  xxix.  17  the  prophet  has  himself  expressly 
determined  the  beginning  of  the  four  decenniums. " 
— By  the  scattering  of  the  Egyptians  is  meant  the 
deportation  of  the  young  and  the  noble,  as  such 
was  tlien  associated  with  every  hostile  occupation, 
Nah.  iii.  10  (Tiloi.fcK).  Also  those  scattered 
through  terror  are  not  to  be  forgotten.  Hay.  : 
"  Almost  the  same  expressions  here  of  Egypt, 
which  elsewhere  are  used  only  of  the  dispersion 
and  gathering  again  of  Israel. "  "  Egypt  the  cari- 
cature of  Israel." 

Vers.  13-16.  The  end.— Ver.  13.  The  <3  assigns 
a  reason  for  the  forty  years,  by  pointing  to  what  is 
to  take  place  thereafter.  But  that  by  the  end  of 
this  period  respect  is  had  to  the  end  of  the  Chal- 
dean supremacy,  as  in  .leremiah,  is  not  indicated 
in  the  text,  nor  would  it  have  been  according  to 
Ezekiel's  style  (comp.  Introd.  to  ch.  xxv.  sq. ; 
comp.  also  Jer.  xlvi.  26).- -The  promised  gather- 
ing of  Egypt,  in  Ver.  1 4,  is  restitution  (comp.  at 
ch.  xvi.  53),  indeed,  to  their  original  condition, 
but  not  to  the  height  which  it  had  then 
reached. — Pathros  is  what  belongs  to  the  south  ; 
South  or  Upper  Egypt,  Thehes,  which  (as  Ewald 
remarks)  "was  not,  according  to  the  Manethonian 
dynasties,  precisely  the  oldest  seat  of  royalty,  yet 
still  a  Southern  Egypt  older  than  Memphis  ;  but 
after  the  time  of  the  Hyksos,  all  the  power  o( 
Egypt  departed  from  Thebes." — Comp.  Herod. 
ii.  4,  15;  DlODOR.  i.  50. — DHTiaD.  see  at  ch.  xvi. 
3  (xxi.  35  [30]).  — On  the  expression  :  alow  king- 
dom, comp.  at  ch.  xvii.  14.  Heng.st.  ;  "  This  if 
no  mere  prediction,  but  an  indirect  practical  ad- 
vice (Isa.  xli.  28),  to  dissuade  from  a  foolish  con 
fidence  in  Egyjit."  The  parallel,  besides,  with 
Israel  has  already  been  noticed. — Ver.  15.  Com- 
parison with  other  kingdoms.     Such  it  had  oftei 


CHAP.  XXIX    lG-19. 


275 


made,  and  therein  gone  to  excess.  Now  God 
makes  the  comparison,  aixd  certainly  with  another 

result.— Ver.  16.  nu^oi'.  compare  therewith  the 
repeated  nD37.  ch.  x.vviii.  26. — n'iT>  masc, 
while  formerly  nTin,  a  kingdom  being  thought 
of,  but  here  it  is  conceived  of  as  a  people,  or  as 
king. — That  the  Egyptian  people  (as  the  Dn'inX 
might  indicate)  could  inspire  Israel  with  con- 
fidence, so  that  the  latter  should  lean  uj)on  them, 
support  itself  on  them,  especially  as  against  Baby- 
lon— in  that  lespect  they  were  a  remembrancer  of 
iniquity  (comp.  on  ch.  xxi.  28  [23]).  This  is 
what  is  plainly  expressed  by  rU3  with  nnx. 
namely,  "to  turn  oneself  to  any  one,  in  order 
to  follow  him " — on  which  comp.  ch.  xvii.  6,  7  ; 
I's.  xl.  5  [4].  (Hengst.  :  "  Whosoever  beguiles 
into  iniquity  brings  iniquity  to  remembrance,  or 
to  the  knowledge  of  him  under  whose  cognizance 
it  falls.  For  the  iniquity  which  is  committed 
cannot  remain  unmarked  by  '  the  Judge  of  the 
whole  earth,'  nor  unpuni.shed."  Hiv.  :  "Now 
Egypt  comes  forth  as  an  accuser  of  the  covenant- 
people  before  God,  as  a  witness  in  respect  to  their 
want  of  confidence  in  Him,  their  idolatrous  ad- 
miration of  worldly,  external  power,  therefore  of 
their  falling  away  from  God."  Ewald  translates: 
"Still  further  the  house  of  Isi-ael  had  a  Satan  for 
their  confidence.")  The  knowledge  of  Jehovah 
as  Lord  and  Ruler,  as  in  judgment,  so  in  compas- 
sion, is  the  perpetual  refrain  ;  it  is  for  Israel  and 
for  the  heathen  the  end  of  the  ways  of  God. 

Vers.  17-21.  The  appended  keiifor  understand- 
utg  t/te  prophecies  concernlntj  Eijtfpt.  —  Not  merely 
the  relation  to  what  went  before,  but  the  relation 
also  to  what  follows,  calls  for  consiileration.  In 
tile  former  respect,  the  section  is  an  aj>pendix  ;  in 
the  latter  respect,  and  generally,  it  is  a  key  for 
the  understanding  of  the  prophecies  respecting 
Eg)-pt.  We  have  to  regard  it  as  a  sort  of  paren- 
thesis, since  the  announcement  of  time  in  ver.  17 
expressly  shows  it  was  above  16  years  later  than 
ver.  1,  later  even  than  ch.  xl.  [ScHMrEDEK: 
exactly  16  years,  2  months,  17  days  after  the  pre- 
ceding prophecy;  not  quite  17  years  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerus.alem,  two  years  after  Ezekiel's 
vision  of  the  new  temple.  Hirzir.  :  the  new- 
moon  day  of  Apiil  572  n. c. ]  It  consequently 
stands  quite  apart  from  the  preceding  prophecy, 
hut  so  does  it  also  from  the  one  that  follows, 
3h.  XXX.  1-19,  by  its  closing  verse.  Ch.  xxx. 
1-19  .stands  related  to  ch.  xxix.  1-16,  as  ch. 
xxvi.  7-1 4  to  ch.  xxvi.  2-6  ;  so  that  the  indica- 
tion of  time  in  ch.  xxix.  1  holds  good  also  for 
.^h.  xxx.  1.  Hengst.  denies  the  number  seven  for 
the  prophecies  upon  Egypt,  because  the  necessary 
chronological  specification  is  wanting  at  ch.  xxx. 
1 .  This  reason  cannot  avail  against  the  considera- 
tion that  the  significant  number,  which  rules  the 
whole,  in  a  way  that  ijerfectly  accords  with  its 
symbolical  import  as  well  as  with  the  relation  of 
the  close  (of  Egypt),  reverts  with  this  close  to  the 
whole,  and  thereby  connects  the  whole  together. 
The  chronological  s]>ecificiition  has  been  omitted 
at  ch.  xxx.  1,  because  it  would  have  been  the 
wiae  as  that  at  ch.  xxix.  1  ;  and  the  verses 
17-21  ire  interjected  here  jirecisely  on  this  ac- 
count, that  ch.  .XXX.  1-19,  being  contemporaneous 
with  cj.  xr.ix.  1-16,  might  fonu  a  separate  pre- 
diction and  so  comidete  the  seven  number  of 
pn^becies  upon  Egypt. 


Ver.  IS.  The  thirteen  years'  siege  of  Tyre  fur 
nishes  the  key  for  the  more  immediate  under- 
standing of  the  prophecy  upon  Egyi>t ;  the  break' 
ing  off  of  the  siege  in  question  renderc^l  pos.sib!« 
the  approaching  fulfilment  of  the  anti-Egyptiai; 
predictions. — Ch.  xxvi.  7.  —  The  work  agains) 
Tyre,  consequently  the  siege  ot  the  city,  is  desig- 
nated great,  and  this  not  without  resi)ect  to  the 
eonse<|uences  which  it  involved  for  the  host  <A 
the  king  of  Babylon.  Of  the  bearing  upon  tlic 
head  and  shoulder,  with  refei'ence  to  helmet  and 
burdens,  nip  and  DID  are  used,  which  pres\i|i- 
pose  long  and  heavy  toil.  According  to  Heni;.si. 
the  works  had  to  do  with  the  erecting  of  besieging 
towers,  and  especially  the  casting  up  a  rampait 
(ch.  xxvi.  8);  but  they  suit  decidedly  better  when 
viewed  with  respect  to  the  mound  running  ovi-r 
to  insular  Tyre,  as  indicated  by  Ewald  (ch.  xxvi. 
10).  Hitzig  makes  the  ingenious  remark,  that 
the  shallowness  of  the  sea-strait  in  Alexander's 
time,  mentioned  by  Arrian,  may  have  been  occa- 
sioned by  the  eft'orts  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  cen- 
struct  this  mound.  However,  it  is  not  in  such 
respect,  therefore,  as  to  what  concerns  the  great- 
ness of  the  work,  that  '{{(j  njCT  is  to  be  under- 
stood of  a  like  gi-eat  reward  corresponding  to  it. 
"ISL'S  according  to  its  root-meaning,  is  "  a  some- 
thing made  fast,"— either  subjectively,  what  any 
one  held  fast  by  himself  or  had  made  fast  with 
another,  or  objectively,  what  for  material  con- 
siderations must  be  held  fast.  It  is  in  a  geneial 
way  denied  that  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  host 
had  received  from  Tyre  hire  or  reward  for  their 
work.  As  the  siege  was  the  work,  the  hire  must 
mean  the  booty,  especially  with  respect  to  the 
host.  The  sepxrate  mention  of  him  and  his  host 
seems  to  point  to  a  distinction  between  Nebu- 
chadnezzar and  his  host  in  reference  to  the  hire. 
Jerome  affinns  simply,  though  he  does  not  say  on 
what  grounds,  that  the  nobles  and  rich  men  ot 
Tyre  made  away  from  it  in  ships,  carrying  with 
them  their  treasures  over  the  .sea,  and  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's host  could  find  no  spoQ.  Ewald  accejits 
this  :  and  Hav.  cites  in  support  of  it  Isa.  r^iii.  6, 
and  what  happened  at  the  siege  of  Tyre  under 
Alexander  (DioDOli.  xvii.  41;  Curt.  iv.  3).  Pro- 
bable, at  all  events  more  probable  than  the  su))- 
position  of  Hitzig  that  the  money  of  the  Tyriann 
was  spent  in  the  war,  must  be  the  consideratiou 
that  the  besiegers  of  Tyre  also  had  an  interest  ii> 
sparing  the  city,  and  refraining  from  plundering 
it.  Unly  the  prophet  does  not  say  this,  but 
makes  the  Chahlee  liost  come  to  Egy]it  to  ila 
hurt.  With  the  conquest  of  the  city,  however, 
whether  it  was  or  was  not  effected,  our  verse  has 
nothing  really  to  do,  as  Movers  justly  remark? 
Ver.  19  rather  suggests  another  reference.  Fnt 
Nebuchadnezzar,  at  least,  the  consequence  of  th  • 
siege  of  Tyre,  "his  hire,"  could  only  be  Egypt, 
if  the  great  work-was  not  to  remain  without  le- 
waid.  First  with  the  punishment  of  Egypt  did 
the  recompense  become  complete  whicli  must 
strike  the  anti-Chaldean  coalition.  Egypt  also 
would  otherwise  have  remained  the  spark  which 
was  ever  ready  to  inflame  a  new  Pha'uicia  and 
Syria.  If  the  overthrow  of  Tyre  was  to  yield 
profit  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  not  merely  must  Jeru- 
salem be  laid  prostrate,  but  Egypt  also,  the  pillar 
of  all  opposition,  as  against  Assyria  so  against 
Babylon,  be  brought  down.  It  is  fi'oni  such 
points  of  view  in  Babylonian  policy  that  wc  kic 


276 


EZEKIEL. 


to  uiulerstai'  what  is  meant  by  his  hire  licit 
having  beCL^  „  iveii  him.  But  wliat  naturally 
mediates  the  ■■lit,  what  forms  the  consequence 
of  the  evil,  tbl.:  ii  in  truth,  spiritually  considered, 
the  divine  pnnisl  nu-nt ;  and  hence  tlie  therefore, 
jtc.  in  ver.  19.  The  policy  of  the  divine  recom- 
pense as  against  Egypt  (the  prop  of  Israel's  un- 
faithfuln"^  and  treachery  to  the  covenant),  sc 
for  Neluchzdnez:  ar's  work  (  "  whicli  they  did  for 
Me,"  ver.  20),  n  the  service  of  Jehovah,  is 
priaiarily  the  ki  y  of  the  prophecies  touching 
Egypt. — p^n  is    loise,  and  from  that  "  a  noisy 

multituile-,"  here  on  account  of  the  connection, 
and  because  XC'3  merely  is  used  :  the  great  mass 

of  things,  th-.'refo/e  ;  the  richei.  [Ewald:  "its 
noisy  jionip. "] — As  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  re- 
port, certainly  after  the  quite  untrustworthy  tra- 
dition of  Egyptian  vanity,  Hophra  had  besieged 
the  Phrenicians  and  Cyprians  by  land  and  sea, 
and  returned  with  rich  booty  to  Egypt.  There 
were  assuredly  no  lasting  results  of  such  a  thing ; 
for  after  the  defeat  at  Carchemish,  and  tlie  mis- 
carrying of  the  relief  of  Jerusalem,  the  position 
of  Egypt  was  not  adequate  to  that ;  although 
still,  as  also  Duncker  thinks,  the  Egyptians  might 
have  brought  home  spoil  and  trophies.  There 
was  a  glimmering  of  Eg^-jit's  early  splendour  in 
the  circumstance  of  its  being  given  for  a  reward 
to  Nebuchadnezzar. — Hitzig  takes  as  the  subject 
to  nn'ni  the  land  of  Egypt  (ver.  20).— Ver.  20. 

n^ys,  as  in  Ps.  ci.x.   20,  that  which  is  wrought 

for,  the  fniit  of  labour.  Ewald  :  "as  his  pay." 
— ns  is  perhaps,  after  the  expression  in  ver.  18, 

rivj?  12V  "IB'Sj  to  be  understood  of  the  city  of 

Tyre.  It  is  commonly  rendered  ;  for  which  he 
wrought.  Hitzig  justly  remarks:  "that  Nebu- 
chadnezzar liad  besieged  Tyre  in  the  service  of 
Jehovah  could  have  been  declared  by  the  pro- 
phet only  then,  if  the  city  had  been  conquered  ; " 
but  since,  according  to  Hitzig,  this  could  not 
be,  he  applies  itj-y  to  the  Egyptians  (!),  as  was 

already  done  in  tlie  Targum  of  Jonathan,  and 
necessarily  imposes  on  m'H  the  signification  :  in 
regard  to  that  which  ;  that  is,  for  that  which. 

Ver.  21.  This  verse  vividly  represents  the  cha- 
racter of  the  whole  section.  It  is  a  close  which 
corresponds  to  the  subsidiary  character  of  the 
section,  vers.  17-20,  in  relation  to  the  general 
prophecy  upon  Egypt,  by  the  generalness  of  the 
style  in  which  it  is  given,  as  thereby  also  it 
accords  with  the  design  that  this  section  should 
serve  as  a  key  to  the  Egyptian  prophecies  gene- 
rally. Comp.  the  analogous  eh.  xxviii.  25,  26. 
In  the  latter  respect  it  is  indicated  to  us  in  ver. 


21,  that  although  the  immediate  fulfilment  oi 
that  which  concerned  Egyjit  should  be  ac- 
complished through  Nebiiclunlnezzar,  yet  Egypt 
opens  a  farther  prospect  still,  .since  it  is  to  oe 
i'ef;arded,  in  these  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  upon 
foreign  peoples,  as  heathendom  generally  in  its 
close  coming  into  regard  for  Israel's  destruction. 
From  this  point  of  view,  the  5<inn  Dl'3  certainly 
connects  itself  with  the  luoineiit  of  the  fulfilment 
through  Nebuchadnezzar ;  but  it  at  the  same 
time  conducts  farther,  expands  this  day  to  "an 
ideal  day"  (Hengst. )  — the  day  of  the  Lord  (ch. 
.XXX.  3) — to  the  Jlessianic  time,  as  Ewald  has 
properly  recognised.  [Schmiedkh  :  "every  an- 
niliilation  of  a  national  power,  which  bent  itsell 
against  the  Lord,  is  to  the  prophet  a  type  of  all 
liuman  power  which  rises  against  God — a  type  <f 
the  world's  judgment.  Therelbre  also  the  pro- 
mises, which  were  given  Israel  for  the  last  time, 
connect  themselves  therewith,  and  now  revive 
again."]  According  to  Hitzig,  the  attack  upon 
Egypt  was  to  Ezekiel  the  pledge  of  the  then  also 
beginning  salvation  announced  in  eh.  xx.  40  sq. , 
xvii.  22,  xvi.  60. — nOVi  used  of  gradual  growth 
out  of  small  beginnings  and  constant  burstings 
forth  again,  new  shoots,  with  reference  to  the 
riDV  i"  Jeremiah  and  Zechariah. — The  horn,  as 

very  commonly  derived  from  horned  beasts,  in 
particular  the  bull,  a  biblical  expression  for 
strength,  and  the  courage  resting  thereon:  not  so 
properly  with  reference  to  pushing  (Hengst.  ), 
lor  which  the  context  affords  no  occasion  ;  as  in 
contrast  to  the  impotence  of  Egypt  (heathendom), 
the  power  and  pomp  of  the  licsh — therefore  an- 
other sense  of  power,  the  consciousness  cf  the 
victory  which  overcomes  the  world.  Fs.  Kkv. 
5,  cxxxii.  17;  Lam.  ii.  3;  Luke  i.  69;  comp. 
also  1  Sam.  ii.  1  with  respect  to  the  following 
nS'pnnS- — The  opening  of  the  mouth  points 
expressly  to  ch.  xxiv.  26.  (See  there.)  What 
was  said  in  that  place  upon  the  symbolical  im- 
port of  the  dumbness  of  the  prophet  determines 
also  his  speaking  here  in  the  midst  of  Israel  as  a 
prophetical  one.  Only,  "the  house  of  Israel" 
must  not  be  resolved  into  the  community  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  mouth  of  Ezekiel  into  the  word  of 
prophecy,  agreeably  to  Joel  iii.,  as  Theodoret 
already  explained  the  matter  ;  but  we  have  to 
cleave  to  the  second  chief  part  of  the  predictions 
of  our  prophet,  for  which  the  opening  of  his  raoutli 
to  Israel  is,  according  to  ch.  xxiv.  26  sq.,  the 
characteristic,  in  coLtradistinction  to  the  iirst 
main  portion  of  his  book.  But  in  so  far  will  such 
opening  of  Ezekiel's  mouth  have  place  as  his 
prophecy  of  the  compassions  of  G'xi  shall  then 
have  found  their  confirmation. 


CHAPTEE  XXX. 

1,  2         And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man,  prophesy  and 

3  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Howl !  alas  for  the  day  !     For  near  is  the 
day,  and   [indeed]  near  is  the  day  of  Jehovah,  a  day  of  cloud  ;  a  time  of  the 

4  heathen  nations  shall  it  be.     And  the  sword  comes  into  Egypt,  and  there  is 
anguish  in  Cush  at  the  fall  of  the  pierced-through  in  Egypt ;  and  they  take 

5  his  tumult,  and  his  foundations  are  pulled  down.     Cush,   and  Phut,  and 
Lud,  and  all  the  strange  people,  and  Kub,  and  the  sons  of  the  covenant-land, 

6  shall  fall  with   them  by  the  sword.     Thus  saith  Jehovah,  And  they  thst 


CHAF.  A.\.\ 


uphold  Egypt  fall ;  and  the  pride  of  his  strength  comes  down  :  from  Migdol 
to  Syene  shall  they  fall  in  him  by  the  sword,  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

7  And  tliey  shall  be  desolate  in  the  midst  of  the  desolate  lands,  and  his  cities 

8  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  the  wasted  cities.     And  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah, 

9  when  I  give  a  fire  in  Egypt,  and  all  his  helpers  shall  be  shattered.  In  that 
day  shall  messengers  go  forth  from  before  Me  in  ships,  to  frighten  Cush  the 
secure,  and  there  is  anguish  among   them,  as  in  the  day  of  Egypt ;   for, 

10  behold,  it  comes.     Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And  I  make  the  tumult  of 

11  Eg3'pt  to  cease  through  the  hand  of  J\'ebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon,  lie 
and  his  people  with  him,  the  violent  of  the  heathen,  are  brought  to  destroy 
the  land,  and  they  draw  their  swords  upon  Egypt,  and  fill  the  land  with  the 

12  pierced-through.  And  I  give  [make]  the  streams  for  drought,  and  sell  the  land 
into  the  hand  of  the  wicked,  and  lay  the  land  and  its  fulness  waste  by  the  hand 

13  of  strangers:  I,  Jehovah,  have  spoken.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And 
I  destroy  the  foul  idols,  and  make  the  idols  to  cease  out  of  Noph  ;  and  there 
shall  be  no  more  a  prince  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  and  I  give  fear  in  the 

14  land  of  Egypt.     And  I  make  Pathros  desolate,  and  give  fire  in  Zoan,  and  do 

15  judgment  in  [on]  No.     And  I  pour  out  My  fury  upon  Sin,  the  stronghold  of 

16  Egypt;  and  cut  off  the  tumult  of  No.  And  I  give  fire  in  Egypt:  Sin  shall 
writhe  [for  pain],  and  No  shall  be  for  conquest  [broken],  and  Noph — besiegers 

17  [have]  by  day.     The  young  men  of  Aven  and  Pi-beseth  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 

18  and  they  [these  cities]  shall  go  into  captivity.  And  in  Tehaphnehes  the  day 
shall  be  dark,  in  that  [whe..]  I  break  there  the  yokes  of  Egypt,  and  the  pride 
of  its  strength  ceases  in  it :  a  cloud  shall  cover  it,  and  its  daughters  shall  go 

19  into  captivity.  And  I  do  judgment  in  Egypt,  and  they  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah. 

20  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  eleventh  year,  in  the  first  [month],  on  the  seventh 

21  of  the  month,  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying.  Son  of  man,  the 
arm  of  Pharaoh,  the  king  of  Egypt,  I  have  broken ;  and,  behold,  it  is  not 
bound  up,  that  one  might  apply  healings  [means  of  hcaiinc],  that  one  might  lay 
on  a  fillet  to  bind  it,  that  it  may  become  strong,  that  it  may  take  hold  of  the 

22  sword.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  1  [come]  on  Pharaoh, 
the  king  of  Egypt,  and  I  break  his  arms,  the  strong  and  the  broken,  and  make 

23  the  sword  fall  out  of  lus  hand.     And  I  scatter  Egypt  among  the  heathen,  and 

24  disperse  them  in  the  lands.  And  I  strengthen  the  arms  of  the  king  of 
Babylon,  and  give  My  sword  into  his  hand,  and  shatter  the  army  of  Pharaoh, 

25  and  he  groans  the  groans  of  the  pierced-through  before  him.  And  [yea]  I  take 
firm  hold  of  [hold  snoni?]  the  arms  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  the  arms  of 
Pharaoh  shall  fall ;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  in  that  I  give  My 
sword  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  he  stretdies  it  out  against 

26  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  1  scatter  Egypt  among  the  heathen,  and  disperse 
them  in  the  lands  ;  and  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 

Ver.    2.  Sept.?  .  .  .  J,  a,  i  ru-tpx,  (3)  on— Vale. :  .  .  .  ra;,  rx  did! 

Ver.     4.  .    .   .   za(  TSircvyrxi   ...   TO  rr>.xOoi  at/Trs  *,  evu^TttriiTttt  TCt — 

Ver.  6.  Seiit. :  Il'/wrai  x.  KfrTit  «.  AaJ«i  y,  Ai^vu  k.  mtt-ns  «<'  !Ti/ii«Toi  W  ccirr.v  .  .  .  lia-Hxr,;  iimi  i.  aim  uixx^ef  — 
Vul(t.:  Aelhii>i,ia  H  Lil'ija  et  Lmlt  .(  omiir  rrliqiiiim  viihris  (Another  read:  31331;  Arab:   Nubienses.) 

Ver.    C    V\i]g.:  aiiptrbia  iinpfi-i' ej'is:   a  tttrre  StjeTti'S — 

Ver.    9.  .  .  .  iyyO.ci  cTi-Amn  ifayiirxi  .  .  .  (»  tk  r,;iB;i«— (Another  read.:  DV3,  Sjm  .,  Ar.,  Tare,  VuIk.) 

Var.  M.  cct/Tov  X.  Tov  \»6u  etuTov.     Aoi^jut  a-re  iOiUY — \'nlp. :   .    .   ,  fortissimi — 

Ver.  13.  .   .  .  X.  xxrKTxuffti  fAiytr-ZKyaf  a-re  MiuL^tan  «.  eipxovTa(  Tavtwf  ix  yn  A'lyt/T.  x    tix  lirovTxi  olxtn — 

A'er.  1*.  Sept.:  .  .      ixhxKiriv  U  ^toffrroUt      Vulf;. :  .  .  .  ill  AlfXamlrin. 

Ver,  15   .      .  itri  ^i\  .  .  .  to  Tj.vMoi  Mipi^nin  .  .  .  Ftlugivm  .  .  .  multituilinem  Alexandrix.     (.\nother  read:  |iyTD*J 

Ver.  Ifi.  luy.vv,  .  .  X  iv  ^ioirTi>>u  iirrcci  ^xfiryfjM  X.  iixxti'^rfftTxi  iiietTx.  Vlxlg. :  .  .  .  ijiiasi pnrturiens  dsitbit  I  liTtSfiM 
U  AUTnrdria  erit  disnipoUi  t(  in  Mvti  phin  angiistiiv  ijitiiti'liaiix, 

Vev.  17.  .  .  .  "HXnnjrTDt.iiui  .      .  as.  at'i  yvioLizi;  -  et  ipKX  captiv;v — 

Ver.  18.  .   .  .  (»  Taiftai;  .  ,  .   ret  irxyfirrpx  Aiy  — 

Ver.  21.  V'ntjf. :  .  .  .  von  e^l  obrolutuni  nl  rextititerefur  ei  sanifas — 

Ver.  '21.  Sf-pt.:  .  .  .  x.  tov?  TtTxu.iva'ji  x.  t  rv»rpj^o.uivot/r — 

Ver.  24.  .  .   .  xati  l-cciii  avTrt  (t'  Aiy.  x    Tponu4t/ru  T»i»  rfietafjttit  xuTrs  K.  rxv>.ivffti  rx  rxyXm  tMW' 

Ver.  36.  .    .  .  iTiy^mffonTxi  Tcevrif  »'t  AivwTiet^ 


i78 


EZEKIEL. 


KXEOETICAL   REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-19.   The  Day  of  Judgment. 

As  this  section  is  without  any  chronological 
>it-tace,  this  may  he  understood  if  it  justifies  its 
|]l>ice  by  thp  fit  position  of  its  contents.  Thus  the 
day  in  v«r.  S  appears  as  the  time  of  the  heathen 
natians  in  ver.  3;  hence  it  is  unite  suitable  as  an 
appendi.x  to  the  outline  of  the  prophecy  taken  as 
11  whole  (ch.  xxix.  1  sq. ).  So,  too,  the  sword 
■  ■inning  upon  Egypt  (ver.  4)  is  more  definitely 
indicated  in  ver.  10  sq.,  as  through  the  hand  of 
N'ebucliadiiezzar,  and  so  ver.  20  sq.  is  prepared  for. 
Not  that  "the  nuked  thought  ex  pres.ied  in  the 
introduction  to  the  prophecy  (ch.  xxix.  17-21), 
iif  the  pxetA  catastrophe  hanging  over  Egypt, 
assumes  flesh  and  blood  in  the  main  body  of  the 
prophecy  (ch.  xxx.  1-19),"  as  Hengst.  expresses 
himself;  hut  the  prophecy  upon  Egypt  in  ch. 
xxix.  1-16,  primarily  coloured  by  its  reference  to 
Urael,  is  now  again  coloured  by  the  respect  had 
to  the  heathen,  in  particular  to  the  Egyptian 
covenant-as.sociates. 

Ver.  2.   Howl,  Isa.  xiii.  6  Ot,  to  sound).    The 

sound  is  expressed  by  nn,— like  nnX  (ch-  iv.  14), 

especially  with  Dl'i'-— '"  the  word-sound.  The  day, 
therefore  the  time,  when  that  takes  place  which  is 
contained  in  ver.  4  sq.,  gives  the  reference  (7)  of 
the  mournful  howl.  The  persons  addressed  ^vill 
presently  become  plain. — Ver.  3.  Why  they  were 
railed  to  howling  had  its  ground  in  the  nearnesK 
(I'h.  vii.  7),  which,  however,  has  no  chronological 
determination,  except  in  the  very  near  approach 
.if  the  day.     This  is  primarily  designated  as  QV 

nin'ij,  i.f.  the  one  proper  to  the  Lord,  His  day  in 
particular,  not  only  determined,  fixed  by  Him ; 
also  not  that  alone  which  comes  from  Him  ;  but, 
as  the  standing  formula :  "And  they  know  that 
I  am  Jehovah,"  readily  suggests,  the  day  of  the 
manifeBtation  of  Jehovah.  It  is,  as  the  com- 
pnrison  with  Obad.  15,  Joel  i.  l."),  Isa.  .xiii.  6-9, 
Zeph.  i.  7,  14.  shows,  the  becoming  manifest  in 
judgment.  (Klief.  :  judgment,  ]uinishment, 
slaughter-day. )  With  this  also  agrees  the  desig- 
nation of  it  ;is  "a  day  of  cloud  ;"  comp.  ch.  i.  4. 
Tlie  symbolical  import  is  obvious,  since,  when  the 
c-lear  "light  of  day  comes  to  be  veiled,  there  is  a 
tlireatening  of  storm  (ver.  18,  ch.  xxxiv.  12:  Joel 
i.  15,  ii.  2;  Zeph.  i.  15);  therefore  one  has  to 
think  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and,  in  conseqmnce 
theieof,  a  calamity  which  will  break  foith.  Ac- 
cordingly, n'n'  D'13  nV  (without  article)  is  self- 
determined,  as  meaning  the  time  v-hen  hfalhen 
..^!^jo/^*!---they,  consequently,  are  the  parties  ad- 
ilressed  in  ver.  2,  spoken  of  generally  as  contra- 
distinguished tnerely  from  Israel,  but  more  defi- 
nitely indicated  in  what  follows— .s/ia//cxpenVnfe 
llir-ir  jiid'/inent :  not  precisely  "  their  end  "  (as 
Hitzig),  but  Jehovah's  manifestation  in  the  judg- 
nir-nt  of  wrath  pregnant  with  calamity  to  them. 
I 'onip.  besides,  ch.  xxii.  3;  Isa.  ii.  12.  [Not 
"  identical  with  thr  day  of  Eg)-pt,  ver.  9,  '  as 
Hengst.  thinks,  however  similar,  for  the  heathen 
wrTc  not  simyily  the  Egyptians.  But  still  less, 
with  V.atabl.,  Miinst.,  and  others,  are  we  to  think 
if  the  Chaldeans  as  executors  of  the  judgment.] 

Ver.  4.  The  way  and  manner  of  the  predicted 
judgment  is  here  represented  ;  the  sword  comes; 
»cd  the  heathen  peoples,  who  are  addressed  in 


ver.  2,  are  now  named,  viz.  Egypt,  in  which  wal 
or  bloody  uproar  so   t'rightlully  raged,   Lhat   ii 

Ethiopia  the  impresiiou  made  by  it  was  n^npn 
the  corporeal  state  of  convulsive  writliing,   for 
anguish,  terror,  and  woe.     Nah.  ii.  11  [lOj;  Isa. 
xxi.    3.  —  Upon  t>i3,  seethe  Lexicons. — HiTZiG-. 

^^n  alludes  to  n^niri- — The  subject  to  :  and  they 
take,  is  naturally :  the  enemies,  considered  inde- 
finitely.— n^lOn,  see  at  ch.  xxix.  19.  HkXOST.  : 
"this  is  here  the  prosperity  of  Egypt  luinging 
with  it  active  life." — nnO'.  'I'e  foundations, 
figuratively  of  the  state  as  a  house,  not  to  be 
understood  literally  of  the  Egyptian  chief  cities. 
The  figure,  however,  must  not  be  limited  (as 
nintJ'  i"  Is*-  "i-^-  1*')  to  the  higher  classes,  who 
bear  immediately  the  state-building:  nor  must  it 
(as  Hitzig)  be  understood  of  the  mercenaries,  who 
only  support  Egypt  (vers.  5,  6),  and  could  hardly 
be  represented  as  the  foundations  of  its  existence 
as  a  state.  The  representation  inu.st  undoubtedly 
be  (as  well  remarked  by  Hupfeld  on  Ps.  xi.  3)  ot 
that  which  bears  the  civic  society  and  holds  it  up 
— ordinances  and  laws  ;  so  that,  if  formerly  it  was 
the  weW-being  of  Egypt  which  was  coucerneil,  it 
is  now  the  being,  the  very  existence  of  it. 

Ver.  5.  Ethiopia,  as  already  at  ver.  4,  instar 
omnium,  named  as  the  neighbour  and  political 
associate  of  Egypt,  opens  tlie  array  of  Egyjit'a 
supporters  (ver.  6).  Upon  Phut  and  Lud,  see  at  ch. 
xxvii.  10. — 31j;is:  "joining-in,"  "mixing, '"im- 
migration," therefore:  strange  people;  scarcely 
(as  the  Syrian  translates)  could  "all  Arabia"  be 
meant.  Ex.  xii.  38 ;  1  Kings  x.  15  ;  Jer.  xxv.  20, 
24,  1.  37  ;  Neh.  xiii.  3.  Htiv.  distinguishes  these 
from  the  covenant-associates  of  Egyjit.  But  what 
else  could  Cnsh  be  ? — Kub,  only  here,  is  by  some 
regarded  as  written  instead  of  2V>  which  Ewald 
reads,  though  he  translates  Nubia  ;  while  Kliefoth 
thinks  of  the  Lubim  in  Nah.  iii.  9,  2  Chron. 
xvi.  8,  the  Libysegyptii  of  the  ancients ;  or  taken 
instead  of  313, "so  Gesenius  and  the  Arab,  trans- 
lation, "Nubians ; '  and  Hitzig  also  supposes  2V 
to  have  been  the  older  Heb.  form  for  Nubia  (?); 
— by  others  it  has  been  understood  (H.Xv. )  of  a 
people  Kii/a  frequently  occurring  on  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt — according  to  Wilkinson,  an  im- 
portant Asiatic  people  lying  farther  north  than 
Palestine,  with  long  hair,  richly  clothed,  and 
with  parti-coloured  sandals  ;  the  tribute  which 
they  are  represented  as  bringing  liespeak.i  not  :« 
little  of  wealth,  civilisation,  and  skill.  Hengst. 
combines  Kub  with  ch.  xxvii.  10,  and  makes  it 
correspond  to  the  Persians,  who  had  entered  in 
consequence  of  the  coalition  into  the  service  of 
Tyre,  anil  whose  appearance  here  cannot  be  thought 
strange  ;  everywhere  where  there  was  a  struggle 
against  the  tyrants,  mercenaries  were  to  be  found 
of  this  powerful  aspiring  people.  The  name  was 
a  domestic  one — •"  Kufa"  in  old  Pers>an  =  moun- 
tain  :  the  particular  region,  ns  appears  to  Hitzig, 
to  be  sought  in  Kohistan. — The  sons  of  the  cove- 
nant-land are  under.stood  by  Jerome,  Theodoret, 
the  Sept.,  the  Arab,  trans.,  also  by  Hitzig,  of  the 
Jews  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Egypt  (Jer.  xlii.- 
xHtJ:  the  covenant-land  (with  the  article),  that 
pioniised  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  according  tf 
God's  covenant,  is  Canaan.  The  Syriac  transla- 
tion, on  the  other  hand,  points  to  the  asso:iatA 


CHAP.  XXX.  C-13. 


S79 


'.11  th«  league,  which  tiie  e.xpression  certainly  does 
not  clearly  justily.  Hence  Hengst.,  understand- 
ing liy  the  covenant-land  Cush,  makes  the  be- 
ginning turn  back  to  the  close  ;  while  Schniieder, 
with  whom  Kliefoth  agrees,  conjectures  a  tract  of 
land  unknown  to  us,  but  near  to  Egypt,  and  in 
a  state  of  league  with  it  (!). 

Ver.  6.   'odd  lij^r,  either  as  Ewald:   "there 

fall  Egypt's  supporters":  or,  after  it  has  been 
fciiil  in  ver.  5  that  the  anguish  in  Cush  shall  be- 
come a  falling  with  Egypt,  there  is  in  ver.  6  a 
more  comprehensive  general  statement ;  as  well  as, 
etc.  [Hlngst.  :  "a  new  break,  new  touches  to 
be  given  to  the  picture."]  Comp.  Ps.  xxx™.  17, 
liv.  6  [4].  When  the  one  pai'ty  falls,  the  other 
•sees  itself  necessitated  to  go  down  from  its  self- 
conscious  height.  On  pride,  etc.,  see  at  ch.  x.xiv. 
"21  ;  comp.  besides,  ch.  x.vix.  10.  They  who  shall 
fall  in  hiin,  oi  it,  are  those  who  would  support  it. 
Too  far  removed  are  the  idols  and  princes  of  ver. 
13,  which  are  brought  in  by  Schmieder  as  the 
supporters;  also  the  fortilied  cities  in  ver.  15,  and 
tlie  warriors  in  ver.  17. — Ver.  7.  Comp.  ch.  xxix. 
12.  Where  Egypt  is  the  principal  subject,  there 
can  be  no  question  of  its  being  so  also  here. — 
Ver.  8.  The  practical  knowledge  of  experience  is 
made  in  the  fire,  which  .lehovah  causes  in  Egypt, 
tliat  is,  at  the  breaking  forth  of  His  anger,  with 
whiih  also  most  Htly  suits  :  and  they  shall  be 
shattered,  eti-.,  so  tliat  tiiey  must  know  the  judg- 
ment of  God  to  be  upon  them.  According  to 
others,  the  war- fire;  according  to  the  Chald. 
.paraph.,  a  people  violent  as  tire;  according  to 
Cocceius,  it  must  mean  the  consuming,  desolating 
r.'sult  of  the  war. — All  the  helpers  of  Egj'pt  are 
tliose  who  give  support  in  ver.  ti,  both  those  wlio 
aie  named  (ver.  5),  and  tho.se  who  are  not  named. 
Ver.  9.  With  mauifest  allusion  to  Isa.  xviii., 
messengers  in  ships  are  made  to  announce  to 
Ktliiopia  the  fate  of  Egypt.  (In  Isa.  it  is  papyrus- 
skills,  whicli  people  were  wont  to  roll  together 
when  they  passed  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  and 
then  open  out  again.  The  'v  I'ere,  from  niS, 
t.i  set  up,  according  to  Hav.  certainly  with  refer- 
ence to  the  existing  sea-force  of  Egypt :  war- 
ships, which  suits  neither  with  fugitives  nor  witli 
messengers.)  The  busine.ss-inart  and  commerce 
on  the  boundaries  of  Upper  Egypt  and  Ethiopia 
.cadily  provi.le  tlie  image  of  such  messengers  at 
command, — represented  as  going  forthfrom before 
.lehovah  .sitting  in  judgment  U[ion  Egypt,— so 
that  one  does  not  need  to  think  either  of  the 
Chaldeans,  or  of  Egyptian  messengers  formally 
suit  by  the  Egyptians,  or  of  Egyptian  fugitives. 

— Since  there  is  £^133  rhrhn.  according  to  ver. 
4,  30  this  is  only  explained  here  by  'j'TMi  Tinni) ; 
hence  also  n^HPn  nriTIl  is  repeated  ;  therefore 
not  a  joyful  message,  as  in  Isa.  xviii.  with  refer- 
ence to  Assyria. — QV3,  either,  a  definite  fixing  of 

time  (Isa.  xxiii.  5).  as  also  Qva  is  read,  but  which 
would  plainly  be  a  repetition  of  xinn  DV3  ;  or, 
bett.-'r  perhaps,  with  Hav.,  ])ointing  to  that  old 
p.ii.iil  of  punishmnnt  in  the  history  of  Egyi)t 
<thi.-h  filled  neighliouring  regions  with  dreiul  of 
Jehovah  (Ex.  xv.  14  sq.).— Ch.  vii.  5,  6,  10,  xxi. 
l->.  Tlie  coming  is  tliat  which  had  been  threat- 
ened, to  be  supplii'd  from  the  context.— Ver.  10. 
Comj).  ch.  xxvi.  13,— Ch.  x.xix.  19.— The  tumult 


comprehends  as  well  the  dense  population  chp-rac- 
teristic  of  Egypt,  as  the  moving  of  goods  and 
chattels  hither  and  thither.  Klikfoth:  "the 
turmoil  of  the  people  in  the  possession  and  enjoy- 
ment of  their  goods." — -The  hand  of  the  .Judge, 
His  instrument  and  executioner,  is  to  be  Nebu- 
chadnezzar (comp.  at  ch.  xxvi.  7). — Ver.  11. 
Ch.  xxviii.  7. — xxiii.  42.  Hengst.;  "they 
come  not  of  themselves,  but  the  Almighty  brings 
them,  hence  they  are  irresistible,"  etc. — The  de- 
struction of  the  land  by  the  sword  is  more  nearly 
given,  since  it  is  represented  as  being  filled  with 
the  slain.  Comp.  ch.  xii.  14,  xi.  ti. — Ver.  12. 
Ch.  x.xv.  5,  x.xix.  10,  3.  The  destruction  of  its 
prosperity,  since  its  natural  springs  and  the  land 
become  the  property  of  others,  like  a  slave  that 
has  been  sold  by  his  master.  HirztG:  "God 
assists  the  instruments  of  His  will,  taking  an 
immediate  part  in  the  work  of  destruction,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  displacing  a  hindrance  to  their 
advance  and  a  bulwark  of  the  Egyjitians. "  — 
Since  D«j;-i  is  parallel  with  n'nt,  the  wicked  can 
only  be  interpreted  from  the  feeling  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  in  accordance  with  the  hurtful  action 
of  the  strangers,  as  jfjp  is  to  beat  down,  to  de- 
stroy. The  general  wickedness  of  mankind  ( Matt, 
vii.  1 1 )  lies  here  as  far  out  of  the  way  as  a  special 
application  to  the  Clialdeans,  as  being  also  not 
better  than  the  Egyptians.  Comp.  however, 
ch.  vii.  24,  xxviii.  7. 

Ver.  13.  A  carrying  out  of  the  judgment  by 
special    traits,    which   for   Egypt   especially   are 

characteristic.  Thus,  as  regards  the  Q'i)l^3  (see 
at  ch.  vi.  4),  the  Q'ij'^S  (chiming  with  the 
"  nothings"),  Lev.  xi.\.  4,  xxvi.  1,  and  often  (1  Cor. 
viii.  4^,  so  that  there  is  no  need  for  supplying 
from  Isa.  xix.  1  ;  they  are  neither  the  images  of 
the  gods,  nor  the  worsliippers  of  them  (as  the 
CliaM.  paraph.):  it  is  simply  the  idol -gods. — 
From  Noph  (njo,   sometimes  also  nb)i  that  is, 

from  Memphis  ;  to-day,  unimportant  ruins  on  tlie 
western  side  of  the  Nile.  The  name  in  Plutarch 
is  explained  as  op^oD  a^yczfiutv,  and  as  raf^v  'o^ijiS*; ; 
in  liierogly|ihics,  "  ilani-l'htah "  ;  that  is,  the 
place  of  Vulcan.  The  lower  valley  of  the  river 
honoured  as  the  liighest  god  Plitah  (fire-god),  the 
oldest  and  first  of  the  goils,  according  to  Manetho, 
ruling  9000  years  before  the  others,  as  he  is  named 
in  the  in.scriptions :  "the  f.ither  of  the  fathers  of 
the  gods,"  "the  heavenly  ruler,"  "the  lord  of 
the  gracious  countenance,"  "the  king  of  both 
worlds,"  "the  lord  (the  father)  of  truth."  As 
god  of  the  beginning,  he  has  the  form  of  a  naked 
child,  of  a  dwarf;  at  other  times  wrapped  round 
mummy-like,  .standing  by  a  rod,  with  a  Hagelluni 
and  mace  and  the  Niloineter  in  his  hand.  As 
he  was  called  Tatamen  (the  former),  as  world- 
creator,  so  he  commonly  has  before  him  an  egg 
upon  a  potter's  wheel  ("the  weaver  of  the  begin- 
nings moving  the  egg  of  the  sun  and  nioon"i. 
The  Egyptian  scarabajus  (beetle)  was  sacred  to 
him,  which  was  sometimes  shown  upon  his  shoul- 
ders in  the  place  of  a  head.  His  great  sanctcjiiy  at 
Memphis,  which  was  said  to  have  been  as  Ad  as 
Egypt  itself,  was  adorned  and  extended  by  the 
Pharaohs  down  to  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom. 
Cambyses,  when  admitted  into  this  temple,  exhi- 
bited his  disdain  toward  the  image  of  the  god. — 
Since  Memphis  was  at  the  same  time  the  old  royal 
city,   the  transition  from  the  service  of  idols  tc 


280 


EZEKIET,. 


tlie  {('b'3  ■'^^  natural,  especially  as  the  connec- 
tion of  the  gods  and  kings  is  genuinely  Egj-ptian. 
Conip.  on  eh.  xxLx.  The  history  of  Egj-pt  is  that 
of  its  gods,  and  the  names  and  deeds  of  its  kings, 
as  they  are  painted  upon  the  walls  of  its  temples. 

That  there  was  to  be  no  more  a  native  prince 

is  not  necessarily  said  with  'iSD.  but  only  that 
as  prince  there  should  no  more  be  one  like  the 
old  Pharaohs  and  the  Egyptian  gods,  out  of 
Egypt,  as  contradistinguished  from  other  lands, 
whose  princely  power  would,  as  hitherto  has  been 
the  case,  obtain  legitimation.  Therewith  also 
agi-ees  the  fear,  which  seems  to  point  to  a  foreign 
ascendency  that  was  to  caiTy  it  over  all. 

Ver.  14.  From  Lower  to  Upper  Egypt,  the 
description  gives  prominence  especially  to  the 
mother-land  isee  on  ch.  xxix.  14),  the  birth -land 
of  the  people. — Comp.  ver.  8. — Zoan,  however,  is, 
again,  in  Lower  Egypt,  the  old  Tanis,  on  the 
braneli  of  the  Nile  which  bears  that  nanie 
("Dschane,"  Eg)-ptian  :  low  ground),  —  a  chief 
city.  Num.  .xiii.  22 :  Ps.  Ixxviii.  12,  43. — Ch.  v. 
10.— No  ini)  leads  back  to  Upper  Egypt;  when 
fuUy  read  No- Amon,  it  is  Thebes  (Vulg. ,  anticipat- 
ing, Alexandria),  the  very  ancient  Upper  Egj'ptian 
chief  citv,  with  the  Greeks  Diospolis.  ("  Noh," 
E<^-p.  :  surveyor's  chain  ;  hence  :  inheritance  ; 
tlierefore  :  seat  of  Amon — see  Gesen.  Lex.)  In 
the  Upper  land  there  reigned  as  di\-inity  Amun 
(Amen),  probably  =  "  the  concealed, "  the  reigning 
god  in  the  height,  wliose  colour  is  blue  on  the 
monuments.  He  was  for  Upper  Egypt  what 
Phtah  was  for  Lower  Egypt.  He  is  represented 
as  standing,  or  sitting  enthroned,  with  two  high 
feathers  upon  his  kingly  head-dress.  According 
to  Manetho,  the  union  of  Egypt  under  a  great 
dominion  was  effected  by  Menes  from  This,  below 
Thebes,  therefore  proceeding  from  the  Upper 
land— although  this  state-life  had  its  centre  in 
Memphis,  in  the  Lower  land ;  and  during  its 
tiourisliing  period,  another  dominion,  the  territory 
of  which  stretched  beyond  the  cataracts  of  Syene, 
had  been  founded  at  Thebes.  Princes  of  Thebes 
afterwards  ruled  over  all  Egypt,  took  their  seat  at 
Memphis,  and  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  now 
called  "  Lords  of  both  Lands  "  in  the  inscriptions. 
Upon  the  monuments  the  red  higher  croivn  is 
that  of  Upper  Egypt,  the  lower  white  one  that  of 
Lower  Egypt.  So  that  the  prophetic  representa- 
tion takes'  into  view  the  whole  of  Egypt,  repeats 
Thebes  for  Upper  Egypt,  yet  knows,  at  the  same 
time,  to  mention  names  mostly  from  the  more 
extensive,  as  well  as  more  important  and  more 
powerful.  Lower  country. — Ver.  15.  Ch.  xiv.  19, 
xxi.  36  [31],  ix.  8,  vii.  8.—  pD,  the  "mud-city," 

Pelusium  {Tr.Xas),  a  border  city  on  the  east,  in  a 
swampy  region,  which  the  sea  now  overflows. 
Egyjit,  according  to  Strabo,  was  here  difficult  to 
be  attacked,  and  Suidas  designates  Pelusium  the 
key  of  Egypt  for  ingress  and  egress. — jijID,  ch, 

xxiv.    25.— TnDm,  ch.   xxix.   8.  — X3  pOn-nS 

(ver.  10),  comp.  ver.  14.  An  allusion  un- 
doubtedly to  Amon,  whence  No  derived  its  sur- 
name (.Jer.  xlvi.  25).  Amon  is  incapable  of  pre- 
serving to  the  city  its  Hamon  (ttunult),  Hengst. 
The  mention  of  the  multitude  of  people  in  No 
Hitzig  finds  to  be  suitable,  since  the  population 
■>i  the  Thebaid  crowded  principally  into  the  far- 
extending  chief  city.     (Comp.  Iliad,  ix.  381  sq.) 


— Ver.  16,  vers.  8,  14. — Instea     of:   ^-\T[,  ^^* 

Qeri  has :   ■J^nrii  ivam  Tin,  whence  n^ripn  in  vers. 

4,    9. — The   repeated   mention  of  Sin,   No,   and 
Noph  gives  emphasis  to  the  boundaries.   Upper 

and   Lower  Egj'pt.  —  j;p3ni)   n*nn  =  Vp3n.    '" 

ch.   xxvi.   10. — DOV  '^V  is  clear  so  far,  as  -\yi 

is  plainly  to  be  understood  of  a  pressing,  closing- 
in  siege  ;  on  the  otlier  hand,  QOV  niay  signify 
by  day,  as  in  the  well-known  juxtaposition  with 
n^^i'l.  but  also  what  this  juxtaposition  p.araphras- 
tically  expresses,  namely  :  always,  unceasingly, 
therefore:  dai7j/=DV"'73i  <"■  "the  day  over,  "also 
"  the  whole  day  long  "  =  Dvrr^a  (comp.  Ps.  xiii. 
3  [2]).  [Michlal  Zophi  interprets  :  "and  against 
Noph  come  the  enemies  of  day,"  that  is,  openly, 
not  as  thieves  of  the  night.  Similarly  Hitzig: 
"enemies  will  be  in  broad  daylight,"  meaning 
that  it  will  be  filled  by  them."  Kliefoth  :  of 
the  enemy  not  fearing  an  open  assault.  Also 
Hengst.,  who,  from  Jer.  xv.  8  and  Zeph.  ii.  4, 
understands  it  of  a  state  of  deep  humiliation,  in 
which  the  enem)'  disdains,  in  the  consciousness 
of  his  absolute  superiority,  to  surprise  by  night 
(Ohad.  5).  "  Enemies  (besiegers)  by  day,  a  con- 
cise expression  for  :  such  an  one  as  lias  to  deal 
with  enemies  by  day."] — It  might  be  also  an 
aftecting  exclamation.  [Abendana  (after  Job  iii. 
5)  =  their  day  will  be  distress  (VuLG.).  The_ 
Chaldee  paraphrase  :  enemies  compass  her  daily. 
Peculiar  are  the  renderings  of  the  Sept.  and  of 
the  Arabic,  which  understand  it  of  a  breaking 
down  of  the  Nile  dams,  and  a  nishing  in  of  the 
waters;  the  Syriac  :  "will  give  way  into  frag- 
ments." Et^'ald  :  Memphis  wiU  be  for  perpetual 
rust  (lis) !  Hav.  :  Memphis  shall  become  a  con- 
stant splitting,  that  is,  shall  he  for  ever  shattered ; 
it  shaU  now  be,  in  a  manner,  called  QOV  'IV.  in 
allusion  to  the  local  name  of  Memphis,  ilVD  !] 
Ver.  17.  i"i5n3.  the  choice  young  men  of  war 

(Mark  xiv.  51);  rightly  Hitzig:  the  garrison 
(warrior-caste),  as  contradistinguished  from  the 
inhabitants.— Aven   (px),    the  purpose  in   the 

change  of  the  name  Jis,  jX,  must,  according  to 
Hengst.,  point  to  the  cause  of  the  divine  judg- 
ments which  were  coming  on  it  (comp.  Hos.  iv. 
15,  X.  5).  Aven  is  nothingness,  vanity,  with 
respect  to  the  worship  of  idols.  [Hexgst.  : 
"  vileness,"  that  people  serve  the  creature  more 
than  the  Creator.]  It  was  the  Greek  Heliopolis, 
Jer.  xliii.  13,  "House  of  the  Sun;"  Kopt.  On; 
Egyptian,  Ann, — a  city  in  Lower  Egypt  on  the 
ealt  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  was  from  of  old  the 
proper  seat  of  the  Eg}iitian  sun-worship;  a  centre 
of  idolatry,  with  a  numerous  learned  priesthood  ; 
the  principal  city  in  this  respect,  and  that  where 
Plato  and  Herodotus  received  instruction  ;  men- 
tioned in  Gen.  xli.  45,  50.  Now  there  are  only 
some  ruins  beside  a  village,  with  an  obeUsk  seventy 
feet  high  of  red  granite.  Here,  in  a  famous 
temple,  was  Ra,  the  god  of  the  solar  disc,  wor 
shipped  ("the  father  of  the  gods"),  the  second 
ruler  of  the  world.  His  symbol  was  the  sun's  disc 
borne  by  two  wings;  the  beasts  sacred  to  him 
were  the  sparrow-hawk,  the  light-coloored  call. 


CHAP.  XXX.  20-22. 


2(51 


and  the  cat.  From  Ra,  theii'  original  and  type, 
the  Pharaohs  derived  tlieir  power  over  Egypt,  as 
"sons  of  Ra,"  the  name  given  to  them.  S"e, 
besides,  in  Duncker,  i.  p.  39  sq. — Pi-beseth,  only 
here ;  at  present  existing;  merely  as  ruins  ;  Kopt. : 
Poubast,  "the  cat,"  on  account  of  the  goddess 
Pacht  (Basht,  Pascht),  commonly  represented 
with  a  oat's  head,  who  was  worshipped  at  Bubastis, 
in  Lower  Egypt,  on  the  Pelusian  branch  of  the 
Nile.  (She  was  also  named  "the  Mistress  of 
Memphis,"  and  also  "Mother.")  To  her  joyous 
service,  according  to  Herodotus,  was  devoted  the 
most  pleasant  of  Egyptian  temples.  At  her  festi- 
val, to  which  men  and  women  came  iu  boats  from 
all  places,  amid  song,  playing  of  flutes,  clapping 
of  hand.s,  and  striking  of  rattles,  more  wine  was 
drunk  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  year.— If  the 
guar.lians,  the  protectors  of  the  sanctuaries,  fall 
by  the  sword,  then  also  by  the  same  must  the 
gods  theniselves  fall.  Herodotus  designates  the 
Bubastic  Nome  as  the  region  where  especially 
resided  the  Calastrians,  that  is,  the  young  recruits 
of  th^  army.  Coinp.  also  vers.  5,  6,  ch.  vi.  11, 
li.     Tl.j  nam  are  not  the  women  (Sept.),  but 

the  citiei  rnoied,  their  inhabitants  (comp.  ver. 
18) ;  see  also  :h.  -xii.  11. — Ver.  18.  Not  far  from 
Sin  comes  the  border  city  (toward  Syria)  DnjSnn, 

Tehaphnehes,   in   Jeremiah   (iliii.    9)    DrUBDn, 

Tahpanhes,  where,  as  we  there  learn,  was  a  royal 
palace,  Daphnoi  (Taphne)  ;  the  name,  according 
to  Jablonski,  Egyptian  :  T'aphe-eneb,  as  much 
.IS,  Land's  End.— Qvn  "[Cn,  Hengst.  :  "the  day 
spares,  withholds  as  a  miser."  Therefore,  from 
■"tJ'n,  which  in  substance,  however,  is  the  same 

as :  darkens  itself ;  from  "IB'n.  to  be  darkened. 

There,  for  those  of  Israel  who  had  fled  thither 
(Jer.  xliii.  7  sq.,  xliv.  1  sq.),  the  pre-intimations 
of  the  day  of  judgment  begin  (Kl.)  ;  or  generally: 
there  changes  the  prosperity  and  splendour  of 
Egypt;  according  to  others ;  there  will  be  mourn- 
ing. Hav.  :  "here  had  Jeremiah  spoken  his 
powerful  word  of  threatening  against  Egypt ; 
here,  through  the  settling  down  of  the  Jews  at 
that  time,  the  idea  of  Egyptian  oppression  toward 
Israel  springs  up  afresh  ;  and  hence  a  cidling  to 
remembrance  of  Lev.  xxvi.  1.3."  Hengst.  com- 
pares with  "the  breaking  of  the  yokes  of  Egypt  " 
ch.  xxix.  15  and  xxx.  13,  "no  prince,  "  etc.;  the 
yoke  formerly  lying  upon  Israel,  latterly  also 
unon  other  nations,  was  now  to  be  for  ever 
iioken.  —  DB'   refers   to   the   border-place,  with 

which  the  land  opens,  and  with  the  broken  land 
"the  yokes"  which  Egypt  had  imposed,  conse- 
quently its  dominion  (comp.  vers.  21,  22,  24), 
should  be  broken.  (Umbr.  :  "All  order  and  dis- 
cipline shall  be  dissolved  in  the  ruled  and  strongly- 
curbed  land  :  an  end  shall  be  made  to  its  old 
renown  and  pride.") — n3,   I'ke   n^V  pS3,   is  to 

he  understood  of  the  whole  land.  [docceius 
thinks  of  the  death  of  the  king  with  reference  to 
the  king's  seat  at  Taphne  (Jer.  xliii.  9).  Rosenm. 
reads   rttSDi    also   Ewald   and   the  Sept.;  while 

Hitzig  supposes  to  be  meant,  not  the  spears  indeed 
(Hab.  iii.  14  ;  2  Sam.  xviii.  14),  but  the  supjport- 
ing  stall's,  ver.  6,  which  in  ver.  8  are  also  repre- 
sented as  going  to  be  broken.  ] — {{'n,  not  Daphnai, 
but  Egypt,  on  which  acconnt  t  precedes  emphati- 
cally; 88  also  her  danghtere,  namely,  the  cities, 


could  only  be  referred  to  Egypt ;  if  referred  t< 
Daphnai,  too  much  would  be  said  for  it  (ch.  xvi. 
27,  31,  46,  xxvi.  6).  — ;jj;  (ver.  3).     The  Chalde* 

Paraphrast  makes  the  cloud  mean  the  host  of  tlm 
king  of  Babylon. — Ver.  19  concludes  with  Egypt 
genei-ally. — Ver.  14. 

Vers.  20-26.  Pharaoh  and  the  King  of  Babylon 

Ver.  20.  As  to  the  time,  almost  a  quarter  of  a 
year  later  than  ch.  .xxix.  1  sq. ;  Kliefoth  :  "in 
the  second  year  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,"  as  is 
clear  also  from  ver.  21,  after  that  Hophra  had 
been  defeated  by  the  Chaldeans  (Jer.  xxxrii.  5,  "). 
(That  ch.  xxix.  should  contain  no  notice  or  allu- 
sion to  the  attempt  of  Pharaoh  to  bring  help  tc 
Jerusalem,  etc.,  may  be  controverted  from  what 
is  said  there  in  ver.  6.)  Hengst.  :  about  three 
months  later  followed  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem 
(Jer.  xxxix.  2).  As  at  ch.  xxix.,  so  also  here, 
the  look  of  the  exiled  toward  Egypt  is  to  be  turned 
back  from  it. — Ver.  21.  yilT  is  certainly  for  the 

most  part  the  forearm,  as  here  also  the  expression 
"to  hold  the  sword"  proves,  and  so  helji,  too, 
assistance,  is  expressed  by  it ;  so  that,  with  Hav., 
Ewald,  and  otliers,  one  might  think  of  the  Egyp- 
tian attempt  for  the  relief  of  Jerusalem  :  on  the 
other  hand,  however,  Hengst.  is  right  when  he 
explains  the  breaking  of  the  arm  of  Pharaoh  of  a 
"great  overthrow,"  such  as  was  only  to  be  found 
in  the  well-known  disaster  at  Carchemish,  seven- 
teen years  before  our  prophecy,  as  this  battle,  in 
fact,  destroyed  the  power  of  Pharaoh  to  make  war, 
struck  his  might  with  a  blow  (comp.  Jer.  xlvi.); 
while  what  respects  the  retreat  of  the  Egyptians 
from  Jerusalem,  which  became  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity to  them,  is  nowhere  reported.  So  that,  as 
Hitzig  in  particular  recognises,  from  the  manifest 
contrariety  of  ver.  22,  which  announces  the  future, 
*m3t5'  's  a  full  preterite,  and  presupposes  a 
longer  interval  in  connection  with  the  indication 
of  time  in  ver.  20  than  could  be  the  case  with 
that  retreat  before  Nebuchadnezzar,  if  this  should 
have  to  be  thought  of  generally  as  a  thing  already 
accomplished.  Hengst.  remarks  :  "  After  it  (i.f. 
the  retreat  of  the  Egyptians  from  Carchemish) 
our  prophecy  would  have  been  unnecessary  ;  it 
must  have  been  delivered  at  a  time  when,  humanly 
speaking,  there  was  hope  from  the  Egyptians." — 
njnV  having  respect  to  the  existing  state  of  Egypt 

since  the  battle  of  Carchemish,  introduces  the 
following  description,  in  which  "the  binding" 
forms  the  principal  statement  on  which  the  in- 
finitives are  dependent.  Bound  up  is  the  first, 
the  mo.st  immediate  thing  which  has  to  be  done 
after  wounding,  and  the  intention  or  aim  thereol 
is  to  apply  the  means  of  healing  (cures)  ;  in 
particular,  since  the  chief  means  consist  in  the 
band  which  holds  together  the  broken  parts,  thai 

a  bandage  be  applied  (nCOn?  resumes  rTJOn 
again)  so  that  the  ann  be  strengthened,  and,  as 
the  consequence,  be  again  rendered  cajiable  of 
"  taking  hold  of  the  sword."— Ver.  22.  Therefore 
refers  to  the  foregoing  principal  annoimcement, 
that  Pharaoh's  might  is  broken  without  the 
prospect  of  restoration,  and  accoidingly  what 
is  farther  inipcnding  can  only  be  a  complete 
overthrow  ;  and  this  is  introduced  by  «j3n,  a 
parallel  to  ver.  21,  and  then  sunmiarily  pro- 
nounced (Vnjnt)-— The  strong  (npinD.  with  9 


282 


EZEKIEL. 


reference  to  npTnS  ia  '^^^-  21)  signifies  ;  what 
still  existed  unbioken  as  to  jiower  in  Egypt,  par- 
ticularly in  the  land  itself;  the  broken  (ver.  21), 
that  which  must  still  be  broken,  with  allusion  to 
Ihe  shattering  at  Carchemish;  especially  the  im- 
potent attempt  to  turn  aside  to  the  help  of  Jeru- 
salem, which  must  therefore  be  thought  of  as  still 
in  immediate  prospect.  [Cocc.  explains  the  two 
arms  of  Hophra,  and  the  small  Egyptian  kingdom 
which  followed.  They  have  been  also  explained 
of  the  supremacy  over  Syria  and  that  over  ft.gypt.  ] 
— The  might,  power,  and  dominion  of  Pharaoh 
are  to  become  incapable  of  attack  and  resistance. 
Ver.  23.  Comp.  ver.  26,  ch.  xxix.  12,  xxii.  15. 
— Ver.  24.   'npini,   Piel  (strengthening:  anyhow, 

still  another  pfPl  than  is  to  be  supposed  in  the 
nptn?  of  ver.  21),  for  the  sword  also  is  not  that 
which  has  fallen  out  of  the  hand  of  Pharaoh,  but 
Jehovah's,  whence  the  following  explains  itself, 
and  at  the  same  time  what  is  said  in  ver.  22. — 
I'JSa  before  the  king  of  Babylon,  who  and  his 
arms,  here  and  in  ver.  25  placed  in  opposition  to 


Pharaoh  and  his  arms,  are  the  antithesis  whict 
forms  the  substance  of  this  section. — Ver.  25. 
'nptnni,  Hlphll,  for  distinction  in  respect  to  tha 

Piel  in  ver.  24,  which,  on  account  of  the  failing  T, 

is  explained  by  Hitzig,  not  through  "seizing,"  but 
with  a  reference  to  Ex.  xvii.  11,  12,  and  by  way 

of  contrast  to  no^jsn  through  "holding  upright," 

"holding  above,"  so  that  he  retains  the  upper 
hand.  But  the  slight  dill'ereuce  between  "hold- 
ing strong"  and  "streugthening,"  endowing  with 
power,  is  of  itself  enough.  Hengst.  compares 
Gen.  xlix.  24,  in  respect  that  the  arms  of  tlie  king 
of  Egypt,  left  to  his  own  impotence,  sank  down 
powerless. — Since  the  arms  of  both  are  named, 
the  words:  and  they  know,  etc.,  may  easily  be 
referred  thereto,  but  principally  to  the  king  of 
Babylon ;  yet  also  to  the  land  of  Egypt,  against 
which  the  sword  of  judgment  in  the  liand  of  that 
king  was  stretched  out.      nms  ™*y  ^^  referred 

to  ^<,  also  to  3in- — Ver.  26.  Repetition  of  ver. 
23  at  the  close. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


1  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  eleventh  year,  in  the  third  [month],  on  the  first  of 

2  the  month,  that  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying  :    Son  of  man,  say  to 
Pharaoh,  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  to  his  tumult,  To  whom  art  thou  like  in  thy 

3  greatness?     Behold,  Asshur  [»a»]  a  cedar  tree  upon  Lebanon,  beautiful  of  foliage, 
and  a  shadowing  thicket,  and  high  of  stature,  and  between  the  clouds  was  his 

4  top.    Waters  made  him  become  great,  the  flood  made  him  high,  with  its  streams 
it  went  round  about  its  planting,  and  it  sent  forth  its  canals  to  all  the  trees  of 

5  the  field.     Therefore  his  stature  became  higher  than  all  the  trees  of  the  field, 
and  his  branches  became  many  [irreat],  and  his  foliage-branches  [boughs]  became 

6  long,  from  many  waters  in  his  spreading  himself  forth.     In  his  branches  nested 
all  the  fowls  of  heaven,  and  under  his  boughs  every  living  thing  of  the  field 

7  brought  forth,  and  in  his  shadow  dwelt  all  the  many  nations.     And  he  became 
beautiful  in  his  greatness,  in  the  length  of  his  twigs  [>hoiits],  for  his  root  was  on 

8  many  waters.     Cedars  darkened  him  not  in  the  garden  of  God ;  cypresses  were 
not  like  his  branches,  and  plane  trees  were  not  like  his  foliage-branches  [inmiihs] ; 

9  all  wood  in  the  garden  of  God  was  not  like  him  in  his  beauty.     Beautiful  had  I 
made  him  in  the  multitude  of  his  shoots  ;  and  all  the  trees  of  Eden,  which  were 

10  in  the  garden  of  God,  envied  him. — Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
Because  thou  becamest  high  in  stature,  and  he  gave  his  top  even  to  between  the 

1 1  clouds,  and  his  heart  raised  itself  in  his  height ;  Therefore  will  I  give  him  into 
the'  hand  of  the  mighty  one  of  the  heathen  ;  he  will  do,  do  to  him  :  in  [on  nccunt  of] 

1  2  his  wickedness  I  drove  him  out.  And  strangers  hewed  him  down,  the  violent 
ones  of  the  heathen,  and  left  him  upon  the  mountains  ;  and  in  all  the  valleys  his 
shoots  fell,  and  his  foliage-branches  [boughs]  were  broken  in  all  hollows  of  the 
earth  ;  and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  went  down  out  of  his  shadow  and  left 

1 3  him.     On  his  ruins  all  the  fowls  of  heaven  alight,  and  on  his  boughs  is  every 

14  living  creature  of  the  field.  To  the  end  that  none  of  the  trees  of  the  waters 
become  lofty  in  their  stature,  nor  give  their  top  up  between  the  clouds,  and  that 
no  drinkers  of  water  should  remain  standing  by  them.selves  in  their  height ;  for 
they  are  all  given  to  death,  to  the  underground,  among  the  children  of  men,  to 

15  those  who  go  down  to  the  grave.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  In  the  day  of 
his  going  down  to  hell  [sheoi]  I  caused  to  mourn  [i  maiie  a  inouminc]  ;  I  veiled  on 
account  of  him  the  flood,  and  stayed  its  streams,  and  there  were  many  waters  held 
back ;  and  I  made  Lebanon  dark  over  him,  and  all  the  trees  of  the  field  sank  in  weak- 

16  ness  over  him.  At  the  sound  of  his  fall  I  made  the  heathen  quake,  in  that  I  made 
him  go  down  to  hel!  'vith  those  that  go  down  to  the  grav«;  and  all  the  trees  of  Eden, 


criAP  XXXI.  1-4. 


288 


the  clioiff  and  good  of  Lebanon,  all  drinlrers  of  water,  comforted  themselves  in  the 

17  undeFLrround.  They  also  went  down  with  him  to  hell,  to  be  pierced  through  with 
the  sword,  namely,  those  who,  liis  arm,  dwelt  in  his  shadow  among  the  heathen 

18  nations.  To  whom,  then,  art  thou  like  in  glory  and  in  greatness  among  the  trees 
of  Edeni  And  thou  art  ca>t  down  with  the  trees  of  Eden  to  tlie  underground; 
in  the  midst  of  the  uncircumcised  shalt  tliou  lie  with  those  pierced  through  by 
the  sword.     This  is  Pharaoh  and  all  his  tumult.     Sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah 

Ver  1.  Sept. :  twx  tou  u.r,*o! — 

Ver.  2.    .   .    .   injunaiirxs   ffloL'jToi   .  .   .  tr^tt  ffvj;  Vulg.   .  .   .  siniilis  fitctus  en — 

Ver.  .^.  .  .  .  x'.Tttpiffiroi  .  .  .  iyiviTt  r,  tLfix^  xii-ro-j.     Vulc.  .   .  .  et  inter  condenxns  frondes^ 

Ver.  4.  .  .  .  x'jxXcu  Ttt¥  fwu*  xirc'j — tldirtina  tjus  manabant  m  circuitu  radicum  fjui  .  .  .  ligna  regionis. 

Ver.  6.  Other  readiiiK»    r\n2i,   T\2i- 

Ver.  6.  VuIk.:  Caiiique  ertt-ndfset  uinbram  suam,  in  .  .  .  (Anoth.  read.:  O-'*'^ 

Ver     7.  S'-pt. :  .  .  .  i»  t    i^ii  xCtou  $tat  to  ir\  dcs — 

Ver.  8.  KvTat^iff-^oi  Teixurxt  0-jk  iyivr,dr.trxi  sk  T.  Txpecitttr^  T.  ©eot/,  x.  triTi/ti — Vulg. :  Cedrinon  .  ,  ,  altiores  .  .  . 
abietei  non  adxqnarerunt  suninntttl-m  -Ju*— (.\nnther  icml.  :    Vn^SD^-   or  with  3.) 

Ver.  9.  Sept.:  iix  t  rr\i:6o!  r  xXx^w*  xiirotj.  K  't^r,Xaia'x<r  .  .  .  t>:;  rp'jfr,;  r.  idivj.  Vulg. :  qaoniam  speciosurn 
feci  .  .  .  H  Jiiultis  cmdt'iis'fque /nrmlifju-t  .  .  .  omnia  li^jna  volupfatis — 

Vei'.  10,  .  .  .  eSoiasxf  T.  xfixKi'  «f  ...  a.  liioi'  iv  Tai  i-^a^txi  xt/rc>.  Vulff. :  .  .  .  suttHmatus  est  .  .  .  S"mmitatem 
Ittam  vii-enUin  atque  citndensaiii. 

Ver.  11.  X.  xxptimx^  xitTC*  .  .  .  etpxo*To!  sdvon,  x.  'ta-»ixrtf  r.  xTot^iix*  xutou.     (Other  read ;    7*X    IVt^nS) 

Ver.  14.  Vulg.:  Cl'iam  ob  rem  ntm  tlevabuntar  .  .  .  inter  nemorosa  atqae  frondosa.     (Other  read.:    QiT'PX'    fortei 

aorum;  ntn^  super  xe^  Dn*7J?.    For  ^Tl^^  ?Ki  there  is  a  reading   ^  HS.) 

Ver.  15.  Sept.;  .  .  .  etSov,  iTirrr.rx  it'  xir«»  T.  etiivrfoi — indujci  luctum,  operui  eurn  ahysso — (Annth.  read  :  H^H  731>] 
Ver.  16.  .  .  .  lif  }.axxfii.   K.  rrx/nx-eXeuv  xCto*      .  .  T.  jwA.*  rKS  Tfitifzs  x.  t.  ix^ixrx — qui  desien-lebaut  in  tacuni.      hi 

zoniola/a  sunt  .  .  .  Itgna  mlut'tiiiis  etpyitm  et  prxr''irn — 

Ver.  17     .    .    .  £v  TPXOU.XTIXI?   lAxxxipxi,  X.  TO  cvtpuut  xiiTOU  xxyTts  oi   .  .  .  in  f^iroi  T   ^otk;  xtiTon   xTOiy^vTO.      Xam  tt 

.  -  .  descewlint  .  .  .  eC  biach'Um  itni'isciiju^ue  srdebil  <u6— (Another  read.  :    m^,    13C*^.) 

Ver.  IS.  .  .  .  uuiiodrs -^  KaTx/i»:ft  x  xxTx^i^xrdr.Ti  .  .  .  |uAd«»  rrf  rfu^i  ...  *  txi-  t.  t'k^Bo^  Tr,i  irruoi  xitTov — 
Cut  assintdatus  «,  O  inctyte  atqu^  subiijnis  Inter  tiqiia  voluptatist     Ecce  .  .  .  cum  liqitis  volaptatti — 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

J^tjypt  {Pharaoh)  and  Asityria. 

The  whole  chapter  is  tikcn  up  with  this  pro- 
phetical allegory,  which  the  inJicatiou  <if  time  in 
ver.  1  places  not  quite  two  months  later  than  eh. 
icx.x.  20  sq.  (ScHMiEDER:  therefore  one  month  and 
•ight  day.s  before  the  con()U>'St  of  Jerusalem).  In 
iccordance  with  the  antithesis  there,  a  highly 
poetical  parallel  now  follows,  which  might  work 
m  a  more  powerful  manner  upon  hearers  and 
readers,  as  it  was  taken  from  the  still  fresh  ex- 
perience of  his  contemporaries  ;  for  in  606 
Nineveh  had  been  laid  prostrate  by  the  com- 
bined attack  of  the  Babylonians  and  Jledes,  and 
the  kingdom  which  liad  domineered  in  Asia  above 
five  centuries  had  reached  its  end.  The  year  after 
that  was  the  year  of  the  l)attle  at  C'archemish  ; 
and  thus  had  the  fate  of  Assyria  become  palpable 
shortly  before  the  calamity  which  was  threaten- 
ing Eg}-pt.  Comp.  besides  the  juxtaposition  of 
Assyria  and  Eg\'pt  elsewhere,  Isa.  vii.  18,  xxvii. 
13;"jer.  ii.  36;"Hos.  xii.  2[1];  Zech.  x.  10. 

Ver.  2.  The  commencement  is  made  properly 
liy  the  question  which  is  addressed  to  Pharaoh 
«iid  his  tumult  (jinn,  see  at  eh.    xxx.  10,  xxix. 

19),  in  the  answer  to  which  the  piopliet  sets  forth 
d  prognostication  for  himself  and  his  tieople. 
Hengst.  :  "The  matter  has  respect  not  to  an 
ojiinion,  but  to  a  real  resemblance."  Hitzig 
limits  the  reference  to  the  "official  Egypt," 
being  tliat  "which  made  tumultuous  noise  in  the 
land,  which  had  something  to  say  and  to  order  ; 
the  governing  classes  and  ranks  (I.sa.  iii.  2,  3),  in 
contrast  to  the  quiet  people  in  the  land  (Ps.  xxxv. 
20),  who  keep  silence  and  obey."  Aeconling  to 
Bchmieder,  the  i|uestion  calls  for  the  answer  :  No 
ane  !  "Thou  art  incomparable,  alone  of  thy  kind. 
This  was  also  the  feeling  of  Pharaoh   Hophra. 


But  Ezekiel,"etc.  — ^nij  (along  with  ni23  in  ver. 

18),  not  =" strength, "  but  also  not  precisely: 
faucied  greatness,  huge  self-elation  (RA.scHi),"as 
at  Isa.  X.  12  of  Assyria,  for  Egyi)t's  very  ancient 
culture  already  gave  him  still  a  real  precedence,  and 
in  other  respects  also  placed  him  before  Assyria. 

Vers.  3-9.  Assyria's  Glory. 

Ver.  3.  Behold,  a  call  to  attention,  introduc- 
ing the  answer  which  the  divine  word  has  to  give. 
He.sost.  ;  "the  future  in  a  historical  dres.s,  as  at 
ch.  xix.  the  history  of  Jehoaliaz  and  Jehoi.ichim." 
— IIC'S  (comp.  ch.  xxvii.  6)  is  taken  by  Ewald 

for  a  definite  kind  of  cedar,  the  highest  of  its 
kind  ;  against  which  com|inre  the  convincin" 
proof  of  Hitzig.  Hav.  also  justly  remarks  against 
the  constiuction  of  the  word  as  an  adjective,  that 
the  most  distinguished  characteristic  for  a  cedar 
tree  is  the  accompanying  designation :  upon 
Lebanon  ;  comp.  besides,  ch.  xvii.  3.  It  is  a 
common  image  for  peo]ile  of  great  might,  jjrinces. 
I'he   Sept.   renders  px    by  xvraficiro;.  —  Because 

Cnh.  "thickness,"  may  signify  a  forest,  Hengst. 

translates  here  (taking  pVD  ^is  partic.  Hiphil  from 

?7V),  "shading  the  forest"  or  wood.  The  repre- 
sentation is  carried  out  farther  by  njy,  as  well  as 

by  between  the  clouds,  etc.  ;  also  by  noip  (Iron: 

aip,    "stature")  n33-— Upon  Q'nhy,  see  at  ch. 

xix.  11 ;  on  niBS.  comp.  ch.  xvii.  3. 

Ver.  4.  Explanation  of  such  f/row/h. — "What  ia 
s:iid  of  the  waters,  that  they  made  him  become 
great,  fits  too  well  to  the  image  of  the  cedar  for  one 
to  be  able  to  get  something  still  better  by  a  refer' 


i«i 


EZEKIEL. 


ence  to  the  description  of  paradise  (as  Hav. ),  or  by 
bringing  into  account  tlie  situation  of  Nineveh, 
which  was  important  for  the  history  of  Assyria, 
with  the  Tigris  on  the  west,  the  Zabatos  ( Lykos)  on 
the  south,  with  its  neighbouring  stream  Buniodus 
on  the  east,  and  the  brook  Khosr  on  the  north. — 
Still  more,  the  flood  (not  the  rain:  comp.  Isa. 
xliv.  14)  contributed  to  the  prosperity.  The 
designation,  therefore,  jireviously,  of  the  Lebanon 
was  epitheton  ornans.     Qinn  is  the  water-treasure 

in  the  depths  pouring  itself  forth  in  springs,  etc. 
Hrrzic.  :  image  of  the  multitude  of  men  flowing 
together  into  Assyria,  on  the  basis  of  which  the 
political  power  rose.  More  correctly  Hengst.  : 
"  the  water  and  the  flood  denote  what  the  world 
calls  good  fortune,  the  divine  blessing." — "JIK, 

either:  with,  or  taken  accusatively:  what  con- 
cerns.— Hence  Dinn  is  here  kept  feminine;  the 
Btreams  are  those  of  the  flood,  and  the  masculine 

717'n,  which  is  likewise  to  be  referred  to  the  flood, 

is  justified  after  this  manner,  that  Dliin  can  also 
be  used  as  a  masculine  ;  and  the  masculine  in  the 
present  case,  as  Hengst.  remarks,  is  the  more 
suitable,  being  preceded  by  D'?D. — The  planting 
(ch.  xvii.  7)  can  scarcely  be  referred,  with  Hengst., 
through  the  fem.    njfDD,  to  Assyria  as  a  tree  ; 

but  is  conceived  of  with  reference  to  the  flood, 
whether  it  might  be  because  this  had  a  share  in 

the  prosperity  spoken  of,  or,  which  the  "]S"I 
n3'3D  recommends,  because  it  streams  around 
this  cedar-planting,  the  place  on  which  it  grows. 

The  rivVn,  fiist  coming  into  consideration  in  the 
second  line,  are  to  be  undei-stood  of  the  over- 
flowings of  the  water-fulness  that  rises  up  (Hpy). 
just  as  the  all  trees  of  the  field  are  distinguished 
from  the  cedar  tree  described;  and  this,  in  ver.  5, 
is  raised  into  prominence  over  against  them. 
Hengst.  takes  the  .subjects  to  be  designated  by  the 
expression ;  Hitzig  applies  it  to  other  lands  and 
princes.  Of  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  we  are  as 
little  to  think  as,  with  Rosenmiiller,  of  the  Nile. 

— Ver.  5.  p"?I),  from  his  overflow  of  water  his 

greater  height  than  all  the  trees  finds  its  ex- 
planation, ch.  xix.  11  (Xn33,  Aram,  for  nn3j) — 
(ilBjnO,  Aram,  for  nsyo,  with  T  inserted). — 
VnhSS,    under   which   must   here   especially  be 

understood  the  fruit-bearing  ones,  ch.  xvii.  6. — 
in^B'a,  Hengst.:  "  because  in  his  time  of  shoot- 
ing he  had  many  waters."  [HXv.  :  "at  his 
sending  forth,  namely,  the  twigs  on  all  sides." 
Tautology.     Vulg.  connects  it  with  ver.  6.  ] 

Ver.  6.  Ch.  xvii.  23.  The  closing  words  give 
the  signification  of  the  figure  (Dan.  iv.  9). 
"Bird"  and  "living  thing,"  in  contrast  to 
domestic  creatures,  the  Assyrians  themselves. 
The  imperfect  la^'  expresses,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  preceding  perfects,  the  incomplete, 
the  continuous,  the  progressive.     [Ewald  ;  "sat 

gladly  all  the  many,"  etc.]  —  OUT  D'W^S, 
BuNSEX  :  all  great  peoples  (?) ;  Keil  :  all  sorts 
of  great  nations  ;  RosENM. :  the  entirety  of  many 
peoples. — Ver.  7.  3,  through,  on  account  of. — 
Ch.  xvii.  6. — Ver.  8  carries  still  higher  the  pre- 
eminent glory  brought  prominently  out  in  ver.  5, 


through  the  diversified  comparison  and  the  de- 
signation   "in   the   garden   of  God,"  on    which 

comp.  xxviii.  12.    That  IDDOyNi'  (to  "darken" 

=  excel)  separates  this  nearer  designation  from 
Q'nX'  is  very  impressive  (Hav.)  ;  even  such  an 
were  found  in  paradise.  HirziG  :  "in  an  emi- 
nent sense,  planted  by  God,  Gen.  ii.  9  ;  Num. 
xxiv.  6."  What  still  has  not  been  expressed  is 
more  distinctly  indicated  in  ver.  9,  tliat  what 
God  had  done  to  Assyria  even  transcended  the 
trees  of  paradise,  therefore  the  eminent  divine 
planting  was  even  more  marked  in  the  case  ol 
Assyria.  The  paradise-creation  was,  after  all, 
only  nature,  symbolizing  grace,  consequently 
might  be  the  similitude  for  a  «to(e- creation, 
without,  however,  being  like  the  latter,  as  little 
as  also  the  most  glorious  trees  themselves.  Every 
tree,  namely  in  this,  in  a  natural  respect,  su 
that  the  tree  of  life  and  the  tree  of  knowledge 
(Gen.  ii. ),  as  being  of  a  spiritual  nature,  are 
exempted,  and  the  simply  parabolical  allusion  to 
Eden  and  to  the  garden  of  paradise  is  clear. 
[Hengst.  makes  the  totality  of  the  gi'eat  men  of 
the  earth  as  stately  trees  in  the  garden  of  God  as 
a  counterpart  of  paradise,  since  all  human  great- 
ness has  its  origin  in  God.  Klief.  (R.ischi)  regards 
the  garden  of  God  directly  as  "  the  world-plant- 
ing," since  all  peoples  and  kingdoms  of  the  world 
have  been  planted  as  trees  by  God.  Gr.OT.  :  in 
Babylonia,  where  formerly  paradise  stood. 
OsiANDER  :  no  king  of  the  people  of  God  was 
like  him  !] — ["  This  parabolical  representation,  as 
fonnerly  in  the  case  of  Tyre,  ch.  xxviii.,  combines 
the  historical  with  the  figurative.  While  the 
cedar  that  represents  the  king  of  Babylon  is 
called  a  cedar  of  Lebanon,  it  is  presently  trans- 
ferred in  the  prophet's  imagination  to  the  land  of 
primeval  beauty  and  ])erfection,  the  Eden  in 
which  was  the  garden  that  God  had  planted. 
There  this  cedar  is  described  as  growing  and 
flourishing,  till  it  overtopped  in  magnificence  and 
beauty  all  the  trees  around  it.  .  .  .  But  it  was 
only  that  it  might  afford  another  specimen  ol 
that  instabOity  and  transitoriness  which  belong 
to  all  on  earth,  when  the  good  bestowed  by 
Heaven  is  abused  to  purposes  of  selfishness,  and 
the  creature  begins  to  thrust  himself  into  the 
place  of  his  Creator."— P.  F.]— Ver.  9.  This 
"  beauty"  is  here  explained  as  having  been  made 
by  God,  as  a  historical  creation- act  (VJTB'J/)'  ^^'^ 
expresses,  while  at  the  same  time  bringing  the 
similitude  to  a  close,  the  impression  which  the 
striking  elevation  of  the  Assyrian  grandeur  was 
fitted  to  produce. — That  the  trees  of  Eden,  as  in 
the  larger  sense  they  are  called  lin  respect  to  local 
position),  should  be  designated  as  those  which  be- 
longed to  the  garden  of  God,  distinguishes  them 
still  more;  it  is  an  ascension.  Kliefoth  takes  "trees 
of  Eden  "  freely,  as  equivalent  to  "trees  of  beauty," 
lovely  trees.  That  more  is  meant  by  the  expres- 
sion, while  still  paradise  is  thought  of  merely  ii 
the  way  of  similitude,  appears  from  ver.  16. 

Vers.  10-14.   The  Jtidginent  executed  an  Assyria 

Ver.  10.  This  verse  transfers  us  into  the  mids 
of  the  things  already  in  fact  brought  to  pass. 
We  might  render  "lOK  n3  :  thus  said  to  him,  etc. 
— [37  :  He  who  made  the  Assyrian  so  beautiful, 
even  He,  announced  to  him  the  overthrow  thai 
should  take  place,  because  of  what  he  made  oa< 


CHAP.  X5XI.  11-15. 


28.-: 


of  himse'f. — The  whole  passage  expresses  the 
cause  of  the  judgment  of  Jehovah  upon  Assyria, 
namely,  that  with  such  a  glory  from  God  (vers. 
5,  3)  the  position  of  the  heart  was  not  in  corre- 
.spondence ;  there  was  not  humility  in  all  the 
greatness,  hut  high-mindedness  on  account  of  it. 
The  commencing  address.  Thou,  in  the  life-like 
character  of  the  representation,  becomes  changed 
oito  a  declaration  respecting  him — and  he. — 'DIV 

Deut.  viii.  14.  Only  in  conformity  with  the  gift, 
not  in  accordance  with  the  grace.  Comp.  ver. 
14. — Ver.  11.  Here  the  sentence  of  judgment,  as 
just  going  to  be  pronounced  for  the  first  time,  is, 
by  the  use  of  the  imperfect,  placed  more  distinctly 
before  us.  Hknost  :  "  which  was  the  more  suit- 
able, as  the  like  in  Egypt  was  shortly  to  be  re- 
peated." —  Q<i|i  px  is  Nebuchadnezzar,  "the 
mighty"   (^s).  not  God.     [Hitzig  :   ^'x,  ram, 

for  prince,  champion,  under  which  Cyaxares  is  to 
be  thought  of.] — What  he  will  do  to  him  dis- 
covers itself  in  what  follows  ;  it  will  be  nothing 
but  doing;  for  .\sshur  it  remained  merely  to  suffer. 
— in'ncnj,  Piel,  with  reference  to  his  paradisiacal 

glory  (Gen.  iii.  24).  The  perfect  agrees  with  the 
quieter  mode  of  speech. — Ver.  12.  As  what  was 
said  last  has  taken  place,  there  is  now  by  means 
of  the  historical  tenses  a  narration  ;  consequently 
the  execution  of  the  pronounced  judgment  carried 
out.  (Others  make  it  future,  with  application 
now  to  Egypt,  now  to  Assyria.) — Ch.  xxx.  12, 
11. — {J't33  is:  "to  let  go,"  therefore  either:  to  let 

him  lie  (He.vgst.),  or:  to  push  away,  to  throw 
down  (ch.  xxix.  5).  Throwing  down  is  already 
indicated  in  the  hewing,  and  is  expressed  through 
the  "falling;"  and  on  the  other  hand,  "the  leav- 
ing" is  again  resumed  at  the  close,  while  it  is 
extended  to  "all  peoples."  The  "mountains" 
prepare  for  the  "valleys,"  and  the  "falling,"  the 
"being  broken"  in  all  hollows  (ch.  vi.  3).  Still, 
in  its  overthrow,  the  greatness  as  well  as  lofty 
elevation  of  this  cedar  tree  is  vividly  displayed.  — 
ilTI  abides  closely  by  the  image,  accoi-ding  to 

Tcr.  6,  partly  of  birds  which  had  nested  in  its 
branches,  partly  also  of  beasts  %vhich  had  brought 
forth  under  its  boughs,  which,  according  to  ver. 
12,  had  its  place  on  the  mountains,  so  that  in 
both  respects  the  "going  down  out  of  his  sh.adow" 
is  clear,  and  there  is  no  need,  with  Hitzig,  to  read 
?TT1,  from  nij,  to  fly,  for  which  Q'tsy  would  other- 
wise present  no  obstacle  ;  but  here,  as  at  ver.  6,  the 
reality  at  the  close  breaks  through  the  figure. 

Ver.  13.    If  in^SD  ^ii3D   'n  ver.   16  refers  to 

ini'BD"^!)  liere  (ch.  xxvi.  15,  18,  xxvii.  27),  there 

is  no  necessity,  with  Raschi,  Kimchi,  and  later 
expositor.s,  to  think  of  the  substitution  of  the 
image  of  a  corpse  (carcase,  Judg.  xiv.  8),  and  of 
eagles,  ravens,  and  other  beasts  of  prey  which 
rend  and  gnaw  the  members  of  Assyria,  signified 

by  his  boughs  (Hitzig);  but  n!'BC  f™™  bsit  's 

with  Gesen.  simply :  the  fallen  or  hewed-down 
stem,  which  is,  as  it  were,  a  living  ruin  (Hengst.  ). 
— 133G''',  otherwise  than  at  ch.   xvii.   23,  as  is 

shown  also  by  the  immediately  following  and  on 
his  boughs  is;  since  those  who  had  nested  and 
•rousht  forth  there  (ver.  6)  now  betook  them- 


selves away  from  him,  takii:g,  perhaps,  whatevei 
they  could  of  his  fruit,  reaping  the  greatest  pos- 
sible advantage  from  the  mighty  catastrophe. — 
Ver.  14,  by  way  of  conclusion,  expresses  the 
divine  intention,  the  practical  aim,  the  moral, 
and  that  with  respect  to  Egj-pt.  To  the  end  that 
(since  vers.  12,  13  may  be  regarded  as  pareu 
thetical  expansions)  can  be  connected  mth  ver. 
11.  —  D'D'^W  signifies  primarily  :  those  standing 

on  the  waters,  what  afterwards  is  more  nearly 
indicated   by   Q<o   ^n'K'   (nnC  just   as   Sanscr. 

"padapa,"  designating  the  tree  as  drinking  with 
its  foot,  through  its  root)  :  those  which  attain  to 
height  and  glory  from  the  jiosition  granted  tc 
them  by  God — of  which  description  was  Egypt, 
from  its  relation  to  the  Nile  (ch.  xxix. ).  Hekgst.  : 
"the  great  of  the  earth,  to  whom  God  gives  joy- 
ful prosperity." — Comp.  on  ver.  10.  ./Vs  there: 
"and  his  heart  raised  itself,"  etc.,  so  it  is  said 

here:  Dri'^S  1105'"Nh,  therefore  to  be  under- 
stood of  self-assumption,  as  in  Sept.  QrivN 
instead  of  D'n'PS  is  no  hindrance ;  as  is  also 
Keil's  ultimate  conclusion,  since  y?K  is  com- 
mon, and  iOvK  poetic,  Ps.  ii.  5. — [Other  ex- 
positions :  "and  their  strong  ones  do  not  continue 
in  their  high-mindedness  all  water-drinkers "  ; 
or,  "and  their  oaks  (terebinths,  Isa.  l.xi.  3)  do 
not  stand  there  (remain  standing)  in  their  eleva- 
tion, all,"  etc.  RosENMiJLLER  :  "and  stand  not 
to  them,  that  is,  allied  to  them  in  their  height, 
where  they  had  grown  so  high,  all,  namely,  the 
other  water-drinkers,  that  is,  powerful  and  rich 
princes."  Klief.  :  " and  that  henceforth  among 
all  their  strong  trees  that  drink  water  no  one  may 
remain  in  his  height."  Ewald  :  "  and  no  water- 
drinkers  assail  (! !)  their  gods  in  their  pride  "  (!), 
which  he  afterwards  more  particularly  explains  : 
So  that  trees,  beings  who  might  raise  themselves 
ever  so  high,  are  stQl  always  dependent  on  their 
nourishment,  and  cannot  live  of  themselves  in  a 
spirit  of  contempt  toward  their  Creator,  nor,  again, 
arrogantly  war  with  their  superior  (their  Creators, 
gods),  since  they  still  are  all  destined  to  go  down 
as  common  men  to  the  lower  world.]  Comp.  ch. 
xxvi.  20.  They  could  give  themselves  nothing, 
since  they  themselves  were  given  away,  as  such 
were  already  appointed  ;  therefore  also  could  not 
remain  standing  where  they  were  standing,  and 
assumed  the  airs  of  continuing  to  stand,  but  must 
go  down  to  the  lower  world,  therefore  be  brought 
low,  be  humiliated,  though  not  before  humble, 
come  to  stand  on  a  footing  with  the  children  of 
men.  The  expression :  among  the  children  of 
men,  is  to  be  regarded  as  parallel  with  :  given  to 
death ;  and  :  to  those  who  go  down  to  the  grave, 
with :  to  the  underground.  Those  that  go  down, 
men  continually  dying,  even  the  highest ;  or, 
"those  that  have  gone  down,"  as  Ewald  :  those 
sunk  into  the  grave. 

Vers.  15-18.   The  Impression  and  Close. 

As  at  ch.  xxvi.   15  sq.     Ver.   15.    (fm,  inf 

constr.  of  T:<.)    The  connection  is  made  with 

what  immediately  precedes,  so  that  the  reference 

is  not  (as  Hitzig)  to  ver.  13.     Upon  PKB*,  se* 


zse 


EZEKIEL. 


Doct.  Reflect. — The  "mourning"  is  immediately 
detiiied  more  nearly  without  TIBS  being  asyude- 

tically  joined  to  it,  as  Hav,,  Ewald,  Hengst. : 
"to  eov^er  with  mourning,"  "to  veil  in  mourn- 
ing," "  I  made  it  veil  itself  for  mourning."  The 
mourning  which  Jehovah  efl'ects  through  His 
judgment  upon  Assyria  touches  primarily  the 
flood,  in  thorough  accord  with  ver.  i,  as  that 
which  in  the  first  line  contributed  to  the  cedar 

its  increase.     Therefore  l<py,  "on  his  account." 

That  the  flood  was  covered  upon  him,  as  the 
Syriac,  Arab.,  and  Vulg.,  is  at  least  not  indicated 
in  what  precedes  (ver.  12).  Comp.  on  the  con- 
trary, ch.  .xxvi.  19.  We  mu.st  (it  was  thought) 
suppose  a  historical  reference,  since  the  siege  of 
Nineveh  was  protracted  to  two  years,  while  in 
the  spring  of  the  third  year,  in  consequence  of  a 
sudden  swell  in  the  Tigris,  raised  by  excessive 
falls  of  rain,  the  mighty  flood  in  one  night  tore 
down  the  wall  next  the  stream,  and  so  laid  open 
a  wiile  breach  to  the  enemy  (Duncker,  i.  p.  806  ; 
Nah.  i.  8,  ii.  7  [6]).  However,  in  this  passage 
the  discourse  is  not  properly  of  the  overthrow  of 
Assyi'ia  in  process  of  accomplishment, — ver.  15 
giving  no  representation  of  the  judgment  itself, 
as  Hav.  maintains, — but  of  the  impression  of  the 
.same  as  one  already  accomplished ;  and  nD3 
as  "  to  veil "  is,  even  without  pt»»,  perfectly  intel- 
ligible, but  how  it  is  meant  in  respect  to  the 
flood  is   made   sufficiently  plain   by  the  'j)3!JK1 

(not  futurel  Hitzig  :  "In  mourning,  people 
?ommonly  draw  themselves  in  and  hold  back, 
the  loose  garment  is  changed  into  the  narrow  pc; 

and  so  the  flood  also  withdraws  its  waters  into 
itself,  which  it  had  hitherto  joyfully  poured  forth 
and  spread  abroad  " — which  Hitzig  applies  to  the 
influx  of  people  come  to  a  standstill.  Tlieodoret : 
to  the  refusal  of  tribute.  Comp.  on  the  figure, 
ver.  4.     D'3i  Q*o  points  back  to  vers.  5,  6,  7. — 

The  mourning  produced  by  Jehovah  next  affects 
Lebanon  (comp.  ver.  3),  therefore  the  height  as 
well   as   the   depth,      y'py  "llpX,    parallel   with 

vhy  'nD3>  Hiphilfrom:  to  be  "dark,"  "black," 
therefore  :  to  darken,  as  much  as  :  to  make  sad,  to 
cause  to  mo\irn.  Lebanon  is  otherwise  the  xchile 
mountain.  [According  to  Hitzig,  the  other  princes 
must  be  indicated  by  this  ;  according  to  Hengst., 
the  kingdoms  of  the  heithen.] — The  tiees  of  the 
field  (ver.  4)  are  the  third  party  whom  the  mourn- 
ing alfects,  which  is  therefore  also  represented  as 
far  and  near.  r|5)y,  in  Pual,  "  to  be  covered;" 
transferred  to  the  consciousness :  to  become 
powerless.  nSPJ?  has  been  explained  as  a  verbal 
from  Pual  with  derivative  n — ,  "languishing," 
or  instead   of  nS^V,  fem.  of  the  preterite  Pual, 

since  from  the  connection  a  perfect  seems  to  be 
required  (Ewald),  the  jilural  construed  with  the 
feminine  singular. — Keil,  as  Umbreit,  makes  all 
nature  (?)  be  painfully  moved  by  Assyria's  fall, 
whereas  the  impression  of  this  fall  is  merely  kept 
in  the  figurative  style  of  vers.  3,  4. — Ver.  16. 
Ch.  xxvi.  15.     Since  that  is  the  same  expression 

(■"inPSO)  as  in  ver.  13,  and  in  ver.  15  his  going 


down  was  spoken  of,  so  we  are  carried  back  tc 
ver.  12.  The  "going  down  of  the  peoples  out  ol 
his  shadow  "  in  that  passage  is  explained  ;  at  th« 
same  time,  however,  the  imi  of  ver.  15  is  com 

prised  in  the  min3,  and  referred  to  the  Sheol.- 

Now,   according  as  ^Dn3'1  is  translated   "com 

forted  themselves, "  as  reflexive  of  Piel,  since  her* 
still  another  feeling  than  in  ver.  15  may  be  ex- 
pressed, or  the  Niphal  "and  they  sighed"  is 
what  is  to  be  understood  (Ew.vld,  Hexcst. ),  we 
have  either  a  distinction  between  the  lower 
world  and  the  trembling  people  of  the  upper 
world,  or  the  two  are  parallel  the  one  to  the  other. 
For  the  first  interpretation  speaks  the  comparison 
of  Isa.  xiv.  Hitzig  understands  by  the  trecR  of 
Eden  princes  carried  down  with  Assyria ;  in  par- 
ticular the  Assyrian  war-princes,  who  feel  them- 
selves comforted  because  the  much  more  power- 
ful one  for  whose  cause  they  have  fallen,  their 
murderer,  shares  their  fate  ;  while  Hengst.  more 
correctly  understands  by  them  the  former  great 
ones  of  the  earth,  those  who  resembled  the  trees 
of  paradise  in  glory.  As  ]>aradise  was  itself  a 
thing  of  the  past,  those  who  were  likened  to  the 
trees  of  its  regiou  were  contemplated  as  now 
existing  in  the  realms  of  the  dead.  The  allego- 
rical character  of  the  expression  is  proved  by  the 
exegesis  ;  the  choice  ajid  good.  Besides,  comp. 
at  ver.  14. — Ver.  17.  They  also  are  not  those  last 
named  in  ver.  16,  but  the  parties  presently  going 
to  be  described  more  closely — already,  indeed, 
indicated  in  ver.  16  as  those  with  whom  Jehovah 

made  Assyria  go  down  to  hell  (ns,  not  px.  as  in 

ver.  14).  "And  his  arm"  defines  more  exactly 
the  "they  also"  as  the  subject  of  "the  going 
down," — his  help,  his  assistant,  the  vassals,  sub- 
ject-kings, commanders,  and  such  like,  to  whom 
the  words  :  who  dwelt  in  his  shadow  among  the 
heathen,  very  well  suit,  and  not  less  that  they  are 
associated  with  those  pierced  through  with  the 
sword.  Assyria  was  not  only  a  political,  but  also 
a  military  power  among  the  nations.     [If  on 

must  apply  to  "all  the  trees  of  Eden  "  in  ver,  16, 
so  must  "with  him  "  be  made  equal  to  "  not  less 
than  he,"  just  as  Hengst.,  looking  away  from 
simultaneousness,  views  them  as  already  in  Sheol 
when  Assyria  arrives  there.  Therefore:  they  also, 
like  him,  went  down  before,  etc.  Ewald  reads 
with  the  Sept. ;  iy-|f,  "and  his  seed"  (!).] 

Ver.  18.  This  verse  gives  the  conclusion,  point- 
ing back  to  ver.  2  ;  it  makes  the  application  to 
Pharaoh,    who   is   the   party   addressed.  —  n33, 

Hitzig  :  "  in  such  a  fashion,  in  circumstances 
of  such  a  kind,"  when  this  cedar  after  such 
a  manner  went  down.  The  reference  among 
the  trees  belongs  to  the  to  whom. —  Comp.  at 
ch.  xxviii.  10.  From  this  passage,  also,  there 
appears  to  emerge  the  opposite  of  what  is  com- 
monly found  in  it,  viz.  that  the  Egyptians  appear 
as  uncircumcised  with  our  prophet.  According 
to  Herodotus,  the  practice  of  circumcision  was 
actually  of  Egyptian  origin.  Origen  confines  it 
to  the  priesthood  among  the  Egyptians.  The 
kings  certainly  were  not  uncircumcised  ;  so  the 
?'/.<  of  our  passage  shines  clearly  out  -.  This  is 
Pharaoh,  sq.  Hitzig  :  so  shall  it  happen  U 
Pharaoh.     XIH  is  the  predicate. 


CHAP.  XXXII.  a: 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

1  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  twelfth  year,  in  the  twelfth  month,  on  the  first 

2  [day]  of  the  month,  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying  :  Son  of  man,  takr 
up  a  lamentation  over  Pharaoh  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  say  to  liim  :  Young  lion 
of  the  heathen  peoples  thou  didst  imagine  thyself  [th.ia  didst  lompan-  niystif  to  sach  an  one], 
and  thou  [wast]  as  the  dragon  in  the  sea  [in  the  seas],  and  brakest  forth  in  thy  streams, 
and  didst  trouble  the  water  with  thy  feet,  and  didst  trample  their  streams  ! 

3  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  And  I  spread  forth  My  net  over  thee  in  the 

4  assembly  of  mauj'  peoples,  and  they  pull  thee  up  in  My  draw-net.  And  I  set 
thee  free  into  the  land  [push  thee  away  thither],  upon  the  plains  of  the  field  will 
I  sling  thee ;  and  I  make  all  the  birds  of  heaven  to  sit  down  on  thee,  and  let  the 

5  living  creatures  of  the  whole  earth  satisfy  themselves  with  thee.     And  I  give  thy 

6  flesh  upon  the  mountains,  and  fill  the  valleys  with  thy  high  heap  [thy  heisht].  And 
I  cause  the  land  of  thy  overflowing  to  drink  out  of  thy  blood,  even  to  the  moun- 

7  tains  :  and  the  hollows  shall  be  full  of  thee.  And  I  cover  [veil],  while  I  extinguish 
thee,  the  heaven,  and  darken  its  stars ;  the  sun  will  I  cover  with  a  cloud,  and  the 

8  moon  will  not  make  her  light  to  shine.  All  luminaries  of  light  in  the  heaven,  I 
will  make  them  dark  over  thee ;  and  I  give  darkness  upon  thy  lanil :  sentence  of 

9  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  I  vex  the  heart  of  many  peoples,  when  I  bring  thy 
breach  [destraciion]  among  the  heathen  peoples,  to  lands  which  thou  knowest  not. 

10  And  I  make  many  peoples  astonished  over  thee,  and  their  kings  shall  shudder 
shudderings  over  thee,  when  I  brandish  My  sword  before  their  ftice  ;  and  they 
tremble  every  moment,  each  one  for  liis  soul  [life],  on  the  day  of  thy  downfall. 

1 1  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  The  sword  of  the  king  of  Babylon  will  come 
'.2  to  thee.     By  the  swords  of  heroes  will  I  make  thy  tumult  to  fall ;  the  violent  of 

the  heathen  [aic]  they  all,  and  they  lay  waste  the  pride  of  Egypt,  and  all  its 
13  tumult  is  destroyed.     And  I  extirpate  all  the  beasts  thereof  from  many  [thecreat] 

waters,  and  foot  of  man  shall  not  trouble  them  any  more,  nor  shall  the  hoofs  of 
1  i  beasts  trouble  them.     Then  will  I  make  their  waters  to  sink,  and  make  their 

15  streams  go  as  the  oil :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  When  1  give  [to]  desola- 
tion the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  land  is  wasted  away  from  its  fulness,  when  I 

16  smite  all  that  dwell  in  it,  then  they  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  This  is  lamenta- 
tion, and  as  lamentation  they  intone  it,  the  daughters  of  the  heathen  peoples  will 
intone  it  as  a  lamentation  ;  upon  Egypt  and  upon  all  its  tumult  shall  they  intone 

17  it  as  a  lamentation  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the 
twelfth  year,  on  the  fifteenth  [day]  of  the  month,  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to 

18  me,  saying  :  Son  of  man,  wail  for  the  tumult  of  Egypt,  and  cast  it  down,  it  and 
[as]  the  daughters  of  the  glorious  heathen  peoples,  to  the  land  of  the  depths,  with 

19  those  that  go  down  to  the  pit.     Whom  dost  thou  surpass  in  being  lovely  ]     Go 
£0  down,  and  lie  with  the  uncircumcised  !     In  the  midst  of  those  pierced  through 

with  the  sword  shall  they  fall ;  sword  is  given  ;  they  drag  it  [Eirypt]  and  all  its 

21  tumtilts  away.  The  strong  of  the  heroes  from  the  midst  of  hell  [sheoij  .shall  speak 
of  [to]  him  witii  his  helpers  :  they  go  down,  they  lie,  the  uncircumcised,  pierced 

22  through  with  the  sword  !     There  is  Asshur  and  his  whole  company  ;  round  about 

23  him  his  [then]  graves ;  thej'  all  pierced  through,  fallen  by  the  sword  :  Whose 
graves  were  [are]  given  in  the  innermost  of  the  pit,  and  his  company  was  [is] 
round  about  his  grave  ;  they  all  pierced  through,  fallen  by  the  sword,  who  gave 

24  terror  in  the  land  of  the  living.  There  [  is]  Elam  and  all  his  tumult  round  about 
his  grave  :  they  all  pierced  through,  fallen  by  the  sword,  who  are  gone  down, 
uncircumcis-d,  to  the  land  of  depths,  who  gave  their  terror  in  the  land  of  the 

25  living,  and  henceforth  bear  their  shame  with  them  that  go  down  to  the  pit.  Amid 
the  pierced  through  they  gave  him  a  couch  with  all  his  tumult ;  round  about  him 
his  graves ;  they  all  uncircumcised,  pierced  through  with  the  sword ;  for  their 
terror  was  given  [spread]  in  the  land  of  the  living,  and  they  henceforth  bear  their 
shame  with  those  that  go  down  to  the  pit ;  among  the  pierced  through  is  he 

26  given  [laid].     There  [is]  Meshech,  Tubal,  and  all  his  tumult;  round  about  him  hie 


J8S 


EZEKIEL. 


[their]  graves ;  they  all  uncircumcised,  pierced  through  ■with  the  sword ;  for  they 

27  gave  their  terror  in  the  land  of  the  living.  And  they  do  not  [they  shaii  not]  hence- 
forth lie  -ivith  the  heroes,  the  fiiUen  of  the  uncircumcised,  who  went  down  to  hell 
in  [with]  their  weapons  of  war  ;  and  they  gave  their  swords  under  their  heads,  and 
their  iniquities  were  upon  their  bones,  for  terror  of  heroes  [were  tiiey]  in  the  land  of 

28  the  living.     And  [also]  thou  among  the  uncircumcised,  thou  shalt  be  broken,  and 

29  shalt  lie  with  the  pierced  through  by  the  sword.  There  [is]  Edoni,  his  kings 
and  all  his  princes,  who  have  been  given  in  [with,  in  spite  of]  their  strength  with  the 
pierced  through  by  the  sword;  they  lie  henceforth  with  the  uncircumcised,  anil 

30  with  those  that  go  down  to  the  pit.  There  are  the  princes  of  the  North,  they  all 
and  all  the  Zidonians,  who  went  down  with  the  pierced  through,  in  their  terror 

[the  terror  before  them]   from   their   Strength    [proceeding  from  their  strength]   COme   tO   shame  ; 

and  they  lie  henceforth  uncircumcised  with  the  pierced  through  by  the  sword, 
and  bear  from  this  time  onwards  their  shame  with  those  that  go  down  to  the 

31  pit.    Them  will  Pharaoh  see,  and  will  comfort  himself  over  all  his  tumult ;  pierceil 

32  through  are  Pharaoh  and  all  his  host :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  For  I  gave 
his  terror  [tiiat  which  is  before  him]  in  the  land  of  the  living,  and  Pharaoh  and  all  his 
tumult  is  laid  [now]  among  the  uncircumcised  with  the  pierced  through  by  the 
sword  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 


Vulg. ;    Leoni  assimUatia 


^xpotyyai  ifi^Xrirai  otirt  r«t/.     Vul^  • 


Ver.    1.  Sept. :     .   .imuct.  fAr.voi — (Anoth.  read. :  mC^*V  ^nC*I?3i  undtcimo  anno.) 

Ver.     2.   .   .   .   Afdvr<  .  .  .   ofMiat^ya  .  .  .  X.  ixtpxTiZts  to/?  TorxfAoii  .  .  .   r.  crcrxficut  ffov. 
etetdraconi  .  .  .  et  ventilabas  comu  in — (Other  readings  :   DSim  and  "^TnilOIl.) 

Ver.    3.  .  .  .  luci  ivx|w  n  t*  t.  iyxiff-rpcMi  ^y  ;  so  too  the  Vulg. 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .  IliSiot  Tj.^<re)io-'T«i  <roi/— (Anoth.  read. :  fHSH  JTn  ^2,  Syr.) 

Ver.  5.  .  .  .  ia-o  T.  ttif4MT0i  e-nv  Tottrxv  yr.y.  Vulg. :  .  .  .  colks  tuo3  sank  tua.  Anoth.  read. :  ^^JTID^i  excetofl 
(iwi ;  '^*nDT,  ^CQectionihits  tuis  (Targ.),  v.  vermihus  tuis  (Syr.). 

Ver.     6.   .  .  .  iraTiffdvirlTxi  vi  yri  oLtro  t.  j^arprjfjULTOv  ffau  x.  irro  T.  TX^davs  ffov 
fatore  sanguinis  tui — 

Ver.    S.  Vulg.:  vicerere  faciam  super  te — 

Ver.    9.  Sept. :  .  .  .  y.vixa  <iv  .  .  .  a/;t;t4aXaiiria»  ffou  .  .  .  Etj  y»i»  y]y — Vulg. :  irritabo  contritionon  tuam— 

Ver.  10.    Sept.  :    .   .    .  vporZt^i^of^ivOi  Trv  rrroiri*  xvtoiv  x$'  r,fjupet(  *-rawfaif  vou. 
Ver.  12.   Iv  fAct^etipxti  yiyxyTuv,  x.  xxtol^xXu  t.  tr^vv  rou.     lieif^ai  axe  E^vofv — 
Ver.  14.  Ovtui  ToTi  r,ffvx«-<ni — Vulg.  ;  Tu/w:  purissimas  reddam  .  .  .  adducam— 
Ver.  15.  cum  dedero  .  .  .  deseretur  autem — (Anoth.  read. :  nDCTDl  in  Hophal.) 
Ver.  17.  Anoth.  read. :  mt^V  *nK'V3i  Syr.  and  interlined  Bible.     Sept. :  .  .  .  tv  t.  ir/u^a*  ^*]y/ — 
Ver.  18.   Sept.  :  .   .   .   x^i  xotTx^t^cctrovtrtv  ayr,;!  Tatf  Si/yxripxi  ^x  idnv  yixpocs  ii;  to  &xBei  t.  y»]f  T^of  Tey?  .   .  .  (ver. 
19:    'E»  fjLiircu  rpttufj^xTtan   u,xx<xipx.  TEiToyvTcti  jjLiT  etlTorj,  x.  X4ifA>i6r,(riTxi  rx7x  r)  iff-^us.  X.  ipvjfftir  eot  el  yiyxvTW    'E>  ^x9u 
8»9po'j  yivov,  Ttve;  xpurruv  il ;  x.  xxrx^rfii  ».  7uitfAr,BviTi — ).    Vulg.  :  gentium  Tobustarum  ad  lerram  uUinuxm — (Other  read. : 

nnim,  andriTinn  px  ^s,  and  mv  hit,  sept.) 

Ver.  19.    'Ei  iJctT^v  tiirpi^6v;  xctrx^r.di,  x.  Xiiu.7}Si^Ti  fitrx — ■ 

Ver.  20.  .  .  .  mrcvvTxi  /lcst'  xirou,  x  x^ipLyiSviFtrxi  trxffx  ri  iirxvf  ai/Tov.    (Other  read.  :  HJIDH.) 

Ver.  21.  Sept.  :  ...  trot  ei  yiyxirn  'Ey  ,8xdii  j3o9pov  yitou,  rivot  xptirran  tt ;  KxTx^^dt  X.  «Oi^>]&)iT(  purx — Vulg.  ; 
qui  cvm  anxiliatoribus  ejus  d^scenderunt  et  dormiervnt — 

Ver.  22.  .  .  .  avvxyatyf]  xtirou,  Txv-rfs  7pxvpux.rixi  Ixtt  tSodriretw*  ri  rx^v  xiron  £»  fietSti  fitSptv,  x.  fyuii6tt  ii  rwxymy^ 
xinu  ripixvxXu  T.  fjuvy.fjLXTO?  xItov,  srotyrlf — 

Ver.  23.    ol  iietxav  T.  rx^xs  xi/rxS  iv  ptyipois  Xxxxcti — 

Ver.  25.  The  words   iH^-^J  are  not  represented  in  the  Sept. 

Ver.  20.  Sept.  ;  'Eke*  lioSxrxv  .  .  .  x.  Ide^i>  .  .  .  TtpixvxXv  r  ptvvif^xTct  xiiov,  irxvrn  rpxuputrtxt  xvrey,  rx9Tls 
x^iptTix.f,Tai  TpxvpcxTixt  XV6  pLx^xipxi ,  oi  hth^xoTii — Vulg.  :  .  .  .  intcT/ectiqui  et  cadentfs  gladio — 

Ver.  27.  Ka*  'txnu.Y,liv,ffxv  putx  t.  yiyxvTW  .  .  .  XT  xitnos,  ol  .  .  .  in  t^t^l^v^ffxv  yiyxvTXS — Vulg.  '.  ,  .  .  et  incircum- 
ctsis— (Anoth.  read.  :  DJIJ?.  S>t.) 

Ver.  29.   Sept.  :  x.  o'l  ^xrtMii  xlrr.t  x.  .  .   ,  oi  xpxf^^if  ^Airroup  ol  3evTlf  r.lffx^*  xiirmv  lis  rpxi/fMot  poxxxtpxe,  xiiri 

iKOlUTiBr.ffXy  filTX  rpxufJUXTIOJV  fMtXXipXS ,  ixOt[/.nSr,irxv  f/.tTX' — 

Ver.  30.  .  .  .  jraiTEf  rrpxTKyoi  'Arrevp,  ol  .  .  .  rpxt/ptxrixt  evv  r.  jo/Sai  xi/rojv  X.  r.  irx^Jt  xVTtn — Vulg.  :  ...  el  uni- 
versi  venatores,  qui  .  .  .  paventes  et  in  .  .  .  coT^usi— <Anoth.  read.  :  D'*31"IV  731i  Chald.,  Sjt.  ;  or  they  read  ^31C) 

satraps.     Instead  of  IK'X,  Sept.  read  "ilt^N-) 
Ver.  31.  Vulg.  :  Vidtt  eos  et  coiisolatus  est — 
Ver.  32.  Quia  dedi  terrorem  Tneum   .  ,  ,  et  dormivit — 


BXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-16.  The  Lamentation  over  Pharaoh. 

Hitzig  justly  finds  the  date,  as  also  the  place 
of  this  section,  quite  correctly  given.  He  like- 
wise abides,  for  the  more  exact  determination  of 
the  time,  by  the  Hebrew  te.\t  of  ver.  1 ;  while  the 
old  translations  read,  some  the  tenth,  others  the 
eleventh  year,  some  the  tenth,  others  the  twelfth 
month.  It  was  twenty -one  months  after  eh. 
xrzi.  1,  almost  two  months  after  that  the  pro- 


phet had  received  intimation  of  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  ;  and  to  this  time  also  belongs  the 
flight  of  the  remnant  of  Judah  to  Egypt,  which 
was  prohibited  through  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah. 
[SCHMIEDER:  "The  first  of  these  two  death-songs 
(vers.  1-16,  17-32)  is  dated  on  the  day  of  the  new 
moon  the  second  on  the  day  of  the  full  moon. ' 
Hengst.  :  "The  occasion  of  this  lamentation  wae 
probably  the  circulation  of  the  Lameutai,xns  of 
Jeremiah  among  the  exiles.  Ezekiel  delight* 
generally  to  follow  that  prophet  as  his  leader 


CHAP.  XXXII.  2-.i. 


2SS 


Thu  double  lamentation  -  song  of  this  chapter 
accompanies,  by  way  of  consolation,  the  lamenta- 
tion-soi!^  among  the  people  of  God."] 

Ver.  2.  Comp.  ch.  xi.^.  1. — As  ch.  xxvii.  2 
ui>on  Tyre,  and  ch.  xxviii.  12  upon  the  prince  of 
Tyre,  so  here  it  is  first  upon  Pharaoh,  alid  after- 
wiirds,  ver.  17  sq.,  upon  Egypt. — The  designation 
aa  young  lion  (ch.  .xix.  2)  of  the  heathen  nations 
(meaning  of  them  not  in  the  sense  of  being  among 
them,  I'ut  in  that  of  showing  himself  to  be  such 
toward   them),    cij  1*23,    as   in   ch.    xxxi.    11 

D*1J  755,  an  antithetical  reference,  very  fitly  ap- 
l>lie.s  to  the  personality  of  Hophra.  The  youth- 
ful, ra|)acious,  conquest-loving  spirit  of  this  prince 
m.iy   have   been   characterized.  —  fT'DlJ,    Niph. 

(from  non),  "to  make  one's  self  lilce"  (the  sub- 
jective of  Pharaoh's  to  the  objective  of  Jehovah's, 
ch.  xxxi.  2,  18). — i)S  dropt,  perhaps,  on  account 
of  the  immediately  preceding  v?S,  "f  to  be  con- 
strued accusatively;  anyhow,  perfectly  plain  as  to 
the  meaning,  since   D'jn3   immediately   follows. 

That  Pharaoh  could  not  be  found  "like  a  lion 
and  also  a  dragon,"  as  Hitzig  alleges,  has  this 
only  as  a  giound  of  offence,  that  it  overlooks  the 
distinction,  the  contrast,  between  the  two  resem- 
blances. As  a  young  lion  Pharaoh  is  conscious  of 
what  belonged  to  him  out  of  himself,  whereas  the 
other  image  rather  represents  the  customary,  per- 
haps also  the  limits  to  be  kept  by  the  Pharaohs 
of  Egypt.  ("With  the  third  Ramses,"  says 
Duncker,  "Egypt  had  ceased  to  be  the  first 
power  of  the  old  world.  About  the  same  time, 
when  the  warlike  ambition  of  Assyria  began  to 
display  itself,  Egypt  returned  to  a  peaceful  mode 
of  life,  and  remained  quiet  within  its  old  natural 
boundaries.")  Philippsox:  "  Pharaoh,  who  be- 
longed only  to  Egypt  as  crocodile,  would  also  as 
a  lion  seize  upon  other  lands."  So  ahso  Raschi. 
[Hitzig  translates  n''013  ;  "thou  art  a  dead  man" 
(CoccEius);  Hengst.  :  "  thou  art  undone  ;  HDIJ 
never  means :  to  be  made  like,  always :  to  be  silent, 
undone."  According  to  him,  ver.  2  is  a  short 
outline  which  must  be  afterwards  filled  up.] — 
The  representation  generally  is  not  that  of  the 
glory  of  the  fallen  king  (Keil),  and  the  image  of 
the  dragon  in  particular  will  not  explain  that  of 
the  lion  (Hengst.);  though  it  is  right  to  say 
that  the  bearing  of  Pharaoh  is  meant  to  be  set 
forth,  only  not  so  properly  among  the  peoples  as 
in  his  own  relation.  For  in  the  sea  is  neither 
the  sea  of  the  peoples  (Hengst. ),  nor  to  be  taken 
along  with  what  precedes  =  on  land  and  in  water 
(Ro.sESiM.),  but  a  reproduction  of  the  Nile-situa- 
tion (ch.  xxix.  3,  "in  the  midst  of  his  streams") 
corresponding  to  tht  aelf-elation  implied  in  the 
"young  lion  of  the  heathen,"  as  (comp.  Isa.  xix. 
5)  in  Homer  the  Nile  is  called  sJxiotio,-,  and  the 
native  designation  speaks  of  the  white,  blue  seas. 
The   counter -position   (nriKl)   is  this  :  To  the 

heathen  nations  thou  wouldst  show  thyself  as  a 
young  lion,  and  thine  own  people  thou  didst 
destroy,  didst  ruin — as  is  presently  brought  out 
in  the  prophet's  delineation.  To  the  D'i2»  cor- 
respond the  ninnj ;   nm.  from  nij  (n'j  ?),  is, 

according  to  Kinichi,  the  Kal ;  who,  however, 
allows  it  also  as  Hiphil,  which  Fiirst  takes  to  be 


the  form,  wishing,  however,  to  understand  it 
transitively  :  "and  broughtest  forth  thy  waters 
through  thy  streams  ;"  but  of  Hiphil,  ;is  of  Kal, 
is  only  the  intransitive  signification  known. 
[Hitzig,  who  holds  that  the  breaking  forth  of  the 
crocodile  is  not  meant  to  he  expiessed,  would  fain 
make  it  :  "thou  causest  thy  streams,  namely,  out 
of  thy  nostrils,  to  break  forth;"  but  the  streams 
and  a  are  against  him,  and  he  hence  reads  with 

Ewald;  1*mn3,  who  translates:   " since  thou  art 

as  the  crocodile  in  the  waters,  and  with  thy 
nostrils  dost  splutter  (Job  xli.  20)."  Hengst. 
cites,  for  the  mischief  which  Pharaoh  did  among 
the  nations,  the  North  American  crocodiles 
("thou  brake-st  forth  with  thy  rivers") — how, 
while  breathing  with  the  moi^t  frightful  noise, 
they  spurt  forth  streams  of  smoke  and  water,  like 
a  torrent  in  a  hurricane,  through  their  jaws  and 
blowholes.  ]  The  sense,  however,  is  much  simpler : 
while  in  ch.  xxix.  3,  Pharaoh,  the  great  dragon, 
lies  in  the  midst  of  his  streams  at  his  ease,  he  is 
now  represented  as  breaking  forth  in  the  same 
("thine,"  as  he  there  pretends);  that  is,  not 
precisely  with  his  hosts,  but  in  this,  his  national- 
Egyptian  pride  of  power,  rising  up,  elevating  him- 
self—which  elevation  of  Pharaoh  (as  indicated  by 
Jerome,  Vulg.,  and  Sept.)  troubled  the  waters  of 

Egypt  {rhx  comp.  ver.  13),  whUe  he  with  his 
feet  trampled  their  streams  or  caused  a  muddy 
jumbhng.  [Schmieder:  "  With  his  restless  am- 
bition for  war  he  stirred  up  the  slumbering  pafcions 
(the  mire)  among  his  peoples."]  Very  good 
Philippson  ;  "brought  his  people  into  agitation, 
guilt,  and  danger  ;"  while  the  heterogeneous  inter- 
mingling of  the  figure  of  the  dragon  with  that  ot 
the  lion,  and  in  consequence  thereof  the  explana- 
tion with  reference  to  the  nations,  occasions  mis- 
understanding and  needless  attempts  at  interpre- 
tation— as  when  Ewald,  who  is  followed  by  Haver- 
nick,  speaks  of  the  crocodile  foully  wallowing  with 
mouth  and  feet  in  the  fresh  waters  and  life-sources 
of  the  nations — as  troubling  all  that  was  pure. 
Ver.   3.  See  ch.   xii.  13,  xvii.  20.— 'imps,  on 

conipari.son  with  ch.  xxiii.  24,  can  scarcely  be 
understood  of  mere  spectators,  since  they  pull 
up,  therefore,  as  helpers,  associates,  servants,  carry 
the  matter  into  effect.  The  peoples  punish  the 
.sin  of  Pharaoh  committed  on  his  own  people. 
Under  the  many  we  may  think  of  the  Chaldean 
army  as  composed  of  many  races  (Dereser),  or  also 
of  the  diverse  peoples  that  followed  the  Chaldeans 
in  making  war  upon  Egypt. — Comp.  ch.  xxvi. 
5,  14,  xxix.  4.  In  Siam,  people  often  spread  nets 
upon  the  river  to  catch  the  crocodile.  Comp. 
.iElian,  Var.  Hist.  X.  21. — Ver.  4.  Comp.  ch. 
xxix.  5. —  Visa,  land,  in  contrast  to  the  water  ; 

while  in  ch.  xxix.  it  is  the  "wilderness." — Su, 
"to  throw  down,"  Hiphil,  strengthens  gioj,  as 

v-|{{3  is  pictured  out  by  '<3g  5J),  "on  the  plains 

(face)  of  the  field."— Ch.  xxxi.  13.  It  is  acutely 
remarked  by  Bunsen,  that  in  the  description,  as 
it  passes  over  into  the  monstrous,  the  prophet 
comes  to  do  with  the  matter,  touclies  less  upon 
the  image.— Ver.  5.  As  the  guilt,  so  the  punish- 
ment takes  place  within  the  land,  which  is  repre- 
sented by  mountains  and  valleys  (ch.  xxxi.  12). 
Pharaoh  is  laid  there  as  to  his  flesh,  togethei 


290 


EZEKIEL. 


with  his  warnors.— man,  Gesen.  from  Dn,   "* 

high  heap  of  corpses."  Hengst.  :  "with  thy 
lieight,"  in  contrast  to  the  valleys  as  low  ground, 
"with  the  proud  corpse. "  It  were  better  to  read 
^nrsn.  from  dot,  collective,  "worms."      Hitzig 

thinks  of  the  blood  which  should  flow  down  from 
the  mountains  into  the  valleys.  Others  take  it, 
after  the  plural  reading,  of  the  hosts  of  which 
Pharaoh  was  proud,  their  corpses ;  Raschi,  from 
non.  "  to  throw  away "  :  thy  thrown  away,  that 
is:    thy   fallen. — Ver.  6.   Here   nSV  (from   C|!|V, 

"to  overflow,"  "to  Inundate")  with  jnx  is  not 

"the  land  of  thy  swimming"  (Gesen.),  in  which 
thou  as  crocodile  hast  swimmed,  but  Egypt — 
only  not  as  Hengst.  :  "the  land  which  thou 
formerly  didst  overflow  with  thy  rivers."  At 
least  ver.  2  cannot  be  adduced  for  this  sense, 
except  in  so  far  as  the  Nile,  which  Pharaoh  in  ch. 
xxix.  had  in  a  manner  claimed  for  himself,  over- 
flows Egypt,  and  thereby  provides  the  ground  of 
piosperity  and  strength  to  Pharaoh.  That  God 
"causes  the  land  to  drink"  (Gen.  ii.  10)  is  placed 
over  against  the  boasted  overflowing  of  it  through 
Pharaoh's  Nile  ;  besides,  however,  the  closer  de- 
termination of  the  meaning  by  "out  of  (with) 
thy  blood  "(Ex.  vii.  17  sij.),  which  Hitzig  ex- 
plains as  a  gloss  of  'SjnilDT  in  ^er.  5.     (Keil  takes 

nav  3s  the  "outflowing,"  and  construes  'n''|5K'n 

with  two  objects,  so  that  TOID  announces  whence 

the  outflowing  comes,  and  wherein  it  consists. 
ScHMiEDER  :  "Pharaoh's  life-juice,  which  flows 
with  his  blood  from  his  wounds,  the  most  precious, 
most  peculiar  possessions  of  his  home -power." 
Hiv.  :  "I  saturate  the  earth  with  thy  current, 
on  occasion  of  thy  blood  covering  the  mountains. " 
Hitzig:  "the  soil  of  the  earth  with  thy  out- 
flow."    Kimchi  takes  nDV  ss  a  fem.  part. :  "  thy 

land  over  which  the  waters  swam."  Others  :  the 
land  which  from  thee  was  overflowed,  namelj',  by 
thy  blood.  Attention  has  been  called  by  Kimchi 
also  to  nSV,  "to  spy  out  " — the  land  of  thy  spy- 
ing out — so  that  the  high  places  thereof  might  be 
meant.) — Even  to  the  mountains  signifies:  to 
as  far  as  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile  usually  ex- 
tends.— Ver.  7  (ch.  xxx.  18).  The  covering  of  the 
heaven,  in  its  symbolic  character,  fitly  enough 
regarded  as  analogous  to  the  judgment-day  of 
God  (ch.  xxx.  3;  Joel  ii.  4),  need  not,  however,  be 
conceived  of  from  this  point  of  view,  but  may 
remind  us  of  Ex.  x.  21  sq.,  while  still  it  is  ex- 
pressly thought  of  in  connection  with  Pharaoh's 
extinction,  who  in  his  glory  must  not  be  con- 
templated merely  as  a  bright  shining  light 
(Hengst.),  but,  according  to  the  Egyptian  style 
of  thought,  as  the  light  of  the  world  for  his  sub- 
jects, beaming  forth  upon  the  land  and  imparting 
prosperity  and  blessing  (corap.  at  ch.  xxix.  6a, 
xxx.  17;  see  also  Duncker,  i.  p.  150).  It  is  un- 
necessary, therefore,  for  Hitzig  to  fall  back  upon 
Dereser,  who,  under  the  expression :  ' '  when  thou 
art  extinguished,"  makes  the  constellation  of  a 
dragon  follow  here  upon  the  image  of  a  sea- 
dragon,  as  then  the  zodiac  might  be  of  Egyptian 
origin.  Keil  regards  Ezekiel  as  leaning  upon  Isa. 
xiv.  12;  but  the  discourse  is  not  at  all  of  Pharaoh 
M  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  (Debeser),  but 


with  his  extinction  the  heaven  (the  heaven, 
namely,  of  Egypt),  the  higher,  the  governing 
supremacy  and  glory,  one  may  say,  is  veiled, 
which  in  what  follows  is  more  nearly  defined 
and  expressed.  Comp.  ch.  xxxi.  15.  The  heaven 
comes  into  consideration  as  to  its  stars,  and  as 
such  are  specified  (in  place  of  all)  sun  and  moon, 
whicli,  again,  appear  in  ver.  8  as  Q'-iiNO, — the  sun, 

with  nD3  pointing  back  to  'n'Qa  ;  the  moon,  with 

negative  reproduction  of  the  'nTIpH-     That  with 

what  is  said,  mourning,  condolence  should  he  ex- 
pressed (as  at  ch.  xxxi.  15),  does  not  lie  in  the 
words  ;  and  just  on  that  account  vers.  9,  10  do 
not  give,  as  Hitzig  would  have  it,  the  import  of 
the  figurative  speech  here  in  vers.  7,  8.  Finally, 
neither  kingdoms,  nor  peoples,  nor  individual  men 
of  distinction  are  indicated  by  the  stars. — Ver.  8. 

Gen.  i.  14, — Tji^j;,  agreeably  to  ver.  7  (Tini33a)  : 

on  account  of  thee,  or  as  upon  thy  land. — All 
the  luminaries  resume  the  "stars"  in  ver.  7; 
DTlpS  repeats  'riTlpn  there,  and  the  darkness. 

sq. ,  combines  what  is  said  of  sun  and  moon  to- 
gether in  the  effect.  Through  "thy  laud"  light 
falls  upon  the  "laud  of  thy  overflowing,  "in  ver.  6. 
Ver.  9.  The  vexing  of  the  heart  is  to  be  under- 
stood according  to  ver.  1 0.  Sorrow ;  not  sympathy, 
but,  in  consideration  of  themselves,  and  of  that 
which  might  still  also  be  done  to  them,  grief.  It  is 
not  hard  words  only  which  vex  us,  but  there  are  also 
hard  fates  which  cause  us  vexation,  especially  the 
more  we  would  live  and  would  let  live.      132' 

(and  with  Segol  twice),  probably :  the  report  (but 
not  necessarily  to  be  read,  as  Ewald,  with  an 
Aramaic  signification,  "]"I3{;')  of  the  destruction  ; 
that  such  a  world-power  was  broken  could  not 
hut  cause  many  heart-breakings  in  the  world. 
The  addition :  which  thou  knowest  not,  however, 
points  to  more  than  simple  knowledge,  namely, 
to  persons  who  become  acquainted  with  that  of 
which  they  had  hitherto  been  entirely  ignorant, 
regions  utterly  unknown  to  them.  (Targum  of 
Jonathan :  those  broken  through  the  war  ;  Hiv. , 
with  a  reference  to  the  Sept. :  the  prisoners,  who, 
as  ruins  of  the  old  glory  of  Egypt,  are  them- 
selves the  heralds  of  the  misfortune  among  the 
nations.)  Comp.  ch.  xxx.  9.— Ver.  10.  See  ch. 
xxvii.   35,   xxviii.    19. — nj;E',    so   that  the  hair 

stands  on  end. — P|Biy,  Pilel  from  fpy,  to  make 

to  fly.  The  sword,  while  they  see  how  it  flies  to 
and  fro  over  Pharaoh,  is  swung  before  their  face, 
that  they  may  vnth  shuddering  take  a  warning 

from  it  to  themselves. — On  D'WI^  flim,  comp. 

ch.  xxvi.  16. — Ch.  xxxi.  16. 

Ver.  11.  Since  Jehovah  s  sword  which  is  brand- 
ished is  that  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  the  coming 
of  this  king  can  now  be  fitly  spoken  of.     ?lt<i3n 

for  fl^  tsian.     Comp.  also.  ch.  xxx.  10.     There 

.  T 

is  a  similar  break  in  the  discourse. — Ver.  12. 
Comp.  on  ch.  xxxi.  2,  12,  xxviii.  7. — D?3,  in 
their  collective  character  ;  'V^IJ?,  from  jny,  .pro- 
perly: spreading  terror.  —On  '[iKJTItJ  Hitzig 
remarks  :    "  not  that  of  which  Egypt  is  proud 


CHAP.  XXXII.  13-18 


291 


b<it  what  is  proud  in  Egj-pt,  what  raises  itself  up, 
pushes  into  the  height."  Comp.  ch.  xxx.  6,  18. 
— Ver.  13.  The  «-xtirjiation  of  tlie  beasts  is  ex- 
pla'ned  by  Schmieder  hguratively  of  the  potentates 
of  Egj'pt,  beside  the  crocodile  Pharaoh,  who  stir 
up  the  population.  As  to  the  reality,  Hitzig 
thinks  of  the  grassy  banks  of  the  Nile,  whither 
large  herds  of  cattle  were  driven  to  get  drink  and 
to  pasture  (Gen.  xlvii.  6,  xli.  2  sq. ;  Ex.  ix.  3). 
Kosenni.  brings  also  to  remembrance  the  Egyptian 
horse  -  training.  The  beasts,  however,  appear 
rather  as  embellishment,  for  the  Nile  with  its 
waters  forms  the  chief  feature,  as  it  also  had  led 
the  inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Egypt  at  an  early 
period  from  shepherd  life  to  agriculture,  and  had 
consequently  given  rise  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
countr}'.  The  desolation  of  the  greatness  and 
glory  of  Egypt,  the  annihilation  of  all  its  tumult 
(ver.  12),  is  represented  by  the  extirpation  of 
the  beasts  ;  in  which  the  not  unintentionally  re- 
peated nn^'in  X^,  in  the  transition  to  the  D<D 
D'31.  points  back  with  a  certain  irony  to  "H^ni 

'D'D  in  ^^r.  2,  while  such  a  ruinous  result  for 
the  land  through  the  punishment  of  Pharaoh  is 
rendered  still  more  remarkable.  The  not  any 
more  does  not  import  that  it  should  no  more  at 
all  happen,  but  only  in  comparison  with  the 
earlier — no  more  in  such  a  sense,  that  the  earlier 
ascendency  of  power  should  again  have  place. 
Foreign  dominion,  inflicting  mischief,  causing  man 
and  beast  to  disappear  {ver.  12),  should  bring  to 
a  stand  the  native  pernicious  rule  of  Pharaoh. 
[According  to  the  interpretation  of  others,  it  is  to 
be  understood  with  respect  to  other  nations — as 
Hen  GST. :  "in  part  also  of  the  seductive  glitter  of 
Egypt" — of  the  ambitious  military  expeditions  of 
Pharaoh  (Coco.,  Gkotius),  orgenerally  of  the  push- 
ing character  of  Egj-jitas  a  worldly  power  (Keil).] 
ver.  14.  jx.  when  this  takes  place.  What 
follows  is  explained  by  Hitzig  to  mean,  that  the 
Nile's  fulness  of  water,  which  hitherto  had  over- 
flowed the  land  and  made  it  fruitful,  should  no 
longer  have  any  aim  (ch.  xxx.  12) ;  Kliefoth  : 
that  God  Himself  would  change  the  nature  of 
these  streams.  But  this  would  imply  too  much, 
while  the  words — though  not  to  be  understood  as 
Haverniek  thinks,  who  applies  ver.  13  improperly 
to  troubling  through  hostile  armies — would  still 
express  nothing  more  than  the  reference  back  to 
ver.  2  already  indicated  in  ver.  13  ;  namely  thus; 
that  instead  of  "the  breaking  forth  in  thy 
streams "  there,  now  a  depression  takes  place, 
their  waters  sink,  that  is,  those  waters  which  in 
the  former  state  of  prosperity  man  and  beast 
troubled,  but  which  in  particular  Pharaoh's 
haughtiness  rendered  turbid;  i.e.,  the  well-being 
of  Egypt,  as  this  is  represented  by  its  Nile,  is 
now  gone,  and  shall  no  longer  give  occasion  for 
abuse.  'The  position  of  Egypt  as  to  power  must 
nenccforth  be  of  another  description,      an^injl 

(ver.  2),  "  their, "  of  the  "  waters, "  which  through 
Pharaoh  go  in  a  confused  manner — |DtS'3i  Hitzig  : 

flowing  softly  and  slowly,  keeping  within  the 
prescribed  path.  The  latter  does  not  lie  in  the 
comparison,  after  the  manner  of  oil ;  and  that 
they  do  not  as  hitherto  rush  forth  in  impetuous 
volumes  of  water  is  not  the  contrast;  although 
the  citation  in  Hitzig  from  Isa.  viii.  6  corresponds, 
for,  as  with  Asshor  there,  so  was  the  case  here 


with  Pharaoh.  Hengst.  rightly :  that  \he  com- 
parison with  oil  has  respect  to  the  fi'tjt  flowing. 
Comp.  ch.  xxix.  14.  There  needs  only  the  sen- 
tence of  the  Lord,  and  then  the  proud  waves  sub- 
side, and  that  which  fancies  it  elf  so  high  becomes 
low.  (Now,  inasmuch  as  such  a  state  can  be 
taken  as  a  contrast  to  the  ruin  of  ver.  13,  some 
modern  expositors,  after  the  example  of  earliei 
ones,  have  found  a  promise  here  in  relation  to 
other  peoples ;  Takgvm,  Giiotius  :  that  they 
should  be  left  in  peace  :  HXv.,  Keil  :  that  for 
Egj-jit  a  rime  of  diWne  blessing  shall  follow,  the 
Nile  shall  flow  with  oil;  Ewald  even:  "then 
first  might  .the  Messianic  times  come  also  upon 
Egypt,  where  the  waterfloods  should  no  longer  be 
desolating  and  troubled,  by  reason,  namely,  of  the 
true  knowledge  to  which  the  chastisement  con- 
ducts.")— Ver.  15.  Here  is  combined  together, 
through  a  double  parallel,  2,  the  divine  judg- 
ment and  its  result, — the  giving  up  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  to  desolation,  and  the  realization  of  what 
this  implied  instead  of  its  former  fulness  (ch.  xii. 
19). — Rosenm.,  Hengst.,  translate  nOB'Jl :  "  ^nd 

the  land  wasted."  It  might  also  mean  :  when  I 
give,  etc.,  then  the  land  is  wasted. — The  killing 
of  all  the  inhabitants,  and  the  knowing  of  Jeho- 
vah. According  to  Hitzig,  '013^13  must  be  sub- 
ordinated to  the  declaration. — Ver.  16.  Comp. 
ch.  xix.  14.  The  lamentation  (ver.  2)  comes 
here  to  a  close.  Its  female  singers,  as  this  was 
laid  upon  women  (Jer.  ix.  16  [17]),  will  be  the 
heathen  nations  themselves  represented  as  such 
^daughters),  or  the  mourning  women  of  those 
nations  mentioned  in  ver.  9.  So  certain  is  the 
matter. 

Vers.  17-32.  Dirge  upon  Egypt. 

Ver.  17.  The  indication  of  the  month  is  want- 
ing here  ;  according  to  Hitzig  and  others,  from 
oversight.  Comp.  on  ch.  xxvi.  1.  Hengst.  and 
many  derive  it  from  ver.  1,  therefore  the  twelfth 
month,  so  that  what  here  follows  falls  only  four- 
teen days  later.  It  is  the  last  word  upon  Egypt, 
save  one  after  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  for  ch. 
xxix.  17  sq.  is  absolutely  the  last ;  consequently 
a  conclusion  with  respect  to  Egypt,  and  indeed 
in  the  manner  of  a  d'outre  tombe. — Ver.  18.  Here 
we   have   a   »n3,    distinguished   from   the     nj'p 

going  before,  in  particular,  through  its  character 
("gloomy,  sorrowful  grave-song,"  Ewald),  and 
its  six  windings,  its  strophe  -  form. — What  is 
meant  by  the  tumult  has  been  already  said  in 
vers.  15,  16  :  it  is  those  who  dwelt  in  Egypt,  and 
are  now  slain.  Besides,  in  what  follows  there  is 
a  leaning  on  ch.  xxxi.  16  sq. — To  wail  over  any 
one  after  the  manner  of  our  section  is  as  much  as 
to  throw  him  down  with  the  word.  By  such  a 
juxtaposition,  also,  we  prevent  a  false  explanation 
of  the  nnj,  coiifounding  the  prophet  with  hired 

howling  women,  after  the  manner  of  Egyptian 
funerals,  when  as  such  even  the  daughters  O' 
mighty  nations  should  figure.  (Ewald  :  while 
the  same  are  let  down  ;  as  a  grave-song,  therefore, 
at  the  interment.  Hiv. :  identity  of  the  divine 
will  with  the  prophetic  announcement.) — The 
fem.  nniX   does  not  resume  again  the  .  egulai 

masc.  rton,  nor  is  it  shown  from  the  question  ir 


^92 


tZEKlEL. 


ver.  19  that  we  are  to  take  it  as  pinS  (HrrziG, 

Swald)  ;  but  it  is  very  simple,  grammatically 
correct,  ami  logical, — an  impressive  ranking  of 
Egypt,  as  a  land,  beside  the  daughters,  etc. 
What  Hitzig  says  to  the  contrary  is  not  worthy 
of  consideration.  Egypt,  as  the  party  referred  to, 
is  the  more  natural,  as  it  alsT  was  what  in  the 
preceding  context  determined  the  pori- — The 
daughters  of  the  glorious  heathen  peoples  must, 
according  to  Dereser,  Ewald,  Hitzig,  be  those 
meant  in  ver.  16 — a  view  that  will  scarcely  com- 
mend itself ;  according  to  Rosenm. :  the  popula- 
tions subject  to  the  Egyptians,  or  in  league  with 
them — of  whom  there  has  been  no  discourse  here ; 
according  to  most :  those  specified  in  ver.  22  sq. 
If  these  last  are  already  in  Sheol,  as  in  reaUty  is 
the  ease,  then  is  '711331  to  be  understood  as  if  it 

stood  thus  :  like  those,  etc. ,  who  have  gone  down 
conformably  to  the  prophetic  word.  The  process 
must  in  no  way,  as  Hengst.  expresses  himself,  be 
repeated  anew  ;  for,  according  to  ver.  21  sq.,  the 
parties  concerned  speak  out  of  hell  to  the  Egyp- 
tians, therefore  are  not  sent  down  with  these  "as 
it  were  a  second  time."  The  representation  on 
occasion  of  the  throwing  down,  which  plainly  has 
respect  to  Egypt,  includes  those  already  thrown 
down  ("the  daughters,"  etc.)  in  order  to  render 
the  certainty  of  the  fate  of  Egypt  the  more  indu- 
bitable by  patent  facts,  with  which  also  the  im- 
mediately following  question  in  ver.  19  accords. 
The  designation  of  the  peoples  as  daughters  is  the 
more  appropriate,  as  adornment  and  attractive- 
n.;ss,  splendour  and  grace,  would  shine  forth  in 
them.  For  the  rest,  comp.  at  ch.  xxvi.  20,  xxxi.  1 4. 
Ver.   19.    The  question  with  which  our  dirge 

begins — to  supply  ibN^  or  nnj  is  superfluous, 

the  address  is  more  energetic  without  such  an 
addition— is  spoken  either  to  the  tumult  of  Egypt 
(ver.  18),  or  to  Pharaoh  and  all  his  tumult  (ver. 
32).  The  DJJ3,  "to  be  lovely,"  is  indeed  con- 
ceded, but  it  is  held  from  the  first  to  be  a  vain 
conceit  that  it  was  beyond  any  other,  namely, 
the  glorious  heathen  peoples,  more  lovely,  there- 
fore, than  one  of  them.  Ewald  translates  :  "be- 
fore whom  wert  thou  more  prosperous  ? "  Which 
would  not  be  so  suitable  as  his  allusion  to  the 
meaning  of  "  uncircumclsed  "  for  Egyptians,  and 
even  also  for  Tyrians  (ch.  xxxi.  18,  xxviii.  10). 
(Hitzig  declares  himself  in  favour  of  the  Sept.  on 
the  weakest  grounds.) — Hence,  as  they,  so  also 
thou,  "go  down" — in  which  remembrance  is 
made  of  the  "cast  down"  of  the  prophet  in  ver. 
18,  as  also  of  those  "going  down"  with  whom 
Egypt  must  go  down.  I5esides,  comp.  ch.  xxviii. 
10,  xxxi.  18.— Ver.  20.  Of  the  sword  it  was 
already  spoken,  ver.  11.  They  who  should  fall 
are  the  Egyptians,  Pharaoh  and  his  tumult. 
Targum  Jon.  takes  nonj  as  nniX  of  Egypt,  but 

understands  that  it  is  given  up  to  the  sword. — 
1365'D,  either  3  pret.  or  imperat.  for^3[;'l3'     Of 

:    T  :    ■ 

whom  it  speaks  or  to  whom  it  is  addressed  is 
clear  from    RJ  3in  ;   they  are  those  to  whom  the 

sword  is  already  given.  And  since  they  must 
fall,  must  fall  in  the  midst  of  the  pierced  through, 
the  seizing  and  dragging  away  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  of  evil-doers  to  the  judgment-seat ;  but 
u  the  death-blow  is  to  be  considered,  and  if  there 


is  a  carrying  out  of  the  falling  among  the  pierced 
through,  still,  there  remains  as  that  to  which 
they  are  to  be  dragged,  indirectly  as  well  as 
directly,  if  not  precisely,  Sheol,  at  least  the  grave. 
— Ver.  21.  To  the  question  above  correspond* 
the  speaking  below.  What  they  speak  is  not 
said,  and  confessedly  with  -)2T  does  not  need  U 

be  said.  If  )?  is  "to  him,"  as  Heng.st.  thinks, 
then  the  speaking  is  as  much  as  -.  they  greet  bin: 
(Hiiv.,  with  malignant  welcome)  as  a  colleagut 
(comp.  Isa.  xiv.  10,  11) ;  and  "liis  helpers  "  is  to  be 
viewed  as  connected  with  "to  him" — togethei 
with  his  helpers.  Rosenm.  connects  "his  helpers' 
with  "the  strong  of  the  heroes,"  so  that  also  his 

helpers  address  him.  If  ip  is  to  be  translated 
"of  him,"  then  the  discourse  takes  place  witli 
the  helpers,  who,  besides,  are  the  parties  that 
remained  to  the  last  with  him — ch.  xxx.  8,  5  sq. 

—  D"i-li3J  i^X— co™P-  ch.  xxxi.  11 — which  Gesen. 

renders:  "the  strongest  of  the  heroes."  Ewald 
calls  to  remembrance  in  how  high  consideration 
a  quiet  natui-al  death  stood,  with  a  correspond- 
ingly quiet  burial,  accompanied  by  the  proper 
solemnities. — The  words  :  "they  go  down,"  etc., 
might  serve  less  as  a  closer  description  of  the 
strong  heroes  (Hengst.),  than  as  a  ground  for 
their  being  in  the  midst  of  Sheol.  But  if  they 
are  taken  as  the  address  of  the  strong  heroes,  for 
which  also  the  tone  of  the  words  speaks,  treating 
scornfully  the  Egyptians  like  other  heathens, 
then  "the  uncircumcised "  must  be  applied  to 
the  Egyptians ;  and  it  will  hence  be  understood 
that  they  fall  in  the  midst  of  the  uncircumcised 
(their  helpers),  appear  like  these.  By  ver.  19 
we  are  not  obliged  to  take  the  speakers  from  hell 
as  the  uncircumcised.  In  Ver.  22  follows  their 
mention  by  name.  Asshur,  primarily  on  account 
of  the  comparison  in  ch.  xxxi.,  but  especially  on 
account  of  its  so  great,  still  recent  experience, 
which  also  gave  occasion  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Chaldean  ascendency,  ever  in  Ezekiel  appearing 
as  the  foil  of  the  other,  and,  finally,  on  this 
more  general  account,  from  its  importance  as 
compared  with  the  other  nations  to  be  named, 
opens  the  dark  muster-roll. — In  respect  to  gender, 
the  kingdom,  which  is  feminine,  interchanges  with 
the  ki7ig,  masculine,  because  in  point  of  fact  the 
one  runs  into  the  other. — The' ruler,  or  his  grave, 
is  surrounded  by  the  graves  which  might  be 
called  his,  because  they  are  those  of  members  of 

his  people ;  or  VDiap  refers  to  imp.      This  wUl 

import :  Asshur  is  only  a  field  of  graves,  and 
thereby  indicate  that  the  sword  which  threatens 
Egypt  has  already  fallen  upon  it.— Ver.  23.  In 
order,  however,  to  bridge  still  more  completely 
the  contrast  between  this  hereafter  and  the  pre- 
ceding/lere,  the  graves  of  Asshur  (IK'S,  perhaps  a 

play  upon  lie's  ;  anyhow,  not :  becavse)  are  still 

more  particularly  characterized.     O'DSI'i  ^"^1, 

the  two  divergent  sides,  therefore  the  extreme 
part,  here  by  means  of  1^3  determined  to  be  the 
innermost — the  point,  namely,  to  which  the  pit 
turns  off"  with  its  two  walls.  (Gesen.j  the 
hindermost,  farthest.)  As  much  as:  buried  in 
the  deepest  place. — The  graves  are  in  Sheol;  the 
latter,  therefore,  comprehensive  of   the  forme?. 


CHAP.  XXXII.  24-28. 


291 


The  distinction  is  a  fluctuating  one.  — Again  Tj'X, 

certainly  a  play  of  vTords. —  ^^r^i,  antithesis  to 

UDJ,  for  that  which  was  given   to  them,    that 

which  they  preriously  had  given  !  The  land  of 
the  living,  as  at  ch.  xxvi.  20,  contrast  to  their 
deepest  graves.  — Ver.  2i.  Elam  appears  in  the 
earliest  timt'S  among  the  inhabited  countries 
lying  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Tigris,  to  the  east 
of  Babylonia — a  Semitic  people,  nearly  related  to 
the  Assyrians.  On  this  account  alone  it  might 
here  be  made  to  follow  immediately  after  Asshur  ; 
comp.  Gen.  x.  22,  xiv.  1  sq.  From  the  com- 
mencement warlike,  ambitious  of  conquest,  the 
Elamites  coutinued  to  the  last  true  to  this  character. 
Strabo  makes  mention  of  their  expeditions 
against  Susiana  and  Babylonia.  Originally 
settled  in  the  valleys  between  the  Zagrus  range 
and  the  mountains  which  bound  the  Assyrian 
plains  on  the  east,  they  are  mentioned  along  with 
other  marauding  tribes.  The  Assyrians  subdued 
Elam,  so  that  its  dreaded  bowmen  (Jer.  xlix. 
35)  figure  in  the  Assyrian  army  (Isa.  xxii.  6). 
This  explains  Elam's  position  immediately  after 
Asshur.  And  agreeably  to  such  a  relation  to 
Asshur,  the  utterance  concerning  Elam  is  almost 
entirely  similar. — The  designation  "their  terror" 
makes  it  more  expressive  -.  the  terror  bf  fore  them. 
With  such  a  past  their  future  laden  with  shame 
contrasts  quite  as  expressively,  just  as  the 
description  :  "those  that  go  down  to  the  pit," 
stands  related  to :  "in  the  laud  of  the  depths.  ' — 
Ver.  25.  The  "  couch  in  the  midst  of  the  pierced- 
through  "  is  an  ignominious  one,  because  imply- 
ing their  conquest,  their  full  by  the  sword.  And 
after  all  the  tumult  this  idle  li/iiig  now ! — ijnj, 

the  subject  undetermined  ;  or  if  any  one  is  to  be 
thought  of,  then  A.sshur  lies  not  less  near  than 
Nebuchadnezzar,  by  whom  Hengst.  maintains 
that  Elam  was  vanquished  (comp.  at  ch.  \-iii.  16, 

XXX.  5).  —  'p33,  in  company  with. — Round  about 

the   king  (him)  the  graves   of  Elam   (n  as    in 

n?  previously). — For,  \vild  lovers  of  the  sword,  a 

terror  to  the  living,  their  end  consequently  be- 
comes associated  with  terror,  their  state  in  death 
takes  the  form  of  like  to  like. — mj  against  |ru. 

Elam  himself  now,  not ;  his  couch.  He  is  laid 
by  the  sword  with  the  dead,  while  formerly  the 
terror  before  him  and  his  would  not  be  allayed 
among  the  living. 

Ver.  26.  For  similar  reasons,  probably,  as  in 
the  case  o!  Elam,  the  Moschi  and  Tibareni  now 
follow — comp.  at  ch.  xxvii.  13 — linked  as  by  a 
hyphen  into  one  power.  According  to  Hitzig, 
these  represent  the  Scythians,  whose  numbers 
had  recently  been  much  reduced.  Ewald  takes 
the  Chaldeans  to  be  meant  by  the  Scythians  (!) ; 
Keil,  here  as  in  ch.  xxxviii.,  understands  by  them 
a  northern  power,  that  should  succumb,  and  here 
prophetically  represented  as  having  already  suc- 
cumbed.— Tlie  description  as  formerly,  only 
'!|3nj"'3    instead    of   previously    'tn3"'3,    which 

Hitzig  refers  to  God.  The  ground  of  procedure 
here  turns  more  expressly  on  the  guilt  of  the 
parties. — Ver.  27.  Corresponding  to  such  a  presen- 
tation of  the  matter  is  'k7|,  which  by  many  ex- 


positors is  taken  for  a  question  indicated  ms'-elv 
by  tlie  tone,  as  often  in  lively  discourse:  "and 
should  they  not,"  etc.;  that  is,  they  especially 
could  expect  no  better  fate,  among  whom  the 
significant  custom  prevailed  of  burying  theii 
fallen  warriors  with  theii-  slaughter-weapons,  so 
that  guilt  and  punishment  are  still  combined 
together  in  the  gi-ave  !  (Hengst.  :  to  the  dead  is 
ascribed  what  took  place  by  their  order,  since 
they.  Like  the  race  of  Cain,  placed  therein  their 
honour,  saw  in  the  murder  of  their  brother  a 
piece  of  bravery. )  Others  take  it  ditferently,  as 
indicating  that  they  were  not  to  participate  in 
the  honour  of  resting  with  those  for  whom,  be- 
cause they  had  fallen  gloriously,  their  armour 
was  deposited  in  the  grave.  With  the  interroga- 
tory mode  of  explanation  the  affirmative  rendering 
of  the  Sept.  seems  to  agree ;  but  the  otlier  mode  has 
this  decidedly  in  its  favour,  that  manifestly  there 
is  meant  to  be  expressed,  only  in  a  different  way, 
what  was  expressed  in  ver.  23  respecting  Asshur 
by  the  humiliating  words:  "whose  graves  were 
given  in  the  innermost  of  the  pit,"  and  in  vers. 
24,  25  regarding  Elam,  through  the  repeated : 
"  and  they  bear  their  shame  " — namely,  that  they 
are  the  conquered,  pierced  through  bj-  the  sword, 
ignominiously  fallen  under  the  victor's  hand,  as 
was  always  again  declared.  With  this  agrees  the 
mention  of  the  heroes  (comp.  vers.  12,  21),  in 
particular  the  latter  passage,  where  these  in  a 
manner  boast  tliemselves  over  the  Egyptians. 
The  meaning  therefore  is :  that  their  hereafter  is 
not  that  of  heroes,  though  these  also  have  fallen 
from  among  the  uncircumcised,  and  hence  were 
likewise  guilty. — '^gix,  therefore  not  the  Moschi 

and  Tibareni,   as  Hengst.   thinks,    "they  who," 

etc.,  but  a  description  of  the  " heroes. "— 'P33, 

in  their  weapons  of  war,  in  armour  of  defence 
and  offence,  that  is,  as  conquerors  of  whom  one 
can  win  no  triumph,  such  as  is  done  by  those 
who  carry  forth  in  triumph  the  equipments  of 
the  vanquished. — And  they  gave,  etc.,  as  much 
as:  "and  men  gave"  ;  the  survivors  honoured 
their  heroes  after  such  a  manner. — And  their 
iniqmties  were,  etc.,  is  undoubtedly  a  continua- 
tion of  the  immediately  preceding  context,  since 
to  the  marks  of  honour  and  judgment  given  on 
the  part  of  men,  there  is  very  fitly  added  the 
judgment  of  God, — that  "their  iniquities  were 
upon  their  bones,"  or  "came  upon  their  bones," 
though  their  swords  were  no  longer  on  but  under 
them,  as  also  is  presently  said.  To  suppose, 
with  Keil,  that  there  is  here  a  continuation  tc 
133!^  will  scarcely  do,  as  they  were  not  to  lie 

down  with  the  heroes,  nor  could  they  be  named 
" terror  of  heroes. "  Hengst.  translates:  "heroes 
of  terror."  Ewald,  with  a  threatening  reference 
to  the  Chaldeans  :  "because  the  teiTor  of  tyrants 
reigns  in  the  land,"  etc.  (?).  Hav.  makes  Gen. 
vi.  4,  X.  9  sq.  swim  before  the  eyes  of  tlie  pro- 
phet. Hitzig  accepts  simplicUer  the  ti-anslation 
of  the  Sept.  But  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  ques- 
tion whether  Ezekiel  did  not  think  of  the  mode 
of  burial  among  the  Scythian  princes,  wliich  has 
been  similarly  described  by  Herodotus. 

Ver.  28.  An  address  to  Egypt  (HiTZiG:  the 
tumult  of  Egypt) ;  but  certainly  without  an  )in- 
derlying  word  of  threatening  to  the  Chaldean 
king,  as  Ewald    opposes.      (Hengst.:    "thoa 


294 


EZEKIEL. 


art  broken  and    liest   down,"  etc. )  — nDU'ri    'or 

lat^n- — Ver.  29.   niSB'  either  =  Du',  as  a  sort  of 

variation,  or  "thitlier,"  which  Hav.  takes  pro- 
jihetioally  ("in  like  manner  belong")  of  such  as 
it  stands  before.  Hengst.  on  the  other  hand,  as 
he  makes  Mesliech  and  Tubal  to  have  been  pro- 
bably conquered  with  the  Assyrians,  supposes 
that  the  Chaldean  storm  had  swept  over  Kdom 
immediately  after  the  downfall  of  Judah,^  cer- 
tainly as  to  the  beginning  only. — The  kings, 
who  were  elective,  are  distinguished  from  all 
his  princes  (comp.  Gen.  xxxvi.  15  sq.,  40 
sq.,  31  sq. ),  the  tribal  heads  or  chiefs  of  the 
greater  race-stems,  who  according  to  Keil  probably 
chose  the  kings. — Dn"l13|l3,  "corjioreal strength," 

"bravery;"  very  suitable  where  "heroes"  had 
just  been  spoken  of.  We  might  undei'stand  ;  in 
proof  and  trial  of  the  same,  or ;  notwithstanding 
it.  Hitzig  points  to  the  olden  time  (Num.  xx. 
14  sq.  ;  Gen.  xxxvi.  35),  and  the  wars  with 
David. — Ver.  30.  T\''Oi,  'lom  ^03,  to  rour  out, 
scarcely  to  be  understood  as  =  anoint,  hence  : 
"anointed,"  as  nV'Di  l^"*.  according  to  a  de- 
rived signification ;  to  inaugurate,  or  to  place 
forth,  the  former  in  the  sacrificial  libation 
(drink-oH'ering),  the  latter  through  a  casting  ol 
metal. — The  princes  of  the  north,  who  are  con- 
joined with  'jlV'^a.    a  collective  singular,   are 

there!*,',  according  to  Havernick,  more  exactly 
detiued  as  the  many  rulers  of  the  biblical  Aram 
I  Damascenes,  Syrians).  In  Jer.  xxv.  26  we 
have  :  "all  the  kings  of  the  north,  neai-  and  afar 
Dtf."  Comp.  ch.  xxviii.  20  sq.  The  Zidoniaus, 
therefore,  may  have  already  fallen.  Tyre  is  not 
aientioued,  so  (Hengst.  thinks)  it  still  stood, 
although  the  siege  had  commenced.  The  men- 
tion of  the  Zidoniaus  appears  obviously  designed 
to  suggest  that  by  "the  north"  is  meant  not 
the  high  far  north,  but  that  in  relation  to  Pales- 
tine, therefore  distinguishing  them  from  lleshech 
and  Tubal,  formerly  noticed.  Peiiiaps  also  the 
significant  number  of  seven  must  be  made  out  for 
the  peoples. — In  their  terror,  etc.,  merely  as 
nmch  as,  notwithstanding  the  terror  before  them, 
which  their  strength  produced.  —  D'C'IBi  ^o  that 

they  bear  their  shame  (vers.  24,  25). — Ver.  31. 
There  is  now  the  express  application  to  Pharaoh. 

Hitzig  gives   py  onjl :    "and  will  make  himself 

be  sorry  for  all  his  host,"  namely,  that  those  in 

vers.  27-30  still  have  on  their  clothing  and 
equipment,  as  contiasted  with  those  who  had 
gone  down  with  himself  naked!!  Hkngst.  : 
"he  sighs."  It  is  here  the  case  of  ch.  xxxi.  16. 
Hav.  thinks  it  is  spoken  ironically. — Ver.  32. 
The  reason  assigned  has  respect  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  military  force  of  Pharaoh,  in  so  far  as  he 
oould  inspire  terror  only  after  God's  will.  He 
was  not  by  reason  of  his  own  power  an  object  of 
dread  for  a  time  on  earth,  but  through  the  opera- 
tion of  God's  providence,  which  made  use  of  him 
as  its  instrument.  In  conclusion  Kliefoth  re- 
marks very  well:  "People  are  wont  to  visit  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt  or  its  catacombs  for  the  pur- 
Dose  merely  of  seeing  that  the  gloi-y  of  the 
t'haraohs  is  one  that  hiis  its  abode  in  Shcol ; 
even  tc  the  new  Ptolemaic  Egypt,  the  old  Egyp- 


tian existence  was  a  complete  riddle,  a  thing  for 
gotten  and  incapable  of  being  understood." 

DOCTRINAL  llEFLECTIONS. 

1.  Although  the  prophecy  in  eh.   xxix.  is  of 

a  general  character,  yet  by  the  reference  to 
Nebuchadnezzar,  and  esjiecially  from  ver.  17  on- 
wards, it  gets  a  more  specific  character.  We 
have  therefore  to  hold  by  a  fulfilment  through 
the  Chaldeans,  and,  indeed,  in  connection  with 
what  is  said  respecting  Tyre.  Apart  from  the 
circumstance  that  we  have  here  to  do  with  a 
prophet  of  God,  we  could  not  judge  otherwise 
simply  on  this  account,  that  a  little  reflection 
upon  the  inevitable  disgrace  of  such  a  self-decep- 
tion as  would  have  been  the  case  in  respect  to 
Tyre  nmst  alone  have  kept  Ezekiel — instead  of 
merely  suppressing  the  prophecy  in  question 
while  the  book  was  still  in  his  own  hand—  from 
wishing  now  to  compensate  for  the  mistake  by 
awakening  like  inconsiderate  and  rash  expecta- 
tions concerning  Nebuchadnezzar  in  regard  to 
Egypt.  For  one  to  whom  the  prophet  is  nothing 
but  a  writer  nmst  still  at  least  credit  him  with 
this  much  of  worldly  prudence  in  respect  to  his 
literary  honour.  And  if  Ezekiel  nmst  needs  pro- 
phesy ex  evfiilu  (as  Hitzig,  for  example,  conceives), 
then  jirophecies  like  those  contained  in  ch.  xxvi. 
and  some  following  ones  are  purely  unthinkable, 
so  far  as  they  remained  unfulfilled  ;  since  it  can 
not  but  be  supjiosed,  that  when  our  prophet 
closed  his  book,  matters  must  have  stood  before 
him  widely  different  from  what  they  are  presented 
in  his  projihecy.  The  "ilogmatic criticism, "how- 
ever, cannot  once  admit  now  that  a  proi)hecy  has 
been  fulfilled, — a  limitation  of  the  standpoint 
which  is  not  improved  by  the  circumstance  that 
the  ti-uth  of  the  divine  word  (2  Pet.  i.  21)  is 
made  dependent  on  the  statements  or  the  silence 
of  profane  writers,  and  even  of  such  as  have 
given  notoriously  imperfect  reports.  The  false 
prophet,  he  whose  word  did  not  come  to  pass,  has 
by  God's  word  (Deut.  xviii.  22)  been  as  clearly  as 
possible  excluded  from  the  cauon. 

2.  The  reward  for  woik,  which,  as  Hitzig 
rightly  enough  says,  had  still  to  be  given  to 
Nebuchadnezzar,  raises  no  question  as  to  the 
conquest  and,  as  could  ni>t  fail  to  hajipen  after  a 
thirteen  yeai-s'  siege,  the  destruction  of  Tyre.  If 
the  booty  might  have  beeu  thought  of  for  the 
army,  for  Nebuchadnezzar  it  is  necessary  to  think 
of  Egypt.  Tlie  song  of  triumph  demanded  by 
Hitzig  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  projiheey  against 
Tyre  is  the  double  lamentation  wliich  we  find  in 
ch.  xxvii.  and  xxviii.  Every  one  has  his  peculiar 
manner.  But  as  regards  the  so-called  "historical 
witnesses,"  who  should  speak  the  decisive  word 
on  the  fulfilment  or  non-fulfilment  particularly  of 
the  propliKcy  of  Ezekiel  in  respect  to  Egypt, 
they  are  "the  Greek  historians,  at  the  head  of 
whom  stands  Herodotus,  and  they  know  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  a  Chaldean  invasion  of  Egj'|)t — 
nay,  their  narration  is  opposed  to  anything  of 
the  kind"  (Hrrzio).  This  is  imposing;  let  us 
reflect,  however,  that  Herodotus  had  also  learned 
nothing  from  his  Egyjitian  informants  of  the 
defeat  at  Carchemish.  We  need  only  mentiou 
farther,  that  this  Greek  historian  himself  re- 
proaches the  priests  of  Egypt,  and  precisely  iu 
regard  to  this  particular  time,  with  embellishing 
the  history  of  their  country.     Now,  accorJing  tc 


CHAP,  xxix.-xxxir. 


26S 


HeioJotus,  Pharaoh  Hojihra — id  consequence  of 
the   defeat  which   his  army  sustained  from  the 
Cyrenians,  against  whom  it  was  to  have  rendered 
help  to  the  Libyans,  and  of  the  revolt  which  in 
consequence  thereof,  and  of  the  foreign  mercenary 
troops  retained  in  Egypt,  broke  forth  on  the  part 
of   the    Egyptian  warrior-class   against   Amasis, 
wlio,    instead   of    bringing    back   the    rebels   to 
obedience,  sutlered  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king 
by  them — lost  freedom  and  his  throne,  and    by 
the  infuriated  people  was  even  murdered.     Tbo- 
luck,   who,    "if  the  cattle  with  the  ark  of  the 
Lord  should  once  turn  aside,  would  not  obsti- 
nately drive  forward,"  remarks  that  as  a  witness 
Herodotus  alone  comes  into  consideration  ;  before 
whom,  however,  the  testimony  of  Ezekiel,  him- 
self a  contemporary  of  the  events,  has  no  need  to 
be  abashed.        "  If   Herodotus    readily  received 
intelligence   of  the  prosperous  battle  "fought   by 
Necho  at  Megiddo,  but  none  respecting  the  much 
more  important  defeat  sustained  by  him  on  the 
Euphrates    from    the    Chaldeans,    should    it    be 
thought  strange   if   the  priests  observed  silence 
also  regarding   the   irruption   of   the   Chaldeans 
into  their  own  land  ?  yea,  if  the  miserable  end 
which  Hophra  suffered  through  the  foreign  con- 
queror should  have    been    rather  represented  by 
them  as  the  deed  of  his  own  people?  "     (So  also 
Kawliasoii's //froi/.  15.  ii.  appcn.  c.  8.)     With  a 
fair  appreciation  of  the  historical  representation 
of  Herodotus,  the  cause  there  assigned,  especially 
the  revolution  among  the  warrior-class  of  Egypt, 
might  suffice  for  the  overthrow  of  Hophra.     Yet 
the  hatred  of  the  Egyjitian  people,  not  only  ex- 
pressed in   Herodotus,  but  cuntirnied  by  monu- 
mental evidence  (Ro.ssellini  points  in  this  connec- 
tion to  a  by-name  of  Hophra  on  the  monuments : 
"  Remesto  ") — such  a  hatred    as  is  described  in 
Herodotus  toward   Hophra   (ii.    161-169),   mani- 
fested in  respect  to  a  native  ruler,  is  scarcely  to 
be  explained  from  what  is  stated,  if  it  did  not 
come  into  some  sort  of  connection  with  a  Chaldean 
invasion  of  Egypt,   whereby  the   hauglitiness  of 
Hophra  might  well  appear  all  the  more  hateful  to 
the  Egyptian  people,  as  the  misery  of  the  land 
and  the  inhaliitants,  occasioned  by  him,  stood  in 
sharpest  contrast  to  the  previous  prosperity  and 
splendour.     The  grudge  of  the  Egyptian  warrior- 
class  against  the  foreign  mercenaries  could  not  be 
of  such   moment  as  some  have  supposed,  since 
even    Amasis,  who   thereafter   held  possession   of 
the  throne  til!  his  death  (forty-four  years),  and  was 
succeeded  in  it  by  his  son,  took  lonians  for  his 
bodyguard,  and  generally  granted  to  the  Greeks 
still  gieater  favour  and  privileges  than  his  pre- 
decessor.     Besides,   as   generally  held,   there   is 
also  the  outline  of  the  |irophecy  against  Egypt  in 
eh.  xxix.,  which  exhibits  a  distinction  between 
ver.  6  sq.  and  ver.  4  sq. — in  the  one,  the  sword 
constitutes  the  figure  (ver.  8) ;  in  the  other,  over- 
throw with  reference  to  the  wilderness-.     Especi- 
ally if  Hitzig's  interpretation  of  "  the  fish  "  (ver. 
4)  as  denoting  Pharaoh's  men  of  war  is  accepted, 
and  under  "the  wilderness  "  there  is  couched  an 
allusion    to   Libya,   what    is  said  in  ver.    4  sq. 
might  be  explained  by  the  narration  which  is  re- 
produced by  Herodotus,  and   ver.    B   sq.    would, 
with  the  sword  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  be  such  a  sup- 
plementing as  tlie  con(juest  of  Tyre  to  the  siege 
af  that  city,  also  given  elsewhi-re.      Out  of  the 
miserable  condition  in  which  Hophra  [wrished, 
Amasis  would  then  have  raised  Egypt.     Anyhow, 


as  Tuoluck  brings  out,  the  death  of  Hoiihra  falls 
exactly  into  the  time  in  which  the  occHpation  ol 
Egypt  by  Nebuchadnezzar  must  have  occurred  ; 
and  thus  the  position  of  matters  approaches  to 
that  which  is  wont  to  be  extracted  from  Josephus 
in   confirmation  of  our  prophecy — cuntr.  Ap.  i. 
19.     It  is  there  stated  that  Berosus  reports  of  the 
Babylonian  (Nebuchadnezzar)  that  he  "conquered 
Egypt,  Syria,  Phoenicia, "  etc.     Again,  in  cli.  20, 
he   states   tliat   Megasthenes    placed   Nebuchad- 
nezzar above  Hercules,  since  he  had  subjected  to 
himself  a  great  part  of  Libya  and  Iberia  (comp. 
Anliq.  X.  11.  1,  audStraboxv.  1.  6;  see  also  Hav. 
Coiiim.  p.  435,  against  Hitzig's  remarks).    In  the 
10th  book  of  the  Antiq.  ch.   9.   7,  Josephus  ex- 
presses himself  to  this  etlect,  that  "  in  the  tifth 
year  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which 
was  the  twenty-third  of  the  reign  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, he  made  an  expedition  against  Coelesyria  ; 
and  when  he  had  got  possession  of  it,  he  made  war 
against  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites  ;  and  when 
he  had  biought  these  nations  into  subjection,  he 
fell  upon  Egypt  in  order  to  overthrow  it,  and  did 
indeed  slay  the  king  who  then  reigned,  but  set 
up  another;  after  which  he  took  those  Jews  tliat 
were  there  captive,  and  brought  them  to  Baby- 
Ion,"  etc.      The  ten  years'  time,   which   Hitzig 
doubts  as  the  period  of  the  earlier  warlike  ex- 
peditions, is  maintaine  I  by  Tholuck.     The  fifth 
year  after  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  would  be  581 ; 
the  thirteen  years'  siege  of  Tyre  woidd  fall  into 
the  period  586-572  or  573.      For  the   dilferent 
actions  which  were  in  part  parallel  as  to  time,  we 
have  only  to   suppose  various   divisions  of  the 
army   employed,    so   that   the   whole    might    of 
Nebuchadnezzar   did  not   at   the  same  time   lie 
before  Tyre.     The  forty   years  of  the   Egy|)tian 
ojipression,  Tholuck,  like  Niebuhr,  extends  over 
the  entire  space  that  lies  between  the  disaster  at 
Carchemish  and  the  overthrow  of  Hophra  (thirty- 
six  years),   "during  which  Egypt,  through   tlie 
continued  and  in  great  part  u"nfortun.itc  warlike 
entei-prises    of    Hophra,    nnist    have    been    muili 
depopulated    and    extremely    weakened,    till    at 
length    the    inroad    of    the    Chaldeans    consum- 
mated  the   oppression."     Tholuck   thinks   that, 
"as  the  prophets  in  the  beginning  of  the  fulfil- 
ment  comprehended   the   future   (Jer.    xiii.    18; 
Ezek.  XXX.  241,  in  the  last  and  completed  fulfil- 
ment they  also  comprehended  the  earlier  iucom- 
plete  ones. "     The  symbolical  explanation  of  the 
forty  years  is  not  thereby  denied  (see  the  exposi- 
tion).    The  worth  of  the  statements  of  Josephus 
may  be  questioned,  as  is  done  by  Hitzig  ;  but  for 
the  relation  of  profane  history  to  our  prophecy,  it 
suffices    that    Hophra    miserably   perished    (oh. 
xxix.  4  sq. ;  Jer.  xliv.  30  sq. ),  and  that  Egypt  again 
revived,    as   took  place  under  Amasis,  although 
as  a  kingdom  it  was  fit  to  be  compared  neither 
with   its    ancient    glory   nor  with    other    gi-eat 
monarchies  (ch.  xxix.   13  sq. ).      As  regards  the 
resuscitation  of  Egypt,   Duncker  mentions  that, 
according   to   a   return   of    the   priests,    it   then 
reckoned     20,000     country    towns     and     cities 
(Heuzog's  Realencyc.  i.  p.   150),   though  it  was 
"the  last  period  of  Egypt's  glory;  "  and  Lejisiua 
says  of  the  same,  that  Egypt  succumbed  to  the  firet 
pres.sure  of  the  Persian  power,  and  remained  from 
525  to  504  a  Persian  province  ;  that  afterwai-di 
it  became  again   for  a  short  time   independent, 
until  in  340  it  was  reconquered  by  the  Persiann, 
and  in  332  fell  under  Alexander  the  Great,  etc 


296 


EZEKIEL. 


3.  Upon  the  importance  of  Egypt  for  the 
revenge  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  see  the  exposition  of 
ch.  xxix.  18,  Also  generally  for  the  Chaldean 
policy  the  transition  to  Egypt  is  rendered  plain 
to  us  from  oh.  xxix.  17  sq.  (Hav.  :  "  if 
Nebuchadnezzar  would  make  the  possession  of 
Phoenicia  once  for  all  sure,  Egypt  must  be  com- 
pletely broken.")  Of  the  importance  of  Egypt 
by  itself,  its  characteristic  importance,  some 
notice  has  already  been  taken,  toward  the  close 
of  the  introductory  remarks  to  ch.  xxv.  ;  as 
ilso  of  the  distinction,  indicated  with  correct 
feeling  by  Keil,  between  Egypt  and  the  other 
nations  mentioned  by  Ezekiel.  But  what  Egypt 
eignifies  in  its  connection  here,  this  must  be  dis- 
cerned from  its  relation  to  Israel.  It  is  quite 
true  that  the  charge  laid  against  Amnion, 
Moab,  etc.,  also  against  Tyre,  for  spiteful  joy, 
hostility,  envy  toward  Israel,  is  not  mentioned  in 
respect  to  Pharaoh  and  Egypt.  It  may  be  said 
that  Egypt's  guilt  in  regard  to  Israel  was  that 
rather  of  a  false,  treacherous  friendship.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  excess  of  proud  self-suffi- 
ciency must  be  regarded  as  the  characteristic  of 
Egypt,  the  same  sort  of  self-elation  meets  us  in 
the  king  of  Tyre  (ch.  xxviii. ) ;  and  in  this 
respect  Tyre  formed  a  fitting  transition-point  to 
Egypt.  The  distinction  between  Tyre  and  Egypt 
might  perhajis  be  found  in  this,  that  while  in 
particular  the  kingdom  of  Tyre  had  had  its  time 
of  sacred  splendour  and  past  greatness,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  its  former  connection  with  the 
kingdom  of  David,  Egypt  on  its  part  acquired 
importance  on  account  of  the  sojournings  of  the 
pilgrim-fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
still  more  on  account  of  the  formation  of  their 
descendants  into  a  people.  Above  all,  the  idea 
of  redemption  was  associated  with  the  land  of 
Egypt.  Here,  therefore,  the  inverse  relation 
holds  good :  Tyre  has  gone  with  Israel  to  school ; 
Israel,  on  the  other  hand,  was  at  school  in  Egypt, 
as  was  evidenced  in  manifold  agreements  and 
contrasts  exhibited  in  their  peculiarity  as  a 
people,  without  our  needing  on  that  account  to 
ride  off  on  the  Spencerian  principle  [namely,  of  a 
servile  borrowing  from  the  institutions  of  Egypt]. 
More  than  from  anything  else,  may  be  understood 
from  Israel's  reminiscences  as  a  people,  and  the 
impress  of  Egyptian  style  and  manner  even 
upon  their  sacred  things,  their  abiding  sym- 
pathetic turning  back  toward  Egypt.  That 
Israel  could  not  let  Egypt  go  out  of  sight  had 
its  root  in  human  nature  ;  we  must  learn  even 
from  the  children  of  this  world  (Luke  xvi.).  But 
it  had  also  its  dangerous  side.  It  was  Israel's 
worklliness,  relapse,  since  Israel  had  been  deli- 
vered by  Jehovah  from  this  world,  and  Jehovah 
had  through  Moses  threatened  them  in  connec- 
tion with  Egypt  with  the  greatest  evils  (Deut. 
xxviii.  68).  We  have  tribulation  in  the  world, 
and  we  may  have  fear  before  the  world  ;  such 
fear,  however,  may  be  salutary  in  its  operation. 
But  dangerous  is  the  stay  that  is  sought  in 
Egypt,  tmst  and  confidence  therein.  In  this 
respect  Egypt  is  designated  a  remembrancer  of 
iniquity  (ch.  xxix.  16),  since  for  Israel  it  had, 
and  not  as  of  yesterday,  but  from  of  old  (comp. 
ah3  ch.  xvi.  26,  xxiii.  8,  19),  the  fatal  signifi- 
caace  of  a  pride  which  resists  Jehovah  and  leads 
away  from  Him,  of  a  consciousness  of  worldly 
power,  which  amid  the  characteristic  Pharaonic 
arrogance  expressed  itself  just  as  distinctly  (ch. 


xxix.  3,  9)  as  in  Ex.  v.  2,  and  had  this  the  mort 
seductively,  as  a  self-conscious  abiding  worldly 
power  is  in  fact  fitted  to  impose  on  people. 
Friendship  with  Egypt  is  the  most  contemptuous 
relation  in  which  Israel  can  be  thought  of,  on 
account  of  the  indifference  which  it  necessarily 
implied  on  the  part  of  the  Israelitish  people  not 
only  in  regard  to  their  former  house  of  bondage, 
but  also  to  the  mighty  deliverance  obtained  from 
it,  and  generally  in  what  concerned  their  relation 
to  Jehovah,  on  whom,  as  their  own  and  their 
fathers'  God,  they  had  been  thrown  from  their 
state  of  childhood.  To  make  account  of  this 
specific  historical  position  in  respect  to  each 
other,  according  to  which  the  growth,  bloom, 
and  decay  of  Israel  were  closely  interwoven  with 
Egypt,  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  ' '  dwells  at 
greater  length  on  Egypt  than  on  the  othei 
nations"  (Hav.).  Still  more,  however,  it  serves 
to  explain  the  representation  of  the  judgment 
upon  Egypt  as  strikingly  parallel  with  that  on 
Israel,  and  to  the  last  carried  out  (comp.  ch. 
xxix.  5,  9  sq.,  12,  13,  etc.).  Not  less  remark- 
able, because  singular,  is  the  prospect  and 
declaration  in  regard  to  the  resuscitation  of 
Egypt,  and  of  it  alone,  which  have  been  intro- 
duced into  the  prediction  of  our  prophet ;  by  this 
also  is  Egypt  quite  expressly  kept  parallel  with 
Israel.  'fhe  reminiscence  which  br.ngs  up 
Egypt  so  distinctly  is  not  simply  that  of  the 
house  of  bondage,  or  of  iniquity,  hut  it  is 
Joseph's  post  of  honour,  and  the  corn  granaries  ot 
Jacob,  together  with  his  family.  Comp.  also 
Deut.  xxiii.  7. 

4.  The  interpretation  of  Neteler  strikes  out 
what  is  certainly  a  quite  different  path,  strikingly 
reminding  one  of  Cocceius,  only  with  a  specially 
Catholic  tendency.  According  to  him,  the  pro- 
phecies against  the  foreign  nations  constitute  four 
groups,  each  of  which  contains  four  pieces  :  the 
first,  ch.  xxv. ;  the  second,  the  overthrow  of  the 
Canaanitish  culture  -  development,  standing  in 
contrast  to  the  higher  calling  of  Jerusalem,  and 
reaching  its  culmination  in  Tyre.  The  pro- 
phecy against  Sidon  he  severs  from  Tyre,  in  the 
interest  of  this  fourfold  division  ;  it  belongs  to 
the  Egyptian  group,  inasmuch  as  "Sidon's  bloom 
falls  into  the  time  in  which  Egypt  was  the  bearer 
of  the  Hamitic  power  and  culture,"  and  "the 
Sidonian  development  was  a  shoot  of  the  Hamitic- 
Egyptian."  The  promises  for  Israel  in  this  third 
section  (ch.  xxviii.  20-xxx.  19)  must  stand 
parallel  with  those  of  the  same  kind  in  the  first 
group,  wherein  punishment  is  threatened  to  the 
four  nations  with  reference  to  Israel ;  as  the  first 
group,  "through  ch.  xxi,  (Ammon),  is  placed  in 
connection  with  the  first  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem," so  "the  third  stands,  through  the  opening 
of  the  mouth  which  occurs  in  it,  in  closer  relation 
to  the  symbol  of  the  second  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem." The  four  last  prophecies  against  Egj'pt 
are  "mere  symbols,"  according  to  Neteler.  As 
Ammon  "drove  the  surviving  remnant,  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  out  of  Judea,"  so  hail 
"  Moab  decoyed  Israel  into  gross  idolatry  before 
their  entrance  into  Canaan  ;"  and  so,  in  the  pro- 
phecies against  Ammon  and  Moab,  the  beginning 
and  end  of  Israel  in  regard  to  Canaan  are  con- 
nected together.  The  punishment  of  Edom  and 
the  Philistines  must  point  to  the  "re-establish- 
ment of  the  house  of  David. "  In  regard  to  Tyro 
Neteler  expresses  himself  thus  ;  "The  command 


CHAP.  XXIX.-XXXII. 


297 


given  to  Israel  to  root  out  the  Canaanites,  but  by 
them  neglected  to  tlieir  destruction,  God  will 
execute  on  Tyre  through  Nebuchadnezzar;"  and 
this  command  must  stand  in  a  noteworthy  relation 
to  the  historical  development  of  the  last  period  of 
SOO  years  before  Christ,  in  which  "those  to  the 
west  (Carthaginians,  Greeks,  Romans)  brought  a 
real  advance,  while  those  to  the  east  (the  Hamitic 
kingiioms  of  Ethiopia  and  Eg>"pt,  the  Semitic 
kingdoms  of  Assyria  and  Chaldea,  the  Japhetic 
Medians  and  Persians)  repeat  the  development  of 
the  two  earlier  periods  in  smaller  measure,  yet 
as  if  thereby  the  problem  of  the  western  circle 
should  be  solved. "  He  says  :  "If  Israel,  through 
the  e.\tirpation  of  the  Canaanites,  according  to 
Num.  -xx.xvi,  6-9  (!i,  had  entered  into  the  place 
of  the  Phrenicians,  it  would  have  formed  the  first 
member  in  the  development  of  this  period,  and 
would  have  shown  the  right  path  to  the  Greek 
culture  which  came  forth  in  the  second  third  of 
it."  To  retrieve  as  much  as  possible  that  which 
was  neglected  (!  ?l,  "Nebuchadnezzar  must  sub- 
ject the  Hamitic  Tyre,  even  to  the  pillars  of 
Hercules,  and  unite  the  eastern  circle  to  the 
monstrous  Chaldean  kingdom,  so  that  the  ex- 
ternally insignificant  Israel  might  be  set  in  the 
centre  of  this  gigantic  Semitic  power,  which  ex- 
tended its  sway  even  over  the  Turanian  tribes  in 
the  high  north."  This  contrast  between  the 
Semitic  and  Hamitic  races  (already  occurring  in 
the  prophecy  of  Noah)  mu.st  be  of  great  import- 
ance for  the  understanding  of  the  symbolical 
representation  of  Ezekiel  in  tlie  prophecies  relat- 
ing to  TjTe  and  Egj'pt.  Upon  the  third  group 
which  Neteler  distributes,  and  which  reaches  to 
ch.  XXX.  19,  we  learn  that,  first  of  all,  in  the  pro- 
phecy against  Sidon,  "tlie  second  possession  of 
the  land  is  associated  with  the  first,  as  in  ch.  xx. 
the  first  deliverance  from  Egj-pt  is  made  parallel 
with  a  deliverance  in  a  higher  sense,"  "As 
Israel  did  not  fully  carrj-  out  the  extirpation  of 
the  Canaanites,  whose  place,  according  to  Num. 
xxxiii.  54,  it  was  their  part  to  occupy,  these  were 
turned  for  them  into  thorns  and  briers.  With 
the  second  possession,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
serritude  of  Canaan,  which  was  announced  even 
by  Noah,  was  after  a  sort  realized,  since  the 
Canaanitish  history  becomes  extinct.  The  second 
piece  in  this  section,  namely  ch.  xxix.  1-16,  con- 
nects the  end  of  the  first  Israelitish  sojourn  in 
Canaan,  brought  about  by  Egypt's  iniquity,  with 
the  end  of  Egyjit;  and  the  humiliation  of  Egypt 
is  such  an  elevation  of  Israel,  that  Christianity 
will  not  be  under  temptation  to  lean  upon  a 
decaying  heathenism."  The  forty  years  occurring 
at  ver.  11  sq.  must  not  be  distinguished  from  the 
forty  years  of  Judah,  for  which  the  prophet  had 
to  lie  forty  days  upon  his  right  side  ;  that  is,  as 
Neteler  remarks  on  eh.  iv. ,  "a  symbolical  desig- 
nation of  the  time,  reaching  from  the  destniction 
of  the  temple  to  the  return  from  exile,  derived 
from  the  sojourn  in  Kadesh."  "The  two  first 
pieces,  ch.  xxviii.  aO-xxix.  16,  set  forth  the 
world-historical  ideas,  which  were  to  be  realized 
by  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  but  give,  as 
to  the  way  and  manner  in  which  the  realization 
should  be  prepared  for,  begun,  and  carried  for- 
ward, no  information — this  being  first  introduced 
by  tiie  jirophet  in  the  third  piece  (ch.  xxix. 
17-21).  The  might  of  Sliem,  through  which  God 
conquered  Canaan  in  the  world's  history,  must 
oJso  carry  forward  the  work  in  regard  to  Egypt. 


In  the  interest  of  Israel,  whose  service  to  God 
stands  in  contrast  to  Canaanitisli  industry,  Gud 
will  turn  the  Semitic  world-power  against  Egypt, 
by  which  Israel  was  compelled  to  do  Cana;initish 
work,  and  establish  for  them,  on  account  of  their 
labour  in  respect  to  Canaan,  claims  lor  compen- 
sation, which  God  would  render  valid  because  of 
the  bondage  laid  by  Egypt  on  the  Israelites.  Tin 
booty  which  CJod  took  from  Egypt  after  the  con- 
flict, on  occasion  of  the  first  deliverance,  was  only 
a  type  of  a  later  plundering,  which  in  a  prepara- 
tory manner  was  begun  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
after  the  second  deliverance  from  Egypt,  that  is, 
after  the  redemption  achieved  by  the  sutierings  of 
the  Servant  of  God  was  realized,  when  all  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  was  committed  to  the 
episcopate  of  the  Church (!!).  The  consequence 
of  this  victory  over  Egj'pt  (ch.  xxx.  1-19)  is  given 
in  the  form  of  a  judgment  upon  Egypt,  in  which 
is  delineated  its  desolation  and  the  annihilation 
of  its  idols  and  yokes  ;  but  the  sons  also  of  the 
covenant -land  are  smitten  by  the  judgment, 
which  points  to  a  fall  that  sliould  take  place 
among  them. "  The  continuation  of  this  Catholic- 
theological-historical  explanation  and  interpreta- 
tion of  Ezekiel  will  be  given  in  No.  9. 

5.  Cocceius  remarks  on  ch,  xxix.  21  :  "Evil 
Merodach  gave  Jehoiachin  freedom,  and  the  first 
place  of  honour  among  the  kings.  Farther, 
Daniel  was  great  in  the  kingdom  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and  under  the  Persian  dominion.  Cyrus 
was  called  by  God  to  give  command  to  lead 
the  people  back,  that  they  might  rebuild  the 
temple.  Still  higher  grew  the  horn  of  Israel 
wh6n  they  became  free,  and  their  priests  assumed 
the  diadem,  as  a  sign  of  the  fieedom  of  the  people, 
and  the  Israelites  had  become  gi-eater  than  their 
fathers,  as  announced  in  Deut.  xxx.  5.  Hut  most 
especially  was  it  so,  when  out  of  David's  house 
the  horn  grew,  which  set  the  people  free  from 
all  slavery,  which  subdued  their  enemies,  ami 
rendered  the  Gentiles  subject  to  Israel,  Ps. 
cxxxii.  13-18." 

6.  The  daj'  of  Jehovah,  Kliefoth  remarks,  "is 
not  judgment  in  one  point  of  time  and  destruc- 
tion over  the  whole  heathen  world  ; '  and  then  he 
continues  :  "The  day  of  Jehovah  is  a  period  of 
indefinite  duration,  in  the  course  of  which  God 
will  punish  with  judgment  and  destruction  all 
heathen  nations  in  succession,  just  as  they  have 
shown  their  hostility  to  the  people  of  God,  and 
He  sees  that  their  time  has  come.  From  this 
point  of  view,  also,  is  the  announcement  always  to 
be  imderstood,  that  this  day  of  Jehovah  is  at 
hand.  The  day  contiimes  so  long,  that  it  lasts 
till,  in  the  final  judgment,  the  whole  world,  in  so 
far  as  hostile  to  God,  shall  be  destroyed  ;  but  it 
constantly  begins  anew,  when  any  particular 
people,  on  account  of  their  malevolence  mani- 
fested to  the  people  of  God,  falls  under  the  right- 
eous doom  of  perdition.  Hence  the  day  of 
Jehovah  upon  the  heathen  nations  has,  in  the 
several  prophecies,  a  different  terminus  a  quo, 
according  as  they  refer  to  this  or  that  kind  of 
relations."  Onl}'  it  must  not  be  overlooked, 
that  in  ch.  xxx.  1  sq.  not  indeed  Egypt  alone  is 
contemplated,  but  Egypt  in  its  connection  with 
heathen  nations ;  and  yet,  that  it  is  not  the  day  of 
judgment  upon  all  anti-theocratic  powers  that  ia 
to  be  understood,  as  already  Hiivemick  makes  the 
prophet  see  this  general  idea  obtaining  realization; 
but  as  the  time  of  Jerusalem  was  come,  the  tijr* 


298 


EZEKIEL. 


when  judgment  had  begun  at  the  house  of  God, 
so  the  time  must  now  be  near  when  this  judgment 
of  God  shall  go  forth  upon  the  heathen.  Heng- 
stenberg  finds  here  the  fundamental  passage  for 
Luke  xxi.  24,  and  points  to  the  overthrow  of 
the  Roman  Empire, — the  "  mountain  "  which  was 
to  be  cast  into  the  sea  after  the  fig-tree  of  the 
Jewish  people  was  withered  (Matt,  xxi.),  the 
"mulberry-tree"  which  was  to  be  plucked  up 
and  removed  into  the  sea  (Luke  xvii.). 

7.  As  in  the  kingdom  of  Tyre,  ch.  xxviii.,  allu- 
sion was  made  to  a  time  of  sacredness  upon  the 
holy  mount  of  God,  so  there  was  also  found  there, 
by  way  of  similitude,  a  bringing  to  remembrance 
of  Eden,  and  especially  of  the  garden  of  God. 
This  retrospect  of  paradise  furnishes  the  beau- 
ideal,  the  standard  for  the  Old  Testament  world 
generally  ;  hence  with  Assyria,  and  in  connection 
therewith  in  reference  to  Egypt,  which  had  not 
the  same  historical  position  as  Tyre,  it  appro- 
priately comes  back  again  in  ch.  xxxi.  As  in 
the  New  Testament  all  is  measured  with  heaven, 
so  in  the  Old  Testament  what  is  or  was  glorious 
upon  earth  is  made  to  hold  of  Eden  and  paradise. 

8.  On  the  derivation  of  the  word  "Sheol" 
there  confessedly  prevails  a  great  diversity  of 
opinion.  For  the  biblical  ide«,  especially  the  sig- 
nification of  the  word  in  the  Old  Testament,  this 
only  is  to  be  learned  from  this  matter  of  etymo- 
logical controversy,  that  as  well  the  derivation 

from  ^J){}»,  to   be  hollow  (therefore  for   7)J^), 

since  it  points  to  "hollowing,"  and  in  so  far  to 
the  gi-ave,  as  the  derivation  which  Hupfeld  adopts 
from  1  "to  sink  down,"  and  :  "to  go  apart  from 
one  another,"  therefore:  sinking  down,  depth, 
abyss,  and  :  cleft,  hollow,  empty  space— since 
the  burying  and  the  being  in  the  sepulchre  can 
be  thereby  expressed — both  alike  avail  for  the 
affirmation,  that  Sheol  and  the  gi'ave  more  or  less 
run  together.    The  derivation,  on  the  other  hand, 

from  ^KB",  to  demand,  expresses  as  to  Sheol  only 

what  constitutes  generally  the  power  and  manner 
of  death  to  demand  for  itself  with  insatiable 
desire  all  living  beings  (comp.  Isa.  v.  14;  Hab. 
ii.  5 ;  Prov.  xxvii.  20,  xxx.  16).  As  to  form  an 
infinitive  verbal  substantive,  the  use  of  the  word 
belongs  predominantly  to  the  poetic  language 
of  the  Old  Testament,  whence  also  is  to  be  ex- 
plained the  circumstance  that  it  never  stands 
with  the  article.  Sheol  appears  as  the  aggregate 
of  all  graves.  Who  could  venture  to  deny  this 
aspect  of  the  matter,  at  least  for  the  31st  and 
32d  chapters  of  Ezekiel  ?  It  is  the  universal 
gi'ave,  which  calls  down  to  itself  all  earthly  life, 
how  high  soever  it  may  have  reached,  however 
magnificent  it  may  have  been,  however  valiantly 
it  may  have  fought.  But  much,  also,  as  Sheol 
and  the  grave  (ll3)  sometimes  appear  to  approach 
(comp.  also  Isa.  xiv.  11, 15),  to  cover  one  another, 
it  must  still  not  be  overlooked  that  the  gi'ave, 
more  exactly  considered,  is  only  the  entrance  into 
■Sheol  (Ps.  xvi.  10),  which  certainly,  as  it  is  com- 
monly represented,  keeps  the  hue  of  the  grave, 
in  generals  as  well  as  in  particulars  (^1)2  'DST, 
ch.  xxxii.  23) ;  it  is  the  carrying  over  of  the 
grave  to  the  future  state  (while  the  grave  as  such 
■i  still  always  something  here).  It  is  quite 
reconcilable  ivith  this  representation  when  Sheol 
is  conceived  of  as  a  locality,  and  indeed  as  a  deep 


abyss,  just  as  the  standing  form  of  speech  :  "to 
go  down,"  "to  be  thrown  down,"  is  thence  ex- 
plained as  equivalent  to  being  consigned  to  the 
dead.  The  occasional  poetic  delineation  of  thia 
future  must  only  not  be  formally  dogmatized 
into  an  actual  under-world  with  gates,  rivers,  etc. 
(Job  xxxviii.  17;  Ps.  xviii.  5  sq.)  The  goiii* 
down  of  the  company  of  Korah  (Num.  xvi.  30) 
is  often  what  is  floating  before  the  writer's  mind  ; 
and  not  so  much  the  locality  of  Palestine,  which 
was  rich  in  grottoes  and  caverns,  or  the  dark- 
ness of  the  Hebrew  family  tomb-vaults,  the 
stillness  of  the  Egj'ptian  catacomb-world.  The 
interior  and  inmost  part  of  the  earth  (oh.  xxvi. 
20,  xxxii.  18),  however,  is  not  the  earth's  inner 

region  as  such,   but  rrnnjl  ^iSB'   is  the  Sheol 

"beneath"  (the  underground,  ch.  xxxi.  14): 
that  is,  partly  the  contrast  to  heaven  as  the 
region  of  the  divine  life,  partly  the  distinction 
from  the  surface  turned  towarti  heaven,  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Out  of  that  contrast,  in  which, 
however,  the  earth  also  and  its  life  have  their 
place,  and  still  more  in  accordance  with  this  dis- 
tinction from  the  earthly  life,  must  Sheol  and 
what  is  connected  therewith  be  understood.  The 
death  to  which  one  is  surrendered  (ch.  xxxi.  14^ 
is  not  simply  a  going  down,  not  annihilation, 
but  as  punishment  for  sin,  the  necessary  conse- 
quence of  the  negation  of  God.  Considered  as  a 
state,  it  is  the  contrast  in  respect  to  God,  as  curse, 
as  judgment  upon  the  sinner ;  hence  the  contrast 
in  respect  to  life  as  divine,  as  salvation  anil 
blessedness,  even  to  eternal  perdition ;  and  so 
Sheol  posits  a  concrete,  individual  prolongation 
of  life :  the  dead  are  represented  in  Pjzekiel 
(ch.  xxxi. )  as  living  on  individually  and  in  space. 
Passages  such  as  Ps.  civ.  29,  cxlvi.  4,  and  others, 
certainly  have  respect  to  the  earthly  life  in  the 
body,  with  its  purposes  and  undertakings,  doing 
and  thinking,  knowledge  and  wisdom  together, 
Eccl.  ix.  10  (so  our  Lord  Himself  in  John  ix.  4 
makes  account  of  it  for  His  diligence  in  working 
while  in  the  flesh).  As  life  on  earth  in  a  mortal 
body  is  for  all  men  a  troublesome,  poor,  and 
sorrowful  thing,  so  certainly  the  advancing  decay 
of  the  powers  of  life,  with  the  dissolution  of  the 
union  between  soul  and  body,  necessarily  becomes 
quiescence,  impotence,  and  withdrawal  of  their 
life-energy  in  regard  to  the  appointed  sphere  of 
action.  But  passages  like  Job  xxvi.  5  sq., 
xxxviii.  17,  Prov.  xv.  11,  Ps.  cxx.xix.  8,  testify 
to  the  presence  of  the  living  God,  through  whom 
the  subsisting  and  passing  away  of  all  beings  is 
conditioned,  as  is  said  also  in  the  \n2^  made 

parallel  with  Sheol  (comp.  Mark  xii.  27  ;  Lukexx. 
38).  The  contrast,  therefore,  to  the  heavenly 
upper  world  as  the  proper  region  of  the  divine 
life  is  not  that  of  not-being  and  being ;  and  just 
as  little  is  the  continued  existence  in  Sheol  an 
unconscious  shade-existence,  at  least  not  accord- 
ing to  Ezekiel's  representation :  the  heroes  in 
Sheol  speak  and  know  themselves  as  such  over 
against  others,  feel,  etc.  As  the  designaf";o!i  ;f 
shades  (D'XQl)  fo""  tl'e  dead  in  the  Old  Testament 
times  cannot  be  proved,  so  the  appearance,  for 
example,  of  Samuel  (1  Sam.  xxviii.),  so  entirely 
accordant  with  the  spirit  and  address  of  Samue) 
as  he  actually  lived,  is  not  at  all  brought  forward 
as  an  exception,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of 
the  Theban  seer  Tiresias  (Odyaa.  x.  492  sij.).     In 


CHAP.  XXIX. 


29S 


the  Old  Testament,  also,  we  read  nothing  of  an 
instinctive  repetition  and  continuation  of  the 
past  life  connected  with  the  possession  of  blood. 
The  representation  of  Sheol,  into  which  there 
has  often  been  greatly  too  much  imported  of 
heathen  elements,  is  in  no  respect  the  localizing 
of  the  image,  which,  as  Meier  says,  "remains 
like  a  blanched,  bloodless,  shadowy  form,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  living,  of  their  dead  and  buried 
fellow-nien."  Life  in  Sheol  cannot,  indeed,  run 
counter  to  the  conditions  that  prevail  in  respect 
to  human  life.  Man  is  soul,  but  he  has  spirit, 
which  for  him  constitutes  the  power  wherein  the 
life  of  the  individual  consists ;  while  the  soul  is 
plainly  the  seat  of  that,  as  the  body  is  its  organ. 
If  the  life  connected  with  the  body  appeai-s  as 
life  in  the  flesh,  when  separated  therefrom  it  will 
become  an  existence  of  the  spirit,  and  departed 
men  will  uecessarih'  have  to  be  thought  of  as 
spirits,  and  can  only  in  so  far  be  termed  "souls " 
as  a  retrospective  sense  of  the  earlier  corporeal 
life  has  place.  On  this  side  the  description  of 
Sheol  is  certainly,  and  especially  as  contradis- 
tinguished from  the  earthly  upperground  life, 
kept  in  due  regard  to  the  state  of  things  existing 
there.  With  the  going  down  into  the  grave,  the 
bright  joyful  sunlight  vanishes  for  men ;  hence 
Sheol  is  the  land  of  darkness  and  of  the  shadow 
of  death  (Job  .v.  21).  While  tlie  world  of  light 
is  an  organized  one,  the  midnight  region  of  Sheol 
appears  as  a  confused  intermingling  of  substances, 
chaotic  (Job  x.  22).  Busy  life,  ,so  repeatedly 
designated  "tumult"  in  this  chapter  of  Ezekiel, 
becomes  motionless  in  the  grave ;  so  in  Ps.  cxv. 
17  the  dead  go  down  to  silence,  to  stillness 
(comp.  Ps.  xciv.  17,  xxxi.  IS).  The  expression, 
however,  of  "land  of  forgetfulness, "  Ps.  bcxxviii. 
12,  mnst  not  be  overstretched,  though  the  refer- 
ence is  to  be  held  fast  in  which  it  is  said  that, 
as  God  has  given  the  earth  to  the  children  of 
men  (Ps.  cxv.  16),  so  the  manifestation  of  His 
wonder-working  power  and  righteousness  is 
promised  to  them  on  the  earth  while  they  are  in 
the  flesh.  Not  in  the  heathen  materialistic 
sense,  but  Christologically,  however  still  on  the 
temporal  side,  the  thought  as  to  its  form  was 
presented  in  the  Old  Covenant.  And  thence  are 
such  passages  as  Ps.  vi.  5,  xxx.  10  [9],  Ixxxviii. 
10,  11,  cxv.  17,  Isa.  xxxviii.  18,  to  be  under- 
stood. The  dead,  accordingly,  are  done  (Ps. 
Ixxxviii.  .0);  their  state,  Sheol,  is  without  a  his- 
tory (on  the  other  hand,  comp.  1  Cor.  xv.  19). 
But  to  complete  our  knowledge  of  the  Old 
Testament  Sheol,  the  ethical  side  is  not  to  be 
overlooked,  that  is,  the  idea  of  recompense  comes 
therein  likewise  into  consideration  (comp.  ch. 
xxxii.  23  sq.).  The  godly  are  there  gathered  to 
their  fathers  (Gen.  xxv.  8,  .xxxv.  29,  etc.).  It 
is  a  mode  of  representation  which  incidentally 
receives  a  very  touching  illustration  in  Luke  xvi. 
22  for  tlie  poor,  who  has  no  brother  in  the  world, 
who  is  an  abject,  forlorn,  when  he  is  said  to  be 
received  into  Abraham's  bosom.  The  righteous 
snatched  away  enters  into  peace,  and  rests 
therein  upon  the  foundation  of  the  grave  (Isa. 
Ivii.  1).  How  far  with  the  soul,  when  unclothed 
of  the  body,  there  takes  place  "an  inefl'ectual 
tormenting  effort  to  consolidate  itself  corporeally '' 
(Beck)— the  spirit,  however,  being  incapable  of 
being  contemplated  apart  from  the  soul,  which 
conditions  its  individuality,  therefore  also  not  to 
tw  tbiaght  ol    "as  sunk  after  death  into  the 


corruption  of  the  flesh  " — may  be  left  undecided. 
It  is  enough  that  the  rich  man  found  himself 
"in  torment."  With  justice,  however,  Lange 
presses  the  thought  that  for  the  wicked  Sheol  is 
still  not  hell. 

9.  Neteler  (comp.  4)  maintains  concerning  ch. 
xxx.  21  to  xxxii.  32,  that  is,  the  fourth  of  the 
groups  set  olf  by  him,  that  "through  four 
symbols  the  overthrow  of  a  power  standing  in 
antagonism  to  the  Church  is  exhibited,"  and 
that  what  is  said  is  to  be  taken  "  eschatologically 
in  a  wider  sense."  Egypt  is  considered  by  him  as 
"a  symbol  of  the  power  of  Magog,"  and  under 
the  Chaldeans  is  found  "  a  combination  of 
Romans  and  Germans."  And  here  Neteler's 
book  dwells  on  the  "Russian  Panslavism."  The 
two  last  symbols  must  be  fulfilled  in  the  over- 
throw of  Stagog  "only  provisionally,"  so  that 
' '  their  complete  fulfilment  belongs  to  a  still  later 
future." 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 
On  Ch.  xxix. 
Vers.  1-5.  The  close  is  made  with  Egj^it,  as 
Egypt  was  the  beginning  in  respect  to  I.srael. — 
"  Egypt  is  with  Ezekiel  the  oldest  country  of  his 
people's  disgrace"  (Umer. ). — How  clear  is  what 
God  causes  to  be  said  to  us !  The  address  is 
plainly  written,  and  can  occasion  no  doubt  to 
whom  the  word  is  directed  ;  and  not  less  clearly 
does  it  shine  forth  whose  subscription  stands 
under  it,  and  who,  therefore,  will  look  after  the 
punctual  execution  of  the  things  spoken.  It 
will  not  proceed  according  to  man's  sayings  and 
opinions,  but  as  God  the  Lord  has  said. — 
The  prophetic  word  so  much  the  surer  as  the 
fulfilment  of  it  now  lies  completely  before  us. 
—  What  still  survives  of  the  Pharaohs  lies  in  the 
midst  of  the  wilderness  ;  they  are  ruins  to  which 
the  sand  has  still  refused  burial  !^"  Where  can  a 
mortal  say  :  This  is  mine,  or :  This  remains  to  me  ? 
But  prosperity,  where  it  is  not  understood  as 
God's  blessing,  makes  people  stupidly  proud. 
See  there,  too,  the  blessing  of  tribulations,  which 
demonstrate  before  our  eyes,  that  nothing  is  our 
right,  and  nothing  our  abiding  property"  (Stck.  ). 
— Those  who  do  not  seek  after  the  things  which 
are  above  regard  the  Nile,  which  flows  on  the 
earth,  with  precisely  such  eyes.  —  "But  that 
there  is  also  a  spiritual  Egj'pt  may  be  seen  from 
Rev.  xi.  8,  and  that  is  a  people,  kingdom,  and 
dominion  wNich  holds  in  fetters  the  people  of 
God  and  makes  them  slaves.  Now,  as  under  the 
great  dragon  in  the  sea  Antichrist  also  comes  to 
be  considered,  together  with  his  scales  and 
members  that  stick  to  him,  and  are  in  a  manner 
innumerable,  so  shall  this  power  also  after  the 
prince  of  Tyre  receive  his  doom,  with  all  his 
adherents,  who  by  overbearing  conscience  have 
done  so  much  wrong  to  the  faithful.  Then  also 
will  appear  the  vain  help  which  the  house  of 
Israel  has  sometimes  assumed  as  belonging  to 
the  reed  of  the  fleshly  arm"  (B.  B. ). — "Satan 
says  to  Jesus :  All  this  will  I  give  thee,  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  and  their  glory,  though 
still  there  was  not  an  atom  thereof  in  reality 
his"  (Luther). — "Oh  how  vain  is  man  in  pro- 
sperity!" (St.) — Vers.  4,  5.  Higher  still  than 
the  highest  is  the  Most  High.  He  who  comes 
from  heaven  is  higher  than  aU. — "  It  is  bad 
when  only  amid  loss  people  come  wisely  to  learn 
that  they  had  all  of  God,  of  which  they  were 


soo 


EZEKIEL. 


so  proud  and  boasted  themselves  "  (Stck.). — 
Phaiioli  ill  the  wilderness,  and  Jesus  in  the 
Mrildemess. — They  who  set  themselves  up  above 
others  may  readily  observe  that  they  are  thrown 
off  and  away  before  they  are  themselves  aware  of  it ! 
—The  judgment  of  Jehovah  upon  the  Pharaohs ! 
— Jehovah  at  the  Pyramids,  a  very  ditfereut  object 
from  Xapoleon  before  them. — The  o%-erthrow  in 
the  wilderness  an  image  of  a  desolate  ruin. 

Tcis.  6,  ".  God  jiunishes  not  those  only  who 
rely  upon  iiesh,  but  those  also  who  are  flesh  and 
/et  wish  others  to  find  comfort  in  them. — No 
knowledge  of  Ood  and  no  knowledge  of  self — 
this  is  what  gives  false  self-confidence,  and  false 
confidence  in  man. — The  love  of  God  in  discover- 
ing the  false  and  rotten  props. — "A  reed  is 
everythiiig  that  is  in  this  world,  as  man's 
favour,  temporal  prosperity,  beauty,  yea,  the 
corporeal  life  itself :  from  without  it  appears  like 
a  staff,  and  as  if  many  were  walking  with  it,  but 
within  it  is  hollow  and  brittle"  (Stck.). — But 
for  none  is  such  a  reed  more  suspicious  than  for 
the  people  to  whom  God  has  i)ledged  Himself, 
and  therewith  all  His  wisdom  and  His  omnipo- 
tence.— It  is  certainly  the  same  with  the  deceit 
and  show  of  one's  own  righteousness,  good  pur- 
poses, and  pious  works.  One  cannot  keep  hand 
Hiid  shoulder  far  enough  from  these. — How  many 
a  one  has  such  like  splinters  in  his  conscience ! — 
The  false  reed-splinters  in  our  bones,  which  make 
our  going  so  feeble  and  our  holding  so  insecure. 
—  "The  soldiers  give  to  Christ  a  reed  in  mockery, 
Matt,  xxvii."  (Lvther). 

A'ers.  8-16.  The  judgment  of  God  by  the  sword 
in  its  significance  for  enemy  and  friend,  warrior 
and  contjueror,  land  and  people. — Desolation  is 
always  a  mark  of  punishment.  First  men  be- 
come waste,  then  their  ulace  is  laid  waste. — 
Where  the  people  become  waste  as  regards  God, 
there  God  causes  the  land  to  be  waste  of  its 
people.— Whosoever  will  have  it  that  he  has 
made  liimself  to  be  what  he  says  that  he  is,  with 
him  God  must  make  an  end,  so  that  he  may 
learn  what  he  himself  is,  and  how  still  God  can 
do  all. — The  mine  and  thine,  as  the  grand  con- 
troversy which  moves  the  world's  history. — So 
the  sin  of  the  people  is  their  ruin ;  but  though 
ancient  history  is  fuU  of  examples,  those  who 
now  live  are  not  disposed  to  profit  by  them. — 
"Should  one  not  be  ashamed  of  such  a  speech, 
since  it  must  so  soon  be  changed  into  a  jiast — it 
has  been  mine  :  and  this  often  with  much  sor- 
row ? "  (B.  B.  I — The  description  of  the  earth 
is  also  a  description  of  divine  justice. — By  means 
of  frai;ments  and  arrow-heads  in  the  yellow  sands 
of  the  desert,  and  obelisks  which  still  point 
lieavenwai'il'i,  people  now  read  the  names  of  men, 
of  kings,  and  such  like  ;  but  the  feci  of  God  is 
likewise  to  be  read  there. — The  divine  seasons  of 
respite. — The,  years  of  humiliating  in  their  signi- 
ficance for  Egypt  and  for  us  all  as  punishments 
and  deliverance  from  high-mindedness. — To  stand 
low  is  to  stand  more  secure  than  to  go  beyond 
bound  and  limit. —  "All  changes  in  the  world 
have  their  bearing  ultimately  on  the  Church  "  (  St.  ). 
— God  knows  how  to  withdraw  from  the  eyes  of  His 
own  what  dazzled  their  eyes  and  held  them  cap- 
tive. —"Such  is  the  aim  of  all  thejui\srments  that 
are  inflicted,  to  withdraw  the  body  of  the  faithful 
from  confidence  in  what  is  human,  and  to  sup- 
plant it  by  a  firm  trust  in  God  "  (B.  B. ). 

Yen.  17-21.   Wairior  service  hard  service.    He 


who  serves  God  does  net  serve  without  pay. — 
The  recompense  of  our  works  is  never  made  on 
the  ground  of  merit,  but  is  always  of  grace. — 
"The  downfall  of  the  world  is  the  deliverance  ot 
the  chosen"  (H.  H.).  Therefore  lift  up  your 
heads,  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh  (Luke 
xxi.  28). — When  the  world  becomes  jKior,  then 
the  bones  of  the  righteous  flourish. — The  new 
life  out  of  ruins.  — Upon  silence  to  speak  is  better 
than  to  be  silent  upon  speech.  — It  is  God  who  must 
open  the  mouth  for  us,  and  He  also  can  do  if. — 
Immortality  in  the  w-orld  and  the  eternal  life  in 
the  sanctuary,  Ps.  xxiii.  6. 

On  Ch.  XXX. 

Vers.  1-9.  "  The  judgments  of  God  pass  from 
His  own  people  to  other  peoples ;  hence  the  day 
of  the  heathen  could  not  be  far  ofl"  (Cocc. ). — 
Despair  howls,  hope  waits. — A  day  in  clouds  is 
also  the  day  of  death ;  the  earth  is  shrouded 
from  the  eye,  and  especially  when  first  the  heaven 
has  been  covered  to  the  spirit.  Darkness  then 
reigns  below  and  above.  How  dark,  thi  n,  is  the 
grave! — Bad  times  are  met  by  watclilulness  ; 
how  ling  merely  goes  before  them  as  the  loud  blast 
before  the  outburst  of  the  thunderstorm. — Vers. 
4,  5.  Many  others  are  carried  along  with  the  fall 
of  one.  In  every  judgment  that  takes  place  in 
the  world,  behold  a  t)'pe  and  prelude  of  the  judg- 
ment which  is  to  be  executed  on  the  W'lrM. — If 
not  with  the  sinner  immediately,  yet  on  the 
sinner,  and  therefore  through  the  sinner  his  com- 
panions shall  be  i>unished. — Where  God  .strikes 
the  blow,  there  not  only  is  the  stir  which  a  people 
makes,  and  with  which  it  makes  such  a  noise,  its 
work  and  gain  brought  down,  but  also  law  and 
order  and  that  whereon  all  rests  are  overthrown. — 
Vers.  6,  7.  How  helpless  with  all  his  appliances 
may  one  that  was  helpful  to  us  prove  in  a  nigl.t ! 
May  God  be  our  help,  who  has  made  heaven  and 
earth. — Ver.  9.  Everything  does  service  as  a 
messenger  for  God  :  in  particular  His  word,  which 
hence  cannot  be  bound,  but  accomplishes  that 
whereto  it  is  sent. — (iod's  seat  of  jmlgnient 
stands  always  among  mankind,  and  the  world's 
history  is  God's  judgment. — The  ten'ors  in  the 
history  of  the  world. — As  there  is  a  false  security 
in  individual  men,  so  is  there  also  a  bad  security 
with  whole  peoples. — The  national  security  a 
national  loss. 

Vers.  10-19.  When  men  do  not  sanctify  God 
on  holidays,  God  makes  their  bustling  activity  to 
keep  holiday. — When  God  wills,  a  man's  name 
can  cause  terror  to  the  world.  But  only  One 
Name  is  given  under  heaven  to  men  wherein  wc 
can  happily  exult  before  all  terrors. — Upon  dec'.' 
of  violence  come  still  more  violent  ones,  and 
tyrants  are  precipitated  through  tyrants.  — 
"  Whosoever  sells  himself  to  sin  has  already  in 
doing  so  sold  himself  to  his  enemy  "  (Stck.  ).- 
God's  blessing  fills,  His  curee  impoverishes  » 
land. — A'er.  13.  The  hand  of  God  alights  somi. 
time  upon  all  idols.  ^Froni  the  overthrow  ol 
heathenism  is  seen  the  vanity  of  idols. — "  Where 
are  the  famous  cities  of  the  olden  times  ?  AVhy 
do  they  lie  buried  in  disorderly  stone-heaps  ? 
Sinner,  behold  what  sin  may  effect"  (St. \ — how 
it  may  build  very  high  indeed,  yet  not  for  con- 
tinuance, and  still  more  may  destroy. — Gods  and 
princes  combined  the  common  delusion  of  idolatry, 
at  first  in  splendour,  so  afterwards  in  ruin! — Terro» 


CHAP.  XXXI. 


301 


is  the  opposite  of  courage,  but  not  the  fear  of  the 
Lord. — Where  God  kiudles  a  fire,  it  is  always  lor 
judgiuent ;  the  old  is  consumed  therein,  but  a 
new  springs  forth  out  of  the  ruins. — Without 
casting  down,  no  progress  in  the  life  of  humanity. 
— Ver.  16.  Must  not  man  always  be  engaged  in 
conflict? — Ver.  17.  With  its  youth  the  human 
future  of  a  people  goes  down.  Even  the  youth 
should  be  "  the  chosen  "  of  God ;  instead  of  this, 
Satan  at  no  period  has  so  much  of  his  nature  in 
men  as  in  the  season  of  youth. — Vers.  18,  19. 
AValk  in  the  light  while  ye  still  have  the  light, 
— we,  that  is,  who  have  the  knowledge  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. — The  judgment  of  God 
may,  through  the  dogmas  of  men  and  a  false 
philosophy,  veil  to  us  also  the  sun  of  truth,  and 
wrap  in  darkness  to  men's  view  heaven  and 
eternity. — When  at  length,  with  the  authority  of 
God,  the  authority  also  of  the  law  over  men  givf  s 
way,  then,  where  superstition  gives  place  to  un- 
belief, there  falls  upon  them  yoke  for  yoke,  one 
in  the  room  of  another  ;  there  is  only  an  exchange 
of  tyrants.  — How  much  old  and  high  renown 
have  the  gi-avediggers  of  the  world's  history 
already  buried  under  the  sod  among  other  sweep- 
ings !  What  is  fjloria  mmnli  ? — a  transit. — The 
new  plagues  of  Egypt. — The  spirit  of  Pharaoh 
continued  to  be  the  spirit  of  the  Pharaohs. — Self- 
heights  are  no  heights — none,  at  least,  that  stand 
in  the  judgment  of  God,  and  remain  above  though 
all  else  should  go  down  and  disappear ;  but  a 
height  in  the  true  sense  is  that  simply  whereof  it 
is  said.  As  high  as  heaven  is  above  the  earth,  Ps. 
ciii.  11.  This  ought  to  be  recognised,  and  that 
not  merely  at  the  last,  amid  bowlings  and  gnash- 
ings  of  teeth,  but  betimes,  when  it  may  still 
serve  for  peace,  with  the  calm  open  eye. — "The 
most  wretched  of  all  thoughts  is  that  of  having 
no  part  in  God.  How  many  an  evil-doer  has 
readily  presented  his  head  to  the  sword,  in  the 
conviction  that  through  the  punishment  he 
should  become  a  partaker  of  God  !  "  (H. ) 

Vers.  20-26.  How  many  the  things  are  that 
men  prize  as  an  "arm,"  and  how  easily  these 
arms  are  broken! — The  arm  of  the  Lord  (Isa. 
liii. ),  and  the  arm  of  man,  and  the  armies  of 
princes.  — ' '  More  easily  is  an  arm  broken  than 
nealed  ;  but  now  first  of  all  the  conscience,  how 
painfully  does  it  sting,  and  how  long  is  it  in 
healing !  "  (Stck.  ) — What  God  has  broken,  God 
only  can  heal. — Ver.  22.  But  man  never  has 
enough  by  a  fracture  ;  so  long  as  he  can  still 
move  and  stir  otherwise,  he  must  show  himself. 
Therefore  shall  there  come  to  be  a  destruction 
without  mercy,  if  we  will  not  submit  to  God  on 
the  footing  of  grace. — "Sickness  breaks  one  arm, 
death  both  arras"  (Stck.).  —  Every  breakage 
which  we  must  suffer  is  a  call  to  repentance. — 
Ver.  23.  "  He  who  will  not  fear  God  in  his 
fatherland  has  no  injustice  done  him,  if  in  a 
foreign  land  he  is  made  to  experience  all  sorts  of 
misfortune"  (St.).  — Vers.  24-26.  "Strength 
and  weakness  come  both  from  God"  (W.). — 
"  Upon  whose  side  Jehovah  stands,  that  man 
prevails  in  the  conflict ;  to  him  there  is  jirosperity 
in  life  ;  he  enjoys  a  blessing  with  his  work.  But 
this  favour  has  the  Lord  promised  to  the  righteous. 
Without  God  all  ends  unfortunately,  mournfully, 
and  in  perdition"  (Stce.). — What  serves  God, 
that  serves  also  the  kingdom  and  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  ;  just  as  at  the  last,  all  the  kingdoms 
■f  this  world  shall  become  God's  and  His  Christ's. 


On  Ch.  xxxi. 

Vers.  1,  2.  "The  gieatness  of  Egj-jit  was  the 
presumption  against  the  warnings  of  the  prophet. 
But  greatness  is  no  sei'urity  against  destrnctiun  ; 
no  greatness  upon  earth  can  withstand  the  strokes 
of  God"  (H.).  —  "With  justice  are  kingdoms 
compared  in  Scripture  to  trees,  as  well  on  account 
of  their  form,  the  protection  and  shadow  they 
artbrd  to  men  and  Ijcasts,  as  also  on  account  of 
their  fruits ;  and  still  farther  in  this  respect,  that 
kingdoms,  like  trees,  flourish  and  again  cease  to 
exist,  torn  up  by  the  wind,  or  cut  down  by  the 
hatchet  of  man  "  (L. ).  — It  is  very  well  for  people 
to  compare  themselves  with  others,  though  not 
for  the  purpose  of  thinking  better  of  themselves 
than  others,  as  the  Pharisee  in  the  temple  over 
against  the  publican,  or  in  order  to  envy  others  ; 
but  humbly  to  learn  that  we  are  a  part  of  man- 
kind, and  that  what  is  human  may  befall  us,  and 
shall  at  last  take  place  without  e,xceptiun.  Also 
to  make  each  one  more  contented  with  liis  lot,  a 
comparison  with  others  is,  as  a  rule,  fitted  to  be 
serviceable. — "  Both  the  one  and  the  other  infer- 
ence is  right :  As  God  has  elevated  that  humble 
one,  so  can  He,  in  His  own  time,  elevate  me  ; 
as  God  has  abased  that  proud  one,  so  may  it  also 
be  done  with  me  "  (Stck.). 

Vers.  3-9.  "The  histories  of  the  world  might 
teach  great  lords  much,  that  they  should  not  rely 
upon  their  own  powere  "  (he).  — Itulers  and 
princes  should  be  shady  trees  to  the  righteous. 
— "God  has  done  good  also  to  the  heathen,  that 
they  might  seek  Him,  if  ha]dy  they  might  find 
Him,  Acts  x™.  26,  27"  (Stck.V — "Oh,  what 
streams  of  grace  flow  upon  the  unthankful,  if  they 
would  only  perceive  them  !  The  watere  aie  in- 
deed not  of  one  sort — one  portion  swims  in  pure 
felicity,  another  in  tribulation  and  adversity  ;  but 
the  aim  is  uniform,  and  the  divine  loving-kind 
nesses  which  are  concealed  under  the  latter  are 
certainly  greater  than  the  fonuer,  in  the  eyes  of 
those  who  know  to  estimate  things  aright"  (B. 
B. ).  —  But  their  favourable  condition  anil  the 
friendliness  of  God  only  serve  with  many  to  puff 
them  up,  and  render  them  proud  and  arrogant, — 
an  end  for  which  certainly  all  this  was  not  given. 
— He  with  whom  it  overflows  should  make  it 
trickle  over  upon  others. — Ver.  7.  To  be  radical 
in  the  proper  sense  is  a  good  thing,  namely,  that 
one  should  know  that  his  root  is  in  God. — "The 
true  comeliness  of  a  prince  stands  in  comely 
virtues,  which  adorn  every  man,  especially  a 
prince, — clemency  and  justice  above  all ;  to  attbrd 
protection  and  solace  to  the  persecuted  ;  to  spread 
forth  as  it  were  his  branches  to  the  miserable  ;  to 
have  about  him  servants  resplendent  with  his  own 
virtues,  so  that,  as  in  every  branch  the  nature  of 
the  tree,  so  in  every  servant  the  character  of  the 
prince,  may  appear  reflected.  He  and  they  must 
not  be  terrible  to  the  good,  nor  oppressive  to  his 
subjects.  The  love  of  the  people  is  a  good  root 
for  a  race  of  princes  "  (Cocc. ).  — Ver.  8.  Better  to 
be  envied  than  commiserated.  God  makes  man 
beautiful,  as  He  alone  also  makes  him  good  ;  the 
latter  is  the  divine  nature,  the  former  the  divine 
form,  of  a  man. 

Vers.  10-13.  I  have  given  thee  into  the  hand 
of  such  and  such  an  one — this  explains  much 
darkness. — The  haughty  spirit  going  before,  the 
ke)'  to  the  fall  afterwards.  —  "Now,  however,  we 
are  all  in  Ad«m  inclined  to  pride  of  soul  ;  and 


102 


EZEKIEL. 


the  perishing  things  of  this  world,  riches,  honour, 
iplcndour,  beauty,  knowledge,  etc.,  nourish  our 
Batural  inclination,  being  all  things  which  we 
overestimate.  However,  even  a  plain  smock- 
frock  often  covers  a  repulsive  arrogance.  But 
kings  are  through  their  flatterers  nourished  in 
this  vice,  which  is  the  root  of  all  others"  (L.). — 
One  must  grow  in  order  to  be  able  to  lift  the  top 
80  high  ;  this  is  not  so  quickly  reached  ; — on  the 
other  hand,  to  arrive  at  the  lowest  depth  there 
needs  only  one  overthrow,  which  may  take  place 
in  a  single  moment.  —  One  falls  more  quickly 
down  a  stair  than  one  mounts  up  again.  —  God 
cannot  suffer  pride  ;  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart,  it  was  said  by  Him  who  was  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh.  Matt.  xi.  29.— Out  of  the  heart  of 
man  proceed  also  aU  high  things  that  are  offensive 
to  God,  which  need  not  always  wear  a  crown,  but 
may  have  merely  a  pen  behind  the  ear,  or  a  pair 
Df  spectacles  on  the  nose.  —  Vers.  12,  13.  From 
the  foreign  land  comes  much  suffering — first 
foreign  sins,  then  punishment  through  foreigners. 
— A  shameful  fall  into  sin,  and  a  frightful  fall 
into  misfortune — both  invite  to  study. — There 
must  also  fall  into  the  valleys  branches  that  have 
been  broken  off,  that  poor  people  may  not  think 
the  great  ones  of  the  earth  are  freed  from  death 
and  judgment. — When  the  punishments  of  God 
break  forth,  then  such  as  can  flee  gladly  make  off, 
while  they  wvre  not  to  be  enticed  out  of  the 
shadow  of  sin,  in  which  they  delighted  them- 
selves.— God  shakes  the  luxurious  tree  from  top 
to  bottom,  and  then  all  that  stuck  to  its  branches 
fall  off;  and  so  they  are  struck  off,  since  they  did 
not  allow  themselves  to  be  warned  off. — "How 
does  the  shadow  of  the  rich  vanish  with  the  sun 
of  prosperity,  and  with  the  shadow  depart  also 
the  flatterers  and  panegyrists  !  "  (Stck.) — He  who 
chooses  to  be  forsaken  must  become  poor. — Fate 
can  keep  up  the  interest,  but  a  rich  man  who  has 
become  poor  is  a  woe-begone  phenomenon  for  the 
world. — "  How  often  do  the  goods  of  a  rich  man 
become  scattered  over  the  world  after  his  death ! " 
(Stck.)  —  Discern  false  friends  in  adversity! — 
To  cut,  and  peck,  and  aid  in  plundering  the  very 
person  in  whose  prosperity  men  formerly  basked, 
end  whom  they  hardly  knew  how  to  laud  highly 
enough! — "So  deeply  is  the  friendship  of  the 
world  rooted,  and  its  caresses.  So  long  as  all  goes 
well,  friends  and  worshippers  are  readily  found. 
But  when  that  changes,  all  goes  otherwise  "(B.  B. ). 
Ver.  14.  Precautions  must  be  taken  that  the 
trees  do  not  grow  into  the  heavens. — All  are  born 
naked — no  one  comes  in  purple  into  the  world  ; 
but  that  is  far  from  working  so  powerfully  as  the 
thought  that  the  king  must  die  as  the  beggar. — 
Death  the  moral  of  the  human  fable. — "A  mighty 
lesson  for  our  time"  (Right.).  —  Somewhat  for 
people  who  would  see  clearly  upon  the  death  of 
Napoleon. — That  there  is  to  be  a  general  judg- 
ment after  this  life  is  evident  alone  from  death, 
which  strikes  all,  even  great  men.  —  "The  con- 
sideration of  the  inevitable  exit  of  all  who  live 
should  beget  moderation  in  pretensions.  We 
take  nothing  with  us  of  that  which  so  many 
desire  with  such  eagerness"  (L. ). — Vers.  15-18. 
Great  fates  cast  forth  also  great  shadows. — If  our 
terrors  did  but  lead  us  to  the  knowledge  of  our 
misery,  as  well  as  of  the  glory  of  God  ! — The 
grave  unites  all  at  the  last. —  "The  gloi-y  of  the 
earth  must  become  dust  and  ashes,"  etc. — But 
who  believes  our  report  ?  may  be  said  also  here 


he  who  exalts  himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  who 
humbles  himself  shall  be  exalted. — "Thus  GoJ 
throws  the  loftinesses  of  men  into  one  heap  "  (B. 
B. ).  —  "And  so  circumcision  makes  a  distiuition  in 
death  -  not,  of  course,  that  which  is  done  in  the 
flesh,  but  the  circumcised  heart ;  so  that  a  circum- 
cised person  may  have  his  place  also  among  the 
uncircumcised,  as,  on  the  other  side,  uncircum- 
cised  persons,  who  are  not  so  in  heart,  may  be 
counted  as  circumcised.  At  the  close,  however, 
the  prophet  writes  the  name  '  Pharaoh '  on  the 
lid  of  the  coflBn  "  (Cocc). 

On  Ch.  xxxii. 

Vers.  1,  2.  How  far  otherwise  have  the  court 
poets  ever  and  anon  elegized  ! — The  comparisoi 
with  lions  and  dragons  withdraws  much  that  is 
human  in  respect  to  Pharaoh.  —  "This  robber- 
fish  (?)  and  dragon,  which  with  his  feet  troubles 
the  streams,  is  like  the  beast  that  should  ascend 
out  of  the  sea  (Rev.  xiii.).  Pharaoh  is  hence  the 
enemy  of  the  chosen,  a  roaring  lion,  which 
troubles  the  waters  of  heavenly  wisdom  with  the 
slime  of  human  additions,  so  that  they  provide 
no  proper  drink  for  those  %vho  thirst  for  salva- 
tion "  (H.  H.).  —  "Should  Christian  kings  be  like 
lions  and  dragons  ?  They  ought  to  be  the  fathers 
of  their  country,  caring  day  and  night  for  the 
welfare  of  their  subjects"  (St.). — "Tyrants  and 
the  covetous  are  insatiable,  and  cannot  be  at  rest" 
(Stck.). —  "Ah!  how  much  misfortune  can  be 
brought  about  by  a  restless  ruler !  Therefore  pray 
for  a  peaceful  government  of  the  kingdom"  (St.  ). 

Vers.  3-10.  "  The  godless  hasten  to  meet  their 
destruction,  without  being  afraid  of  it,  but  often 
secretly  driven  thereto  by  God  "  (H.  H.).  —  "God 
is  the  supreme  hunter  and  fisher  ;  He  can  throw 
upon  the  lions  His  toils,  and  upon  the  whales  His 
net,  to  catch  and  destroy  them"  (W.). — "God 
knows  how  to  tame  the  untamed,  to  humble  the 
proud,  and  to  curb  the  fierce ;  who  can  resist  His 
power?"  (Stck.) — To  be  rejected,  if  not  thrown 
entirely  away,  is  the  end  of  the  mighty  after  the 
flesh. — Corruption  the  last  strophe  also  in  heroig 
poetry.  —  "How  mournful  is  it  to  be  cast  away  by 
God!"  (Stck.) — Even  the  ass  mil  plant  his  foot- 
step on  the  wounded  dying  lion. — What  the  rich 
boast  themselves  so  much  of  is  but  a  carcase,  which 
those  who  live  after  them  will  divide  among  them- 
selves.— "After  death,  shame  and  reproach  over- 
take the  wicked  and  shameless"  (H.  H.).  —Vers. 
5,  6.  Overflowing  for  overflowing ;  for  the  waters 
of  Egypt,  now  the  blood  of  the  hosts  of  Pharaoh. 
—  "They  who  formerly  swam  in  pleasures,  shall 
by  and  by  swim  in  their  own  blood"  (Stck.). — 
Ver.  7.  "The  greatness  of  the  calamity  Is  de- 
scribed by  the  prophet  from  the  sense  of  those 
whom  the  tribulation  affects,  to  whom  it  seems 
as  if  the  whole  world  were  enveloped  in  darkness" 
(H.  H.). — "The  lights  of  heaven  truly  shine  only 
for  the  happy ;  the  sun  exists  not  but  for  the  sun- 
lit eye"  (H.). — "The  godly  sustain  themselves 
in  such  circumstances  by  the  thought  that  the 
Lord  is  their  light,  and  therefore  will  not  suffer 
the  light  of  their  heart  to  go  out"  (L. ). — "But 
he  who  despises  the  light  of  grace,  for  him  the 
light  of  glory  also  shall  not  shine"  (Stck.). — It 
is  also  dark,  and  the  stars  even  fall  from  the 
heaven,  when  great,  noble,  important,  eminent 
men,  heroes,  sages,  lawgivers,  governors,  teachers, 
are  carried  off  by  death — or  worse,  when  they  fal 


CHAP.  XXXII. 


30f 


away  into  superstition  or  unbelief,  ungodliness, 
injustice,  and  violence. — Ver.  9.  "Many  a  fall 
leads  to  the  elevation  of  others"  (St.). — To  te 
frightened  is  still  not  to  be  awakened,  and 
awakening  without  enlightenment  is  spiritual 
tumult  without  spiritual  life.  — The  grave,  too,  is 
an  unknown  land,  and  thither  we  are  all  journey- 
ing. Yet  for  faith  there  is  a  sun  which  rises 
upon  it,  that  never  goes  down. — "So  the  Lord 
loves  to  inspire  terror,  that  He  may  break  fleshly 
confidence"  (H.  H. ). — Happy  for  him  whom  a 
sincere  conversion  has  made  secure  against  the 
terrors  which  seize  upon  the  whole  earth ! — He 
who  still  has  to  fear  for  his  soul,  let  him  consider 
that  the  whole  world  can  profit  him  nothing! — 
Every  moment  are  we  in  danger  of  death,  and 
consecjuently  in  sight  of  eternity. 

Vers.  11-16.  If  no  other  cure  proves  effectual, 
then  God  betakes  Himself  to  the  sword. — The 
method  of  salvation  through  blood  and  iron  ;  but 
what  is  the  state  of  society  presupposed  in  con- 
nection witlj  it ! — The  guillotine  and  the  sword 
both  do  their  work  quickly,  and  bring  what  is 
before  as  it  were  under  them. — Ver.  13.  "It 
touches  a  miserly  man  much  more  nearly  if  his 
beast  dies,  than  if  his  children  are  taken  from 
him  by  death"  (St.). — A  stock  of  cattle  a  state 
of  peace. — Vers.  14,  15.  The  stillness  of  the 
desert  is  indeed  stillness,  but  it  is  not  peace,  anj' 
more  than  to  flow  "like"  oil  is  the  soft  nature 
of  the  spirit. — There  is  rest  in  the  grave,  but 
much  unrest  thereafter,  yea,  more  unrest,  and  of  a 
worse  kind  than  existed  before.  —  "There  go  the 
waters  softly,  as  in  mourning"  (Umbr.).' — But 
God  knows  how  to  set  at  rest  a  land  and  its 
creatures  which  have  been  plagued  and  misused 
by  men.  Where  have  the  oppressors  gone?  They 
also  lie  still. — Lamentation  does  not  take  away 
the  pain,  but  in  the  lamentation  it  lives  on. 

Vers.  1 7-.12.  Whoever  would  gain  a  thorough 
insight  into  the  dominions  and  powers  of  the 
earth,  he  must  look  down  into  hell. — The  instruc- 
tive glance  into  hell. — The  song  of  hell. — Ladhnna 
comaulia  of  Ezekiel. — The  doctrine  of  Sheol  as  the 
doctrine  of  the  state  after  death. — What  does  the 
Sheol  of  the  Old  Testament  signify?  (1)  Ac- 
cording to  its  name,  the  demand  of  death  on  all 
persons  and  things,  therefore  the  power  of  death 
over  every  individual  person  and  thing ;  therefore 
that  death  is  the  wages  of  sin,  the  judgment  of 
God's  wrath  which  takes  effect  on  the  flesh.  (2> 
As  to  the  thing,  it  is  the  state  after  death  as 
existence  in  a  spaitious  grave ;  that  is,  notwith- 
standing the  dissolution  of  the  body  and  the 
separation  of  soul  and  body,  a  continuous  life  of 
the  spirit,  and  that  with  consciousness  and  recol- 
lection— hence,  according  to  the  character  of  this, 
in  peace  or  disquiet. — Woe  to  him  whom  the 
doom  of  death  precipitates  into  condemnation  in 
death  ' — One  can  strike  up  no  song  to  the  living 
more  unacceptable,  yet  at  the  same  time  none 
more  profitable,  than  one  about  dying;  should 
any  one  refiue  to  accompany  it,  it  w^  still  be 


sung  upon  him. — He  to  whom  the  earth  was  all, 
when  he  sinks  into  the  grave,  all  sinks  with  him. 
It  is  thus  easily  comprehensible  hoTv  death 
stretches  into  the  future,  even  into  the  grave, 
and  how  all  appears  as  grave  and  graves. — People 
and  princes,  Sheol  demands  both.  —  "Only  to  the 
pious  is  the  tomb  a  chamber  where  they  softly 
sleep,  a  resting-place  without  pain  and  commo- 
tion, a  mother's  bosom  (as  we  are  from  the  earth), 
a  place  of  repose  to  lie  down  in  "  (Stck.). — Ver. 
19.  It  wiU  be  so  much  the  worse  if  one  has  been 
nothing  but  fleshly,  for  death  seizes  in  a  rough  ami 
frightful  manner. — Ver.  20.  The  sword  cuts  intj 
the  life,  severs  from  life,  sadly  if  also  from  God. 
For  to  die  is  what  still  goes  on,  to  corrupt  also; 
but  to  become  lost  for  ever,  that  is  the  death 
without  end,  to  die  for  evermore. — Ver.  21.  The 
salutation  of  the  dead  toward  the  living  when  they 
die. — Ver.  22  sq.  "What  is  received  into  the 
human  heart,  finds  its  grave  also  there  ;  so  round 
about  the  prince  of  death  are  his  grave-places, 
wherein  after  a  spiritual  manner  he  is  buried  " 
(Gregort). — The  grave  for  the  unconverted,  th« 
condemned,  the  perspective  of  the  future  world. 
— "The  grave  is  very  deep,  even  though  in  a 
material  point  of  view  it  may  be  but  a  few  feet 
down ;  it  is  deep  enough  to  shroud  all  glory " 
(H.). — "  Powerfully  seizes  the  mind  and  humbles 
the  pride  the  ever-recurring  There,  when  the 
subject  of  discourse  has  respect  to  a  fallen  king 
and  his  hosts.  .  .  .  We  look  upon  a  limitless 
field  of  graves,  and  it  is  remarkable  and  peculiai 
to  our  prophet,  that  he  transfers  the  graves  also  to 
the  lower  world  "  (Umbr.  ). — "As  the  elect  come 
from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  sit  down  with 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  oi 
God,  so  the  cast  off  find  their  way  to  the  uucir- 
cumcised,  to  the  pierced  by  the  sword,  in  the 
depths  below"  (H.  H.). — Here  many  graves,  in 
the  house  of  the  Father  many  mansions. — The 
counterpart  of  the  fellowship  of  believers  upon 
earth,  of  the  elect  in  heaven. — The  lowest  Sheol 
and  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. — The  earth  is  every- 
where indeed  the  Lord's,  but  not  all  the  dead  die 
in  the  Lord. — Ver.  27.  Men  take  with  them  into 
the  state  of  the  dead  their  knowledge,  and  along 
therewith  the  judicial  sentence  due  to  their 
manner  of  lile. — Nothing  is  forgotten  before  God 
which  is  not  forgiven. — The  wrath  of  God  re- 
mains on  them,  it  is  said  in  John.  —Ver.  31.  "It 
is  a  wretched  consolation  which  is  derived  from 
the  circumstance  that  people  see  in  others  the 
same  torments  which  themselves  e.^perience. 
And  yet  misguided  mortals  do  really  comfort 
themselves  with  it.  It  is  a  common  necessity, 
they  say  ;  others  have  experienced  the  same,  and 
are  experiencing  it  daily,"  etc.  (H.  H.  I — The  word 
of  God,  however,  brings  home  to  every  m&n  at 
last  the  application :  this  is  such  and  such  an 
one  ;  as  we  find  written  on  the  tombstones  :  Here 
lies  N.  N. — "The  Pharaohs  prepare  to  swallow 
up  without  mercy :  Jacob's  Shepherd  laughs  at 
them,"  etc.  (HuxEB.) 


sot  EZEKIEL. 


B.  SECOND  PRINCIPAL  PART.— Ch.  xxxiil-xlviii. 

THE  PROPHECY   OF   GOD'S   MERCIES   TOWARD   HIS   PEOPLE  IN 

THE  WORLD. 


I.   THE  RENEWAL  OF  EZEKIEL'S  DIVINE  MISSION— Ch.  xx.xnt. 

1,  2  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  saying,  Son  of  man,  speak  to  the 
sons  of  thy  people,  and  say  to  them.  When  I  bring  a  sword  upon  ii  land,  and 
the  people  of   the  land  take  a  man  from   their  borders,  and  set  him  for 

3  their  watchman ;    And  he  sees  the  sword  coming  upon  the  land,  and  blows 

4  the  trumpet,  and  warns  the  people ;  And  any  one  hears  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet,  and  does  not  take  warning,  and  the  sword  comes  and  takes  him 

5  away,  his  blood  shall  be  upon  his  own  head.  He  heard  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet,  and  took  not  warning  ;  his  blood  shall  be  upon  him,  since,  letting 

6  himself  be  warned,  he  would  make  his  soul  [his  life]  escape  [would  deliver  n].  And 
the  watchman,  when  he  sees  the  sword  coming,  and  does  not  blow  the  trum- 
pet, and  the  people  are  not  warned,  and  the  sword  shall  come  and  take  away 
a  soul  [a  man]  from  among  them,  he  is  taken  away  in  his  iniquity,  but  his  blood 

7  will  I  require  at  the  watchman's  hand.  And  thou,  son  of  man,  [as  a]  watch- 
man have  I  given  thee  to  the  house  of  Israel,  and  [so]  thou  hearest  the  word 

8  out  of  My  mouth,  and  thou  warnest  them  from  Me.  If  I  say  to  the  wicked, 
Wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the 
wicked  from  his  way,  he,  the  wicked  man,  in  [on  account  of]  his  iniquity  shall 

9  die,  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thy  hand.  But  if  thou  dost  warn  a 
wicked  man  of  his  way,  that  he  turn  from  it,  and  he  does  not  turn  from  his  way, 
he  shall  die  in   [on  account  of]   his  iniquity,  but  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul. 

10  Aiid  thou,  son  of  man,  say  to  the  house  of  Israel :  Thus  ye  say,  saying,  If  our 
transgressions  and  our  sins  are  upon  us,  and  we  pine  in  [on  account  of]  them, 

1 1  how  shall  [can]  we  then  live  1  Say  to  them.  As  I  live,  saith  [sentence  of]  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  if  I  should  have  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked  !  but  in  the 
turning  of  a  wicked  man  from  his  way,  that  he  may  live.     Turn  ye,  turn  ye 

12  from  your  evil  ways ;  and  why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of  Israel  t  And  thou,  son 
of  man,  say  to  the  sons  of  thy  people,  The  righteousness  of  the  righteous 
shall  not  deliver  him  in  the  day  of  his  transgression,  and  through  [in  the] 
wckedness  of  the  wicked  shall  he  [the  wicked]  not  stumble  [fail]  in  the  day  of 
his  turning  from  his  wickedness ;  and  a  righteous  man  shall  not  be  able  to 

13  live  thereby  [namely,  because  he  is  a  righteous  man]  in  the  day  of  his  sin.  When  I  say 
of  the  [to  the]  righteous,  He  shall  surely  live,  and  he  trusts  in  his  righteousness 
and  commits  iniquity,  all  his  righteousnesses  shall  not  be  remembered,  and  in 

14  his  iniquity  which  he  does,  in  it  shall  he  die.  And  when  I  say  to  the  wickeii. 
Thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  he  turns  from  his  sin,  and  does  judgment  and 

15  righteousness  :  If  the  wicked  shall  restore  a  pledge,  shall  repay  what  he  had 
robbed,  if  he  walks  in  the  statutes  of  life,  that  he  do  no  iniquity — he  shall 

16  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die  !  All  his  sins  which  he  sinned,  they  shall  not  be 
remembered  to  him  ;  he  does  judgment  and  righteousness ;  he  shall  surely 

17  live  !     And  the  sons  of  thy  people  are  saying.  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not 

18  right — but  they,  their  way  is  not  right !   When  a  righteous  man  turns  from  hia 

1 9  righteousness  and  commits  iniquity,  then  he  shall  die  thereby  :    And  when  a 


CHAP.  XXXIir.  30i 

wicked  man  turns  from  his  wickedness,  and  does  judgment  and  righteousness, 

20  thereby  shall  he  live.    And  ye  say  :  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  right  I    Every 

21  one  as  his  ways  [are]  will  I  judge  you,  0  house  of  Israel. — And  it  came  to  pass, 
in  the  twelfth  year,  in  the  tenth  [month],  on  the  fifth  of  the  month  of  our  cat> 

22  tivitv,  the  escaped  from  Jerusalem  came  to  me,  saying.  The  city  is  taken.  And 
the  hand  of  Jehovah  was  upon  me  [came  upon  me]  in  the  evening  before  the 
coming  of  the  escaped,  and  He  opened  my  mouth,  until  he  came  to  me  in 

23  the  morning ;  and  my  mouth  was  opened,  and  I  was  no  longer  dumb.     And 
2i  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  sajdng.   Son  of  man,  the  inhabitants  of  those 

ruins  on  the  ground  of  Israel  are  saying,  Abraham  was  one,  and  he  got  the 
land  for  a  possession,  and  we  [are]  many,  and  the  land  is  given  us  for  a  posses- 

25  sion.  Therefore  say  to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Ye  eat  upon  [witii] 
the  blood,  and  ye  lift  your  eyes  [continually]  to  your  abominable  idols,  and  shed 

26  blood,  and  shall  ye  possess  the  land  ?  Ye  stand  upon  your  sword,  ye  do 
abomination,  and  pollute  every  one  his  neighbour's  wife,  and  shall  ye  possess 

27  the  land  ?  Say  thus  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  As  I  live,  if 
they  w^ho  are  in  the  ruins  shall  not  fall  by  the  sword  !  And  him  that  is  in 
the  field  will  I  give  to  the  beasts  to  be  eaten,  and  they  that  are  in  the  forts 

28  and  in  the  caves  shall  die  of  the  pestilence.  And  I  give  the  land  to  waste 
and  desolation,  and  the  pride  of  its  .strength  ceases  :  and  the  mountains  of 

29  Israel  are  waste,  that  no  one  jiasses  over  them.  And  they  know  that  I  [am] 
Jehovah,  when  I  give  the  land  to  waste  and  desolation,  because  of  all  their 

30  abominations  which  they  have  done. — And  thou,  son  of  man,  the  sons  of  thy 
people  talk  of  thee  beside  the  walls  and  in  the  doors  of  the  houses,  and 
speak  one  with  another,  each  with  his  brother,  saying.  Come  now,  and  hear 

31  what  the  word  is  which  proceedeth  from  Jehovah  !  And  thev  will  come  to 
thee  as  a  people  conies,  and  will  be  before  thee  [as]  My  people,  and  they  hear 
thy  words,  and  they  will  not  do  them  ;  for  [but]  in  their  mouth  they  are  prat- 
ing  loves    I  evei"  making  luve-songs,  have  wanton  pieces  in  their  mouth]  J   their  heart  goeS  after 

32  their  gain.  And  lo  !  thou  art  to  them  as  a  wanton  song,  beautiful  of  sotuid 
[voice],  and  one  striking  the  chords  well ;  and  they  hear  thy  words,  and  do 

33  them  not.  And  when  it  comes — lo  !  it  comes,  then  they  know  that  a  pro- 
phet was  in  the  midst  of  them. 

Ver.    2.  Vulir.:  de  novissimii  luu — (^licet  ex  injimis  suis,  Rosenm.,  vtt  de  exallentioribus,  Lyra). 

Ver.    3   Sept.:  .  .  .  xcit  rviUMvY,  t.  Xotii, 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .  xai  fjLr,  fukoLlr^xt  -  et  non  se  ohserrarerit — 

Ver.  13.  Sept.   .  .  .  etnoutat  gtvef-uv  oti  /Ar  X4XXMr>:  cur0v  .  .   .   iu»KfflTxi  ffm9*,*ixt— 

Ver.  IS.  ...  EH  etiiTei;  ^,;d-frai. 

Ver.  21.  Sept.  .  .  .  f»  t.  iniiiuLru  ftn** — Vulg.:   vatlala  est  civitas!    (Another  read.:  mU^   *r.E^*V3»  Syr.) 

Ver.  22.  .  .  .  x.  tnnx}.inrdx  trt. 

Ver.  25.  Another  read.  :  D3*3'in,  fully. 

Ver.  26.  .  .  ,  ««/ i^r?  to»  TA»:(r<«k  airay  i,t^x»«Ti—( Another  read. :  Dn^B^V) 

Ver.  28.  Sept. :   .  .  .  3i«  ro  u,r,  u^tu  duxro^fueaf vey. 

Ver.  31.  .  .  .  flTi  -J/EfSsf  fir  T.  a-TofAxTt  etvToit  X.  ertfftt  T.  fitctffMtTtif  eciran — Vulg. :  quia  in  canticujK  oHt  sui  vertuntiltct 
tt  araritiam  suam — 

Ver.  32.  Ka*  yar,  ttirott  arf  f*»»!  ■^it>.Tr,^tou  r,3yj**ffy  iy«{,i.M*'T#:^— Vulg. :  quasi  carmen  musiciw,  quod  suavi  dut~ 
Cifve  tono  canitur ; — 

Ver.  33.  .  .  .  sjcy(ri» 'IJoy  i,xii — 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

It  ■»  «  question  whether  the  last  division  of  our 
book  opens  with  this  cliapter.  Kliefoth  denies  it 
from  the  contents,  which  point  back  to  what  pre- 
cedes, ch.  iii,  17  sq.,  xviii.  20  sq.  The  third  part 
must  begin  with  ver.  21.  In  contrast  to  the  foreign 
nations,  ver.  2  associates  this  word  of  threaten- 
ing against  Israel  with  the  words  of  threaten- 
ing against  foreign  nations  previously  given,  as  is 
done  also  in  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah.  Ch.  xxv.  1- 
zxxii.  32  numbers  thirteen  words  of  God  ;  thereto 
belongs  ch.  xxxiii.  1-20  as  a  fourteenth,  in  order 
to  make  out  the  number  2X7.     The  contents, 


threatenings  and  warnings,  are  not  suited  as  an 
introduction  to  the  promises  of  the  third  part ; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  quite  proper  as  a 
conclusion  to  the  preceding  portions.  Hengsten- 
berg  also  regards  ch.  xxxiii.  1-20  as  the  author's 
conclusion,  but  to  the  whole  of  what  precedes, 
namely,  ch.  i.-xxxii.  The  text  does  not  show 
the  impossibility  of  Ezekiel  having  delivered  a 
prophecy  to  his  people  before  the  arrival  of  the 
escaped  ;'  but  the  admitted  r^mmi  out  of  the 
preceding  is  no  argument  against  the  supposition 
of  an  introduction  to  the  following,  as  we  shall 
see,  just  as  little  as  the  want  of  a  specification  of 
time.      For  with   reference  to  the  latter  point. 


506 


EZEKIEL. 


Hitzig  justly  jioints  to  the  historical  notice  stand- 
ing in  the  midille,  vers.  21,  22.  Its  importdnce 
for  the  present  chapter,  in  fact,  makes  any  farther 
indication  of  time  superfluous  ;  as  was  remarked 
by  Hav.,  who  in  this  only  goes  too  far,  that  he 
makes  the  revelations  on  to  ch.  xxxix.  to  have 
been  imparted  to  the  prophet  in  oiie  night — the 
portion  vers.  1-20  forming  the  somewhat  earlier 
introduction  revealed  to  him,  and  vers.  21-33 
attaching  itself  to  the  other  very  closely  as  a  new 
introduction. 

This  chapter  has  iirst  of  all  its  relation  to  the 
transition  portion,  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.  In  this  re- 
spect it  likewise  has  a  transition  character, 
which  on  one  side  gives  indication  of  itself  in 
this,  that  it,  as  also  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.,  points 
back  to  the  earlier  part.  For  as  the  predictions 
of  judgment  upon  those  without  are  in  some 
sense  au  appendage  to  the  repeated,  always  in- 
creasingly definite  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  so  ch.  xxxiii.  2  sq  ,  in  what  it  says  of 
the  watchman  -  agency  of  Ezekiel,  attaches  an 
admonition  for  Israel  to  try  themselves,  in  pre- 
sence of  this  activity  of  tlie  prophet,  whether 
Ezekiel  had  not  dealt  faithfully  with  his  obliga- 
tion, or  Lsrael  with  his  warning  ;  but  especially 
as  regards  the  exiled,  the  verses  10  sq.  render 
conspicuous,  in  contrast  with  the  despair  of 
these,  God's  will  and  procedure,  and  verses  17  sq. 
set  forth  these  as  being  the  right  way.  If  people 
will  not  renounce  every  kind  of  a  connection, 
for  which  there  is  no  foundation,  they  will  find — 
where  now  what  was  announced  in  ch.  xxiv.  26 
sq.  begins  to  enter — the  supposition  of  a  close  to 
the  past  prophetic  acti\-ity  of  Ezekiel,  the  pro- 
phecy of  juilgmeut,  quite  deserving  of  acceptation. 
It  was  a  close  proceeding  out  of  as  well  as  with 
that  which  had  preceded.  But  by  reason  of  the 
relation  of  this  chapter,  as  now  indicated,  pri- 
marily to  ch.  xxv.-x.Kxii.,  is  farther  expressed 
its  relation  to  the  first  main  division,  ch.  i.-xxiv. 
On  the  other  side,  however,  the  transition  cha- 
racter of  the  section  ch.  xxv.-xxxii.  (pp.  11,  12) 
is  proved  by  that  which  is  contained  in  these 
chapters  of  a  preparatory,  introductory  nature  to 
the  second  main  division  of  the  book.  This  is 
the  case  also  with  our  present  chapter.  It  might 
already  be  regarded  as  a  preparation  for  some- 
thing new,  that  at  the  close  with  what  precedes  the 
call  of  Ezekiel  is  formulated  out  of  it,  and  Israel 
is  challenged  to  self-examination,  as  also  to  an 
acquittal  of  the  prophet  and  a  justification  of 
God.  The  in  part  verbal  reference  of  this  chapter 
to  ch.  iii.  and  xviii.,  in  vers.  2-20,  certainly  does 
not  (as  Keil  supposes)  set  forth  the  caU  of  Ezekiel 
for  the  luture,  but  it  contains  a  renewal  of  his 
divine  mission.  The  connecting  together  of  the 
two  halves  of  the  chapter  is  on  no  account  to  be 
regarded  as  "merely  accidental."  "The  two 
verses  25  and  26,  just  as  ver.  15,  alike  point  back 
to  ch.  xviii.  >  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  ver. 
106  is  in  accord  with  ch.  xxiv.  23,  cannot  be 
overlooked"  (HiTZ.).  The  full-toned  charge  in 
ver.  2:  "Speak  to  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  say  to 
them,"  suits  well  as  a  commencement,  while  ver. 
24  looks  only  like  a  contiimation.  What  Ezekiel 
must  say  to  the  sons  of  his  people  (ver.  2)  pre- 
pares for  the  opening  of  his  mouth  (ver.  22),  and 
BO  introduces  what  is  to  be  said  in  ver.  25. 
There  can  be  ho  doubt  that  what  is  stated  in  vers. 
21,  22  is  the  fulfilment  of  ch.  xxiv.  26,  27 ;  so 
that  the  new,  to  which  the  verses  2-20  form  the 


preparation  and  introduction, — the  prophecy  ol 
God's  mercies  toward  His  people  in  the  world,— 
is  the  second  main  division  of  the  book.  "The 
passage,  also,  ver.  10  sq.  explicitly  directs  the 
despairing  to  grace,  while  in  the  parallel  passage, 
ver.  24  sq. ,  the  stout-hearted  are,  on  the  contrary, 
pointed  to  the  judgment ;  so  that  the  section  ver, 
23  sq.  speaks  just  as  much  of  threatening  as  oi 
the  opposite. 

Vers.  1-20.    What  hind  of  a  sending  of  Ezekiel 
that  was  which  is  now  renewed. 

Ver.  1.  On  what  occurred  in  the  twelfth  year, 
after  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  on  the  evening  or 
during  the  night  before  the  escaped  made  hia 
appearance,  comp.  at  ver.  22.  The  address  being 
to  the  sons  of  thy  people  (ver.  2),  shows  that  he 
was  now  to  turn  from  foreign  nations  to  Israel 
again  —  although  ?|i3y  is  still  used,  not  <i3j(,  as 

at  ver.  31  for  the  first  time.  There  is  already 
a  preparation  made  for  the  great  turn  which 
divides  the  book.  —  If  an  application  to  the 
fellow-exiles  of  the  prophet  is  primarily  to  be 
understood,  there  is  still  a  more  general  one 
indicated  in  what  follows, — that  to  the  Israel 
of  the  captivity  the  Israel  at  home  were  to  be 
added,  that  Israel  generally  were  to  be  con- 
templated. For  ^vith  this  also  agrees  "the  house 
of  Israel  "  in  the  application  of  the  similitude 
(ver.  7),  according  to  wliich  the  children  of  the 
people  of  the  prophet  were  thought  of  in  common, 
as  those  who  were  entering  into  one  and  the  same 
condition  (j<i2).  jist  as  in  the  similitude  itseli 
"land  "  is  spoken  of,  and  »nx  placed  quite  abso- 

hitely  (comp.  xiv.  13). — The  idea  is  first  expressed 
figuratively,  vers.  2-6,  before  Israel  is  put  into 
the  frame  and  hung  on  the  wall  (vers.  7-9). — jns 

N'3S"'3i  spoken  generally,  but  not   altogether 

hypothetically  ;  so,  however,  that  the  hearers 
should  think  of  a  case  before  them  which  had 
either  actually  occurred  or  was  in  the  act  of  doing 
so.  The  enemy  was  on  the  way  (HiTZ.,  Grot.), 
was  standing  at  the  cross-way  (ch.  xxi.  26  [21], 
xxiv.  2).  The  turning  of  the  matter  into  a  simili- 
tude is  peculiar  to  our  passage,  as  distinguished 
from  ch.  iii.  16-21.  Peculiar,  also,  is  the  trait  in 
a  manner  necessitating  a  certain  experience  on 
the  part  of  the  hearers,  that  the  people  of  the  land 
in  question,  the  men,  were  themselves  to  appoint 
the  watchmen,  whence,  in  case  they  did  not  give 
heed  to  him,  they  withstood  and  strove  against 
themselves,  and  so  should  be  the  more  convicted 
of  their  guilt  and  foUy. —  Dn'VpDi  singular,  but 

in  a  pliual  sense  :  from  the  end  on  all  sides,  the 
entire  territory  of  the  land;  according  to  the 
suffix,  to  be  understood  of  the  whole  community, 

with  reference  to  !inpP  and  QPI?  'mTM  (Gen.  xix. 

4;  1  Kings  xii.  31).  Hav.,  Tuch  decide  for  an 
ellipsis  nvp  IJfl- — On  riBV,  comp  onch.  iii.  17. 

— Ver.  3.  Corresponding  to  the  fundamental  idea 
of  nSV,  nSIV — IDiC'   of  tli^  '^^^^^  resounding 

tone.  That  we  are  to  think  of  a  horny  sort  of 
instrument,  if  not  one  simply  of  horn,  is  evident 
from  its  being  exchanged  with  l^p,  in  Josh,  vi 


CHAP.  XXXIII.  4-13. 


301 


for  example.      "isitJ'  Jjpn  is  distinguished  as  a 

signal  for  the  calling  together  of  the  people,  in 
Num.  X.  6,  7,  from  the  sounding  of  an  alarm  at  a 
breaking  up.  Here  it  is  manifestly  applied  to  the 
acnouucemeut  of  the  enemy,  for  a  warning  or 
advertisement  to  the  people  (comp.  ch.  iii.  17, 
and  pp.   72,    73).  —  Ver.   i.  yotj'n  youn,    who 

hath  ears  to  hear  (Rev.  ii.  7,  11,  etc.). — iriH  f<"' 

intJ-  — -^nd  the  sword  comes,  when  the  sword  is 

a-coming,  and  what  is  to  be  feared  cannot  be  a 
matter  of  doubt.  Ewald  :  "so  that  the  sword 
came  and  carried  him  away,  then  his  blood,"  etc. 
Vccording  to  Hengst.  :  because  jjcople  are  wont 
to  carry  on  their  heads  ;  according  to  others,  the 
image  is  derived  from  sacrifice,  in  which  the 
ofi'erer  transferred  his  guilt  to  his  victim  by  the 
laying  on  of  his  hand  (Lev.  i.  4,  Kxiv.  H ;  Matt. 
xxvii.  25). — Ver.  5.  The  alone  .self-guiltiness  of 
the  individual  is  here  made  still  more  manifest. 
An  explication  without  any  need  of  the  '3,  for. 

— 13,  as  much  asit;'K-|3,  ver.  4. — Hitzig  :  "Be- 
cause he  let  himself  be  warned,  he  has  delivered 
his  soul."      iniJ  is  here  the  participle. 

Ver.  6.  The  similitude  has  hitherto  proceeded 
on  the  supposition  that  the  watchman  does  his 
duty,  because  this  is  really  the  case  in  hand. 
But  now  the  other  supposition  is  made,  that  he 
has  neglected  what  belonged  to  his  calling.  —  {j^ri, 
masculine,  referring  to  {>>J3J. —  Since  only  the  soul 

which  continues  in  .sin  is  HaWe  to  death  (ch. 
xviii.  4,  etc.),  a  wicked  person  is  presupposed 
(as  at  ch.  iii.  18)  as  the  one  that  should  be  carried 
away  ;  it  should  be  through  his  guilt,  on  account 
of  it  and  in  it.  But  while  previously  the  guilt 
of  his  blood  was  simply  his  own,  the  blood-guilt 
of  his  disobedience  in  respect  to  the  intended 
warning  is  now,  without  regard  to  his  guilt 
otherwise  and  generally,  sought  at  the  hand  of 
the  watchman.  It  is  to  be  ohserved  that  for  this 
{^T|  is  used  here,  while  we  have  t'ps  at  cli.  iii. 

18,  20. — That  the  case  supposed  is  only  a  pos- 
sible, by  no  means  a  real  one,  appears  from  the 
application  made  of  it  at  Ver.  7  to  Ezekiel — for 
the  T^orairi;  the  iirojoiri;  (comp.  Heb.  xiii.  17). 
At  the  same  time  is  liis  installation  as  watchman 
to  the  house  of  Israel  taken  out  of  human  hands, 
— in  that  case,  when  men  appoint  for  themselves 
a  watchman,  the  last-named  possibility  (ver.  6) 
might  all  tlie  more  readUy  take  place,  — and 
Jehovah  carries  back  the  watchman -office  of 
Ezekiel    expressly   to    Himself    (I   have    given 

thee).^'jlj;OE7),  such  literally  was  the  expression 

used  of  the  call  given  in  ch.  iii.  17,  so  that  we 
must  think  of  supplying  to  the  words  marks  of 
quotation  ;  therefore  not  importing  that  the 
prophet  must  thereby  be  instructed  with  respect 
to  the  future. — Ver.  8.  The  same  as  before,  only 
with  a  still  more  emphatic  address  than  at  ch. 
iii.  18. — Ver.  9.  So  here  again  ;  comp.  at  ch.  iii. 
19  (Acts  XX.  25,  26). 

Ver.  10.  Since  nothing  of  the  neglect  of  duty 
which  had  taken  place  is  charged  upon  the  pro- 
phet, only  the  original  direction  given  him  is 
igaiu  literally  repeated :  the  guilt  must  be  sought 


among  the  people,  as  was  really  the  case,  and 
indeed  is  clear  from  their  own  lips,  as  stated  here. 

— ibS^i  '''«'''  saying   is  set   over   against   that 

which  had  been  said  to  the  prophet  in  divin« 
direction,  according  to  which  he  must  speak, 
their  doing  also  in  regard  to  the  Lord,  as  the? 
had  known  it  from  the  prophet's  behaviour  to- 
ward them,  set  over  against  his  doing  and  acting. 
— Of  what  nature  the  divine  mission  of  Ezekiel 
was  from  the  first  has  been  repeated  (vers.  2-91 
in  the  similitude  and  its  explanation,  and  now 
(hence  'ibK  repeated  in  ver.  11)  there  lollows  in 

what  manner  this  mission  of  his  is  renewed  to 
the  prophet.  A  reference  is  made  back  to  ch. 
xviii.,  but  the  diti'erence  between  what  is  said 
there  and  here  must  not  be  overlooked.  While 
there  no  consciousness  of  guilt,  no  confession  of 
sin,  appears  (xviii.  2),  the  predominantly  re- 
criminative work  of  Ezekiel  has  still  produceii 
so  much  effect  that  they  now  say  :  Our  trans- 
gressions and  OUT  sing  are  upon  us.  But  this 
consciousness  and  this  confession  tinges  in  the 
ilarkest  manner  the  feeling  of  despair  in  regard  tc 
life.  It  is  by  no  means  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
cusing themselves  that  the  people  appeal  to  the 
passage  Lev.  xxvi.  39.  Consequently,  the  upon 
us  is  not  to  be  understood  as  meaning:  "testify 
against  us"  ( Rosen M.),  but  as  of  a  burden  under 
which  they  are  sinking  (D'j3DJ  'D31,   comp.  on 

ch.  xxiv.  23,  iv.  17).  Those  who  represented 
themselves  in  ch.  xviii.  as  expiatory  -sutlerers 
for  their  ancestors,  here  are  pining  away  under 
their  own  burden,  and  that  with  reference  to  the 
prospect  of  life,  likewise  repeateiUy  opened  up  in 
ch.  xviii.  (vers.  23,  32).  We  must,  therefore, 
take  into  account  the  pressure,  were  it  only  of  tlie 
evil  forebodings,  the  foreshadows  of  the  event 
mentioned  in  ver.  21,  if  not  the  actual  knowledge 
of  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  ;  so  that  in  this  also 
may  be  seen  preparation,  an  introduction  to  what 
was  to  follow. 

Ver.  11.  What  for  this  despair  in  respect  to 
life  {i.e.  deliverance,  salvation,  favour)  was  the 
declared  mind  and  will  of  Jehovah  in  ch.  xviii. 
23,  32,  the  same  is  here  emphasized  in  the  pecu- 
liar protestation  :  As  I  live,  while  there  it  is  only  : 
"  Have  I  any  pleasure  ?  "  or:  "  for  1  have  no  plea- 
sure"— see  there  also  ch.  xviii.  30,  31. — Ysjil^- 
We  learn,  however,  that  the  question  isaboWt 
conversion  :  "He  combats  despair  only  in  so  far 
as  it  is  a  hindrance  to  repentance.  To  alford 
mere  tranquillity  is  not  the  aim  of  the  prophet  " 
(Hengst.).  Comp.  on  ch.  xviii;  20,  where  in 
like  manner  with  reference  to  conversion  we  have 
this  antithesis:  "righteousness  of  the  righteous," 
and:  "  wickedness  of  the  wicked."     Through  this 

antithesis  to  ^3^'Sri  iih-,  the  expression  X*3<  {{7 

becomes  clear  (Niphal) ;  Geses.  ;  "he  shall  not 
be  unfortunate."  His  own  righteousness  no 
means  of  deliverance,  so  soon  as  he  falls  into 
transgression  ;  and  wickedness,  again,  no  neces- 
sary destruction,  so  soon  as  a  change  to  the  better 
comes.     (ijJCB  is  likewise  infinitive.)      Becaiu*  . 

presently  the  case  of  the  righteous  was  to  be 
spoken  of,  it  is  said  by  way  of  introduction  there- 
to :  And  a  righteonsman,  etc.      n3,  iQ>  through, 

T 

on  account  of  his  righteousness. — Ver.   13.    To 


3U9 


EZEKIEL. 


the  lii'hteous  man  wlio  continues  such,  assurance 
of  life  is  promised.  Confidence  in  one's  own 
rigliteousness  (singular,  as  an  actual  quality), 
when  one  does  unrighteousness  (eh.  iii.  20),  may 
be  on  the  one  side,  but  on  the  other  side  there 
ifill  be  no  remembrance  of  the  earlier  righteous- 
nesses. C'omp.  ch.  xviii.  24,  26. — Ver.  14.  The 
contrast  w-ith  the  wicked.  Here  an  address  to 
such,  because  this  is  what  is  wished  for  ;  com  p. 
ch.  xviii.  21. — Ver.  15.  A  lively  form  of  speech, 
hence  without  the  copula,  an  exemplification. 
Comp.  in  reference  to  it,  ch.  xviii.  7,  12,  16,  21, 

25,  XX.  11.  — Ver.  16.  Comp.  ch.  xviii.  22. 
Ver.  17.  Comp.  on  ch.  xviii.  24  sq.  The  im- 
mediate occasion  for  blame  is  formed  here  by  such 
a  representation  of  the  wicked  (ver.  14  sq. )  who 
repented,  over  the  righteous  who  does  unrighteous- 
ness. The  fact  alone  that  "a  righteous  man" 
couUl  be  spoken  of  before  them  in  such  a  manner, 
more  especially  that  turning,  turning,  is  what  they 
are  called  to,  while  they  had  placed  their  confi- 
dence upon  "the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  " 
(ver.  12) — if  not  theu'  owu,  yet  that  which  be- 
longed to  them,  descended  to  them  as  the  peojile 
of  God  from  their  jiious  forefathers — that  is  the 
stone  in  tlie  way  of  the  Lord  which  the  divine 
address  takes  away,  in  order  to  throw  it  to  the 
quarter  to  which  it  belongs,  namely,  to  the  false 
way  of  Israel,  which  they  had  chosen  for  them- 
selves with  their  outward  carnal  self-righteousness 
in  such  and  such  religious  observances.  Vers. 
18,  19,  however,  do  not  simply  repeat  vers.  13,  14, 
but  the  two  cases  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked 
return  again  in  the  form  which  is  the  most 
appropriate  for  setting  forth  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  in  which  it 
strikes  at  first  sight,  and  at  the  same  time  with 
reference  to  the  command  given:  "  Return,  re- 
turn." Hence  not  'nv^V  n£33"Wni,  as  at  ver. 
13,  but  'ISD  p'^i—DIE'D  (ch.  iii.  20),  and  with 
nothing  farther  Dri3  DDI,  namely,  by  these  two 

parts :  turning  from  his  righteousness,  which 
is   left   unnoticed,    and    doing    unrighteousness. 

(RosENM.  :  (jlj),  collective.)     Comp.  ch.  xviii.  24, 

26.  The  wicked  throws  light  on  this  caricature 
of  turning — a  turning  it  also  is,  indeed,  only  to 
what  is  evil — by  his,  on  the  contrary,  turning 
from  Mb  wickediiess  (in  ver.  14  it  is  from  "  his 
sin"). — Ver.  20,  as  also  ch.  xviii.  29,  repeats 
the  charge  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  suitable 
close.     Comp.  ch.  xviii.  30  (ch.  vii.  27). 

Vers.  21,  22.    Thefregh  turn. 

The  fact  is  now  an  accomplished  one — Jeru- 
salem is  taken  (ch.  xxiv.  25);  and  therewith  we 
have,  as  had  been  foretold  at  the  close  of  ch.  xxiv. , 
not  only  the  arrival  of  the  escaped,  but  as  the 
main  thing  the  opening  of  Ezekiel's  mouth,  that 
he  might  no  more  be  dumb  This  historical 
notice  in  the  middle  of  the  chapter  is  therefore 
the  kernel  of  the  whole  :  the  renewal  of  the 
divine  mission  of  the  prophet,  over  against  the 
completed  acts  of  judgment,  now  gives  to  his 
prophecy  the  expression  of  God's  compassions 
toward  His  people  in  the  world,  with  which  the 
leonnd  main  division  of  the  book  is  occupied. 

The  indication  of  time  which  was  to  mark  the 


turning-point  for  the  prophet  (for  Jerusalem  was 
overcoUie  on  the  9th  of  the  4th  month  of  the 
11th  year)  teaches  us  to  understand  tlie  e;;p;* 
sions:  "in  the  day,"  inch.  xxiv.  25,  or:  "in  that 
day,"  vers.  26,  27,  of  what  was  to  take  place  more 
than  sixteen  months  afterwards.  Hitzig  regards 
it  as  "very  improbable  that  Ezekiel  should  first 
have  received  in  January  5S6  the  report  of  wha*" 
had  happened  to  Jerusalem  in  July  5S8  ;  "  and  it 
place  of  considering  that  the  text  could  not  mean 
to  speak  uf  the  report,  he  makes  the  prophet 
over  and  above  "contradict  himself,"  inasmuch 
as,  according  to  ch.  xxvi.  1,  2,  he  had  already  in 
the  eleventh  year  lieard  the  report  of  the  matter 
— which,  however,  is  not  necessarily  rendered 
clear  by  ch.  xxvi. — and  theu  at  the  close  he 
changes  the  twelfth  year  into  the  eleventh,  wliich 
is  supported  by  the  Syrian  translation  alone. 
Hengst.  justly  remarks  that  the  notice  does  not 
refer  to  the  first  report  concerning  the  taking  of 
Jerusalem,  and  then  proceeds:  "The  news  of 
sucli  events  spread  with  amazing  rapidity.  The 
intelligence,  doubtless,  arrived  in  eight,  or  at 
the  most  fourteen  days  at  the  abode  of  Ezekiel  ; 
so  that  the  difiicultj'  is  not  removed  by  assuming 
most  arbitrarily  an  error  in  the  text,  and  putting 
the  eleventh  in  place  of  the  twelfth  year. "  The 
meaning  of  what  was  announced  beforehand  in 
ch.  x.xiv.,  and  according  to  our  verse  had  now 
actually  occurred,  is  tiiat  in  place  of  all  reports  — 
so  fitted  to  awaken  hope,  yet  traversing  the  way 
of  the  Lord  with  His  people,  always  again 
paralysing  their  necessary  conversion — whicli  up 
to  the  last  had  arrived,  a  certain  fugitive  shall 
now  speak,  and,  as  an  eye-witness,  place  beyond 
all  dispute  what  had  actually  happened.  The 
matter-of-fact  voucher  given  into  the  hand  of  the 
exiled  with  this  escaped  one  must  have  removed 
out  of  the  path  of  safety  what  at  least  the  strong 
walls  of  Jerusalem  threw  in  the  way  of  their 
turning  to  the  Lord.     Eor  the  meaning  ascribed 

to  D'PBn,  to  make  one's  escape,  get  off  through 

flight  (Gen.  xiv.  13),  it  is  not  necessary,  with 
Hengstenberg,  to  suppose  an  ideal  person,  a  col- 
lective, that  is,  "a  band  of  exiles,"  as  Ezekiel 
had  already  intimated,  ch.  xiv.  22,  23,  that  a  whole 
host  of  such  fugitives  would  come  to  the  exiles, 
"so  that  these  by  their  miserable  plight  should 
be  a  living  proclamation  of  the  frightful  cata- 
strophe through  which  they  had  passed. "  Hitzig 
thinks  that  "  the  fugitive  may  have  escaped  im- 
mediately after  the  bloodshed  at  Mizpah  from  the 
band  of  Ishmael  (Jer.  xli.  10);  if  not,  which  is 
improbable,  only  after  the  flight  which  ensued 
into  Egypt."  J,  D.  llichaelis  explains  out  of 
the  remoteness  of  Ezekiel's  place  of  residence  the 
so  late  arrival  of  the  fugitive,  especially  consider- 
ing the  frightful  disorder  that  took  place. 

Ver.  22.  And  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  etc.  ; 
comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  1,  i.  3.  The  eff'ect  of  it  was 
the  opening  vf  the  mouth.  But  this  latter  can  be 
virtuaUy  and  actually  distinguished.  In  th'V 
respect  the  opening  of  the  mouth  of  Ezekiel  took 
place  when  it  was  commanded  him  that  he  should 
speak  to  the  sons  ol  his  people,  in  respect  to 
whom  he  had  been  dumb  from  the  time  indicated 
in  ch.  xxiv.  He  began  to  do  so  at  ver.  1  of  this 
chapter,  to  which,  therefore,  the  expression  con- 
cerning "the  hand  of  Jehovah"  brings  us  back 
— namely,  that  this  hand  had  now  removed  from 
him  his  previous   dumbness,  so  that  he  might 


CHAP.  XXXIII.  23-25. 


30? 


henceforth  again  speak  to  Israel,  and  should  do 
so.  J.  D.  Mirhaelis  remarks  quite  correctly  : 
"the  prophet  fell  into  ecstasy,'  and  the  word 
contained  in  vers.  2-20  was  imparted  to  him.  In 
regard  to  the  time,  it  is  more  precisely  stated  that 
the  divine  cause  comes  into  operation  on  the 
evening  before  the  coming  of  the  escaped  ;  and 
parallel  therewith  was  the  effect,  the  opening  of 
the  prophet's  mouth,  'i^x  N3~1V,  therefore  in  the 

interval  between  the  evening  and  the  morning. 
It  was  hence  independently  of  the  escaped  that 
the  prophet  got  a  renewal  of  his  commission,  and, 
indeed,  while  there  was  combined  with  the  re- 
moval of  his  previously  enforced  silence  a  direct 
positive  revelation  and  communication.  Through 
a  divine  movement  and  working,  everything  was 
thus  prepared  and  introduced  for  that  which  was 
going  to  take  place  on  the  fugitive's  arrival.  For 
the  circumstance  that  on  his  actual  arrival 
Ezekiel's  mouth  was  opened  ('3  nnS'1  is  not  to 

be  regarded  as  an  emphatic  repetition  for  the 
purpose  of  connection  with  what  follows,  hut  in 
contradistinction  to  "S'DN   nOS'l),  adds  to  what 

was  done  potenlia,  as  it  now  also  took  place 
actu,  so  that  the  divine  word,  vers.  2-20,  given 
with  this  aim,  for  this  particular  moment  des- 
tined, was  now  also  spoken  to  the  people  by  the 
prophet;  and  in  proof  that  he  was  no  more  dumb, 
he  immediatelii  proceeded  to  give  the  continuation 
of  it  (ver.  23  sq.).  In  eh.  xxiv.  27  it  was  said 
Ezekiel's  mouth  should  be  opened  ' '  with  "  the 
escaped.  In  the  wider  sense,  namely,  at  the 
same  time,  about  the  time,  when  the  escaped 
should  come,  it  took  place  in  the  evening ; 
literally,  it  took  place  with  him  in  the  morning, 
and  the  renewed  prophetical  mission  of  Ezekiel 
began  then  in  fact.  ["One  may  designate  the 
following  prophecies  as  the  prophetically  repre- 
sented victorious  history  of  Israel,  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  among  men.  I'lie  wonderful,  truly  great, 
and  divine  is  set  forth  here  as  a  contrast  to  the 
present.  In  the  presence  of  death  only  resurrea- 
tion  and  life  !  I'he  deepest  humiliation  of  the 
covenant-people,  their  apparent  annihilation  is 
the  path  to  their  true  gi-eatness,  nay,  to  their 
eternal  glory. " — Hav.]  Hengst.  remarks :  "On 
the  night  before  the  arrival  of  the  exile -band, 
which  was  doubtless  announced  the  day  before, 
took  place  the  opening  of  the  prophet's  mouth, 
the  removal  of  the  seal  as  it  were  from  it.  The 
impulse  to  speak  to  the  people  again  asserted 
itself.  The  prophetic  activity  itself  first  com- 
menced after  the  exile-band  appeared,  the  arrival 
of  which  was  to  form  the  ground  for  the  receiving 
of  the  new  disclosures.  Only  after  the  complete 
death  exhibited  before  their  eyes,  the  annihilation 
of  all  earthly  hopes,  could  the  announcement  of 
the  joyful  resurrection  be  made."  Comp.  besides 
on  ch.  iii.  26,  27,  and  xxii.  21. 

Vers.  23-33.  The  Heneived  Mission  of  Ezekiel  in 
vieic  of  the  Stale  of  Heart  of  those  in  Canaan 
(vers.  23-29),  and  then  of  those  in  the  Cap- 
tivity (vers.  30-33). 

What  sort  of  a  mission  that  of  Ezekiel's  was 
which  was  renewed  to  him,  namely,  to  do  the 
part  of  a  watchman,  to  warn  the  people,  we  have 
already  seen  in  vers.  2-9.  Hence  in  the  connec- 
tion of  the  foUowing  section  with  vers.   1-20 


things  stand  in  their  proper  order,  and  it  entirely 
corresponds  with  a  continuation  of  the  divine  di.s- 
course,  that  such  a  position  of  the  propliet  at  the 
renewal  of  his  divine  mission  first  of  all  comes  to 
an  explanation  with  those  who  are  still  to  b« 
warnetl,  to  be  threatened.  The  beginning  of  the 
ilivine  word  made  known  to  Ezekiel  corresponds 
very  closely  with  that  contained  in  vers.  8,  9. 
It  is  a  complete  misunderstanding  on  the  part  ol 
Kliefoth,  when  he  would  not  find  "the  inhabitants 
of  these  waste  places,"  as  he  renders,  in  the  deso- 
lated Jerusalem,  or  in  the  desolated  cities  of 
.Judah,  or  in  the  desolated  land  of  Canaan,  i.e.  in 
the  remnants  of  the  people  who  still  remained 
there,  but  drags  into  the  text  the  exiles  in  "the 
certainly  not  too  well  cultivated  regions  on  the 

Chaboras. "  niS^n  with  the  article  implies  de- 
molition, ruing  of  cities  and  houses.  Hitzir  : 
"these  wastes,"  less  Jerusalem  itself  than  the 
other  cities  which  had  been  stript  of  their  inhabit- 
ants (Jer.  xxxiii.  13,  10),  in  which  those  who 
were  without  possessions  (Jer.  xxxix.  10)  shared 
with  the  returned  fugitives  (Jer.  xl.  12),  having 
all  at  once  come  to  great  wealth  of  land,  and  were 
puffed  up.  Things  were  lying  in  a  comfortless 
state;  how  do  the  hearts  adjust  themselves  to  the 
comfortless  position  of  things?  "  Th.at  there 
were  people  who  still,  ever  giving  themselves  up 
to  illusions,  thought  that  the  judgment  would 
not  inexorably  run  its  course,  was  proved  by  the 
revolt  in  which  Gedaliah,  the  Chaldean  governor, 
was  slain  "  (Hengst.).  Comp.  also  the  represen- 
tation in  Neh.  i.  of  the  desolate  condition  of 
things,  though  an  interval  of  upwards  of  a  cen 
tury  had  meanwhile  elapsed  ! — As  even  in  the 
time  of  Jesus  they  were  always  throwing  them- 
selves back  on  Abraham  (for  example,  John  viii.. 
Matt.  iii.  9),  so  was  it  the  case  here.  An  argu- 
mentmn  a  minori.  Since  to  Abraham,  an  indi- 
vidual man,  in  his  posterity  the  land  was  given 
for  a  heritage,  the  less  they  conceive  could  it 
possibly  fail  to  them— namely,  to  keep  the  land; 
not  so  properly  with  Hexgst.  to  receive  it  again, 
for  thej'  do  not  give  it  up  as  lost — when  in  point 
of  number  they  were  many,  and  still  more  in  tlie 
feeling  of  their  souls  they  were  without  the 
knowledge  of  sin  and  the  sense  of  guilt.  In  the 
words  of  Hengst :  "they  held  themselves  to  be 
the  true  continuation  of  Abraham's  being,  the 
bearers  of  the  promise  given  to  him  "  (Gen.  .xv. 
7) — the  posterity  in  whom  Abraham  inherited  it, 
to  whom  therefore  it  "was  given."  "They 
overlooked  the  wide  gulf  that  stood  between 
them  and  him  ;  if  they  were  Abraham's  children, 
they  would  have  done  his  works."  (Comp.  at  ch. 
xi.  15.) 

Ver.  25.  To  eat  npon  the  blood  is  explained 
by  Keil  as  eating  of  flesh  which  has  not  been 
cleansed  of  the  blood  ;  comp.  Lev.  xix.  26.  "A 
fundamental  law  of  the  theocracy "  (Hav.  ). 
The  prohibition  was  given  so  early  as  at  Gen.  ix. 
4.  'There  with  respect  to  the  shedding  of  blood, 
as  the  infliction  of  death,  murder;  so  that  it  was 
aimed  against  the  spirit  of  murder  (Hengst.). 
Targum  :  "You  eat  upon  innocent  blood." 
From  the  blood  a  transition  is  made  to  the  eat- 
ing. In  Lev.  xix.  it  appears  in  connection  with 
the  service  of  idolatry,  as  also  here. — Ch.  xviii 
6,  15,  ch.  xxii.  3,  iv.  27. — The  question  is  re- 
peated in  Ver.  26.  To  stand  or  place  one's  self  ii 
=  to  support  one's  self,  therefore  to  place  iui 


810 


EZEKIEL. 


confiilence  thereon,  which  carries  farther  the 
shedding    of    blood.  —  naijin  \T\'''VV,    feminine  ; 

hence  it  has  been  understood  of  the  women, 
with  reference  to  immodest  idolatrous  worship. 
Hengst.  points  to  cli.  xiii.  17  sq.  ("The  femi- 
nine character  of  the  sinner  is  already  indicated 
in  Gen.  iv.  7,  where  it  appears  unmanly  to  let 
sin  contiuer.  instead  of  ruling  over  it.")  Hitzig: 
f  stands  for  a  on  account  of  the  n  following. 
Ch.  xviii.  12,  xvi.  50,  v.  11.  The  abomination 
must,  according  to  Hengst.,  be  adultery  ;  ch. 
xviii.  6,  11. — In  ver.  27,  three  punishments  are 
placed  over  against  2x3  sins.  The  parallel  to 
ver.  10 — here  referring  to  presumption,  there  to 
despair — is  confirmed  by ;  "  As  I  live  "  (ver.  11).  — 
nnina  (■^'^r.  24)  jina,  a  play  of  words. — Ch.  v. 

17,  xiv.  15,  21;  2  Kings  xvii.  25. — nilVO,  the 

mountain-tops,  difficult  of  access;  hence  asylums, 
mountain-fastnesses,  to  which  (as  deeps  to  heights) 
the  caves  correspond  on  the  other  side,  and  which 
come  into  consideration  as  refuges  from  the 
sword  and  ravenous  wild  beasts,  liut  not  from 
the  pestilence.  (1  Sam.  xiii.  6  ;  Jos.  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  16.  4.)  Ch.  T.  17,  xiv.  21.— Ver.  28.  Ch.  vi. 
14.— (Niph.)  ch.  XXX.   18,  vii.   24.— -|3iy  j<X0, 

ch.  xiv.  15.  Cleared  of  men,  even  of  passing 
travellers. — Ver.  29.     Ch.  xxxii.  15. 

Vers.  30-33.  The  reference  in  the  preceding 
verses  to  the  accomplished  fact  of  Jerusalem's 
overthrow  is  followed  in  Ver.  30  by  a  glance  into 
the  immediate  surroundings  of  the  prophet,  as 
they  stood  related  to  his  fresh  mission.  The 
position  of  matters  was  here  full  of  consolation  ; 
the  consolatory  work  of  Ezekiel  must  begin,  the 
announcement  of  salvation  is  going  to  proceed. 
How  do  the  hearts  of  the  exiles  feel  in  regard  to 
this?  The  prophet  cannot  speak  comfort  by 
means  of  Abraham,  after  the  manner  in  which 
they  comforted  themselves  in  Canaan  (ver.  24). 
He  is  "no  servant  of  sin,  but  of  the  living  God  " 
(Hav.).  a  putting  of  the  prophet  rignt,  there- 
fore, with  respect  to  the  men,  such  as  that  which 
fell  to  his  lot  at  the  outset  of  his  mission,  is  en- 
tirely suitable  also  here  for  the  new  beginning 
and  for  the  continuation  even  to  the  end. — And 
thou  corresponds  to  the  application,  ver.  7. — 
Ciansn  ("who  talk  among  themselves;"  they 

are  presented  to  the  prophet,  as  it  were,  with  a  : 
See  there! — Hkngst. ).  Hitzig  makes  the  matter 
too  pointed  when  he  expounds:  "Not  who 
confer  together  upon  thee,  but  who  converse 
about  thee  as  about  a  matter  that  is  of  no  great 
interest  to  them."   On  the  contrary,  ?|3  indicates 

a  continuation  of  the  discourse  and  a  sense  of  in- 
terest, which  Hav.  thinks  cannot  be  understood 
otherwise  than  with  a  hostile  feeling.  Still  less, 
however,  accords  with  such  an  interpretation  the 
regular  assembling  of  the  people  about  the  pro- 
phet, and  above  all,  the  impression  which  the 
fulfilment  of  his  predictions  will  probably  have 
made  upon  them.  He  hence  forms  the  beloved 
standing  object  of  their  plaudits  —  must  have 
done  so,  we  may  rather  say.  '"JVX,  S'W»ni7  down 
by  the  walk  ("upon  the  divan,"  Hengst.)— as 
much  as ;  in  secret,  or  within  their  houses. 
(Scarcely,  as  Hav.  :  "the  sons,  etc.,  who  speak 
i^inst  thee  in   the   house,  are   thy  opponents 


secretly,  and  in  the  doors  of  the  houses,  ir.  public, 
there   every  one   acknowledges   thee.")     'nnE33 

without,  namely,  standing  under  the  gates  ol 
doors  of  the  house.  And  speak;  this  continues 
the  action  of  the  previous  clau.se.  The  full 
form  of  expression  likewise  imports  more  than 
Hitzig  will  conceile  to  them. — The  wonls:  Come 
now,  etc. ,  appear  also  to  intimate  tliat  they  must 
now  expect  something  new,  different  Ironi  what 
they  had  been  hitherto  always  hearing.  But  i-  it 
as  at  Hos.  vi.  1  ?  Would  they  only  hear,  as  they 
say,  and  not  also  obey  ?  not  return  to  the  Lord  ? 
— The  prophet  must  not  deceive  himself  on  this 
account,  that  his  person  is  their  daily  theme 
within  and  without,  nay,  that  they  come  in  a 
manner  to  the  word  of  the  Eternal,  as  is  described 
in  Ver.  31,  namely,  "as  the  coming  of  people," 
that  is,  like  streaming  multitudes,  in  vast  crowds 
("as  on  great  solemnities,"  HXv.) — to  which 
is  parallel  ^sy,  in  an  emphatic  manner  designat- 
ing either:  "My  people"  ironically,  those  who 
should  be  Mine — hear,  but  do  not;  or  :  "as  My 
people,"  that  is,  as  if  they  would  be  My  people, 
and  still  are  not.  Ewald:  "as  if  they  were 
the  true  community."  Or  may  it  not  be  as 
Hengst.:  "so  respectful,  attentive,  and  ap- 
parently earnest  and  willing  "  ?  What  they  will 
not  do  is  clear  from  ver.  11;  the  words  of  the 
prophet  aim  at  the  heart's  conversion. — D'33y"'3, 

Hitzig:  "for  the  lovely  is  according  to  their 
taste;"  but  D'OT  nBH?  and   D''B>y   is  certainly 

suggested  by  1{>>J)'  xp.       "  Lovely  things  "  were 

such  as  they  liked,  desired,  longed  for ;  hence  they 
are  only  about  the  doing  of  that  which  is  pleasant 
in  their  mouth,  smacks  agreeably  to  them. 
Gesenius,  however,  puts  it :  "  For  with  the  mouth 
they  do  what  is  well-pleasing  (to  God),  but  their 
heart  goes  after  their  unrighteous  gain. "  Hengst. 
declares  the  meanings  of  "  loveliness "  and 
"  well  -  pleasing  "  to  be  without  foundation,  and 
renders:  "they  deal  tenderly  with  their  mouth," 
properly:  "they  show  ardour,  affect  in  words  an 
ardent  love  to  God  and  His  word,  while  the  real 
inclination  of  their  heart  goes  quite  another  way, 
is  turned  to  mammon,  the  god  of  the  Jewish  old 
man."  Hav.  :  "for  lewdness  they  follow  with 
their  mouth."      3jy  with  Ezekiel  (comp.  at  ch. 

xxiii.)  and  Jeremiah  unquestionably  denotes  im- 
pure love,  passionate  desire,  especially  unchaste 
fleshly  desire,  whether  as  akin  to  iyxria,,  or  to 
"gaping  after"  (gaffen),  looking  after,  or  to 
"snatching  at"  (Germ,  happen},  hoping  for, 
earnestly  expecting.  So  much  is  clear  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  word  ;  all  besides  is  imported,  or 
arbitrarily  connected  with  it.      D^3jy   (only  in 

the  plural),  however,  occurs  not  merely  in  ver. 
31,  but  also  in  ver.  32  connected  with  -|<C',  song. 

What  else,  then,  can  it  signify  but  "love-songs" 
(songs  of  impure  love)  ?  To  the  fact  that  they  do 
not  the  words  of  the  prophet,  which  according  to 
their  own  confession  proceed  from  Jehovah  (ver. 
30),  the  D't^y  nisn  Dn''D3  D*3JV  f"'''"  a  restric- 
tion :  certainly  they  also  do,  they  are  at  the 
doing  in  their  mouth:  as  much  as,  with  words, 
with  the  tongue.  What  is  received  by  the  ear, 
this  in   the  mouth   becomes    love  •  songs ;    thi 


CHAP.  XXXIII.  32,  33. 


311 


"doing"  of  that  they  make  out  of  the  words  of 
God  sjCoken  by  the  prophet.  Hence,  after  that  in 
ver.  31  the  expression  Q"33j;  has  been  explained, 

or  more  exactly  defined,  the  statement:  "and 
they  hear  thy  woids, "  etc.,  is  again  resumed. 
So  tliat  their  doing  remains  in  the  mouth;  the 
heart  does  not  participate  in  it,  as  is  piesently 
indicated  when  it  is  said  that  their  heart  goes 
after  its   covetous,   fraudulent   gain    (i'i"3   '"■'oni 

jnj'3,  to  make  a  cut;  ch.  xxii.  27,  12).    Nay,  they 

take  such  advantage  of  the  words  of  God,  which 
Ezekiel  announces  to  them,  that  they  turn  them 
to  their  own  account ;  whence  it  is  not  so  much 
their  warm  regard  for  Jehovah,  as  Jehovah's  for 
them,  which  liere  comes  into  consideration.  In 
some  such  way  tliey  treat  the  divine  promises  as 
loving  declarations  of  a  hot  paramour.  We  are 
not,  however,  on  this  account  obliged  to  interpret 
□'331?  tiy  •  "  frivolous  jokes, "  "words  of  mockery" 

(witli  the  Targum),  or:  "falsehood,"  "deceit," 
with  the  older  translations.  Not  that  they 
would  "only  amuse  themselves,"  but  more,  they 
turn  grace  into  wantonness  (Judc  4).  With 
them  also,  tlierefore,  the  matter  concerns  the 
substance  of  things,  not  so  much  "the  lovely 
form  ;"  and  they  were  perverting  it  to  excess 
according  to  their  heart's  lust. 

Ver.  32.  According  to  Hitzig,  -|'j;'  must  signify 

uot  song,  but  "  lovely  singer. "     ^p  na'  does  not 

necessitate  that,  for  it  may  be  referred  to  the  fine 
tones  of  the  song.  But  if  it  applies  to  the  fine 
voice  of  the  prophet,  then  it  is  to  be  understood 
that,  after  he  has  in  I'S}'  been  coupled  with  his 

prophecy  (to  which,  however,  the  reference  accord- 
ing to  the  connection  must  chiefly  be  made),  he  is 
thought   of  apart,    and   jjj  21213    continues   tlie 

reference  to  the  prophet,  without  therefore  con- 
straining us  by  this  personal  reference  to  under- 
stand  n>^>   also    directly  and    simply  of  him. 

TU'il  (Hiph.   of  2Q^),  with  j33,  signifies  either 

to  play  well,  beautifully,  or  to  do  so  vigorously, 
bravely.  Junius  refers  what  is  said  to  the  pro- 
phecies of  doom  upon  those  who  are  without  Ich. 
xxv.-xxxii. ).  Hengst,  in  a  manifestly  modern 
fashion:  "they  rejoice  amid  the  national  im- 
poverishment at  the  admirable  rhetorical  gifts  of 
the  new  classic"  (!). — Ver.  33.  This  verse  joins  to 
the  repetition  of  their  not  doing  the  prediction  of 
their  unfailing  and  so  ditl'erent  knowledge  of  the 
prophet. — And  when  it  comes,  in  a  general  sense, 
what  he  speaks  ;  not  the  more  special  utterance  in 
vers.  27-29,  which  at  least  does  not  sound  like  a 
song  of  loves,  rather  the  prophecies  which  were 
now  going  to  follow.  Thus  the  tone  with  which 
this  second  main  division  of  the  book  commences 
is  different ;  not ;  they  shall  know  that  1  am 
Jehovah,  but  as  at  ch.  ii,  5,  where  the  language 
employed  was  still  of  a  general  kind.  (See  there.) 
— The  ;  behold  it  comes,  points  back  to  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  judgment  on  the  people  has 
actually  come  ;  and  as  such  a  thing  has  come,  so 
certain  also  shall  the  following  discourses  be  seen 
to  be  as  to  their  fulfilment.  (HiTZ. :  the  matter 
shall  certainly  come  to  pass  which  is  the  object 
of  thine  address.     Hiv. ;  "Audio!  it  is  already 


fulfilled  ;  this  must  signify,  Jerusalem  is  fallen, 
and  the  truth  of  the  jtredictions  jierfectly  estab- 
lished.") The  experience  is,  however,  a  painful 
one,  because  the  people's  impenitence  will  cxcluds 
them  from  the  future  salvation.  W^hat  far-reach- 
ing and,  at  the  same  time,  true  prospective  vision, 
even  to  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man  !  It  had 
already  been  declared  to  them  through  the  pro- 
phets in  the  midst  of  them  ;  so  much  the  more, 
when  He  Himself  actually  came  and  spoke  to 
them,  did  every  pretext  lor  their  sin  fall  away, 
John  XV.  22. 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

Compare  the  Hejfectwns  at  pp.  72,  73,  and  on 
ch.  xviii. 

1.  "Woe  is  me,"  exclaimed  the  apostle,  "if  I 
preach  not  the  gospel !  "  (1  Cor.  ix.  16.)  This  is 
a  lesson  which  belongs  to  all  those  who  have  had 
the  care  or  oversight  of  others  commuted  to  them. 
With  that  is  not  to  be  confounded  the  circum- 
stance, that  each  individual  has  his  paiticular 
gift  from  God,  by  means  of  which  he  can  be  pro- 
fitable to  his  neighbour.  The  general  love  de- 
mands that  we  should  seek  the  salvation  of  each 
other,  Jude  21-23  (CoccEius). 

2.  In  the  office,  calling,  service  which  belongs 
to  preachers,  two  things  unite,— namely,  the  ap- 
pointment through  men,  that  is,  in  the  present 
case,  through  the  Church,  as  is  implied  in  the 
similitude  ver.  2  sq.  ;  aijd  that  the  Lord  gives 
preachers  to  .lerusalem,  as  is  said  at  ver.  7. 
Where  this  latter  is  not  regarded,  there  the  other 
also  cannot  be  considered.  If  the  civil  magis- 
trate, hence  the  State,  or  private  individuals  to 
whom  the  patronage  belongs,  w  ill  assert  for  them- 
selves the  vocatio  ministrorum,  they  thereby 
ignore  the  Christian  rights  of  the  Church,  just 
because  they  do  not  acknowledge  the  supreme 
right  of  God  over  His  people.  For  it  belongs  to 
the  Church  to  choose  and  ordain  her  servants, 
according  to  the  order  of  Christ  and  His  apostles ; 
and  a  particular  community,  although  it  may  be 
locally  formed,  does  not  at  all  stand  related  to 
the  whole  Church  after  the  manner  that  a  single 
commune,  as  a  section  of  the  civic  common- 
wealth, stands  related  to  the  State  ;  but  it  is  in 
respect  to  constitution  the  Church  itself,  which 
has  its  representation  in  the  community  as  regards 
its  full  possession  of  life.  Not  otiierwise  ai)pear 
to  us  the  communities  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
and  of  the  apostolic  epistles.  Hereditary  rela- 
tions might  well  enough  beget  a  temporarv  legal 
right  of  a  historical  kind,  but  really  destitute  of 
foundation,  in  so  far  as  it  is  at  variance  with  the 
fundamental  rights  of  the  Church,  and  can  be 
proved  to  be  the  remnant  of  an  antagonistic  claim 
of  rights,  an  unjust  usurpation.  We  aie  not  to 
speak  with  the  Remonstrants  of  right»  conferred 
upon  the  Church  by  the  State  in  the  matter  ol 
the  vocatio  ministrorum,  since  the  State  has  no 
right  to  confer,  because  possessing  none.  And  ;o 
the  Reformation,  if  it  found  itself  very  much  in 
the  position,  could  not  have  the  right,  to  erect  a 
throne  for  the  Caesareo-papal  government  nf  the 
Church,  since  the  Church,  having  the  right  to 
govern  itself,  renounces  itself  when  it  gives  up  to 
the  State,  or  to  the  persons  in  whom  the  oivil 
power  concentrates  itself,  riglits  which  are  abso- 
lutely the  Church's  own,  which  therefore  the  civil 
power  cannot  possess,  unless  these  rights  are  ta 


ill  2 


EZEKIEL. 


oe  turned  to  foolishness.  In  every  t3Tanny  ex- 
ercised on  the  conscience,  foolishness  plays  its 
part.  But  the  claim  of  right,  which,  since  the 
Keforniation,  has  crept  in  for  the  conferring  of 
rights  which  are  against  right,  is  of  a  piece  with 
that  of  summu^  episcopus — whence  the  Papistical 
leaven  of  this  title  clearly  appears.  For  it  is 
Papistical  doctrine  in  the  general  to  ascribe  the 
right  of  vocation  to  the  bishops,  if  the  Roman 
chair  should  not  have  granted  special  exceptions 
in  regard  to  the  election  of  pastors.  When  the 
limits  of  State -power  have  been  formulated  in 
this  way,  that  it  has  to  do  with  things  circa 
sacra,  but  not  in  sacris,  it  certainly  does  look 
odd  enough  that  "a  supreme  bishop"  should 
indeed  inspect  the  walls  of  the  sanctuary,  but 
must  not  tread  upon  them.  The  experience  of 
upwards  of  300  years,  however,  has  shown  much 
else  than  the  absurdity  of  the  fonnula  in  question 
— has  proved  the  neglected,  though  oft-repeated 
cr'd  powerfully  expressed,  warnings  of  Luther  and 
of  the  symbolical  books,  against  the  intermingling 
of  the  spiritu.al  and  civil  jurisdictions,  to  have 
been  only  too  well  grounded.  And  when  the 
Eeformed  theologian  Heidegger,  in  his  Medulla 
Theolof/ice,  with  the  view  of  smoothing  over  the 
felly  of  that  formula,  would  not  have  the  over- 
sight and  power  of  the  State  limited  to  the  circa 
relhjimtein  et  ecclesiam,  but  apostrophises  the 
magistrate  as  iftavuro;  et  ecclesicB  membrum  ex- 
celkiis,  thereby  giving  him  to  participate  in  the 
power  which  belongs  to  the  Church,  and  theu 
ascribing  to  him  the  obligation  of  serving  Christ 
and  His  kingdom,  and  of  advancing  this  king- 
dom with  the  authority  lent  him  by  God; — or 
when  Burmann,  also  a  Reformed  theologian,  enu- 
merates the  offices  of  the  magistrate  circa  sacra, 
and  among  these  reckons  not  merely  the  appoint- 
ment and  ordering  of  the  acts  of  public  worship, 
so  as  to  secure  that  all  be  done  according  to  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  providing  a  safeguard 
against  ecclesiastical  arbitrariness,  and  the  inter- 
position on  behalf  of  oppressed  fellow-believers, 
and  so  forth,  but  also  the  suppression  of  errors, 
of  heretics  and  heterodox,  the  reformation  of  the 
Church  when  it  has  become  corrupt,  etc. ;  —  in 
all  this  we  have  a  glance  afforded  us  into  a  state 
of  things  which  has  actually  existed,  but  which, 
and  along  therewith  the  alleged  ground  for  such 
civil  interferences,  in  spite  of  the  so  -  called 
"Christian  State,"  has  long  since  passed  away. 
But  what  is  to  be  matter  of  controversy  with  the 
State  will,  above  all,  have  reference  to  the  so-called 
church  patrons,  for  patronage  is  really  of  Romish- 
heathenish  origin,  and  has  never  at  all,  in  con- 
formity with  its  proper  sense,  been  Christianized 
as  a  juridical  advocateship  :  at  least  a  good  part  of 
the  Germanic  feudal  lordship  has  infused  itself 
into  this  assumption  of  a  right  of  private  domina- 
tion. Now  if,  in  opposition  to  all  of  this  nature 
that  is  at  variance  with  the  self-government  of 
the  Church  by  means  of  the  organization  peculiar 
to  her,  a  stand  is  to  be  made,  and,  in  particular, 
•he  choice  and  calling  of  pastors  are  efl'ected  in 
'his  way  tlirough  men,  there  still  is,  as  the  other 
ractor,  the  Lord,  whose  body  the  Church  of  God 
is,  and  the  right  of  the  Church  in  its  last  source 
is  the  constitution  granted  by  her  sole  Head, 
Ch-!.ii.  In  consef|Uence  of  this  regimen  principale, 
ill  are  brethren  who  serve  one  another,  the  Lord 
ilone  hiis  the  supreme  authority  (theocracy  or 
Chiistocracy) ;  so  that  the  Church,  in  respect  to 


its  inner  spiritual  form,  is  no  democracy,  neithei 
is  it  an  aristocracy  any  more  than  a  hierarchy, 
but  a  monarchy  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word. 
Through  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  dint  of  such 
supreme  invisible  sovereignty,  was  Ezekiel  sent 
to  Israel,  just  as  in  ordinary  circumstances  the 
humblest  village  pastor  is  sent  from  the  same 
quarter,  whether  it  may  be  for  grace  or  for  judg- 
ment. For  it  is  God's  good  pleasure  that 
through  such  service  on  the  part  of  men  the 
divine  will  in  respect  to  men  should  be  accom- 
plished (Eph.  iv.  11  sq.);  and  the  calling  of  a 
minister  in  any  particular  case  will  be  perfect, 
where  the  internal  through  the  Spirit  corresponds 
with  the  external  through  the  Church  or  its 
organs. 

3.  Ewald  maintains  that  "  the  ultimate  ground 
of  all  possibility  of  a  true  conversion  stands  in 
this,  that  in  connection  with  the  divine  grace, 
which  is  ever  working  for  good,  a  genuine  pro- 
phet never  fails,  who,  in  perilous  times  announc- 
ing the  pure  truth,  informs  and  warns  all  with 
dauntless,  clear  words. "  Against  enthusiasts  and 
SchwenkfeMians  it  has  not,  indeed,  been  denied 
by  the  teachers  of  the  Church,  that  God,  if  such 
had  been  His  will,  could  also  immediately  aa 
from  Himself  have  converted  and  saved  men  ; 
yet  still  the  Church  has  always  held  fast  the  con- 
viction, that  the  public  ministry  and  vocation  to 
it  in  the  Church  is  requisite  by  a  hypothetical 
necessity,  namely,  with  reference  to  the  good 
pleasure  and  purpose  of  God. 

4.  The  prophets  are  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
"extraordinary  ministers."  In  the  old  Reformed 
theology,  the  extraordinary  vocation  was  repre- 
sented as  threefold : — ( 1 )  When  God  effects  it 
directly  through  His  voice,  as  in  the  case  of 
Abraham,  Moses,  the  prophets  under  the  Law, 
John  the  Baptist,  and  the  apostles;  (2)  when  it 
takes  place  by  announcement  through  a  human 
instrumentality,  as  in  the  case  of  Aaron  and  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  by  means  of  Moses  as  the  mediat- 
ing agency;  (3)  when  the  internal  impulse  of  the 
Spirit  drives  in  one  direction  or  another,  as  was 
the  case,  for  example,  with  the  deacon  Philip. 

5.  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin,  and  sin  is  the 
destruction  of  people ;  and  so,  by  reason  of  the 
universal  sinfulness,  quite  apart  from  particular 
charges  of  guilt,  an  absolutely  sinless  extinc- 
tion of  life  is  not  to  be  thought  of;  only  re- 
latively heavier  or  lighter  will  the  guilt  weigh 
in  particular  cases.  But  beside  one's  own  guilt, 
that  of  each  individual  man,  there  stands  upon 
the  tablet  of  the  Judge,  as  fellow-partakers  there- 
of, human  society  in  the  general  (thiough  educa- 
tion, instruction,  customs,  etc.),  and  in  particular 
its  chiefs,  as  governors,  princes,  lords,  teachers, 
etc.,  who  should  serve  not  merely  as  possessors  of 
the  dignity  and  of  office,  but  also  as  examples  to 
be  looked  up  to  in  whatever  place  they  may  be. 

6.  "This  is,  however,  the  brightest  and  mos* 
glorious  distinction  of  the  prophetic  calling,  to 
proclaim  the  joy  of  the  Creator  in  connection 
with  the  life  of  the  converted  sinner  "  (Umbreit). 

7.  We  have  not  on  this  account  to  despair  of 
life,  because  knowing  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of 
death.  For  this  knowledge  of  death  excludesr 
only  the  thought  of  life,  as  that  which  might 
still  be  in  ourselves,  and  could  proceed  out  of  us; 
hut  such  knowledge  by  ijo  means  takes  from  us, 
it  rather  brings  nearer,  the  prospect  of  life  out  of 
ourselves,  namely,  in  tho  living  God.     The  con- 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 


313 


rersion  from  sin  to  God,  as  also  from  all  dead 
works  of  a  simply  legal  nature,  or  of  self-right- 
tousness,  is  hence  a  burNTng  in  regard  to  the  life 
which  is  merely  man's,  while  in  reality  it  is  the 
way  of  that  life  which  God  gives,  and  which  He 
Himself  is. 

8.  "Conversion,  internally  considered,  is  the 
change  of  a  man's  state  of  mind  into  conformity 
with  the  will  of  God — a  change,  therefore,  in 
which  his  internal  feeling  cannot  be  alone  opera- 
tive, but  in  which  that  eB'ects  his  transformation 
in  the  power  of  God,  which  is  the  moving  impulse 
from  a  higher  power  in  respect  to  what  he  is  going 
to  be.  But  outwardly  it  appears  as  the  complete 
reformation  of  his  behaviour,  since  he  turns  from 
a  direction  toward  the  world  into  a  direction  to- 
ward God.  The  change  which  takes  place  in  his 
state  of  mind  in  all  the  elements  conditioning  it 
becomes  manifest  in  the  transformation  of  his 
life.  This  change  of  mind  is  as  to  its  nature  a 
single  decisive  and  deeply  conscious  act — the  act 
of  the  whole  inner  life ;  but  precisely  on  this 
account  not  the  isolated  occurrence  of  a  single 
hour,  of  a  particular  frame  or  deed,  though  it 
frequently  also  comes  to  its  highest  manifestation 
in  a  particular  hour,  frame,  or  deed.  It  is  not 
an  fibsti'act  single  change,  but  a  revolution  rest- 
ing on  a  concrete  single  change,  on  a  definite 
turniug-point,  an  always  renewed  and  always 
more  deeply  penetrating  and  pervading  revolu- 
tion, which  is  quite  fitly  designated  by  the  term 
conversion.  It  is  the  everlasting  deed  of  the 
man  in  the  power  of  his  God  with  reference  to  the 
old  life"  (Lange,  Pos.  Dogmaiik). 

9.  "Evil  ways  are  not  only  the  bad  ways  of 
wicked  works,  but  also  the  false  ways  of  right- 
eousness. Nay,  it  is  above  all  imjiortant,  that 
whoever  wi'll  live  should  turn  from  his  own 
wisdom  and  fancied  power,  as  if  he  could  sanctify 
himself  to  God,  and  give  Him  the  glory,  and  re- 
ceive from  Him  justification  by  grace"  (Cocc. ). 

10.  Because  conversion  of  heart,  sincere  con- 
version, can  at  any  moment  savingly  interrupt 
the  course  of  development  of  sin,  which  would 
otherwise  run  on  to  its  consummation  in  the 
judgment  of  death,  so  the  disobedience  of  unbe- 
lief toward  the  alluring  word  of  grace  must  be 
regarded  as  the  sin  unto  death. 

11.  "When  it  is  said  that  God  has  no  plea- 
sure in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  it  must  be 
understood  after  this  manner,  as  if  He  were  not 
inclined  to  give  pardon  to  the  penitent.  God 
does  not  delight  in  judgment  in  such  a  way  as 
not  to  delight  in  the  justification  of  him  who 
repents;  as  if  repentance  in  faith  on  the  word 
which  promises  grace  to  the  sinner  were  of  no 
account  with  God,  or  as  if  there  were  no  right- 
eousness of  God  available  through  which  the 
penitent  might  obtain  salvation.  This  word 
very  clearly  shows  that  there  was  no  necessity  for 
Israel  pining  away  in  their  own  sins,  or  in  those 
of  others,  if  they  were  but  themselves  in  the 
right  way.  For  whenever  they  turned  from 
their  evil  way,  life  was  thenceforth  prepared  for 
them.  Whence  it  follows,  that  for  that  life  neither 
a  temple  nor  a  state  was  requisite,  so  that  those 
only  should  pine  away  of  worldly  sorrow  who 
have  their  glory  in  these  carnal  and  earthly 
things;  whereas  for  such  as  would  bend  their 
hearts  to  believe  in  God,  there  should  be  no 
Wiisting  away  in  their  own  or  their  fathers'  sins, 
or  in  those  of  the  peo])le,  but  they  should  have 


life  in  hope,  and  should  not  feel  the  want  o( 
state-support  or  temple  or  priesthood,  and  carnal 
things  of  that  sort,  hut  should  find  all  laid  up 
for  them  in  God,  who  would  be  mindful  of  His 
covenant  with  Abraham,  and  provide  the  Seed  in 
which  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  blessed  "  iCocc. ). 

12.  "The  greatest  danger  that  can  arise  out  of 
suffering  is  that  a  man  should  misunderstand 
his  Maker  ;  one  of  the  hardest  problems  for  the 
servants  of  God  is  to  bring  reason  into  the  sutt'er- 
ing"  (Hexgst.). 

13.  The  law  in  the  Old  Covenant  directed  its 
chief  attention  upon  sin.  The  knowledge  of  sin 
must  be  for  men  the  result  that  came  out  of  all 
those  imperatives,  "Thou  shalt  not, "and  "Thou 
shalt. "  Hence  the  prophets  in  their  relation  ti' 
the  law  could,  in  the  first  instance,  pursue  no 
other  aim  than  to  set  forth  men  as  sinners.  Sin 
remains  as  the  mark  of  interrogation  behind  the 
righteousness  of  the  righteous.  As  the  conflict 
between  the  law  and  the  carnality  of  man  is  not 
closed  by  the  law,  the  doing  of  what  is  right 
according  to  the  law  may  acquire  for  any  one  the 
predicate  of  a  righteous  person,  but  it  will  always 
only  in  particular  cases  be  done  aright  according 
to  the  law  ;  the  righteousness  out  of  the  law 
must  be  "righteousnesses,"  specific  i^yx  m/isiy — 
such  as,  for  example,  are  mentioned  in  ver.  14 
sq.  (ami  in  contrast  therewith  ver.  25  sq. ).  So 
that  there  is  a  righteousness  of  the  righteous, 
vers.  12,  13,  18,  while  still  man  does  not  see 
himself  placed  through  the  law  in  the  position  ot 
a  perfectly  happy  relation  to  God,  freed  from 
guilt  and  the  curse  of  the  law.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, knowledge  alone  of  his  sins  and  knowledge 
of  himself  as  a  sinner  which  the  law  gives  to 
man,  but  along  therewith  the  knowledge  that  the 
righteousness,  the  reality  of  which  correspouiis  to 
God,  which  is  the  righteousness  of  God,  must 
come  as  a  revelation  outside  the  law  from  God 
Himself  through  grace. 

14.  That  with  the  completed  fact  of  the  over- 
throw of  Jerusalem  the  silence  of  Ezekiel  should 
be  brought  to  an  end,  and  he  should  be  no  more 
dumb — this  circumstance  lent  to  the  fact  in  ques- 
tion a  special  character,  caused  it  to  appear  so 
much  the  more  in  a  peculiar  light,  as  a  parallel 
must  be  provided  for  it.  Accordingly,  it  not 
merely  seems  as  if  Jerusalem  must  have  fallen,  so 
that  salvation  might  with  open  mouth  be  pro- 
phesied, as  the  starry  orbs  of  night  disappear 
before  the  rising  sun,  but  it  was  in  reality  so  ; 
and  parallel  with  this  first  destruction,  the  last 
destruction  of  the  Holy  City,  and  the  total  dis- 
persion of  the  people  throughout  the  Koman 
world,  on  the  one  hand,  made  room  for  the  ful- 
ness of  the  Gentiles  at  the  table  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  aod  Jacob,  and  on  the  other,  caused  the 
gospel  salvation  to  be  preached  to  every  creature. 
Jerusalem  became  then  thoroughly  desolate;  but 
John  saw  a  new  Jerusalem  coming  down  out  of 
heaven.  The  Jews  have  been  scattereil  abroad 
everywhere,  but  the  Israel  of  God  are  being 
gathered  meanwhile  from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
on  the  ground  of  the  prophetic  word,  rendered 
more  certain  through  the  fulfilment  certified  by 
the  apostles. 

15.  "  Neither  danger,  or,  more  correctly,  the 
anxious  concern  and  dread  about  danger,  such  a* 
we  can  well  imagine  to  ourselves,  nor  any  othei 
hindrance,  must  be  permitted  to  throw  itself  like 
an  insuperable  wall  in  the  way  of  a  servant  oi 


511 


EZEKIEL. 


Goil.  This  is  no  apology  worthy  of  a  projiliet, 
'  I  labour  in  vain ;  I  preach  to  deaf  eais ; '  but 
in  season  and  out  of  season  is  the  work  to  be 
carried  on,  and  sinners  to  be  admonished.  No 
one  must  bury  his  talent  (Matt.  xxv.).  And  this 
holds  eqaally  with  respect  to  magistrates  and 
heads  of  families  "  (Lavater). 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1.  "We  men  are  daily  and  always  anew 
to  be  reminded  of  our  obligations,  for  individu- 
ally and  collectively  we  are  slothful  and  negligent 
men"  (Stck.  ). — Vers.  2,  3.  "  How  profitable  in 
dangerous  times  is  the  guardian  care  of  watch- 
men !  They  must  not,  however,  betray  the  con- 
fidence of  the  community,  and  must  have  open 
eyes,  in  order  that  the  people  of  the  Lord  may 
not  be  taken  by  surprise.  But  when  the  Lord 
does  not  keep  the  city,  the  watchman  waketh  in 
vain,  even  though  he  does  not  fall  into  sleep  " 
(Luther). — "The  sword  is  the  judgment,  but  the 
trumpet  the  holy  gospel;  the  man  who  spies  and 
watclies  is  tlie  bishop,  whose  part  it  is  to  preach 
and  testify  of  the  future  judgment "  (Clesient). 
— Sollicitudo  officium  prixlati  est,  non  celsUudo 
(Bernard).  —  "The  calling  to  the  office  of 
preacher  is  twofold — one  immediate,  the  other 
mediate  ;  the  foimer  is  from  God,  the  latter  from 
man.  Acts  xxvi.  15,  16,  vi.  5"  (Cr.  ).  —  "  Who 
would  choose  a  blind  man  to  be  the  watchman  of 
a  city  ?  How  could  he  see  the  danger  and  give 
warning  of  it  ?  How  unreasonable  is  it,  there- 
fore, to  appoiiit  a  spiritually  blind  or  unconverted 
man  to  be  a  teacher  !  He  does  not  at  all  see  the 
danger,  and  how  can  he  give  warning  ?  Isa.  Ivi. 
10,  11 ;  Matt.  XV.  U"  (Starke). — The  office  and 
work,  the  service  and  fidelity  of  a  right  bishop  or 
overseer  of  the  community. — The  profitableness 
and  blessing  of  fidelity  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
injury  and  curse  of  unfaithfulness. —  "The  im- 
portance and  responsibility  of  the  prophetic  call- 
ing" (Umbr.). — "Although  in  the  present  day 
ministers  are  chosen  and  ordained  to  clmrch  em- 
ployment by  men,  yet  may  such  human  choice, 
when  it  is  rightly  gone  about,  be  also  termed 
divine.  But  since  it  is  God  who  assigns  ministers 
their  place.  He  ought  to  be  entreated  to  send  true 
and  good  ministers  to  His  jieople  "  (Luther). 
— "  What  sort  of  a  watchman  would  he  be  who 
should  keep  silence  about  the  breaking  out  of  a 
fire,  because  he  would  not  rouse  people  out  of 
their  sleep  ?  And  so,  what  sort  of  teacher  would 
he  be  who  should  remain  silent  at  the  sins  of 
the  ungodly,  that  they  might  not  he  disturbed  in 
their  sleep  of  security  ?  "  (St.) — "  No  blind  man, 
nor  dreamer,  nor  drowsy  sleeper,  is  fit  for  an 
office  which  takes  its  name  from  wakefulness  " 
(Berl.  Bib.). 

Vers.  4-6.  To  let  one's  self  be  warned,  what  a 
profitable,  serious,  and  yet  very  much  neglected 
prescription! — "Ask  those  who  have  gone  to 
hell  ;  they  will  in  a  body  give  thee  for  answer, 
We  would  not  take  warning"  (SrCK. ).  — The  dis- 
regarded or  despised  warnings  from  youth  up. — 
Jlen  can  but  warn,  tliey  cannot  deliver. — The 
power  and  the  weakness  of  our  love.  — "  I  hear 
the  message  well  enough,  but  1  want  faith." — 
Ver.  6.  Of  the  watching  which  is  enjoined  upon 
ourselves:  "Watch,  for  ye  know  not,"  etc.,  we 
are  not  relieved  by  the  obligation  which  lies  upon 
Jhe  vitchman.     Hence  he  who  is  overtaken  un- 


warned still  does  not  fall  guiltless,  for  hii 
security,  carelessness,  etc.,  were  the  occasion  o{ 
his  fall. — Contempt  of  danger  is  therefore  no 
true  courage. — EvJry  one  milst  carry  his  soul  as 
iu  his  hand. — "  What  a  mournful  condition  is  it, 
when  the  Churih  does  not  watch,  the  State  does 
not  protect,  the  house  does  not  admonish !  "(Stck.  ) 

Vers.  7-9.  "  Natural  life  and  soundne.ss  of 
health  are  indispensably  necessary  to  an  ordinary 
watchman,  and  not  less  necessary  are  life  and 
strength  in  the  inner  man  to  a  spiritual  watch- 
man. Lam.  ii.  14"  (L.axoe).  "With  a  spiritual 
watchman  there  must  be  found  a  spiritual  life,  a 
spiritual  light,  a  spiritual  wakefulness,  and  duti- 
ful fidelity  iu  all  parts  of  his  office"  (St.). — As 
the  prophet  on  the  mouth  of  God,  so  the  preaclier 
is  dependent  on  the  word  of  God.  He  has  by 
this  to  prove  every  word  of  man ;  on  this  last 
his  office  has  no  dependence.  —  The  apostle 
pleads  in  the  stead  of  Christ,  2  Cor.  v.  20.^ 
"Mark,  Christian  hearer!  For  God's  sake,  aud 
because  God  wi-shes  it,  thy  teacher  must  warn 
thee.  Therefore  be  not  wroth  with  him  ;  if  tliou 
shouldst  be  so,  then  be  assured  that  it  is  not  with 
him,  but  with  God,  that  thou  art  enraged,  Gal.  i. 
6,  10;  Deut.  xviii.  19"  (St.). — Sympathy  may 
be  cruelty  ;  everything  at  the  right  place  aud  at 
the  right  time. — Luve  can  cover  the  sins  whii'h 
are  conjmitted  against  us,  but  never  can  call  evil 
good. — Whosoever  despises  him  that  is  sent,  fails 
in  respect  also  to  Him  that  sent  him. — But  they 
are  no  servants  of  God  who  flatter  the  ungoilly. 
— (Comp.  Homiletic  Hints  on  ch.  iii.  17  sq.) 
""The  warnings  which  teachers  have  failed  to 
give  afford  no  justification  to  the  wicked  before 
God,  for  God  warns  them  Himself  in  His  word, 
Luke  xii.  48"  (St.). — "A  more  intolerable  judg- 
ment comes  upon  Chorazin  aud  Bethsaida  than 
upon  Tyre  and  Sidon  "  (Heim-Hoff.). — "The 
position  of  the  servants  of  God  is  certainly  not  a 
comfortable  one,  since  they  have  to  dwell  among 
those  who  are  called  briers  and  scorpions,  and  are 
likened  even  to  lions ;  whence  they  do  not  get  off 
without  pricks  aud  wounds  "  (Stck.  ). — "  But  the 
preaching  is  not  enough  which  consists  simply  in 
the  word.  An  evangelical  watchman  must  teach 
conscientiously  and  live  holily"(H.  H.). — Even 
when  the  preacher's  conscience  is  free  from  guilt 
in  regard  to  the  ungodly  who  perish  in  theij'  sins, 
what  a  sorrow  does  it  occasion  in  the  life  of  the 
preacher  when  he  lias  to  see  the  impenitent  die 
in  their  sins  ! — The  pain  connected  with  the 
preaclier's  office,  which  the  world  imdei-stands 
not. — "I  would  not  willingly  be  .saved  withou' 
you  "  (Augustine). 

Ver.  10.  All  in  the  end  feel  sin,  but  they  hate 
it  not. — "The  way  of  the  unconverted  in  thij 
respect  is  to  look  rather  to  the  temporal  than  tC' 
the  eternal  life"  (St.). — To  despair,  instead  nl' 
turning  to  God,  is  but  another  form  of  the  pride 
that  is  in  the  human  heart. — Despair  is  another 
kind  of  impenitence. — How  contrasts  touch  one 
another !  The  godly  also  are  sometimes  on  tlie 
brink  of  despair— David,  Ps.  xxxviii.,  and  Cain, 
Gen.  iv. — "That  punishment  should  always  be 
heavier  to  us  than  sin!"  (Stck.) — He  who  would 
justify  himself  would  perhaps  throw  the  blame 
even  upon  God.  —  God  always  deals  unfairly 
with  the  wicked,  as  they  think. — "When  God's 
judgments  break  forth,  then  men  readily  remem- 
ber their  sins"  (Stck.). — "One  must  hate  sin 
before  one  can  live"  (B.   B.).  —  He  whose  sii 


CHAP,  xxxni. 


315 


keeps  him  away  from  God,  loves  his  sin  more 
than  liis  life.  Why  will  ye  die?  GoU,  therefore, 
♦iways  asks  again. — "We  must  not  despair  of 
God's  compassion,  but  turn  ourselves  toward  it " 
(Stck.  ).— When  the  Holy  One  swears.  He  lets 
Himself  down  to  the  lies,  the  faithlessness,  and 
fickleue.ss  which  prevail  on  tlie  earth.  He  comes 
before  the  judgment -.seat  of  men,  and  bears 
His  testimcmy  against  sinners  who  would  die. — 
Unbelief  must  be  ashamed  and  dumb,  or  be 
compelled  to  pass  sentence  on  itself. — "He  does 
not  swear  by  His  love,  of  which  the  smaller 
number  only  have  some  feeling  ;  but  that  He 
lives  all  know  "  (B.  B.  V  —Indubitable  as  the  love 
of  God  is,  yet  not  the  less  necessary  is  conversion 
for  men.  —  Seek  no  back-doors,  no  bribery  of  the 
saints,  no  hushing  up  of  the  conscience  with 
pious  forms  of  speech  ;  but  go  straight  into  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  as  the  prodigal  sou  made  for 
his  father. — "We  can  think  nothing  good  of 
ourselves ;  our  whole  salvation  is  hence  a  divine 
work  "  (H.  H. ). — The  living  God  wills  life,  and 
also  gives  it  to  those  who  will ;  but  unless  men 
also  wish  it,  He  certainly  does  not  give.  To 
work  this  will,  to  lay  the  will  of  the  flesh  to 
sleep  under  God's  word — this  is  the  aim  of  the 
universal  grace,  i.e.  the  grace  which  God  offers  to 
all  men  through  His  word.  But  where  the  will 
has  been  wrought,  there  will  also  the  performance 
be  made  good,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
God ;  so  that  our  conversion  is  not  only  His 
requirement,  but  also  His  working,  although  the 
deed  is  man's. 

Vers.  12,  13.  (See  Homiletic  Hints  on  ch.  xviii. 
T4,  21  sij.,  26,  27  sq. ) — Righteousness  from  works 
Joes  not  preserve  and  save  men.  —  It  is  not  the 
.•ighteousness  of  the  righteous  that  is  the  ques- 
uon,  but  the  righteousness  of  God,  which  is  mani- 
ktsted  indeed  in  the  law,  but  does  not  come  out  of 
the  law. — The  righteous  who  are  such  by  faith 
will  live,  and  will  live  in  their  faith.— One  must 
hcgin,  but  one  must  also  continue  to  the  end. — 
Unfaithfulness  smites  its  own  Lord. — The  truly 
righteous  also  know  of  failings,  but  not  of  falling 
away. — Not  that  we  are  evil  by  nature  is  what 
finally  condemns  us,  but  that  we  remain  evil  in 
spite  of  the  goodness  of  God,  which  seeks  our 
conversion. — "  No  true  penitent  needs  despair  on 
account  of  his  old  sins,  nor  faint  because  of  them, 
Ps.  .XXV.  3;  Matt.  ix.  2"  (Cr.).  —  "In  true  con- 
version it  is  not  enough  that  there  be  a  breaking 
off  of  some  sins,  but  of  all,  Isa.  i.  16  ;  Jas.  ii.  10  " 
(Starke). — "But  this  is  the  true  life,  if  one 
can  say  with  Paul :  I  live  not,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me.  Gal.  ii.  20"  (Stck.). — Trust  upon  one's 
own  righteousness  is  not  faith,  but  trust  upon  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  Christ.  Not  assuredly 
the  letter  of  our  righteousness,  but  the  spirit  of 
that  imputed  to  us,  brings  the  assurance  that  we 
are  children  of  God,  and  shall  also  remain  such. — 
Ver.  14  sq.  The  voucher  for  the  reckoning  here 
furnished  by  means  of  the  thief  on  the  cross. — 
Conversion  of  heart,  of  conduct,  of  life. — The 
separation  from  sin  is  effected  not  only  by  the 
forgiveness  of  all  our  sins  and  of  our  sinful  state, 
but  also  by  a  walk  in  all  goodness  after  the  Spirit, 
who  now  begins  His  ascendency. —  "Man  be- 
comes free  when  in  his  conscious  want  of  freedom 
he  gives  himself  up  to  the  free-making  God " 
(Lange). — The  improvement  of  the  life  shows 
that  things  have  become  better  with  a  man,  that 
On<J  has  taken  an  interest  in  his  soul,  in  order 


that  it  might  not  perish. — Ver.  17  sq.  (Homi- 
letic Hints  on  ch.  xviii.  25-29.)  "More  than 
five  years  intervened  [viz.  between  this  and  tha 
similar  utterance  in  ch.  xviii.],  and  the  people 
had  still  not  got  a  step  farther.  'Thus  God  Himself, 
by  His  example,  teaches  all  parents,  guardians, 
etc.,  patience.  And  we  should  much  more 
exercise  patience  when  wc  think  of  our  own  sins 
and  of  God's  patience  with  us,  but  sliould  also  not 
be  weary  of  watching  and  warning  "  (Sch.mieder). 
— "An  honest  man  has  still  much  more  faith  in 
the  world  than  God  Himself,  Gen.  xix.  14" 
(St.). — God's  way  is  right  even  when  He,  nay, 
just  because  He  does  not  allow  the  lighteous  to 
be  righteous,  and  does  not  leave  the  sinner  to 
perish. — Let  him  who  thinks  that  he  stands 
take  heed  that  he  do  not  fall  !— Do  this,  it  is 
ever  again  said,  and  thou  shalt  live. — Good 
works  are  productions  of  God,  in  consequence 
of  the  will  having  been  set  free  by  Him  from 
the  doing  of  evil  to  the  doing  of  good. — The  last 
day  will  make  it  clear  that  God's  way  has  been 
right. 

Vers.  21,  22.  "The  opened  mouth  of  a  servant 
of  God  is  his  frankness,  the  contrary  is  trimming 
and  flattering ;  and  it  is  also  distinguished  liom 
sarcastic  witticisms,  evil  speaking,  and  insult. 
The  servants  of  God  should  be  frauk  in  speech; 
yet  not  like  insolent  fellows,  who  believe  they 
may  say  everything  because  no  one  can  contradict 
them,  at  least  when  in  the  pulpit  "  (Luther). — 
God's  word  will  take  effect  at  last ;  woe  to  him 
who  then  finds  that  he  is  a  stricken  man,  who 
should  have  long  ago  recognised  himself  to  be  in 
that  case  ! — "At  last  it  comes,  what  men  would 
not  believe  "  (Beiil.  Bib.). — Uur  silence  and  our 
speaking  are  both  of  God. — "  In  the  time  of  God's 
long-suffering,  which  sinners  abuse,  the  righteous 
must  often  be  silent  till  the  judgments  actuallv 
take  place"  (B.  B. ).— Ver.  24  sq.  The  deceitful 
conclusions  of  self-love. — The  hereditary  nobility 
in  its  foolLsh  pretensions. — "  Of"  Abraham  mat- 
ters nothing,  but  to  be  like  Abraham  is  what  is 
needed. — Jfoblesse  oblige. — Walls,  cities,  go  to 
ruin,  but  a  fool  will  still  plant  himself  on  the 
ruins,  Prov.  xxvii.  22. — "  What  is  promised  to 
faith,  unbelievers  will  often  be  found  ajipropriat- 
ing  to  themselves  "  (Stck.  ).  —The  hope  of  the 
ungodly  must  come  to  shame. — When  the  mask 
falls  from  the  hyjiocrites,  then  will  the  beast  of 
prey  which  lay  behind  become  manifest ;  and  we 
shall  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ ;  then  the  masquerade  will  be  out. — 
There  have  not  only  been  persons  bearing  merely 
the  name  of  Jew,  but  there  still  are,  and  always 
have  been,  plenty  of  nominal  Christians. — Our  lile 
must  not  belie  our  profession,  else  in  our  claim  to 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  we  shall  reckon  with- 
out our  host. — Holy  ruins  are  relics  on  which 
there  is  no  inheritance. — Ver.  26.  The  natural 
man  stands  upon  nothing  else  than  his  sword. — 
"In  relation  to  sin  men  ought  not  to  be  womanish, 
but  women  to  be  manly"  (Hengst.).  —  Ver. 
27.  The  divine  vengeance  does  not  need  to  rush 
upon  its  victim  from  behind  in  order  to  lay  hold 
of  him,  nor  does  it  require  to  make  a  long  and 
laborious  search  after  him  ;  but  where  he  has  fled 
to  and  fancies  himself  hidden,  whether  it  be  in  the 
heights  or  in  the  depths,  there  the  vengeance  of 
God  lies  in  readiness,  and  has  been  expecting  him 
to  come  to  it. — In  the  end  we  all  come  to  God— 
alas !  that  so  few  shonld  fall  into  His  arms,  whik 


il6 


EZEKIEL. 


BO  many  fall  upon  His  swovd  ! — If  the  wild  beasts 
of  passion  do  not  tear  a  man,  the  pestilence  of 
his  natural  corruption  will  gradually  consume 
him. — Ver.  28  sq.  Desolate  shall  it  be  at  last 
about  every  ungodly  man  ;  for  as  the  heart  is,  so 
is  the  life.  First  of  all  sin  desolates ;  then  come 
desolations  through  death  ;  finally,  we  pass  into 
the  desolation  of  an  eternity  without  God. — 
The  knowledge  of  the  Eternal  many  times  the 
most  terrible  humiliation  in  what  is  temporal. — 
Ver.  30  sq.  ''  It  is  suspicious  when  people  praise 
the  fineness  of  a  preacher's  voice,  address,"  etc. 
(R[CHT. ). — Ezekiel  shows  that  this  is  what  may 
happen  even  with  earnest  and  godly  preachers, 
for  what  is  there  from  which  man  cannot  suck 
sugar? — "Externally  to  hear  God's  word,  men 
will  often  encourage  themselves,  but  not  through 
God's  grace  to  reduce  it  to  practice,  Jer.  xlii. 
1,  2"  (St.). — Merely  to  hear,  without  doing, 
makes  all  preaching  unprofitable. — How  maiiy 
unwashed  mouths  wipe  themselves  clean  on 
the  servants  of  God ! — Strange  that  sermons  of 
rebuke  should  be  more  attractive  than  grace- 
sermons  !  It  show.s  that  the  gospel  requires  a 
much  greater  earnestness  of  spirit  than  the  law. 
But  men  would  still  always  rather  be  smitten 
than  caressed  ;  they  think,  perhaps,  that  in  the 
love  there  is  too  much  of  design.  If  one  has 
bi'en  struck  by  the  cudgel,  it  is  still  possible  to 
preserve  one's  heart  and  head  ;  but  K)ve  leaves 
nothing  to  one's  self,  it  demands  all — the  whole 
man,  and  the  whole  life. — "Shun  the  society  of 
mockers,  for  nothing  that  is  good  can  come  of 


these"  (Stck.). — "They  only  praise  the  elo- 
quence, they  do  not  trouble  themiselves  about  the 
matter,  unless  it  be  that  it  does  not  directly  con- 
cern them,  but  the  heathen,  ch.  xxv.  sq. "(B.  B. /. 
— A  measure  for  judging  of  the  flocking  to  mis- 
sion festivals. — "There  will  always  be  hypocrites, 
who  hear,  indeed,  but  do  ujt — yea,  do  quite  dif- 
ferently from  what  their  hearing  should  lead 
them  to  do.  But  God  knows  the  thoughts  of  the 
heart,  and  looks  upon  all  the  ways  of  all  men, 
and  in  TTis  own  time  will  avenge  the  desjiitj 
done  to  His  servants  upon  their  despisers. 
Finally,  we  should  not  suffer  oiirselves  to  be  en- 
tertained with  God's  word  as  with  nmsic.  Go<i 
does  not  play  in  His  word  that  we  mav  dance  " 
(Luther).— To  hear,  but  also  to  obey,  tfiat  is  the 
main  thing. — Mere  habit  as  regards  the  hearing 
of  sermons  makes  people  indifferent,  and  at  last 
stupid. — The  Lord  preserve  us  from  empty  pews, 
but  still  more  from  stupid  hearers,  who  only 
wish  to  show  their  Sunday  clothes,  and  to  have 
been  in  church  ! — How  readily  may  a  preacher 
deceive  himself  regarding  his  hearers  ! — God  read 
here  to  Ezekiel  a  lecture  on  homiletics, — Pious 
sentimentalism,  also,  is  spiritual  adultery. — So 
must  God  to-day  still  be  Love,  since  thus  only 
can  the  world  quietly  remain  the  world,  which 
He  has  loved  so  much. — The  "dear  God  "  {liebe 
Gott)  the  love-song  of  people  ot  the  world.— 
Satan  goes  with  us  into  church. — Edification  and 
the  capacity  for  it  are  two  ditt'erent  things. — A 
true  prophet  wiU  always  leave  behind  him  the 
impression  of  a  true  prophet. 


II.  THE  DIVINE  PROMISES. 

I.  Against  the  Shephekds  of  Israel,  of  the  Shepherd  Kendness  of  Jehovah  toward  His 
Flock,  and  of  His  Servant  David  (Ch.  xxxiv.). 

1,  2  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  sa)'ing  :  Son  of  man,  prophesy 
upon  the  shepherds  of  Israel,  prophesy,  and  say  to  them,  to  the  shepherds, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Woe  to  the  shepherds  of  Israel,  that  were 

3  feeding  themselves  !  Should  not  the  shepherds  feed  the  flock  ?  Ye  ate  the 
fat,  and  clothed  yourselves  with  the  wool ;  ye  killed  what  was  fed  ;  ye  fed  not 

4  the  flock.  Those  which  hecame  weak  ye  have  not  strengthened,  and  the  sick  ye 
have  not  healed,  and  the  wounded  [broken]  have  ye  not  bound  up,  and  the  driven 
away  have  ye  not  brought  back,  nor  looked  after  that  which  was  lost  [peiishinK], 

5  and  with  rigour  have  ye  ruled  them,  and  with  oppression.  And  they  were 
scattered,  because  [there  was]  no  shepherd,  and  were  for  food  to  all  living  crea- 

6  tures  [for  meat  to  all  beasts]  of  the  field,  and  they  were  scattered.  They  wander, 
My  flock,  upon  all  mountains,  and  upon  every  high  hill ;  and  upon  tie  whole 
face  of  the  earth  have  they  been  scattered.  My  Hock,  and  there  is  none  that 

7  seeks  after,  and  none  that  looks  after.     Therefore,  shepherds,  hear  the  word 

8  of  Jehovah.  As  I  live — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — Because  My  flock 
has  l>ecome  for  a  prey  [for  booty],  and  they  have  become,  My  flock,  for  food  to 
all  living  creatures  of  the  field,  because  [there  was]  not  a  shepherd,  and  My 
shepherds  have  not  sought  after  My  flock,  and  the  shepherds  fed  themselves, 

9  and  fed  not  My  flock :     Therefore,  ye  shepherds,  hear  the  word  of  Jehovah  ; 

10  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Behold,  I  [am]  against  the  shepherds,  and 
demand  My  flock  from  their  hand,  and  cause  them  to  cease  from  feeding  the 
flock  ;  and  the  shepherds  shall  no  more  feed  themselves  ;  and  I  deliver  [snatch] 
My  flock  out  of  their  mouth,  and  they  shall  not  henceforth  he  for  food  to 

11  them.     For  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Behold,  I,  I  [am  there],  and  seek  for 

12  My  flock,  and  inspect  [acmtii  i»e]  them.    As  a  shepherd  inspects  his  flock,  in  the 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  31. ' 


daj-  that  he  is  amongst  his  flock,  the  scattered  [she  p],  so  will  I  inspect  My 
flock,  and  deliver  [rescue]  them  out  of  all  the  places  whither  they  were  scat- 

13  tered  in  the  day  of  cloud  and  darkness.  And  I  lead  them  forth  from 
among  the  peoples,  and  gather  them  from  the  lands,  and  bring  them  to  their 
ground,  and  feed  them  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,  in  the  valleys,  and  in  all 

14  the  dwellings  of  the  land  [theeanh].  On  good  pasture  will  I  feed  them,  and  in 
[on]  the  high  mountains  of  Israel  shall  their  walk  be ;  there  shall  they  lie 
down  in  a  good  walk,  and  on  a  fat  pasture  shall  they  feed  upon  the  moun- 

15  tains  of  Israel.     I  will  feed  My  flock,  and  I  will  make  them  lie  down  :  sen- 

1 6  tence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  I  will  look  after  the  perishing,  and  the  driven 
away  will  I  bring  back,  and  the  broken  will  I  bind  up,  and  will  strengthen 
the  sick,  and  the  fat  and  the  strong  I  will  destroy ;  I  will  feed  it  with  judg- 

17  ment.     And  ye.  My  flock,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  judge 

18  between  sheep  and  sheep,  the  rams  and  the  he-goats.  Is  it  too  little  for  you 
that  ye  feed  on  the  good  [b^st]  pasture,  and  ye  tread  down  the  rest  of  your 
pasture  with  your  feet,  and  drink  the  sunk  water,  and  with  your  feet  trouble 

19  the  residue  ]     And  My  flock,  must  they  feed  on  what  yc3ur  feet  have  trodden, 

20  and  of  what  your  feet  have  troubled  must  they  drinks  Therefore,  thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  them :  Behold,  I,  I  [am  there]  and  judge  between 

21  fat  sheep  and  lean  [imporerished]  sheep.  Because  ye  push  with  side  and  with 
shoulder,  and  thrust  with  your  horns  all  those  which  have  become  weak,  till 

22  ye  have  scattered  them  abroad  :     Therefore  I  help  My  flock,  and  they  shall  no 

23  longer  be  for  a  prey,  and  I  will  judge  between  sheep  and  sheep.  And  I  appoint 
[raise  up]  over  them  one  shepherd,  and  he  feeds  them.  My  servant  David  ;  he 

24  will  feed  them,  and  he  will  be  to  them  a  shepherd.  And  I,  Jehovah,  will  be 
to  them  a  God,  and  My  servant  David  prince  in  their  midst.     I,  Jehovah,  have 

25  spoken.  And  I  conclude  for  them  a  covenant  of  peace,  and  cause  the  evil 
beasts  to  cease  out  of  the  land,  and  they  dwell  securely  in  the  wilderness, 

26  and  sleep  in  the  woods.  And  I  give  them  and  the  environs  of  j\Iy  hill  [for  a] 
blessing,  and  cause  the  rain  to  come  down  in  its  season — showers  of  blessing 

27  there  shall  be.  And  the  tree  of  the  field  gives  its  fruit,  and  the  land  shall 
give  its  increase ;  and  they  are  safe  upon  their  ground,  and  they  know  that  I 
am  Jehovah,  when  I  break  the  bars  of  their  yoke,  and  I  deliver  [rescue]  them 

28  from  the  hand  of  those  whom  they  served  [who  wrought  through  them].  And  they 
shall  no  more  be  a  prey  to  the  heathen,  ancl  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  not 
devour  them,  and  they  dwell  secure,  and  there  is  none  to  make  them  afraid. 

29  And  I  raise  up  for  them  a  plantation  for  a  name,  and  they  shall  no  more  be 
swept  away  from  hunger  in  the  land,  and  no  more  bear  the  reproach  of  the 

30  heathen.  And  they  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  their  God,  [am]  with  them,  and 
they  [are]  My  people,  the  house  of  Israel :    sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

31  And  ye  My  flock,  flock  of  My  pasture,  men  [are]  ye;  I  [am]  your  God  :  sen- 
tence of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.    2.  Sept.:   .  .  .'ftv9iut*tf  .  .  .  ux  *t  foiut^n  $offxovfftf  ieturovt ; — 
Ver.    3.  'lli'j  TO  y!t>.tz  xartrSttrt — 

Ver.   4.  .  .  .  zati  70  'iff^vBoi  x«cT!tfyeifetr9i  ucy^ffu,  (Anoth.  read. :  nnSJ^H-^ 

Ver.    5.   .  .  .  70U  xy^Q'j  z.  lets  tfnivca  tvj  aitn^vj. 

Ver.    6.  Koji  SiEo-ToturraEv  ToL  T^oiSxTx  fjMj  .  .  .  (TflttTj)  T»ar*Tai  (T«ff^r)  *.  yyii  .  -  .  6vit  0  iTWTji^art.  (.\llotu.  read.; 

?3  ^JD  Pyi- )     Vulg. :  it  non  irat  qui  requireret,  non  erat.  inquam,  qui  requireret. 

\  cr.     8.  Sept.:   .   ,   .   il  ^»i*  i»T(  ray  ylviffdoLt  .   .    .   £(V  Tf«*e.A»;»  x.  yi\lirliixi  T.  Tf#^aTflt  fxau — 

Ver.  10.  .  .  .  reu  tt*)  -rotuxi^Uf  T.  tb^xtix  /juv  .   .  .  ir-  01  roiuiysi  ttt/rat — 

Ver.  12.   .  .   .   it  yi.t^^et  yye^ov  X.  »(?iArf  E»  f^tfai — 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:   .  .  .  (»  t.  i^tf  tv  y^»iAw,  i*  t.  i^u  '\r^BL%X.     Kaj  trovran  et'i  fJ^t^fxt  xvTOn  ix!i  x.  xoi,u.*:S*)<rotTxi,  x.  ixt 
%9xTavrevTau  it  T^u^, — 

Ver.  15.  .  .  .  xau  inyyaiffotTxt,  iie  rl  I'tfu  xvitoi.     Ttxit  filyn — 

Ver.  16.  .  .  .  Ic-x'-'C  fi/X«|»r-  X.  .  .  .  <tiT«  («T«  xfifi^TK.    For  TDB'N  all  read  TDCN  (i  ^IDCK)  except  Child 

Ver.  21,  S^pt.:   .      .   r.  xi^etffi*  •jfdMir  'txi^otTtZfrl,  X.  Txn  TO  EX/fJTO*  (lltfA/^ITi. 

Ver.  22.  K.  ruTot  .   .  .   x^iou  Tfo;  x^iow. 

Ver.  25.   .  .   .   rat  Aoivio  iiix6tiXr,¥   ...   X.  xaTOixyiffouriit  EF  r»]  l^riixaf— 

Ver.  26.  .    .   .  ot-jro:/;  xvxXot  r.  o^ous  uou,  X.   .   .    .   T    t/fTor,  utr^t  I'l^oyiott  Btvrtn. 

Ver.  27.   .   .   .  iv  :?.t.3(  £i'*»;»»:;   .   .   .    t   ^vyo*  rou  x^eiou  etijTon — 

Ver.  2S.  Sept. :...!.  c/.nit— 

Ver.  29.  .  .  .  ^yro*  ii^y.vKt — 

Ver.  30.  Sept.  Syr.  Arab,  add  D'lJH,  and  omit  DHK. 

Ver.  31.    K.  Ctiti:  tBO^xTOt  lAOtl  X.  Tfo$XTX  T.  ITOIUOtOV  U4V  Em,  ■.  If* 


318 


EZEKIEL. 


EXEGETIC-AL  REMARKS. 
Vers.  1-10.  The  Shepherds  of  Israel. 
Vsr.  1.  Hengstenberg  regaids  the  prophet  with 
this  word  of  Jehovah  as  meeting  the  trouble 
wliicli  aruses  from  tlie  loss  of  civil  goveminent : 
the  seeming  loss,  he  contends,  is  real  gain,  since 
the  existing  government  was  so  bad.  Keil  ex- 
cellently designates  the  turning  against  the  bad 
sl.epherds  as  a  foil  for  the  ensuing  promise. 
What  the  relation  to  the  first  part  of  the  book, 
the  natural  sequel  to  the  same  ahead}'  suggests, 
namely,  a  vivid  representation  of  the  past, — this 
will  now  show  itself  to  be  the  more  appropriate, 
since  in  the  second  part  of  the  book  the  promise 
of  God  is  what  gives  the  prevailing  tone.  The 
future  salvation  cannot  be  better  set  oif  and 
characterized  than  upon  the  past  distress;  just  as 
upon  the  daik  background  of  our  misery,  redemp- 
tion genei'ally  appears  the  brighter,  and  also 
so  much  the  moie  a  necessity  ;  and  John  viii.  10 
("  Woman,  wliereare  those  thine  accusers?")  con- 
veys an  import  of  a  similar  kind  with  reference  to  a 
still  more  distanttime  than  what  is  here  referred  to. 

Ver.  2.  ^y  (corap.  "ij^,  ch.  xiii.  2),  agreeably  to 

tile  tenor  of  what  follow.s,  as  much  as  :  ar/ainst ; 
but  as  the  controversy  has  respect  to  positions  of 
eminence,  it  carries  a  certain  reference  to  that. 
Kliclbth  undoubtedly  views  the  shepherds  rightly, 
wlien  he  understands  thereby  generally  the  entire 
body  of  officials  who  had  committed  to  them  the 
leadership  of  the  people.  At  least  the  following 
djscription,  bearing  as  it  does  the  shepherd  form, 
w  capable  of  compreliending  all,  and  admits  of 
ajiplication  to  all.  Hence  some  have  taken  it 
with  reference  to  the  kings,  and  also  to  the 
priests  ;  others  have  thought  merely  of  the  kings, 
or  of  the  collective  order  then  holding  the  reins  of 
government  (as  Hengst. ) ;  others,  again,  have  found 
here  the  false  prophets  and  teachers  of  the  jieople. 
The  reference  to  Jer.  xxiii. ,  which  has  been  leant 
upon,  decides  nothing  ;  it  only  shows  how,  in  the 
second  part  also  of  his  book  of  prophecy,  Ezekiel 
kept  himself  in  unison  of  sentiment  with  his  pre- 
decessor and  cimipanion.  Nothing  can  be  proved 
here  by  the  "biblical  idea  of  the  shepherd" 
(Keii.),  since  it  is  just  the  image  of  a  shepherd 
which  is  set  before  us  ;  and  the  fact  that  in  ver. 
'2'i  sq.  David  forms  the  antithesis,  and  that  in 
the  character  of  prince,  finds  its  explanation  in 
the  Messianic  idea,  thereby  symbolized  and  his- 
torically exhibited,  which,  as  in  our  propliet,  is 
viewed  pre-eminently  in  its  kingly  a.spect  (]ip. 
23,  24).  So,  on  the  other  hand,  by  means  of  the 
contrast  with  the  anointed,  it  leaves,  under  the 
image  of  the  shepherd,  the  complex  of  official 
life  to  be  understood.  All  the  offices — hence  He 
is  called  Christ — and  princes  also  (comp.  on  ch. 
xii.  10)  must,  the  more  they  had  been  guilty, 
culminate  in  him.'  In  order  to  retain  the  king 
and   the   great  (D'lC',   the   magnates,    Hitzig), 

Hengst.  notices  the  circumstance  that  Jehoiachin 

n'h"  ntyle  of  interprt'tatiriii  here  docs  not  .leem  quite 
satisfactory.  It  is  true,  tlie  repiesentation  is  given  iiniier 
t!ic  image  of  a  Biieplicrd,  and  under  tiiat  imaife  all  otHcial 
a'iaiiiiistra'ions  might  be  in  a  sense  included.  But  tlie 
question  is,  what  in  <Jld  Testa  i  ent  scripture,  especially  pro- 
phetical scripture,  is  actually  mciuiied  in  it  ?  In  Jel".  ii.  8 
tlie  slieiiherds  are  expressly  distiiiL'uished  fi'om  both  pro. 
pliets  and  priests;  they  are  named  as  a  distinct  class,  and 
can  only  tie  understood  of  Itincs  and  lulers.  These  also  are 
irhat  are  nuist  naturally  undel'stood  hy  shepherds  in  Jer. 
tlill.  1-G.   It  was,  in  fact,  the  cose  of  I>avid  which  gave  rise 


and  Zedekiah,  and  likewise  many  of  the  chiefs, 
were  .still  in  life;  that  the  announcement  there- 
fore might  extend  into  tlie  future.  But  he  holds 
that  what  the  prophet  here  announces  as  having 
as  to  its  main  part  already  taken  place,  must 
be  simply  an  explanation  of  the  judghaent  in  the 

form  of  an  announcement  of  it ! — D'yh^,  the  ad- 
dress repeated,  ph'onasmus  emphatieus,  whereby 
the  shepherd-idea  at  the  same  time  is  promi- 
nently brought  out,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  threatening  attached  and  description  of  the 
reality  comes  thus  into  more  marked  contrast. — 
That  were  feeding  themselves ;  this  already  in- 
dicates all  (oniK,  reile.xive,  Ewald,  Gr.  p.  788), 

the  selfishness  that  merely  seeks  its  own,  instead 
of  what  belongs  to  the  flock.  (|NS,  small  cattle; 
especially  sheep,  but  also  goats.)  Conip.  Phil, 
ii.  21  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  14  ;  Jude  v.  12  ;  Acts  xx.  28; 
1  Pet.  V.  2. 

Ver.  3.  Here  a  detailed  description  is  given  of 
the  "not  feeding,"  to  which  the  "feeding,"  the 
obligation  involved  in  the  relation  of  shepiierd  to 
flock  ("should  not  the  shepherd,"  etc.,  ver.  2), 
stands  opposed  ;  and  tli*  picture  is  drawn  so  as  to 
make  enjoymenl  merely  ttike  the  primary  place  on 
the  side  of  the  shepherds.  Such  was  their  habitual 
acting.  Instead  of  fat,  Hitzig  reads  with  the 
Sept.  37ni  ""'i,  as  also  Rosenmiiller,  so  as  there- 
by to  avoid  the  anticipating  and  repeating  as  re- 
gards the  killing  in  the  third  clause.  Certainly 
the  milk  would  suit  well  with  the  "wool,"  and  the 
"eating"  (1  Cor.  ix.  7)  should  occasion  no  diffi- 
culty. There  must  not,  however,  be  supposed 
the  lawful  use  of  the  Hock,  but  from  the  first 
the  greed  which  appropriates  to  itself  the  best  of 
the  animal;  at  length  the  best  animal  itself  is 
what  appears  in  the  representation — from  which, 
however,  nothing  arises  for  determining  more 
closely  what  office  is  meant,  since  it  is  applicable 
to  each  office  ["but  manifestly  most  strictly  ap- 
plicable to  the  kingly  or  ruling  office,"  P.  F.]. — 
To  the  greedy  misappropriation  for  one's  own 
use,  there  is  a  comiianion  picture  in  Ver.  4  ;  the 
words:  "ye  fed  not  the  flock,"  farther  declar- 
ing, on  the  one  hand,  the  want  of  care  for  the 
flock,  the  contemptuous  neglect  of  them,  nay,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  merciless  energy  with  which 
what   should   have  been  protection  had    ttirneil 

into  simjile  domination,  ni^nj,  partic.  Niphal 
from  npn,  are  those  which  had  become  weak, 
wretched,  whether  it  may  have  been  through 
sickness  or  overdriving.  n?in  is  the  sick  itself. 
The  Niph.  pass,  of  "y^V  denotes  what  is  wounded, 

what  has  been  somewhat  broken — corresponding 
to  which  is:  "to  bind  up,"  to  wrap  up  firmly. 
Comp,  Matt.  xii.  20. — nni3  is  the  driven  away, 

to  this  metaphorical  languaee,  who  was  taken  fioni  the 
humble  office  of  feeding  his  father's  sheep  "to  feed  GodN 
people  Israel,  and  to  be  a  captain  over  Israel  "  (2  Sam.  v.  '2; 
I's.  Ixxviii.  70,  71);  and  this  t'ave  the  tone  to  future  use. 
The  actions  here  also  ascribed  to  the  false  shepherds  favout 
the  same  view :  they  are  such  as  belong  not  to  faithless  anu 
corrupt  teachers,  but  to  bad  rulers — violence,  selfish  disre- 
gard  of  the  weak  and  oppressed,  wrongful  dealings  witt 
their  goods,  etc.  This  also  is  the  view  taken  by  Hendei-^oii: 
'•nor  ecclesiastical  rulers  or  teachers,  but  the  civil  goier 
nors."— P.  F.J 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  5-12. 


S19 


the  exiled,  in  eonsec[nence  of  harsh  treatment 
\comp.  1  Pet.   ii.  25).     ^3^{,  to  lose  one's  self,  to 

be  lost,  to  perish  (comp.  Matt.  x.  6,  xv.  24,  xviii. 
1.  :  Luke  xv.  4,  6.  xix.  10>.  The  two  last  ex- 
pressions prepare  the  way  for  the  riTl  (to  domi- 
neer, to  trample  on)  with  npTPI.  and  with  1^g 

(t\Tanny).  Comp.  Ex.  i.  13,  14;  Lev.  xxv.  43, 
46,  53  ;  Judg.  iv.  3  ;  1  Sam.  ii.'  16  ;  1  Pet.  v. 
3. — Ver.  5.  There  is  here,  finall}',  given  the  clos- 
ing feature,  as  it  is  likewise  involved  in  the  verb 
njn,  the  keeping  together;    while  they  did  not 

discharge  the  shepherd-obligation,  did  not  feed 
the  flock,  they  also  failed  to  keep  them  together, 
which   is   expressed    by   the   Niphal   of  p3   in 

respect  to  the  sheep,  which  also  had  already  been 
prepared  for  by  nmsn  and  rnaSH  (ver.  4).     The 

description  now  applies  to  the  flock,  not  to  single 
sheep  merely.  The  first  nj'SIBn  Hengst.  under- 
stands of  the  internal  dissolution  of  the  people,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  power  of  resisting  was 
lost  in  regard  to  those  without ;  the  second  he 
understands  of  the  exile.  Both  exfiressions,  how- 
ever, are  fimdamen  tally  the  same.  When  Israel  was 
not  held  together  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  through 
the  theocratic  oflices,  the  scattering,  the  self- 
abandonment,  and  surrender  to  the  worldly  powers 
was    the   natural,    necessary   con.sequence. — nvS 

v30,  from  the  want,  the  non-existence  of  a  shep- 
herd ;  becanse  no  shepherd  who  had  discharged 
his  duty  according  to  his  office  was  there  ;  comp. 
Jer.  X.  21  ;  Zech.  x.  2  ;  Matt,  ix.  36.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  scattering  of  the  flock — this  first 
of  all — they  became  food  to  the  nations  round 
about;  the  other  —  and  on  this  account  is 
nj^yiSril  repeated — overtook  them  to  the  full  in 

their  state  of  exile — as  previously  in  the  ten 
tribes,  so  now  also  in  Judah,  as  set  forth  in  Ver. 
6.  (Num.  xxvii.  17  ;  1  Kings  xxii.  17  ;  John  x. 
12.)  The  representation  in  the  image  should 
plainly  be  understood  as  a  pictorial  delineation  ; 
so  that  :  upon  the  whole  face  of  the  earth,  by 
which  the  preceding  :  upon  all  mountainB, 
and  ;  upon  every  high  hill,  may  be  regarded 
as  thrown  together,  must  be  taken  to  mean  not 
their  own  land,  as  some  have  thought  (Theo- 
Dor.ET),  viewing  it  in  connection  with  the 
heathen  worship  practised  there,  but  also  the 
earth,  without  reference  to  heathen  lands.  The 
Ui"',   however,   should   be    distinguished    from 

?Vb3  [that  is,  the  "wandering"  from  the  "scat- 
tering ''],  and  possibly,  therefore,  the  heathenizing 
tendency  and  the  punishment  borne  among  the 
heathen  may  be  indicated.  The  repeated  and 
emphasized  My  flock  prepares  for  the  resolutions 
of  Jehovah  that  follow.  There  being  none  to 
search  is  explained  by  the  preceding  :  ' '  because 
there  was  no  shepherd.  "     Upon  (JHT  and  t^pa, 

Bee  at  eh.  iii.  18.  According  to  Hav.,  {•ni  sig- 
nifies to  inquire  farther,  to  search  for,  to  concern 
one's  self  about,  while  c'pa  signifies  the  seeking 

foi  the  losl. — Ver.  7.  There  is  now,  on  the  ({round 


of  such  unfaithfulness  to  duty,  pronounced  the 
"woe"  of  ver.  2,  under  the  form  of  hearing  tht 
word  of  Jehovah. — Ver.  8.  Tlie  manner  of  pro- 
ceeding, however,  as  commonly  with  Ezekiel,  is 
first  of  all  again  to  rehearse  the  guilt  of  the 
shepherds,  and  so  to  resume  the  charge  that  tlie 
flock,  which  Jehovah  had  committed  to  these 
shepherds  as  His  own,  had  been  taken  away  b} 
the  stranger,  given  up  to  the  stranger,  tuiTieu 
into  a  "booty," — a  contrast  of  such  a  kind  that 
all,  in  a  manner,  was  said  by  it.  A  prey  is  more 
exactly  defined  by:  for  food,  agreeably  to  ver.  5  ; 
and  the  expression:  because  there  was  no  shep- 
herd, after  ver.  6,  is  explained  by:  have  not  sought 
after  My  flock. — Ver.  9.  This  verse,  with  the 
therefore,  renews  the  demand  on  the  shepherds 
(ver.   7). — Ver.   10.    Instead  of  ''JX'TI  we  have 

here   'nDX'iia,   and   'Jjn   instead  of   x^j  DK-— 

Ch.  xiii.   20,   8. — <nt^^^1,   antithesis   to    "N^, 

ViTil.     Comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  8;  Zech.  ix.  16. — The 

flock  must  be  demanded  of  the  officials,  and  these 
made  to  cease — which  was  fulfilled  up  to  the 
time  of  Christ.     With  reference  to  the  flock,  such 

a  seeking  is    a   deliverance    (pisn),    considering 

the  character  of  the  shepherds  ;  and  because  the 
circumstance  of  their  feeding  themselves  goes 
immediatelj'  before,  which  points  back  to  ver.  3, 

DpTSSD  is   put  instead  of   DTt3,    and   j"nn"N7 

forms  the  parallel  to  ^iy  iJTIi-N^l,  previously 

used  (ch.  xiii.  21). 

Vers.  11-22.  Jehovah  in  His  Shepherd  Tender- 
ness toward  His  Flock. 

Ver.  11.  This  verse  grounds  (For)  the  ceasing 
of  the  past  relation  of  shepherd  and  flock  through 
the   all -expressive   personal  addition:   '3X"'3jn, 

which  the  Targum  Jona.  renders  by  :  "  Beliold,  1 
will  manifest  Myself."  As  it  is  said  in  John  i. 
10  sq. :  "  He  was  in  the  world,"  and  :  "  He  came 
unto  His  own." — I  seek  for  My  flock,  a  contrast 
to  :  "  there  is  none  that  seeketh  for,"  in  ver.  6, 
and  to  :  "they  have  not  sought  for,"  in  ver.  8. 
Instead  of  C'pa,  however,  there  stands  the  more 

inward    "ip3,    inspect,    consider,    by    means    of 

which  the  following  expansion  is  introduced, 
which  has  respect  exclusively  to  the  flock, — 
"the  community,  on  whose  preservation  every- 
thing depends"  (Ewald). — Ver.  12.  There  must 
be  the  inspection  (Gesem.  :  properly,  Aram.  inf. 
Poel)  of  a  shepherd;  Jehovah  will  therefore 
discover  Himself  not  only  as  proprietor,  whose 
proprietorship  is  of  another  kind,  but  specially  as 
shepherd,  which  He  really  is,  in  contrast  to  the 
merely  titular  officials,  nay,  as  if  He  alone  were 
shepherd  (Ps.  xxiii.).  Hence  also  "nj;,  where  for- 
merly there  was  [xs  ;  comp.  Jer  xiii.  17  (Isa. 
xl.  11  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  10  ;  Luke  xv.  4). — In  the  day 
that  he  is  amongst  his  flock  descrilies  more  fully 
what  is  implied  in  the  brief  though  energetic 
and  significant :  "  Behold,  I,  I,"  of  ver.  11.  Tht 
epithet  niBnBJ  to  IJXS  indicates  the  assumed  con- 
dition, however  much,  as  a  characteristic  apposi' 


y>r 


EZEKIEL. 


tion.  it  is  at  variance  with  the  meaning  and  nature 
of  a  tloek.  One  has  to  think  of  tlie  Jay  thai  suc- 
ceeds a  nocturnal  storm  and  tempest,  and  all  the 
dangers  arising  from  wihl  beasts,  etc.,  when,  after 
tliat  t}ie  seltish  shephenls  had  in  a  body  proved 
faitliless  to  their  calling,  now  at  length  the  true 
shepherd  of  the  flock  presents  himself.  So  that : 
"  in  tlie  day  that  he  is  amongst  his  flock,"  evi- 
dently forms  a  contrast  to  :  the  day  of  cloud  and 
darkness,  at  the  close  of  the  verse  ;  which  words 
are,  tlierefore,  improperly  connected  by  Hitzig 
(Klief. ),  with  an  allusion  to  ch.  xxx.  3,  xxix. 
21,  and  especially  to  Joel  ii.  2,  with  :  and  deliver 

them  ('n'^sni)-  ^"^  t'l*^  'i*y  "  "^  cloud  and 
darkness"  (psiy,  combination  of  "cloud"  and 
darkness,  yet  not  by  a  throwing  together  of 
finj?  and  ^sx,  l^'Ut  an  extended  form,  like  jjoiS, 
from  D^S),  ^^s  also  the  derivation  of  the  fornmla 

from  the  lawgiving  on  Sinai  (Deut.  iv.  11  ;  Heb. 
xii.  18)  might  indicate,  is  not  the  day  of  God's 
judgment  upon  all  the  heathen — also,  not  "the 
dark  showers  of  the  birth  of  a  better  time," 
as  Ewald  puts  it,  connecting  the  expression 
with  ver.  13,  but  the  day  of  the  dispersion  of 
His  people, — the  punishment  which,  according 
to  the  law  of  God  from  Sinai,  befell  them 
by  the  instrumentality  of  the  heathen.  Ac- 
cordingly, 'jjy  DV3  belongs  to  the  immediately 

preceding  relative  clause  '^VS3""ltJ'Ki  ^  connection 

which  is  usual. — The  rescuing,  delivering  out  of, 
whereby  the  inspection  of  the  flock  accomplishes 
the  kind  of  salvation  indicated,  presupposes  in 
the  general ;  a  dangerous  position, — in  particular : 
imprisonment,  servitude,  oppression,  tyranny, 
etc.  That  it  was  to  be  out  of  all  the  places, 
etc. ,  besides  being  in  accordance  with  the  preced- 
ing figure  (ver.  6),  arises  from  the  form  of  the 
salvation,  which  is  represented  as  primarily  a 
gathering  (ch.  xxviii.  25),  especially  a  bringing 
back  out  of  exile  to  the  land  of  their  home,  as  is 
shown  in  Ver.  13  (Ex.  vi.  6,  vii.  4,  5  ;  Acts  ii. 
9-11).  Comp.  also  ch.  xi.  17  ;  John  xi.  52.  But 
at  the  same  time,  as  Hengst.  has  said,  "other 
glorious  gifts  and  benefits,  which,  however,  all 
pointed  forward  to  the  true  fulfilment,  and  called 
forth  desire  for  it,"  are  indicated  by  :  and  feed 
them  (D'n'jni)- — Ch.  vi.  2,  3. — And  in  aU  the 

dwellings  of  the  land  are,  primarily,  all  the  parts 
adapted  for  occupation,  for  inhabiting ;  might 
not  fnxn,  however,  have  a  farther  reference  ? — 

Ver.  14.  An  explanation  is  here  given  of  the 
"feeding"  by  Jehovah  with  regard  to  the  fodder 
(nVIO)i  t'^  which  also  QniJ  coiTesponds,  but,  at 

the  same  time,  with  reference  to  lairs,  reposing, 
resting,  dwelling.  It  lies,  besides,  in  the  thing 
itself  that  the  pasturegiound  was,  at  the  same 
time,  a  lair  and  resting-place,  fold,  Ps.  xxiii. ; 
Song  i.  7.— 'dIiD  'nnai,  PHiLirpsoN:   "upon 

the  raiuntains  of  the  height  of  Israel ; "  comp.  at 
ch.  xvii.  23,  xx.  40. — Ver.  15.  A  bringing  to- 
pather  of  what  has  been  said  in  both  respects  ; 
comp.  on  !»3^,  ch.  xxi.x.  3  ;  Ps.  xxiii. 

Ver.  16.  An  explanation  is  here  given,  and  in 
contrast  to  the  denounced  faithlessness  (ver.  4)  of 


those  who  had  hitherto  held  the  shepherd-office, 
of  the  "feeding"  as  that  is  understood  by  Jehovah, 
of  a  much  more  internal  nature,  and  indeed  with 
an  eye  to  right  and  righteousness.  As  the  con- 
trast in  strong  and  strengthen  (comp.  for  that 
Luke  xxii.  32(  may  of  itself  indicate,  but  as  the 
words  :  I  will  feed  it  with  judgment,  put  be- 
yond doulit,  and  the  sequel  shows,  tlie  feeding  by 
Jehovah  is  also  a  judging,  which  does  not  mean 
simply  a  right  dealing,  or  treatment  according  to 
right  and  eijuity,  but  involves,  as  we  shall  see,  a 
separation.  With  judgment  is  sufficiently  ex- 
plained by  the:   I  will  destroy  (l<nt"X) — Ps. 

xxxvii.  38  ;  comp.  also  ch.  xiv.  9  ;  Luke  i.  51,  52. 
The  ironical  turn  given  to  the  n3Jf1S  (the  suffix  does 

not  relate  to  the  flock)  may  easily  be  understood 
from  the  visible  antithesis  to  the;  "and  with 
rigour  have  ye  ruled  them,  and  with  oppression," 
in  ver.  4  ;  comp.  also  the  distinction  between 
njDts'n  and  npTnn  in  the  comparison  withns'"13n 

in  ver.  3.  The  Chaldee  paraphrase  interprets  ; 
"godless  and  sinners,"  while  the  Vulg.  trans- 
lates :  cnstodiam,  as  does  Luther  also,  as  if  it  had 
stood  IDB'.     Comp.  also  Kev.  ii.  27 ;  Ps.  ii.  9. 

Ver.  17.  As  a  confirmation  of  the  sense  put 
upon  the  last  part  of  ver.  16,  this  verse  intro- 
duces by  way  of  contrast  the  (remaining)  flock  : 
And  ye,  My  flock.  The  officials  are  with  ver.  10 
discharged  and  gone  ;  the  persons  concerned  can 
therefore  only  come  into  consideration  according 
to  their  personal  qualities,  not  according  to  their 
official  rank ;  consequently,  as  one  sheep  merely 
with  another,  in  other  words,  as  "fat"  and 
"  strong,"  or  such  like  (Deut.  xxxii.  15).  Hence 
the  ;  Behold,  I  judge  between  sheep  and  sheep, 
explains  the;  "in  judgment,"  of  ver.  16  as  a 
judgment  between  one  kind  of  sheep  and  another, 
individual  members  of  the  flock  ;  therefore,  that 

ntj6  expresses  the  judicial  separation  in  regard 
to  those  previously  named  fat  and  strong,  and 
D'Tinvi)!  (nnjf,  to  urge,  push;  the  he -goat 
TiPiS^  properly  ;  "pusher")  Q^p'S?  is  an  enlarg- 
ing apposition.  Hitzig:  "against  the  rams 
and  the  he -goats."  Beside  the  pushing  and 
pressing  (ver.  21)  there  sounds  distinctly  forth 
the  leading  and  guiding  of  the  flock  ;  so  that  the 
older  expositors  were  right  in  thinking  of  the 
shepherds  in  ver.  2,  yet  not  in  that  character, 
but  simply  as  individuals.  (As,  in  another  re- 
spect certainly,  the  Servant  of  Jehovah,  the  De- 
liverer, is  represented  as  a  sheep,  as  a  lamb  (Isa. 
liii.  7),  so  in  Ezekiel  are  the  destroyers.)  The  fat 
and  the  strong  among  the  sheep  are  therefore 
regarded  as  like  the  rams  and  he -goats,  and 
placed  on  the  one  siile — the  situation,  therefore, 
not  at  all  .so  dissimilar  to  that  in  Matt.  xxv.  32, 
as  Keil  repeats  after  Hitzig,  who  merely  give.'' 
this  explanation  :  "  The  separation  of  the  sheep 
from  the  goats  in  Matt.  xxv.  32  has  nothing 
to  do  here."  As  belonging  to  the  sheep -flock, 
he-goats  and  rams  are  also,  in  the  general  sense, 
sheep  (small  cattle),  and  they  are  expressly  so 
called  in  the  words  ;  ' '  between  sheep  and  sheep ' ' ; 
but  undoubtedly  sheep  and  sheep  (ver.  20)  form« 
a  distinction,  namely,  that  those  which  Jehovat 
designates  His  are  not  like  the  he-goats  and  rams. 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  18-23. 


321 


from  which  He  sets  them  apart.  They  are  cer- 
tainly not,  as  e.xcellently  remarked  by  Kliefoth, 
'•rejireseuted  as  the  righteous  and  innocent,  but 
they  are  called  the  strayed,  the  driven  away,  the 
wounded,  the  weak  :  but  tliey  are  the  penitent, 
who  hear  the  voice  of  God ;  therefore  wiU  He  first 
seek  them,  and  bring  them  back,  and  heal  and 
strengthen  them,  but  afterwards  also  will  redeem 
them  from  the  oppressions  which  the  others,  the 
hc-gcats,  have  exercised  upon  them."  According 
to  Hitzig,  these  latter  are  with  the  fat  and  the 
strong  "  the  rich  and  noble,  who  in  manifold 
ways  wrest  from  the  humble  by  force  and  rigour 
their  worldly  goods. "  But  Kliefoth  quite  rightly : 
"  a  poor  man  can  just  as  well  be  a  he-goat  as  a 
rich  man  a  sheep."  Only  with  the  poor  man  the 
sphere  is  very  limited  ;  while  for  the  rich  and 
noble,  power  and  the  right  to  exercise  it  sit  upon 
the  very  rim  of  their  cradle.  The  "  robber- 
knights,"  as  Hengst.  calls  them,  are  bom  in 
castles.  The  haughtiness,  however,  engendered 
by  fatness  and  the  misuse  of  their  resources  is 
to  be  taken  into  account.  "  David,  even  upon 
the  throne,  designates  himself  poor  and  needy" 
(Hengst.).  The  thing  referred  to,  therefore,  in 
the  case  of  the  rams  and  he-goats,  is  the  wicked- 
ness which  exhibits  itself  as  violent  procedure  in 
superior  positions  of  life.  "  God  procures  for  the 
suti'ering  sheep  justice  against  the  malicious " 
(HEXGsr.).  —  Ver.  13.  The  unjust  behaviour  of 
the  one  portion  toward  the  otlier  is  here  exposed. 
Hesgst.  :  "The  address  extends  to  the  tyrants 
of  the  future  " — that  is,  to  the  .Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees of  our  Lord's  time,  whom  it  exactly  suits.— 
Comp.  on  D3J3  CVO^,  ch.  xvi.  20.     Are  ye  not 

content  with  your  own  enjoyment,  but  must  ye 
also  disturb  that  of  others?  Tims  fatness  and 
strength  might  have  enjoyed  themselves  at  smaller 
cost.  (Rev.  iii.  17?)  But  now,  as  they  left  over 
to  no  one  what  they  would  not  or  could  not  use 
as  pasture,  but  wantonly  trampled  it  under  foot, 
so  did  they  also  with  respect  to  drink.     ypu'O, 

from   j;pa»,    ch.   xxxii.   14,   "sinking  of  water," 

is  commonly  interpreted  as:  "water  clarified 
through  sinking."  so  that  the  clarifying  is  rather 
the  main  thing,  the  impurities  have  gone  to  the 
bottom.  Hengst.  :  water  of  sinking,  settled 
water  ;  interpreted  by  Hitzig  as  :  water  on  the 
ground,  to  be  found  at  the  bottom — tliat  is,  the 
"oolest  water.     But  as  t'QI  (promiscuously  DD"I, 

ch.  xxxii.  2) — by  treading  with  the  feet  to  make 
confused  and  troubled— shows,  what  perhaps  most 
readily  suggests  itself  is,  that  the  water  which 
was  sunk,  wliich  had  become  little,  and  so 
threatened  want,  they  in  their  wickedness  had 
made  undrinkable.  (Luke  xi.  52?) — Ver.  19. 
"JSyi.  "'ith  .\thuaeh  !     Is  this  right  ?— Ver.  18. 

Ver.  20.  To  them  applies,  according  to  ver.  17, 
to  the  last  mentioned,  the  flock  of  Jehovah,  and 
not  to  the  evil  and  good  together, — to  the  one  for 
terror,  and  to  the  other  for  comfort  (Rosexm.  ). 
— Ver.  11. — n'la  only  here,  with  the  view  pro- 
bably of  distinguishing  from  ver.  3  (comp. 
at  ver.  16).     Usually    n»13   is  read  for  it,  also 

nx'12-  —  n^"^,  to  be  thin,  impoverished  (comp. 
Mark'  ii.  lY,  xiv.  38  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  22).— Ver.  21. 


Here  follows  an  ad.iress  to  the  others,  aa  ver.  18 
does  on  ver.  17.  The  point  of  view  is  not,  with 
Hitzig,  to  be  confined  to  the  pressing  of  a  flock 
to  the  fountain.  Comp.  at  vers.  4,  5  (Jei'.  xsiii. 
1,  2). — Ver.  22.  ''JfnC'irn,  more  general  and  com- 
prehensive than  'riS^fni,  vers.  10,  12. — Ver.  8  ; 
vers.  17,  20. 

Vers.  23-31.   The  Servant  David. 

The  and  here  gives  the  immediate  sequence, 

without  indicating  anything  remarkable  in  what 
was  coming,  as  this  indeed  formed  the  abiding 
anticipation  of  the  religious  thought  of  Israel ; 
so  that  since  here  the  removal  of  the  offices  and 
the  judgment  upon  the  persons  has  been  effected, 
he  who  was  now  to  be  looked  for  must  at  length 
come, — the  course  of  events  has  plainly  reached 
him  as  the  last  member  in  the  series,  according 
to  which  the  :  "I  raise  up  "  ('nb'pn),  wUl  have 

to  be  understood.  No  special  forthcoming  effected 
by  God  for  the  good  of  Israel,  as  in  Dent,  xviii. 

15   ^^  Q'p\    in   the   more   peculiar   might   and 

grace  of  the  Spirit,  but  simply  the  official 
(mediately  divine)  appointment  of  the  shepherd 
in  question  is  announced,  although  with  a  refer- 
ence to  2  Sam.  vii.  But  what  is  said  there  at 
ver.  12,  ''nb'pm  ("  I  will  set  up  thy  seed  "),  was 

in  ver.  11  illustrated  beforehand  by  the  :  "I  com- 
manded to  be  over  My  people"  (^Jl'iv),  said  with 

respect  to  the  judges.  These,  therefore,  appear 
as  only  provisional  arrangements,  as  temporary, 
through  God's  command  interjected  into  the  dis- 
order for  putting  an  arrest  on  the  same,  while 
for  the  seed,  of  which  ver.  12  speaks,  a  permanent 
introduction  and  settlement  was  to  be  made.  In 
spite  of  this  diversity  in  the  use  of  ^JVfi,  how- 
ever, there  lies  nothing  in  'nb'pni   to  .suggest 

the  fable  of  the  Gilgul,  as  was  done  already  by 
particular  Rabbins,  and  recently  has  been  resumed 
by  Strauss,  Hitzig,  and  others.  At  all  events, 
Ezekiel  would  have  expressed  himself  otherwise, 
if  we  were  here  scientifically  to  find  the  exegetical 
idiosyncrasy  of  a  corporeal  return  of  the  historical 
David,  by  a  lesurrection  from  the  dead.  It  is  a 
desperate  consolation,  such  as  could  have  been 
imagined  by  no  good  exegetical  conscience,  to  feel 
obliged  to  refer  for  such  like  fancies  to  Rosen- 
miiller — even  to  the  Zoroastrian  doctrine  of  tlie 
return    of   the    Paschutan. — On    nyi,    see   the 

Doctrinal    Reflections    to    our    chapter.  —  inx 

signifies  here  certainly  not  "one,"  one  generally  ; 
also  it  can  scarcely  mean  "only,"  a;id  has  no- 
thing immediately  to  do  with  the  union  of  the 
two  kingdoms  under  his  sceptre,  because  there 
was  nothing  said  of  this  previously  ;  but  the  con- 
trast is  with  the  former  shepherds  and  the  sheep 
of  the  flock  scattered  through  their  guik — this 
manifoldnesa  on  the  one  side,  on  the  other 
has  set  over  against  it  the  oneness  of  this  shep- 
herd, who  is  the  compbx  embodiment  of  shep- 
herd watchfulness,  as  of  aU  the  duties  of  the 
shepherd  office, — the  divine  realization  of  the  idea 
of  all  that  is  involved  generally  in  the  nature  (/ 


^•22 


EZEKIEL. 


the  office,  as  service  toward  the  community  for 
the  sake  of  God,  as  sacred  service  in  behalf  of 
God's  people.  [Kliefoth  :  "This  shoot  of  David 
comprehends  in  his  one  person  the  whole  shep- 
herd-oftices  of  Israel,  and  fulfils  -them  ;  they  are 
to  be  done  away  with  him,  but  no  other  king 
over  the  people  of  God  shall  relieve  him."] — On 
account  of  the  com.  gen.  of  the  "flock,"  the  fem. 
alternates  with  the  masc.  in  the  suffi.x.  —  He 
comes  to  his  destination  as  a  shepherd  through 
the:  and  he  feeds;  the  name  is  realized  in  his 
doing,  with  a  reference  to  David's  former  life  and 
proceilure;  see  Ps.  Lx.xviii.  70,  71. — My  servant 
David,  who,  on  account  of  his  attitude  of  obedience 
as  Jeliovah's  servant,  showed  himself  to  be  one 
peculiarly  fitted  for  serving  the  community,  over 
which  he  was  placed  officially  for  the  performance 
of  sucli  serWce,  namely,  as  His  servant  not  only 
chosen  by  Jehovah  ^objectively),  but  aiso  called, 
but  also  anointed,  but  also  in  every  way  con- 
finned.  As  David  "  after  the  flesh,"  so  My 
servant  "after  the  Spirit"  points  back  genealogi- 
ually  in  connection  with  the  dynasty.  There 
will  be  a  Davidic  person,  and  he  will  be  in 
accord  with  the  kingly  pattern  of  David,  so  that 
Jehovah's  servant  David  will  revive  in  him  to 
the  consciousness  of  every  one.  Therefore,  in 
fact,  a  return  of  David,  and  indeed  in  the  seed  of 
David  (Jer.  xxiii.  5);  therefore  also  different  from 
the  return  of  Elias  in  John  the  Baptist.  Applica- 
tion is  to  be  made  to  Christ,  but  to  derive  the  e.x- 
position  of  the  words  froui  this  presently  fails,  as 
when  Kliefoth  interprets  "My  servant"  thus; 
"•because  he,  as  God's  instrument,  will  accomplish 
what  is  written  in  vers.  11-22."  One  must  be 
at  home  in  the  style  of  representation  which  is 
given  throughout  Scripture  of  David,  but  more 
especially  in  the  prophetic  style  of  representation 
concerning  him,  in  accord  also  with  the  pregnant 
prophetic  self-consciousness  which  discovers  itself 
in  his  own  psalms,  in  order  rightly  to  understand 
these  and  similar  descriptions  of  the  Messiah. 
See  the  Doctrinal  Reflections  on  the  chapter,  and 
comp.  Hos.  iii.  5 ;  Jer.  xxx.  9,  xxiii.  5 ;  Luke  i. 
32,  33.  Besides,  the  respect  had  to  the  funda- 
mental passage  2  Sam.  vii.  itself  leaves  no  doubt 
as  to  the  proper  understanding. — How  much  the 
comprehensive  ideal,  just  because  figurative,  notion 
of  the  sliepherd  preponderates,  is  clear  from  the 
expressly  and  intentionally  repeated  :  He  will 
feed,  etc.  (Rev.  vii.  17). 

Ver.  24.  When  it  is  said  in  2  Sam.  vii.  14,  in 
reference  to  the  immediate  posterity  of  David  :  "I 
\vi]\  be  a  father  to  him,"  there  is  here  what  cor- 
responds to  it  in  the  words :  And  I,  Jehovah, 
will  be  to  them  a  God.  Comp.'  ch.  xi.  20. 
"Father "to  him,  "God"  to  them,  as  the  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  our  God.  In  like 
manner :  and  My  servant  David  points  back  to 
2  Sam.  vii.  8,  where  this  appears  in  the  form  of 
an  address,  along  with  the  promise  there  given ; 
but    ^^J3    is   there,   while   here    X*BO    'S   used. 

That  through  the  government  of  David  Jehovah 
was  going  to  be  in  truth  the  God  of  His  people 
Israel,  etc.  (Keil),  is  not  expressly  said,  but  the 
grand  ideal,  the  eternity  of  the  Davidic  elevation 
and  loftiness,  is  certainly  set  forth  (2  Sam.  vii. 
13,  16;  comp.  Eph.  i.  22).  But  that  Jehovah  is 
He  who  thus  speaks  must  dispose  of  all  opposi- 
tion from  the  present  aspect  of  things. 
Ab  the  whole  service  of  David  the  prince  in 


their  midst  is  appointed  for  the  salvation  of  thi 
people,  there  is  expressed  in  Ver.  25  the  establish' 
ing  for  them  the  covenant — that  which  always, 
when  so  peculiarly  said  in  the  technical  phraseo- 
logy, proceeds  from  the  Highest  in  relation  to  the 
lower,  that  is,  from  Jehovah  (Jer.  xxxi.  31  sq. ). 
The  reason  is,  that  the  in  itself  ambiguous  notion, 
yet  corresponding  to  the  covenant-relation  origin- 
ally in  like  manner  established  by  God,  manifests 
itself  for  the  people  as  a  revelation  of  such  rela- 
tionship, namely,  as  an  attestation  of  oft'ered 
grace,  presenting  itself,  and  giving  assurance  ot 
God's  readiness  to  enter  into  feUowship  with  men. 
Comp.  at  Isa.  Iv.  3  (Heb.  viii.  10;  Acts  iii.  25). — 
Covenant  of  peace  (Isa.  liv.  10),  since  in  con- 
sequence of  the  covenant  relation.ship  of  God 
there  is  guaranteed  to  the  people  this  security, 
happy  condition,  salvation  (Rom.  xiv.  17),  of 
which  the  "ceasing  of  evil  beasts"  symbolizes 
the  negative,  and  "the  dwelling  securely "  the 
positive  side.  Comp.  Lev.  xxvi.  6  (Hos.  ii.  20 
[18]).  According  to  Hav.  and  Hengst.,  the  evil 
beasts  are  the  hostile  human  potencies  (ver.  5), 
and  the  driving  of  the  heathen  world  from  its 
hitherto  domineering  position  must  be  meant. 
According  to  Hitzig,  the  public  security  in  the 

land  is  pledged.     But  security  (ni33?,  ch.  xxviii. 

26)  the  wilderness  itself  must  have  offered  ti 
those  dwelling  in  it,  which  is  sufficiently  ex- 
plained by  the   parallel  Dnijl'3  (Qeri:  ClJ^sg), 

surrendering  themselves  carelessly  to  sleep  in  the 
thicket  of  the  woods.  [Hav.  finds  an  allusion  to 
Solomon's  time  of  peace  and  blessing  ;  but  Klie- 
foth a  literal  return  of  the  paradisiacal  state  after 
a  materialistic  manner.] 

Ver.  26.  To  the  persvnelle  (them)  are  annexed,  in 
a  local  form  of  expression,  the  environs,  by  which, 
therefore,  could  not  be  meant  men,  with  reference 
to  the  image  of  sheep,  or  the  adjacent  places  for 
the  persons  inhabiting  them.  But  the  promi- 
nence given  to  My  hill,  that  is,  the  temple-mount, 
or,  with  reference  thereto,  Jerusalem  (Isa.  xxxi. 
4,  X.  32),  canies  over  the  representation  of  the 
people's  associates  to  the  land.  Comp.  also  ver.  14; 
"  And  on  the  mountains  of  the  height  of  Israel." 
The  words ;  And  1  give  .  .  .  for  a  blessing,  chim- 
ing in  with  Gen.  xii.  2,  could  not  possibly  (as  Cocc. 
and  Hengst.  .suppose)  allow  of  our  interpreting 
"the  environs"  as  meaning  the  heathen  joining 
themselves  in  the  time  of  salvation  to  the  old 
covenant- people  (ch.  xvii.  23,  xvi.  61,  xlvii.  8), 
which  is  quite  remote  from  the  connection  here. 
"And  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing,"  in  Gen.  xii.  2, 
is  certainly  explained  thus  in  ver.  3  ;  but  here  the 
expression;  to  "give  for  a  blessing,"  as  the  im- 
mediately following  explanation  of  "rain  in  its 
season"  shows  us  (Deut.  xi.  14;  Joel  ii.  23), 
adhering  to  the  preceding  reference  to  the  land, 
will  mean  probably  more  than  to  bless.  Yet 
still  nothing  essentially  different,  though  giving 
utterance  to  it  in  a  very  marked  manner.  —  The 
people  shall  be  bodihj  a  blessing  through  their 
land,  to  which  Jehovah's  hand  of  blessing  w^ill 
mightily  testify;  hence  showers  of  blessing  (which 
mediate  the  blessing,  in  distinction  from  ch.  xiii. 
13;  Prov.  xxviii.  3;  comp.  also  Deut.  xxxii.  2, 
Isa.  Iv.  10,  11;  Rom.  xv.  29;  Eph.  i.  3)— shall 
be  so  primarily  on  no  other  account,  but  simply 
for  their  own  experience  and  theii-  own  personal 
enjoyment.    But  comp,  ver.  29.    [Rosenm.  biingf 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  28-31. 


323 


to  remembrance  how  far  superior  Palestine  was  to 
Egypt  in  regard  to  such  blessings  of  the  material 
Learens.]  Accordingly,  Ver.  27  continues  and 
portrays  (comp.  Lev.  xxvi.  4)  the  fruitfulness 
thence  arising  in  the  field  and  land,  in  order 
presently  to  come  back  to  the  inhabitants  settled 
again  upon  their  home-soil — on  which  comp.  Ter. 

2.5,  ch.   xxriii.  25,   26. — ^y  (from  ^^j;,  to  join, 

make  fast,  bind)  is  generally  the  yoke  of  draught- 
cattle,  iu  order  to  fasten  them  together  or  to  the 
plough,  nitsb  ire  the  two  ends  of  the  cross- 
piece  of  wood  which  forms  the  chief  strength  of 
the  yoke  ;  hence  iu  ch.  xxx.  18  =  yoke.  The 
cross-piece  of  wood  laid  upon  the  neck  of  the 
animal  was  fastened  by  a  cord  or  thong  to  the 
pole  of  the  plough,  and  passing  under  the  neck  of 
the  animal  (see  Delitzsch  on  Isa.  Iviii.).  As  the 
allusion  to  Lev.  xxvi.  13  and  what  follows  here 
will  show,  it  is  to  be  understood  figuratively — not 
in  general  of  the  endurance  of  sutferings,  but 
specially  of  slaverj-,  as  in  Eg)-pt  formerly,  which 
shoidd   be   broken.       For   parallel   with    »"I3"J'3 

stands  '□''ni'Sni   and   Dn3  Dnajjn  (Ex.   i.   14)', 

of  the  laying  on  of  slave  labour.    -^21!  with  3  is  to 

work  with  or  through  any  one,  so  that  the  work- 
ing stands  out  in  him,  he  appears  purely  as  an 
instrument  (Matt.  xi.  28,  xxiii.  4;  John  viii.  36; 
Acts  XV.  10 ;  Rom.  viii.  2 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  20 ;  Gal. 
ii.  4). 

Ver.  28.  Comp.  vers.  22,  8.— Vers.  2.5,  8  (ch. 
xxix.  5). — Lev.  xxvi.  6  ;  also  Micah  iv.  4.  Those 
whom  they  are  said,  in  the  preceding  verse,  to 
have  served,  are  therefore  the  heathen,  and  the 
two  other  promises  resume  again  the  same  two 
sides  as  ver.  25,  while  the  words  :  and  there  is 
none  to  make  them  afraid,  portray  still  farther 
the  secure  peaceful  rest,  almost  reminding  us  of 
the  opposite  picture  at  the  close  of  ver.  6.  — Ver. 
29.  And  I  raise  up  for  them  is  parallel  to  ver. 
23 ;  the  promise  there  begun  in  these  terms 
reaches  here  its  conclusion,  for  the  whole  of  what 
has  gone  before  relates  to  one  and  the  same 
Messianic  character. — According  to  Hitzig,  ytStS 

can  only  mean  a  plant-place  or  ground  ;  the  plant- 
land  should  become  to  them  for  renown  ;  what 
they  planted  should  grow  and  prosper  so  as  to  be 
a  glory  for  them.  According  to  the  older  style 
of  exposition  it  is  the  "plant,"  Isa.  xi.  1  :  the 

Sept.  and  others  read  with  it  D^x'.      Simpler, 

certainly,  is  the  rendering  plantation  (agreeably 
to  ver.  26  sq.,  and  as  at  ch.  xvii.  7),  and  it  is 
also  explained  by  the  :  "  no  more  sweeping  away 
by  hunger,"  etc.,  by  reason  of  the  fruitfulness  of 
the  country,  and  in  contrast  to  the  state  of  desti- 
tution mentioned  elsewhere  (ch.  v.  12,  16,  vi.  11, 

12).  So,  too,  Dj^'^  (for  a  name)  has  its  explana- 
tion in  their  having  no  more  "to  bear  reproach 
from  the  heathen."  [The  exposition  which,  by 
a  reference  to  Gen.  ii.  8,  9,  would  understand  it 
of  "a  renewal  of  the  paradisiacal  plantation" 
(Hexgst.  ),  is  far-fetched,  there  being  nothing  in 
the  connection  for  it :  nor  can  it  be  understood 
how  such  a  renewal,  under  comparison  of  ch. 
xxxvi.  29  sq.,  would  consist  "in  the  rich  distri- 
bution of  harvest  blessings. "  According  to  Klie- 
foth,  the  plantation,  like  that  of  the  first  paradise, 
must  be  the  suitable  thing  for  holy  men.]    In- 


stead of  the  contempt  with  which  the  heathen 
scoffed  at  the  fallen,  prostrate,  ruined  contlilion 
of  the  people,  those  same  heathen  should  now  be 
convinced,  from  the  blessing  upon  Israel,  that  the 
children  of  Israel,  those  who  really  were  such, 
were  also  iu  reality  the  blessed  of  the  Lord. 
Hitzig  merely :  it  should  no  longer  be  said 
among  the  heathen,  "The  Israelites  are  hunger- 
bitten,  they  have  nothing  to  bite  and  chew." 
Comp.  on  the  other  hand.  Matt.  v.  6  ;  John  vi. 
27,  35;  Rev.  vii.  16,  17;  Matt.  xiii.  43. 

Ver.  30.  Jehovah  will  be  their  God,  and  aa 
such  will  be  with  them,  will  show  Himself  to  be 
such  toward  them  (Rev.  xxi.  3).  To  this  corre- 
sponds the  other  side  of  such  a  relationship,  indi- 
cated by  :  My  people,  as  also  by  :  the  house  of 
Israel  (2  Cor.  vi.  16).— Ver.  31.  This  verse  does 
not,  of  course,  mean  that  what  was  said  of  the 
flock  has  its  application  to  men  ;  but  rather  is  it 
God's  design  to  testify  that  His  promise  in  respect 
to  both  sides,  as  well  what  He  is  to  them  to  whom 
He  gives  it — therefore  against  doubt  and  feeble 
faith — as  what  they  are  taken  for  by  Him,  and  so 
equally  against  all  undue  self-exaltation,  keeps  in 
view  Adam,  the  man,  or  :  men,  which  also  fits  in 
exactl)-  with  the  immediately  preceding  designa- 
tion of  the  people  as  :  "the  house  of  Israel." — 
tnSI,  comp.  ver.  17. — Flock  of  My  pasture  (Jer. 

xxiii.  1  ;  Ps.  Lxxiv.  1);  not:  "which  I  tend" 
(Ges.  ),  but  because  Jehovah  had  given  Israel  the 
fruitful  land  of  promise  for  a  pasture-ground. 
The  exposition  of  My  people  by  men,  and  still 
more  the  repetition,  notwithstaniling  that,  of :  I 
am  your  God,  entirely  corresponds  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  second  main  division  of  our  book,  to 
the  prophecies  respecting  God's  compassions  to- 
ward His  people  in  the  world  (Ps.  xxxvi.  8  [7]), 
and  the  rather  so,  if,  with  Havernick,  the  funda- 
mental prophecy  in  relation  to  what  follows  is  to 
be  seen  here.  —That  the  Sept.  should  have  omitted 
DIK  is  not  to  be  commended,  although  the  Targum 

and  the  Arab,  translation  have  done  the  same. 
The  Syriac,  however,  has  retained  it,  and  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  explained  how  it  should  have  been 
brought  in,  where  (after  ver.  30)  the  solemn  re- 
mark, that  not  real  sheep  and  goats  "were  meant, 
would  have  to  be  called  more  than  supei-fluo\is 
and  flat.  Hbngst.  translates  :  "And  ye  are  My 
flock,  My  pasture-sheep  are  ye  men,"  etc. ;  Keil  : 
"  And  ye  are  My  flock,  etc.,  ye  are  men  "  ;  Hav. 
explains  :  "  Indeed  ye,  who  are  called  to  what  is 
so  great,  are  weak  creatures  ;  but  where  the  Lord 
acknowledges  to  men  that  He  is  their  God,  He  is 
strong  in  their  weakness ;  no  glory  is  too  great  that 
it  might  not  come  to  be  manifested  in  them." 
Eliefoth,  who  finds  the  translation  of  Hengst. 
against  grammar,  and  caUs  Havernick's  exposi- 
tion a  superimposed  one,  carries  forward  his  mis- 
understinding  of  the  paradisiacal  reference  :  those 
belonging  to  the  people  of  God  would,  through 
the  Branch  of  the  house  of  David,  be  as  Adam  was 
when  he  received  from  God  this  name  after  crea- 
tion. J.  F.  Starok,  with  an  emphasis  on  the 
general  grace:  "And  ye,  etc.,  ye  men,  I  am 
your  God."  ["And  ye.  My  flock,  My  pasture- 
flock,  men  are  ye,  I  am  your  God."  There  is 
evidently  an  emphasis  on  men :  "men  are  ye,  re- 
member your  place,  you  are  merely  human  ;  but 
remember,  at  the  same  time,  that  I  am  your  God ; 
so  that  without  Me  nothing,  but  with  Me  all."— 
P.  F.] 


EZEKIEL. 


DOCTRIXAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  We  should  admit,  on  the  one  side,  that  the 
term  ' '  shepherd, "  as  is  also  so  natural  from  the 
fulness  of  the  references  whicli  the  image  includes, 
has  application  to  the  guiding  of  the  people  in 
general,  consequently  to  every  office  of  that 
natui'e  :  yet  we  should  not  deny,  on  the  other 
side,  that  "shepherds"  especially  and  primarily 
signified  "kings."  Only  the  rendering  of  the 
word  by  "overseer,"  and  in  particular  when  the 
overseers  or  elders  of  the  exile  come  into  con- 
sideration, is  very  wide  of  the  mark.  However, 
tlie  notion  also  of  civil  magistracy,  which  Heug- 
stenberg  attributes  to  the  shepherds  as  kings,  is 
an  abstraction  which  is  not  appropriate  to  the 
image.  In  relation  to  the  theocratic  people 
primarily,  in  which  relation  we  must  seek  for  the 
more  immediate  reference  of  the  biblical  expres- 
sion "shepherd,"  the  feature  of  leading  will 
naturally  assume  the  more  prominent  place,  as  it 
does  in  John  x.  3  sq.,  which  gives  us  an  inter- 
pretation from  the  fulfilment  of  what  is  contained 
in  this  chapter.  That  the  shepherd  is  the  leader 
finds,  then,  its  culmination  in  the  protection, 
which  the  giving  of  his  life  for  the  flock  pro- 
vides for  it,  John  x.  11.  The  other  features  in 
the  image  do  not  therefore  fail  ;  they  only  fall 
behind  the  one  more  peculiarly  brought  out,  sucli 
as  discipline,  tender  care,  which  belong  to  the 
spiritual  import  of  the  image  (comp.  John  x.  9, 
10).  The  prophetic  or  teaching  office  is  therein 
expressed,  as  in  the  self-surrender  of  the  shepherd 
for  the  flock  the  priestly  office  is  indicated.  The 
notion  of  the  "shepherd,"  accordingly,  com- 
prises generally  the  official  form  and  representa- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  theocratic  life,  and 
likewise  pre-eminently  the  kingly  office,  giving 
prominence  to  the  kingly  government  (pp.  23, 
24),  as  is  the  case  with  the  Messianic  idea  under 
the  Old  Covenant,  with  that  of  "Christ"  under 
the  New  Testament,  so  that  "  shepherd  "  and 
the  "anointed"  come  near  and  mutually  sup- 
plement each  other.  In  the  Messianic  character 
of  the  shepherd,  there  comes  out,  along  with  the 
relation  to  the  theocratic  people,  the  other  relation, 
that,  namely,  to  Jehovah,  the  Lord  of  the  theo- 
cracy, according  to  which  the  shepherd  appears 
as  the  representative  of  Jehovah  among  His 
people.  If  in  this  respect  Messiah  is  the  term 
for  the  relation  in  question  as  regards  equipment, 
or  internal  power  of  the  Spirit,  so  in  that  of 
"shepherd"  there  is  given,  we  might  say,  the 
fulfilment,  the  realization  of  the  same  relation  by 
means  of  a  corresponding  government.  On  ac- 
count of  what  they  had  not  done,  the  sliepherds 
of  Israel  are  manifestly  the  unrighteous,  the 
wicked  ones.  On  account  of  that  which  He 
does  who  makes  Himself  known  in  John  x..  He 
proves  Himself  to  be  the  Good  Shepherd.  But 
as  there  the  Jews  (John  x.  20)  supposed  Him  to 
be  actuated  not  by  the  Spirit  of  the  God-anointed, 
the  Messiah,  but  to  have  in  hira  an  evil  spirit 
[iai/iitiot  ix")>  so  they  misunderstood  also  His 
unbosoming  of  Himself  on  that  occasion  as  the 
Shepherd,  and  turned  away  from  Him. 

2.  "  In  this  chapter"  (.says  Cocceius)  "the  office 
of  shepherd  is  taken  from  the  shepherds  of  Israel, 
and  promise  is  made  of  tlie  kingdom  of  Christ, 
the  Chief  Shepherd.  The  shepherds  of  Israel  are 
of  a  threefold  order,  Zech.  xi.  3,  8.  The  three 
shepherds  there  are  I'igil,  et  respondens,  et  offtrens 


munus  (Mai.  ii.  12) ;  that  is,  elder,  pro]ihet  ol 
doctor,  and  priest.  They  are  called  'gods,'  but 
in  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6  sq.  their  abolition  i*  pronounced. 
Therefore  the  apostle,  1  Cor.  ii.  6,  says  of  the 
princes  of  this  world,  that  they  are  come  tc 
nought." 

3.  "  The  prophecy  in  ch.  xx.xiv.  is  kept  very 
general,  and  does  not  connect  itself  closely  with 
specific  occasions  and  circumstances,  hence  ad- 
mits (apart  from  its  tyjiical  bearing  on  the  ex- 
periences of  Israel,  outward  and  spiritual)  of 
manifold  applications  to  all  states,  churches, 
families  ;  and  with  justice,  for  it  is  really 
designed  for  all  that  could  be  named  figuratively 
shepherd  and  flock,  like  a  mathematical  formula 
which  expresses  a  law  that  may  be  applied  tc 
innumerable  cases  "  (Schmiedek). 

4.  From  the  second  verse  of  this  chapter  the 
Lord  Jesus  appears  to  have  quoted  the  repeated 
"woe"  against  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  (Matt, 
xxiii. ).  The  application  to  these  throws  light 
specially  on  the  days  of  Christ,  but  generally  on 
the  period  subsequent  to  the  exile.  The  hierarchy, 
as  it  appears  in  its  antagonism  to  Christ,  is  the 
final  degradation  of  the  theocratic  officialism  ol 
Israel.  Prophecy  ceased  with  Haggai,  Zechariah, 
and  Malachi.  In  its  place,  as  the  characteristic 
appearance  of  Ezra  shows,  and  as  fabled  also  by 
the  Jewish  traditions  of  the  "Great  Sanhedrim  " 
and  the  "Great  Synagogue, "  came  the  learning 
of  the  Scribes.  As  it  was  already  with  the  three 
last  prophets  in  relation  to  the  earlier  prophetic 
office,  so  also  did  the  princely  dignity  of  Zerub- 
babel  stand  related  to  the  Davidic  kingdom  of 
former  times.  Zerubbabel  was  leader  to  the 
returning  captives,  and  was  appointed  royal 
governor  over  the  new  colony,  in  which  his 
character  as  a  born  prince  of  Judah  was  lost  sight 
of.  Although  he  stood  as  governor  directly 
under  the  Persian  kings,  still  the  Persian  gover- 
nors in  Samaria  were  instructed  to  keep  their  eye 
upon  his  administration.  What,  however,  in  his 
appointment  by  Cyrus,  carried,  according  to  the 
Jewish  mode  of  contemplation,  a  specially  royal, 
that  is,  Davidic  aspect,  presently  again  fell  into 
abeyance  with  the  person  of  Zerubbabel.  On 
this  account  alone  the  application  by  some  of  ver. 
23  to  Zerubbabel  is  shown  to  be  untenable. 
None  of  Zerubbabel's  sons  succeeded  him  aa 
governor.  If  from  the  time  of  Nehemiah's  death 
the  post  of  provincial  governor  gradually  disap- 
peared, as  is  with  much  probability  supposed, 
then,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  oversight  of 
civic  afl'airs  (and  of  any  other  kind  of  oversight 
we  know  nothing),  only  the  office  of  the  high- 
priesthood  remained,  the  history  of  which  hence- 
forth became  a  very  worldly  one,  full  of  ambition 
and  crime.  The  Maccabees  united  with  it  the 
dignity  of  military  general  ;  afterwards,  as  con- 
ferred upon  them  by  the  people,  a  hereditary 
princedom,  over  against  which  the  Sanhedrim, 
which  had  meanwhile  been  constituted,  and  was 
under  pharisaical-priestly  influence,  strove  to 
maintain  its  position ;  and  then  at  last  the  title 
of  king.  That  the  dignity  of  high  priest  aa 
combined  with  princely  rank,  especially  when  the 
prince  was  a  Sadducee,  formed  a  kind  of  carica- 
ture of  Ps.  ex.  4,  does  not  hinder  on  the  othei 
side  the  noting  of  an  important  feature  therein 
with  regard  to  Christ;  just  as  in  the  resolutions 
of  the  people  and  their  counsellors  there  is  appre- 
hended,  with  a  clear  consciousness,  the  future 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


32S 


»ppearauce  of  afaithful prophet  (1  Mace.  xiv.  41). 
'lue  dissolution-piocess  uow  indicated  of  the  theo- 
cratic offices  in  Israel  after  the  exile  suffices  for 
the  chapter  of  Ezekiel  before  us. 

5.  Israel,  as  remarked  by  Beck,  "should,  amid 
the  tumult  of  desolation  and  the  luxurious  forms 
of  development  of  the  God-forgetting  worldly 
nationalities,  have  stood  forth  as  a  strictly 
separate  sanctuary  of  God,  to  which  not  the  pre- 
sent, indeed,  but  so  much  the  more  certainly  the 
future  belonged  ;  and  even  the  falling  away  from 
this  simple  isolation  of  the  whole  state-economy 
justified  its  real  wisdom  by  means  of  the  desolat- 
ing results  that  ensued."  "A  mauy-membered 
organism,  of  law,  like  a  comprehensive  ring,  en- 
compassed the  whole  individual  and  commercial 
life,  woven  into  the  elements  of  the  world's  fel- 
lowship, while  the  more  determinative  arrange- 
ments of  the  outward  natural  life,  of  the  reckon- 
ing of  time,  of  the  physical  and  social  human 
life,  were  consecrated  as  serviceable  organs  for  the 
establishment  of  a  pious  fellowship  with  God,  of 
a  righteous  ordering  and  wholesome  direction  of 
the  life."  It  was  "an  externality,"  but  "no 
hollow-surface  existence  ending  in  itself;  rather  a 
vessel  and  framework  of  a  spiritu.il  inwardness  of 
being,  destined  to  future  development,  and  bear- 
ing this  in  itself  in  a  manner  pregnant  with  pro- 
mise. "  The  proof  of  this  is  specially  furnished 
by  prophecy,  whose  foundation  was  already  laid 
among  the  fathers  of  the  Israelitish  people,  which 
came  forth  into  peculiar  external  activity  under 
the  constitution  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  at 
last  assumed  formally  the  place  of  an  order  in  the 
State.  Hence  its  cessation  was  pre-eminently  a 
mark  of  the  time,  as  being  that  of  the  approach- 
ing advent  of  Him  whose  Spirit  was  in  the  pro- 
phets !  Were  but  the  whole  people  of  Jehovah 
prophets!  was  the  wish  of  Moses  (Num.  xi.  29); 
expressing  as  regards  Israel  the  design  of  pro- 
phecy, and  at  the  same  time  with  an  eye  toward 
the  Pentecostal  future.  Still  more,  however,  was 
this  import  involved  in  the  priesthood,  which  was 
no  caste  foreign  to  the  people,  but  rooted  in 
a  brotherly  stem  of  the  same,  giving  promise  of 
a  priestly  position  to  the  whole  of  Israel,  with 
corresponding  fulness  of  obligation  to  duties  of 
Bervice.  So  close  and  inward,  because  a  service 
rendered  to  the  whole,  and  springing  out  of  its 
innermost  idea,  was  the  relation  of  these  offices 
in  Israel  to  Israel  itself,  that  their  unfolding 
and  Israel's  unfolding  overlap  each  other,  are 
congenial.  The  destination  of  Israel  to  the  king- 
dom lies  enfolded  in  Ex.  six.  6  (Rev.  i.  6), 
although  in  what  is  merely  the  outward  govern- 
ing power  of  one,  the  civic  subordination  of  the 
others  may  come  more  prominently  out.  The 
full  prospect  for  the  future  looks  toward  those 
who  are  without,  to  the  heathen  nations,  the 
world. 

6.  Wliat  "the  servant"  Moses  (Heb.  iii.  .5)  re- 
presented individually  for  the  whole  theocracy, 
this  found  its  representation  as  regards  Jehovah's 
supreme  authority  in  the  entire  community  iu 
David,  who,  as  "servant  of  Jehovah,"  takes  up 
into  himself  "the  servant  Moses,"  as  prince  in 
Israel  represents  the  divine  supremacy. 

7.  So  much  has  the  being  "without  a  shepherd," 
ver.  5,  become  the  case  with  Israel,  that  by  the 
extirpation  of  the  Good  Shepherd  through  the  bad 
shepherds  of  Israel,  the  scattering  of  the  people 
has  become  complete ;    and  certainly  also  the 


gathering  of  the  true  Israel  has  been  fultilled. 
Comp.  on  this  Zech.  xiii.  7  ;  Isa.  liii.  6  ;  1  Pet. 
ii.  25. 

8.  Maintaining  their  position  over  against  tha 
world  was  "the  one  thing  needful  "  for  Israel  as 
the  people  of  God  ;  so  th.at  the  g.ithering  through 
Christ,  as  on  the  one  side  it  was  restitution  in 
conformity  to  the  ideal  of  Israel,  so  on  the  other 
generally  it  was  for  them  the  condition  of  life, 
life's  deliverance.  Thus  Israel  lives  on  still,  not 
merely  as  to  its  character  as  a  people,  while  tht 
other  peoples  of  antiquity  have  historically 
vanished,  but  the  idea  of  Israel  as  a  people  is  in 
Christ  the  idea  of  humanity. 

9.  "  God's  mU  has  from  the  first  been  directed 
to  the  object  of  gathering  a  new  humanity  out  ol 
the  world,  of  a  people  of  God  out  of  all  peoples  ; 
and  the  choosing  of  Israel  as  the  people  of  God 
was  only  a  first  proWsional  step  toward  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  will :  God  gathers  Israel  to 
Himself  as  His  people  only  for  the  purpose  of 
gathering  through  their  instrumentality  a  people 
from  among  all  nations.  But  now  it  seemed,  in 
the  days  of  Ezekiel,  as  if  through  the  scattering 
of  Israel,  as  those  in  whom  for  the  time  being  the 
people  of  God  appeared,  the  collecting  of  a  people 
of  God  had  been  abandoned  and  become  impos- 
sible. To  that,  however,  it  could  not  be  allowed 
to  come  ;  and  in  the  text,  which  is  quite  general 
in  its  terms,  there  is  embraced  alike  the  bringing 
back  of  Israel  from  exile,  the  gathering  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  by  means  of  His  word,  and  the 
final  gathering  of  the  children  of  God  out  of  the 
world  generally,  as  certainly  as  the  matter  itself 
belongs  to  the  formation  of  a  new  humanity 
(Kliefoth).  The  fourteenth  verse  is  by  tha 
same  expositor  similarly  explained  in  a  quite 
general  way,  though  he  has  a  spiritual  and  ex- 
ternal addition  of  this  sort,  that  "the  future 
return  of  the  converted  Jews  to  their  land  "  should 
be  taken  into  account. 

10.  The  ceasing  of  the  offices  in  Israel  is  not 
simply,  therefore,  a  historical  fact,  a  ceasing  of 
life-forms  that  once  existed,  but  it  is  the  empty- 
ing of  those  forms  in  the  spirit,  and  consequently 
in  respect  to  truth.  Office-bearing  of  the  kind  that 
belonged  to  Israel  can  no  more  be  found  in  Christ ; 
so  that  all  churchism  which  would  turn  back  to 
lay  hold  of  that,  or  even  look  aslant  toward  it, 
merely  (as  statecraft  also  with  respect  to  the 
kingdom)  surrenders  its  Christianity',  or  places  it 
in  question.  What  the  official  constitution  of 
things  in  Israel  signified,  has  its  correspondence 
in  the  anointing  with  the  Spirit  for  all  Christians, 
1  John  ii.  20,  27  ;  Rev.  i.  6.  AVhat  is  called 
"office"  in  Christianity  can  only  be  ordinances 
as  to  service,  or  ^ttpttr/^a.'ra,  Rom.  xii.  6,  or  the 
powers  that  be,  which  are  ordained  by  God  (Rom. 
xiii.). 

11.  (Religion  falls  radically  into  the  three 
distinctive  actings^  of  the  three  offices,  beginning 
with  a  prophetic  function  as  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  manifestation  of  God,  maintaining  always 
a  high-priestly  relation  toward  God  in  the  spirit 
of  consecration  and  surrender  to  Him,  and  per- 
petually unfolding  its  kingly  character  by  the 
renewal  and  enlargement  of  soul  in  God,  and  a 
walk  in  God's  freedom  and  power.  After  P. 
Lange. ) 

12.  Upon  the  judging  between  sheep  and  sheep 
Hengstenberg  remarks  that  "the  main  fulfUmenl 
here  also  is  to  be  sought  in  Christ,  whose  govern 


326 


EZEKIEL. 


■neiit  and  secret  yet  powerful  guidance  permits  no 
tyranny  and  injustice  to  endure."  "A  ]irincipal 
)iliase  was  the  decision  between  the  synagogue 
and  the  Christian  clmrch."  "  But  that  this 
judging  goes  througli  the  whole  history,  that  we 
have  to  do  in  it  with  a  true  prophecy  and  not 
with  a  patiiotio  phantasy,  appears  from  a  com- 
parison of  the  existing  Christian  world  with  tliat 
of  the  heatlien  and  Mahometan,  and  also  witli 
the  Old  Testament  judicial  relationships.  Since 
the  appearance  of  Christ,  tliere  has  been  at  work 
a  reforming  agency  among  the  people  of  God. " 

13.  "A  rich  man  in  Scripture  is  not  one  who 
has  many  goods,  but  whose  heart  clings  to  what 
he  possesses,  so  that  it  ceases  to  be  for  him  some- 
thing accidental ;  while  a  poor  man  is  he  only 
wlio  knows  anil  feels  himself  to  be  poor,  who  is 
so  not  merely  in  an  outward  respect,  but  in  spirit 
also — in  his  consciousness"  (Hengst.). 

14.  The  introduction  of  David,  as  already  re- 
marked in  the  exposition,  without  anything 
farther  or  particular,  confirms  what  is  stated  by 
Hengst.,  that  "the  Messiah,  the  glorious  offspring 
of  David,  had  in  the  time  of  the  prophet  been  for 
long  a  lesson  of  the  Catechism. "  David,  however, 
according  to  his  personality  in  sacred  history,  not 
only  appears  as  the  readiest  thought  when  a 
shepherd  is  the  subject  of  discourse — though  cer- 
tainly the  shepherd-state  with  him  is  so  entirely 
his  style  and  manner,  that  from  being  the  shep- 
herd of  a  flock  he  became  the  shepherd  of  Israel 
(Ps.  Ixxviii  70  ;  2  Sam.  vii.  8) — but  also,  in  an 
especial  manner  for  the  promised  gathering  of  the 
flock,  he  suggests  more  than  any  one  else  who 
might  be  brought  into  consideration,  since  through 
him  the  tribal  supremacy  of  Judah,  toward  which 
even  in  Egypt  the  hope  of  Israel  was  directed 
(Gen.  xlix. ),  efi'ected  that  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
which  had  been  in  a  state  of  division,  should 
unite,  and  remain  together  for  the  glorious  king- 
dom of  Solomon  under  its  ascendency.  Much 
more,  however,  does  the  personality  of  David 
bring  into  view  and  represent  in  relation  to  the 
Messianic  idea — viz.  that  he,  the  anointed  of 
Jehovah,  and  the  king  who  had  been  raised  up 
from  a  low  estate,  was  after  God's  own  heart, 
himself  possessed  of  the  prophetic  Spirit  (Acts  ii. 
30;  Matt.  xxii.  43), — one  who  manifested  earnest 
desire  and  love  for  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  by 
invigorating  and  supporting  both  it  and  the 
priesthood,  as  well  as  in  his  psalms,  and  by  the 
building  of  the  temple,  which  originated  with 
him.  There  was  then  provided,  as  Beck  says, 
"the  substratum  for  a  new  aspect  of  salvation, 
and  there  was  opened  up  by  the  promise  a  new 
mental  horizon  in  the  seed  of  David,  who  was 
chosen  for  an  abiding  reign  of  peace,  and  for 
the  building  of  God's  house,  and  upheld  with 
perpetual  experiences  of  Fatherly  gi'ace,  and  that 
even  amid  chastisements  for  sin,  and  in  the  ever- 
lasting continuance  of  David's  house,  kingdom, 
and  throne  (2  Sam.  vii.  8  sq.,  xxiii.  1  sq.  ;  Ps. 
Ixxxix.  30,  37  sq. ,  Ixxii. ). "  To  the  idea  of  a  ruling 
power,  which  was  contemplated  by  Moses,  there 
was  added  the  dynastic  in  the  case  of  David,  who 
became  the  founder  not  only  of  a  kingly  dyna.sty, 
but  of  one  through  which  the  kingdom  of  Israel 
was  to  reach  its  highest  culmination.  The  entire 
image  of  the  people's  shepherd,  which  expresses 
the  divine  title  of  this  dynasty,  stretches  so 
manifestly  beyond  all  the  individual  rulers  be- 
longing to  the  Davidic  line,  that  "for  the  re- 


ceiver f  the  promise,  David,  said  promise  doet 
not  at  all  stand  or  fall  with  Solomon,  tlie  tirat 
member  iu  the  chosen  line,  whose  conditional 
rejection  rather  appears  not  to  be  excUulcd  by  the 
divine  favour  promised  inalienably  to  the  E^eed, 
1  Chron.  xxviii.  9 "  (Beck).  The  individuil 
members  of  the  Davidic  dynasty  served  in  their 
working  and  sutt'ering  as  offerings  and  harvests  to 
future  times;  "their  blossom -seasons  were  far 
from  reaching  the  height  of  the  ideal  of  their 
house — formed  merely  the  foil  for  the  more  deii 
nite  limning  of  the  glory  which  glimmered 
through  it  (Ps.  Ixxii.)  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  periods  of  depression  did  not  bring  that 
ideal  to  destruction,  only  imprinted  it  mora 
deeply  in  the  heart,  taking  the  divine  grace  and 
truth  as  a  pledge  for  its  lealization  (Ps.  Ixxxix.), 
and  so  left  it  over  to  the  Sou  of  David,  in  whom 
the  image  of  the  divine  government  and  kingdom 
was  concentrated,  Luke  i.  32  sq.'   (Beck). 

15.  In  the  Messiah  the  whole  existence  of 
Israel  as  a  people  is  comprised,  its  organization 
as  plastically  working  itself  out  through  the 
theocratic  oiiices  ;  while,  on  the  other  side,  sal- 
vation and  blessing,  which  these  offices  had 
instrumentally  to  administer  to  the  people,  at»- 
tained  to  perfection  in  His  consecrated  personality 
with  an  elevation,  which  is  also  indicated  in  the 
expression  of  ver.  24  :  "a  prince  among  them." 
The  parallel  expressions  in  this  verse:  "Jehovah 
a  God  to  them,"  and:  "David  a  prince  in  their 
midst,"  serve  for  the  form  of  the  salvation  and 
the  blessing  to  be  made  good,  if  the  one  state- 
ment is  taken  as  the  theme,  and  the  other  as  its 
exposition.  A  moral  signification  like  Keil's  : 
"pasturing  in  full  unison  with  Jehovah,  carry- 
ing out  the  will  of  Jehovah  only,"  imports  too 
little  into  this  text,  and  the  tilling  of  it  up  by 
pointing  to  "unity  of  being  with  God,"  again, 
imports  too  much.  To  the  theological  judgment 
the  relation  will,  perhaps,  represent  itself  much 
as  Ps.  ii.  does  in  respect  to  the  sonship  in  its 
connection  with  the  kingdom.  In  the  psalm  the 
theocratic  temporal  sonship  is  indicated,  accord- 
ing to  which  mention  is  made  in  Kom.  i.  4  of 
his  being  "determined  to  be  the  Son  of  God  ;  " 
and  in  like  manner,  here  in  Ezekiel,  it  is  only 
the  realization  of  the  promised  salvation  and 
blessing,  as  it  is  suggested  by  the  covenant- 
relation  of  Jehovah  to  Israel,  which  can  imme- 
diately come  into  consideration.  The  verses  that 
follow  bring  into  notice  the  grace  of  the  covenant ; 
the  covenant  graciousness  manifests  itself,  accord- 
ing to  ver.  24.  in  the  David-Messiah,  as  the  one 
who  generally  was  to  prove  the  covenant  of 
Jehovah  to  be  an  abiding  one  with  His  people, 
and  in  particular  the  eternity  of  the  kingdom  of 
David.  If  the  :  "  I  have  begotten  thee,'  in  Ps. 
ii.  7,  seems  to  import  more  than :  "I  appoint  (or 
raise  up),"  here,  the  expression  in  Ps.  ii.   6  :   "I 

have  anointed  "  (in3D3)>  'Jo'^s  not  indicate  more 

(comp.  at  ch.  xxii.  30) ;  and  both  expressions  in 
the  psalm,  like  the  one  here  (''nb'pn)i  rrfsr  to 

2  Sam.  vii.,  where  the  decree  (pn)  in  Ps.  ii  7  is 
obvious  :  "I  will  be  to  him  a  father,  and  he  will 
be  to  me  a  son  "  (ver.  14).  While  He  is  so  called 
there  on  account  of  the  unceasing  filial  relation 
to  the  divine  favour,  of  course  in  connection  with 
the  promise  of  an  eternal  sovereignty,  with 
Ezekiel,  vers.  23,  24,  it  is  the  latter  only  whicl 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


327 


has  a  place,  an  everlasting  princedom  of  David, 
'he  divine  ideal  of  His  sole  governmental  per- 
sonality. In  another  light,  however,  will  the 
parallel-membered  passage  of  ver.  24  appear  to 
us,  if   we   add   in    thought  the :    "  Behold   I " 

('3K"'33n),    which    is   so   expressively   repeated 

(vers.  11,  20).  In  that  case  Jehovah  Himself 
will  have  to  be  thought  of  as  present  in  this 
David.  If  in  the  term  "shepherd"  a  reference 
is  made  to  the  circumstance  that  David  was 
literally  such  before  he  became  king,  so  by  the 
designation  "servant"  David,  which  likewise  is 
twice  used  with  emphasis,  a  relation  is  e.xpressed, 
which  Nitzsch  characterizes  as  an  Old  Testament 
mode  of  describing  "the  religion  of  human  life" 
{Systein,  p.  187);  since  "the  servant  of  God 
generally  is  the  subject  of  the  honour  that  comes 
from  God,  and  as  such  is  the  chosen  one,  the  one 
who  is  specially  pri\'ileged,  set  up  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  true  religion  in  behalf  of  others, 
and  actively  engaged  in  doing  so — nor  merely  a 
true  and  proved,  but  also  an  atonmg,  and  finally 
a  glorified  human  personality."  Farther,  there 
is  now  on  both  occasions  used  the  epithet  "  My  " 
servant,  with  all  the  more  emphasis  in  ver.  24 
as  it  is  preceded  by  the  expression  :  "  I  Jehovah  "; 
and  there  is  to  be  compared  the  :  "  My  shepherd," 
in  Zech.  xiii.  7,  coupled  with  the  words  of  ex- 
planation :  "  against  the  man  that  is  My  fellow. " 
Indeed,  as  the  whole  passage  from  ver.  9  onwards 
is  the  self-manifestation  of  Jehovah,  a  divine 
backgi'ound  must  form  the  gold-ground  of  the 
Messianic  picture. 

16.  There  is  no  need  for  placing  any  constraint 
on  the  nnS  of  ^^i"-  23  ;  so  much  it  quite  natur- 
ally implies,  that  although  the  basis  of  the 
"one"  shepherd  is  the  house  of  David  destined 
to  an  everlasting  continuance,  and  one  can,  with 
Hengstenberg,  "understand  by  David  the  stem 
of  David  culminating  in  Christ,  so  that  the  ful- 
filment in  Christ  is  not  the  sole,  but  only  the 
highest,  the  true  one,"  still  a  definite,  and  indeed 
a  unique  personality,   an  individual,  is  contem- 

?lated  here — one  who  has  not  his  like.     Comp. 
er.  x.xiii.  5. 

17.  "The  typical  element  in  Israel's  condition, 
or  the  prefigurative  representation  of  the  future 
spiritual  life,  of  which  Israel  itself  was  more  or 
less  unconscious, — a  representation  which  was 
called  forth  and  animated  by  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  that  life, — was,  like  the  typical  character 
of  the  Israelitish  religion  generally,  the  basis  of 
prophecy"  (P.  Lange,  Philos.  Dogm.). 

18.  Christ,  "as  the  Anointed  of  God  in  the 
theocratic  sense,  the  Messiah  promised  by  the 
Drophets,"  is  "the  true  Servant  of  God  in  the 
.aw  of  the  Spirit,  whom  the  Old  Testament  Israel 
prefigured  in  the  law  of  the  letter,  the  richly 
Anointed  of  God,  whose  precursors  were  all  offici- 
ally anointed  typical  sons  of  Jehovah  under  the 
Old  Covenant.  '  "Jesus  is  the  Christ,  since  His 
whole  life  was  the  discharge  of  a  holy  office." 
"Jesus  has  not  merely  in  some  sense  the  office  of 
a  Christ,  of  a  God-anointed  person  devoted  to 
tlie  wellbeing  of  the  world  ;  He  is  the  Christ 
Himself.  Hence  His  office  is  designated  as  the 
absolute  office,  as  the  sum  of  all  the  offices  in- 
separably connected  with  salvation  ;  and  it  is  at 
the  same  time  declared,  that  His  office  first 
represented   in    fuU   reality    and    completeness  [ 


what  the  separate  callings  in  respect  to  salva- 
tion in  the  world  could  represent  only  figura- 
tively, partly  in  a  typical,  partly  in  a  symbolical 
manner."  "As  guiding  organs  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament life,  the  theocratic  offices  were  such  also 
for  the  future  divine-human  life."  "With  the 
organic  separation  of  these  offices  was  connected 
the  feature  of  their  transitory  character,  their 
incompleteness.  Hence  the  fulfilment  of  the 
religion  in  the  person  of  Jesus  was  at  the  same 
time  the  fuliilment  and  completion  of  these  offices. 
His  life  is,  as  the  individualizing  of  the  completed 
religion — absolute  life  from  God,  for  God,  and  in 
and  with  God.  Hence,  also,  must  Christ  com 
prise  in  His  personality  the  three  offices  as  a 
unity  in  their  completed  essence-form,  and  in 
the  fundamental  characteristics  of  His  Ufe  they 
must  shine  forth  in  their  rounded  completeness  ' 
(P.  Lanoe,  Pos.  Doijm.). 

19.  "The  dark  caricature  and  counterpart  of 
the  prophetic  activity  of  Christ  or  of  the  revela- 
tion in  Him  is  the  Jewish  Talmud  ;  the  reverse 
image  of  His  high-priestly  function  is  the  penal 
wandering  of  Israel  throughout  the  world  ;  and 
over  against  His  royal  administration  and  king- 
dom stands  the  demoniacal  worldly-mindedness 
of  the  Jews,  with  its  important  results "  (P. 
Lange). 

20.  Upon  the  prophecy  as  a  whole  with  respect 
to  its  fulfilment  it  may  be  said,  that  in  its 
trichotomy  the  servant  David,  as  the  third  piece, 
is  the  simultaneous  discharge  of  the  two  parts 
that  had  preceded.  Through  Him  has  it  come 
to  an  end  with  the  offices  of  Israel  (vers.  1-10) ; 
with  Him  comes  the  manifestation  of  Jehovah 
Himself  as  the  shepherd  (vers.  11-22).  Now,  if 
He  who  perfects  Himself  after  this  manner  is 
the  Messiah,  then  also  everj'thing  that  is  essen- 
tially connected  theremth  must  plainly  be  found 
in  Jesus  Christ.  The  appearance  of  the  Son  of 
God  in  the  flesh,  especially  in  the  insight 
afforded  into  His  mighty  working  by  His  resur- 
rection from  the  dead,  is  so  much  the  more  the 
fulfilment  of  our  prophecy,  as  this  has  in  mani- 
fold ways  been  testified  by  Himself  and  His 
apostles.  As  in  the  exile  and  during  the  time 
that  followed,  till  Christ,  the  dissolution  of  the 
theocratic  offices  in  Israel  as  such  (corap.  ver.  4) 
took  effect,  so  did  the  gathering  of  the  people,  in 
contrast  to  the  scattering  (ver.  5),  by  means  of 
the  return  from  Babylon,  become  a  reality  (ver. ' 
13,  and  comp.  Isa.  xUv.  28,  where  Cynis  is  called 
"  My  shepherd  ").  But  the  so  strongly  marked 
scattering  of  ver.  5  is  only  one  thing  ;  another 
is  the  wandering  upon  the  mountains  and  hills 
(ver.  6),  to  which  not  the  gathering  effected  by 
the  return  to  their  home  corresponds,  but  feed- 
ing upon  the  mountains,  etc.  (ver.  13  sq.,  comp. 
also  Isa.  liii.  0),  which  had  locally  its  fulfilment 
in  Christ  (Matt.  ix.  36  ;  Luke  xv. ),  especially 
the  distinctive  characteristics  described  in  ver. 
16.  In  like  manner,  also,  the  judgment  of 
sei)aration  exercised  thi-ough  the  person  of  Christ 
within  Israel  (Luke  ii.  34  ;  Matt.  xxi.  44)  stands 
connected  with  what  is  written  in  ver.  17  sq.  ; 
and  immediately  thereafter  the  Messiah-David 
(ver.  23  sq.)  is  made  distinctly  to  shine  forth 
out  of  the  prophetic  representation.  What  is 
said,  e.g.,  by  Keil  of  "the  twofold  judgment  of 
scattering  along  with  the  twofold  gathering  ol 
Israel,"  as  being  in  this  prophecy  "not  distin- 
guished, but  thrown  complexly  together,"   has 


328 


EZEKIEL. 


been  imported  into  it  from  another  quarter. 
"That  only  a  small  part  of  Israel,"  as  he  says, 
"received  the  Messiah  when  appearing  in  Jesus 
as  their  shepherd, "  gave  occasion  not  so  properly 
for  a  new  judgment  of  dispersion  among  all 
nations,  as  rather,  we  may  say,  that  the  Baby- 
lonish judgment  was  in  consequence  thereof  con- 
firmed for  unbelieving  Israel  as  such,  and  also 
completed.  For  Israel  was  still,  at  the  time  of 
Christ's  appearing,  in  a  state  of  dispersion  among 
all  nations,  because  scattered  throughout  the 
Eomau  world,  so  that  even  the  gathering  from 
Babylon  must  be  referred  to  the  advent  of  Jesus 
Christ,  since  thereby  His  birth  in  the  City  of 
David,  as  well  as  His  resurrection  in  the  place 
where  He  was  crucified,  after  being  loosed  from 
the  pains  of  death,  and  hence  the  turning  of  the 
promised  land  into  a  blessing  after  the  manner 
indicated  in  ver.  26,  were  rendered  possible.  One 
must  not  say  that  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy 
had  begun  "  with  the  redemption  of  Israel  from 
the  Babylonish  exile,"  and  still  less  that  it  began 
with  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Good 
Shepherd  of  the  seed  of  David  ;  but  this  latter 
appearing  is  the  fulfilment,  so  that  we  have  no 
other  to  expect,  and  the  bringing  back  from 
Babylon  to  Canaan  was  merely  its  preparation;  and 
the  true  understanding  of  this  preparatory  gather- 
ing as  a  gathering  is  to  be  sought  in  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  gathering  of  the  Israel 
after  the  Spirit  out  of  the  whole  world  (John  x. 
16).  If  it  "admits  of  no  doubt"  (Kliefoth), 
that  what  is  said  of  the  establishing  of  a  new 
covenant  in  ver.  25  "  has  been  already  fulfilled 
by  the  appearance  of  the  Lord  in  the  "flesh,  and 
by  His  work, "  it  should  have  given  this  intelligent 
expositor  no  further  concern,  as  if  the  fulfilment 
of  our  prophecy  could  have  "belonged  entirely 
to  what  still  is  future."  This  prophecy,  also, 
has  not  been  fulfilled  by  successive  stages,  but 
the  fulfilment  through  Christ  only  presents  itself 
separately  in  Christ,  while  the  Church  of  Christ 
lives  the  Messianic  life  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the 
world  as  His  body.  The  "judging  between 
sheep  and  sheep,  the  separating  of  the  he-goats, 
the  purifying  of  the  people  of  God  into  a  sinless 
community,"  wherein  Kliefoth  finds  essential 
parts  of  the  prophecy,  which  "belong  even  to 
the  very  close  of  time," — all  this  comes  into  reali- 
sation through  the  efficacious  working  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  sent  by  Christ  (comp.  John  xvi.  8 ; 
Rom.  viii.  9) — does  so  onwards  till  the  day  of 
Christ,  since  as  the  Lord  is  the  Spirit,  so  the  Son 
of  man  has  been  appointed  the  Judge  of  the  world. 
The  delineation  of  blessing  in  ver.  25  sq.  is  in 
form  taken  from  the  land  and  the  people,  but  so 
as  to  be  emblematical  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
Anointed.  Yes,  even  "  the  formation  of  a  new 
paradise,  and  the  restoration  of  humanity  to  its 
condition  of  original  innocence,"  does  not  lie  in 
the  text  of  Ezekiel,  but  in  the  exegesis  of  Klie- 
foth, who,  with  such  a  view  of  the  meaning, 
cannot  get  the  better  of  that  ChUiasm  which  he 
opposes. 

21.  The  characteristic  manifestation  of  the 
Good  Shepherd  takes  place  when  He  calls  His 
own  sheep  each  by  its  name,  while  the  sheep 
on  their  part  hear  His  voice  (John  x. ).  Thus  are 
they  led  out  of  the  fold,  the  economy  of  the  Old 
Covenant,  after  their  state  of  wandering  upon  all 
mountains  and  on  every  high  hill;  and  if  Jehovah 
(Isa.  liii.  6)  lays  upon  Him  the  iniquity  of  all. 


so  He  who  in  John  x.  10  testifies  tliat  He  camo 
in  order  that  they  might  have  life,  and  have  it 
more  abundantly,  says  also  in  vers.  1 1  and  Id 
there,  that  He  was  going  to  give  His  life  for  the 
sheep. 

22.  "  Christ  had  to  come  to  them,  first,  as  the 
teaching  Shepherd  ;  secondly,  as  the  Shepherd 
that  should  give  His  life  for  the  sheep,  in  order 
that  He  might  set  them  free  from  the  bondage  of 
the  law,  and  at  the  same  time  from  their  rulers  ; 
thirdly.  He  should  Himself  become  manifest 
among  them  as  Prince.  Thus  should  the  promise 
to  Abraham,  that  God  would  be  a  God  to  his 
seed,  become  yea  and  amen. — Tlie  Sadducees  and 
Pharisees  troubled  and  corrupted  to  the  sheep  of 
the  flock,  who  were  obliged  to  hear  them,  the 
pure  doctrine  ;  whereupon  Christ  appeared,  and 
healed  the  sicknesses  of  Israel,  and  gave  Himself 
up  to  death  for  His  sheep.  This  is  the  one  period 
in  the  projihecy  ;  the  other  period  is,  when  Christ 
is  given  as  a  prince,  quickened  from  the  dead, 
raised  to  heaven,  and  before  all  Jerusalem  anointed 
through  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the 
apostles,  when,  by  the  preaching  of  the  apostles, 
sheep  was  distinguished  from  sheep"  (CoccElus). 

23.  After  the  import  of  the  similitude  upon 
Israel  has  been  given  in  ver.  30,  a  still  deeper 
thought  is  subjoined  to  this  import,  namely,  tiie 
bearing  of  Israel  on  mankind  generally.  What 
of  Israel  attains  to  salvation  does  so  not  under 
the  national  title  ("  house  of  Israel  "),  which  has 
been  rendered  obsolete  through  the  new  cove- 
nant, but  simply  as  connected  with  "Adam," 
whose  antitype  Christ  is  (Kom.  v.).  Conse- 
quently, we  have  here  the  exposition  of  the 
people  of  the  old  covenant  in  relation  to 
humanity  at  large. 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Vers.  1,  2.  Corruption  in  the  upper,  the  govern- 
ing classes,  those  who  give  the  tone  and  mea- 
sure to  society,  carries  along  -with  it  corruption 
among  the  whole  people,  and  that  not  merely  for 
a  time,  but  for  ever. — "  It  is  a  very  honourable 
title  to  be  called  a  shepherd,  but  to  be  so  is  a 
heavy  burden,'  with  much  trouble,  care,  and 
labour"  (Stck.).  —  "An  entire  tribe  also  of  Israel, 
that  guides  the  other  tribes,  and  stands  at  their 
head,  feeds  the  tribes  of  Israel,  like  a  shepherd, 
2  Sam.  vii.  7.  And  there  are  many  degrees  of 
upper  and  lower  shepherds,  down  even  to  single 
householders.  So  also  in  Christendom  are  all 
authorities,  whether  in  the  State,  the  Church,  or 
the  family,  to  be  regarded  as  shepherds  of  their 
respective  flocks,  smaller  or  greater.  Every 
pastor  is  really  a  shepherd  in  the  biblical  sense. 
The  same  person  can,  however,  he  at  once  shep- 
herd and  sheep,  according  as  he  has  to  discharge 
the  office  of  ruling,  or  the  duty  of  letting  himself 
be  ruled.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  indiff'erence 
through  what  instrument  the  shepherd  governs 
his  flock,  whether  by  means  of  the  staff'  or  the 
dog,  whether  by  the  rod,  or  the  sword,  or  the 
word.  The  schoolmaster,  too,  in  so  far  as  he 
commands,  and  exercises  discipline,  and  governs 
the  school,  is  a  shepherd"  (Sohmiedee). — "Who- 
ever would  be  a  proper  teacher  must  possess  and 
manifest  the  true  shepherd  -  faithfulness,  must 
seek  simply  and  alone  what  is  Christ's,  Phil.  ii. 
21  "  (Starke). — "  They  are  hirelings  who  seek 
after  spiritual  work,  that  they  may  thereby  en- 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


32fi 


rich  themselves,  or  gain  their  bread.  Acts  xx.  18 
sq. ;  Kom.  xvi.  IS"  ^TuB.  Bible). — "I  ask  you 
ou  your  conscience.  Are  ye  not  obliged  to  feed 
the  souls  of  your  hearers  with  the  living  word  of 
God,  if  ye  would  be  shepherds?"  (Berl.  Bib.) — 
"As  shepherds,  rulers  also  must  not  suck  the 
blood  of  their  subjects"  (Starke). — Justice  and 
injustice,  blessing  and  cursing  of  feeding  one's 
self.  The  shepherd  must  also  go  upon  the  right 
pasture  for  his  own  poor  soul. — The  shepherd- 
olKce  as  at  the  same  time  duty  to  one's  self. 

Ver.  3.  "The  shepherd  receives  from  the  flock 
his  necessary  support,  his  recompense  from  the 
Lord"  (AUGUSTIXE). — Ver.  4.  "Pastors  should 
confirm  those  who  are  not  strong  in  the  faith, 
cherish  the  weak  and  such  as  cannot  go  forward, 
that  they  may  be  strengthened,  and  step  firmly 
on  the  way  of  God  ;  should  bind  up  those  who 
have  a  wounded  conscience,  so  that  they  may  not 
be  c:>nsumed  by  mourning  ;  should  bring  back 
those  who  have  been  misled  and  seduced  by  other 
teachers;  but  should  seek  out  such  as  are  perishing 
lor  want  of  guidance  and  have  lost  the  right  way, 
guiding  them  to  wholesome  pasture,"  etc.  (Cocc. ). 
— "  Preachers  should  especially  commend  them- 
selves to  the  corporeally  and  spiritually  sick 
among  their  hearers"  (Stakke). — The  shepherd- 
office  is  sheer  senace  (and  those  whose  it  is  to 
serve  have  TfeZxruv  Mos'i ;  it  is  not  lordship,  nor 
must  be,  either  over  the  goods  or  the  consciences 
of  men. — The  obligations  of  the  shepherd-oflice 
a  mirror  of  humau  wretchedness. — The  fivefold 
nature  of  a  shepherd's  work.  "  Paul  became  all 
things  to  all  men,  that  he  might  save  some." — 
Ver.  5.  "Scattering,  isolation,  so  that  people 
know  not  rightly  to  whom  they  belong  and  what 
they  should  di>,  is  the  consetiuence  of  an  inactive, 
tj'rannical,  luxurious  government  "  (Sch.mieder). 
— What  is  the  consequence  of  bad  shepherds,  that 
is  also  unmistakably  the  curse  for  great  communi- 
ties.— The  shepherd  on  an  earthlj'  domain  knows 
well  how  many  the  sheep  of  his  flock  number  ; 
but  how  many  spiritual  shepherds,  if  they  know 
it  e.\ternally,  and  ha%-e  the  number  of  their  church 
members  in  their  head,  bear  them  upon  their 
hearts  according  to  their  internal  states ? — "Not 
merely  in  the  bodily,  but  pre-eminently  in  the 
spiritual  enemies  of  the  people  of  God,  inheres 
the  wolf-spirit,  the  devil"  iSchmieder).— The 
many  shepherds  (the  hierarchy)  may  possibly 
disguise  tha  one  Good  Shepherd  to  the  sheep,  as 
though  He  nere  not  there. — Ver.  6.  Scattering 
can  become  evil,  wandering  may  be  still  worse; 
as  in  life,  so  in  doctrine. — In  front  of  the  spiritual 
heights,  as  well  as  before  flatness  in  spiritual 
things,  a  shepherd  has  to  keep  his  flock  together. 

Vers.  7-14.  To  have  not  done  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord  must  lead  to  great  trouble  from 
the  Lord's  word,  namely,  to  hear  its  judgments. 
— God's  judgment  on  bad  shepherds,  a  righteous 
and  severe  one. — The  frightful  judgment,  which 
is  contained  even  in  the  beautiful  name  of  the 
shepherd.  — ' '  Corruption  in  the  shepherds,  princes, 
priests,  is  mentioned  among  the  signs  of  the 
Lord's  advent"  (Berl.  Bib.). — Ver.  10.  "In 
this,  that  those  shepherds  should  no  more  be,  it 
is  not  indicated  that  the  shepherds  then  existing 
should  perish,  and  others  come  into  their  place, 
who  should  bear  the  same  office  and  have  the  same 
power,  for  this  would  not  haj->  been  a  fuU  de- 
liverance. Nor  is  this  declared  by  the  prophet, 
that,  after  the  abolition  of  thfc  shejiherds  of  that 


time,  no  wolves  should  arise  and  false  prophets, 
who  would  not  care  for  the  flock  of  God — com[». 
Acts  XX.  29  ;  Zech.  xi.  16.  But  this  is  what  is 
meant,  that  even  if  such  should  arise,  they  wti o 
by  no  means  to  be  accounted  shepherds,  but  their 
commands  and  instructions  might  safely  be  re- 
pudiated, etc. ;  whereas  under  the  Old  Covenant 
the  people  were  so  placed  under  their  shepherds 
as  to  be  constrained  to  adhere  to  them,  since  the 
temple  must  be  frequented  by  those  who  drew 
near  to  God  "  (C'oocEius). — "The  right  shepherd 
is  also  the  judge  of  the  false  shepherds"  (Berl. 
Bib.). — A  reward  will  be  given  to  shepherds  in 
righteousness,  but  also  with  a  gracious  recom- 
pense.— Ver.  11.  "  Christ  the  Chief  Shepherd  ol 
our  souls.  Oh,  with  what  love  does  He  seek 
them  !  How  does  He  bring  them  into  the  right 
condition,  convert  them  through  His  Spirit,  and 
guide  them  to  the  right  pasture!  "  (Tub.  Bib.) 
— Ver.  12.  Redemption  out  of  all  places  the 
great  prospect  of  faith,  the  ble.ssed  hope  also  of  the 
resurrection. — "  There  comes  a  day  of  the  Lord  ; 
a  morning-star  must  appear  after  a  dreary  night  " 
(A.  Krcmmacher). — Ver.  13.  "  So  again  at  last, 
when  God  poured  out  His  Spirit  upon  the  apostles, 
there  was  a  gathering  together  from  all  places  of 
the  flock  of  God,  Acts  ii.  9  sq."  (Cocc).  —  "The 
genuine  land  of  Israel  is  the  new  earth  with  the 
new  heavens"  (ScHMiEDER). — Godliness  has  the 
promise  not  only  of  the  life  that  now  is,  but  also  . 
of  that  which  is  to  come,  1  Tim.  iv. — The  divine' 
refreshments  of  the  Lord,  images  of  the  spiritual 
here,  of  the  eternal  hereafter.  — Death  a  shepherd, 
Ps.  xlix.  15  [14].  But  while  he  does  his  work, 
there  is  also  for  believers  the  shepherd-stafl"  of  the 
Good  Shepherd. — "This  world  is  only  an  inn; 
not  our  home,  rather  a  prison,  since  we  have 
been  made  and  redeemed  for  heaven"  (Stck.). — 
"  Hence  we  should  not  despair  when  we  see  that 
in  troublous  times  only  a  few  are  left.  The  flock 
may  continue  small,  but  it  can  never  happen 
that  there  shall  be  no  flock.  If  the  woman  has 
fled  with  her  children  into  the  wilderness.  Rev. 
xii.,  she  must  again  return  to  be  among  men" 
(Heim-Hoff.). — Union  of  the  faithful  the  work 
of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  more  that  the  churches, 
through  the  general  falling  away  of  *he  members, 
come  to  be  composed  of  believers,  will  the  union 
of  the  churches  also  come  to  be  regarded  as  a 
matter  of  the  Lord,  and  no  merely  politica' 
maxim. — Ver.  14.  "The  secret  of  the  pasture  o; 
Christ  "  (ScHMiEDER).  —  "How  few  consider  thfe 
blessedness  of  the  righteous,  and  how  well  it  goes 
with  them!"  (Stck.)  —  Good  pasture  and  laad 
pasture. — The  high  mountains  of  Israel,  his  pro- 
mises in  respect  to  their  fulfilment,  his  worship 
in  spirit  and  truth. 

Ver,  15.  Food  and  rest,  the  two  great  necessi- 
ties of  human  life. — "  Their  rest  will  nourish 
them,  and  their  nourishment  will  bring  them  new 
rest"  (Berl.  Bib.).  — "  Nothing  can  be  more 
frequently  repeated  to  believing  souls,  nothing 
more  deeply  impressed  upon  them,  than  what  has 
been  promised  to  them  in  Christ  Jesus  their 
Lord"  (Stck.). — Rest,  true,  eternal  repose,  is  only 
to  be  had  under  the  shepherd-staff  of  Christ. — 
What  can  the  whole  world  off'er  instead  with  all 
its  enjoyments?  —  The  everlasting  promises  of 
God  in  Christ,  and  the  delusive  shows  of  the  devil 
in  the  lust  of  this  passing  world. — Ver.  16  sq. 
The  Lord's  inspection  of  the  flock  at  the  sami 
time  a  call  to  self-examination.     (Preparation- 


330 


EZEKIEL. 


sermon  before  the  holy  communion. ) — "The  lost, 
those  who  are  cut  off  from  grace,  excommunicjted, 
these,  in  our  Lord's  time,  were  the  publicans  and 
sinners  ;  now,  those  who  are  excluded  and  con- 
demned by  the  alone  blessed-making  Church  (or 
confession).  The  wandering  are  those  who  no 
longer  hold  to  the  Church, — the  sects,  separa- 
tists. The  wounded  are  such  as  have  taken  some 
offence,  like  a  sheep  that  has  been  bitten  by  a 
dog.  The  sick  are  those  who,  through  false 
teaching  and  bad  example,  have  become  weak  in 
the  faith.  The  case  of  all  these  the  Good  Shep- 
herd prondses  to  take  in  hand"  (Schmiedee). — 
"  But  the  Lord  feeds  with  judgment,  that  is, 
with  befitting  difference,  since  He  dispenses  to 
each  what  is  proper  to  him, — to  one  this,  to 
another  something  else.  He  performs  to  the 
weak  no  more  than  is  good  for  them.  The  chil- 
dren He  feeds  with  milk,  and  defends  them.  He 
acts  mildly  or  severely,  consoles,  frightens,  blames, 
caresses,  as  at  any  time  is  good  for  us  ;  for  the 
fearful  He  relaxes  the  reins,  and  those  who  place 
their  confidence  in  Him  He  draws  to  Himself. 
If  some  are  fat,  and  corrupt  the  weak.  He  takes 
from  them  their  strength.  Some  are  proud  of  the 
gifts  lent  to  them,  and  despise  the  simplicity  of 
others ;  for  these  it  is  good  when  they  are 
humbled,  and  are  deprived  of  their  gifts,  so  that 
they  may  obtain  the  salvation  of  Christ.  Thus 
He  accomplishes  the  judgment,  and  the  separation 
between  sheep  and  sheep  ;  and  so  each  one  should 
be  coucerned  about  himself,  and  not  trouble 
himself  respecting  others.  The  separation  is 
already  going  on  here  in  secret,  but  at  last  it  will 
become  manifest,  and  be  seen  to  issue  in  a  wide 
gulf"  (Heim-Hoff.).  —  "The  kingdom  of  God 
belongs  to  those  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden 
(Matt.  xi.  28) ;  by  and  by  their  turn  shall  be  to 
rejoice  in  the  Lord's  goodness,  Luke  xvi.  25 " 
(Hitzig). — "  Why  should  the  he-goats  be  in  the 
flock  of  God  ?  on  the  same  pastures,  beside  the 
same  brooks  as  the  sheep?  They  are  at  present 
tolerated,  afterwards  separated  from  it  "  (Augus- 
tine*.— "A  stem  judge  is  the  Good  Shepherd; 
not  merely  the  unscrupulous  leaders  of  the  flock, 
but  even  the  sheep  themselves,  will  be  brought  to 
account  by  Him"  (U.mbreit).  —  "Believers  are 
thereby  admonished  to  consider  on  what  side 
they  should  place  themselves,  so  that  they  may 
escape  the  future  day  of  slaughter;  and  at  the 
same  time  are  comforted,  so  as  to  be  able  to  hold 
out  with  patience  during  this  life.  Religions 
strifes  and  controversies  also  vnil  be  brought  to 
nn  end  by  the  judgment  of  the  Lord  "  (Luther). 
— Ver.  18.  Compare  what  is  set  forth  here  with 
what  the  King  says  in  Matt.  xxv.  34  sq.  Would 
our  so-called  "men  of  culture"  also  but  consider 
it,  who  only  tread  under  foot  the  pure  doctrine, 
or  trouble  it  by  their  goat-like  gambols  ! — "  And 
keep  thee  from  the  judgments  of  men,  whereby 
the  noble  treasure  is  corrupted  :  this  I  leave  thee 
at  the  clcse"  (Luther). — Ver.  19.  "This,  alas! 
itjpri'sents  so  many  church  services  in  which  un- 
believing men  (ireach,  just  as  ver.  21  points  re- 
[irovingly  to  the  empty  churches"  (Right.). — 
Ver.  21  sq.  The  mischievous  polemic  in  the 
Church. — A  theologj"  that  is  quarrelsome  and 
combative  scatters  the  churches  in  the  world. — 
Spiritual  dogmatism. — A  more  correct  estimate  of 
separation  from  the  Bible  point  of  view,  than  from 
tliat  of  a  corrupt  church  with  its  anathemas. — 
"  The    righteous   may   certainly   be   oppressed, 


yet  not  wholly  suppressed"  (Stck.). — Redemp- 
tion a  judgment,  and  the  judgment  of  the  Lord  a 
redemption. — The  help  of  the  flock  is  its  Shep- 
herd alone  ;  therefore  must  we  withdraw  our  con- 
fidence from  all  creatures,  and  expect  nothing 
from  new  laws  and  constitutions. — "This  is  the 
manner  of  the  divine  compassion,  that  it  takes 
our  misery  as  an  invitation"  (Heim-Hoff.). 

Ver.  23  sq.  "  Christ  has  not  come  without  a 
call,  but  with  the  good-will  and  mission  of  His 
heavenly  Father,  John  v.  43"  (Cr.  ). — One,  be- 
cause all  pointed  to  Him,  in  word  and  in  deed, 
and  because  no  one,  except  in  Him,  is  anything. 
— "God  names  Him  His  servant,  since  Christ, 
made  under  the  law,  has  fulfilled  it,  that  He 
might  extirpate  sin,  and  bring  in  righteousness, 
and  so  might  be  complete  goel  and  propitiation, 
Ps.  xl.  9,  10  [8,  9]"  (Cocc.).— "David  :  1,  as  to 
the  name.  His  beloved,  Matt.  iii.  17;  2,  as  to 
His  birth,  in  Bethlehem  ;  3,  as  to  His  humble 
state  and  littleness,  Isa.  liii.  3 ;  4,  as  to  His 
shepherd-service ;  5,  as  to  His  anointing ;  6,  as 
to  His  devotedness,  David  for  the  law,  Christ  for 
the  tiock ;  7,  as  to  His  victories  "  (Stck.  ).  — "  He 
will  not  only  feed  them,  but  also  discharge  in 
their  behalf  all  shepherd-duty  besides  needful 
for  their  preservation  and  support,  their  refresh- 
ment and  invigoration,  and  will  remain  their 
Shepherd  for  ever.  Thus  will  He  teach  and  heal, 
and  take  away  sicknesses — not  do  and  act  merely, 
but  suffer  also,  purchase  the  sheep  with  His 
precious  blood,  whereby  He  will  prove  Himself  to 
be  the  True  Shepherd, " etc.  (Cocc.). —  "He  is  the 
Prince  among  believers,  because  He  is  the  Media- 
tor between  God  and  men  ;  because  as  Head  He 
communicates  grace  to  the  members  and  the  liv- 
ing Spirit ;  and  because,  moreover,  we  see  in  His 
countenance  the  fatherly  heart  of  God.  Through 
Him  is  the  Lord  our  God,  that  is.  He  is  recon- 
ciled to  us,  and  unites  Himself  to  us  "  (Heim- 
Hoff.). — Where  Christ  reigns,  there  God  is  with 
us.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.— Vers.  23,  24.  The  One 
Shepherd  according  to  the  promise  in  its  fulfilment : 
1,  His  official  position  through  all  times  ;  2,  His 
shepherd-service  in  the  flesh  and  in  the  spirit ;  3, 
His  personality  in  respect  to  God  and  as  regards 
the  flock. 

Ver.  25.  "1.  Justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God  through  Christ.  God  is  for  us,  who 
can  be  against  "us  ?  2.  He  blesses  us  with  all 
spiritual  blessings.  The  apostles  teach  and  sow, 
but  the  Lord  gives  the  showers  of  blessing,  that 
the  seed  of  the  word  may  spring  forth,  and  the 
trees  yield  their  fruit ;  that  is,  that  the  great  and 
the  small  may  believe  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  confess 
Him  with  the  mouth.  3.  He  breaks  the  yoke 
of  slavery  to  sin,  and  gives  freedom  from  all 
enemies.  AVhence,  naturally,  there  arises  a 
strong  confidence,  Rom.  viii.  35-39"  (Heim- 
Hoff.). — The  covenant  of  peace  in  Christ — its 
divine  ground,  its  invincible  strength,  its  blessed 
peace.  The  secure  land  even  now  in  the  midst 
of  the  world. — The  evil  beasts  in  the  land, — 
spiritual  false  guides,  worldly  persecutors,  plaus- 
ible hypocrites. — "False  teachers  and  tyrants 
God  causes  either  to  die  or  to  change  their  mind; 
but  the  Son  of  God  has  conquered  the  roaring 
lion,  who  is  the  devil"  (Luther). — In  the  world 
ye  may  be  of  good  cheer,  is  the  saying  of  the 
Good  Shepherd  to  His  own  (John  xvi.  33),  as 
it  certainly  was  their  experience  (John  xiv.  27). — 
Seaurity  and  security,  carnal  and  spiritual,  host 


CHAP.  XXXV. 


SSs 


ditferent! — He  gives  sleep  to  His  own,  even  in 
the  wilJernes.?  (Fs.  ccxvii.  3  [2]).— Ver.  26.  Sal- 
vation is  of  the  Jews,  John  iv.  — What  the  father 
of  the  faithful  w;is  to  be  to  the  world  (Gen.  xii. ), 
namely,  a  blessing,  that  should  believers  be  in 
this  world. — Zion,  as  after  the  flesh  in  Christ,  so 
after  the  Spirit  in  the  spiritual  Zion,  in  its  desti- 
nation to  bless,  its  task  of  blessing,  and  its  duty 
of  service  for  the  earth. — There  the  Church  is  a 
blessing  whera  tiere  is  the  rain  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Withoat  this  rain  nothing  grows  in  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  one  cannot  even  say,  Jesus  is 
Lord  (1  Cor.  xii.  3).— Ver.  27.  The  blessed  earth, 
and  the  land  of  Israel,  when  smitten  with  the 
curse. — "Where  faith  is,  there  is  a  good  tree, 
and  there  also  is  produced  good  fruit"  (SrCK.). 
— Not  only  shall  the  axe  be  laid  to  the  root  of 
the  trees,  but  for  the  trees  also  there  is  a  promise 
of  fruit. — Fruit  and  increase  in  spiritual  things  : 
the  former,  glory  to  the  man  himself,  example 
and  enjoyment  for  others  ;  the  latter,  the  thank- 
fulness we  owe  to  God. — The  knowledge  derived 
as  well  from  the  misery  of  servitude  as  from 
redemption  out  of  all  sin  and  misery. — The  sinner 
a  tool  of  the  devil  ;  the  redeemed  a  servant  of 
God. — The  rest  in  Christ  from  the  bondage  in 
sin. — Ver.  28.  Blessedness,  to  be  no  longer  com- 
pelled to  belong  to  the  world  ;  to  be  chosen  out 
of  it,  although  one  must  still  be  in  it ! — Spiritual 
boldness,  over  against  the  powers  of  the  world, 
Dver  ag.iinst  the  wickedness  of  sin,  over  against 
the  transitoriness  and  uncertainty  of  our  earthly 
Ufe,  over  against  the  solicitude  of  our  own  heart. 
Ver.  29.  The  planting  of  the  Heavenly  Father, 
Matt.  XV.  13. — The  kingdom  of  the  Anointed  a 
planting,  inasmuch  as  the  members  of  the  king- 
dom are — 1,  sown  by  the  word  ;  2,  reared,  fostered 
by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  3,  grown  in  time  for  eternity, 
to  the  honour  of  God  the  Father. — The  kingdom 
of  God  is  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  how,  then,  can  there  ever  be  want  ? 
(Luke  -xxii.  35.) — The  good,  the  glorious  name, 
which  the  people  of  God  should  have  in  the 
world.  ^ We  should,  however,  not  merely  have 
the  name  to  live  (Rev.  iii.  1),  and  still  be  dead. 


— Hungering  after  rigliteousness  as  the  means 
and  preservative  against  tlie  eternal  hunger  and 
distress  on  account  of  sin  ;  liunger  against  hunger. 
Hunger  in  order  not  to  hunger,  as  the  way  to 
everlasting  satisfaction.  — Eternal  glory  and  tem- 
poral reproaeli  in  the  world  and  from  the  world. 
— The  rod  of  wickedness  shall  not  rest  for  ever  ou 
the  lot  of  the  righteous  (Ps.  c.xxv.  3). — Ver.  30 
"God  at  times  conceals  from  His  own  His  coun 
tenance,  that  He  may  thereafter  embrace  them 
with  everlasting  favour"  (Stck. ). — The  last 
knowledge  is  tlie  experience  that  God  is  our  God, 
and  we  are  His  people. — The  survey  from  the 
end  back  upon  the  beginning  of  the  way  leads  us 
to  recognise  the  eternal  election  of  God  above  all 
else. — Only  by  the  way  do  the  pilgrims  of  God 
doubt ;  not  at  the  beginning,  and  at  the  end  not 
at  all.  At  first  they  proceed  in  faith,  at  last 
they  shall  see  face  to  face. — Ver.  31.  "  Under  tlie 
more  immediate  interpretation  of  the  similitude, 
that  men  are  meant,  there  is  at  the  same  time 
indicated  the  universality  of  grace, — that  not 
Israel  'alone,  but  Adam,  humanity,  are  named  as 
the  flock  ;  and  the  greatness  also  of  the  grace  is 
perceptible  in  this,  that  Israel  is  not  designated 
by  its  honourable  name,  that  which  expresses  its 
election  of  grace  (yet  ver.  30  ?),  but  '  man, ' 
which  calls  to  remembrance  dust  of  the  ground, 
sin,  and  death.  Such  significant  addresses,  con- 
taining much  in  little,  in  simple  language  both 
fulness  and  greatness  of  thought,  we  fitly  call 
profound  (rich  in  spirit,  ijeLitreich).  And  God, 
the  Spirit  of  aU  spirits,  should  not  His  speech  be 
with  spuitual  richness?"  (Schmieder.) — The 
kindness  and  love  of  God  toward  man  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord,  Tit.  iii.  4. — Israel  in  his  signifi- 
cance for  humanity. — That  the  true  Israel  is  the 
Son  of  man,  itself  shows  the  \vide  horizon  of  the 
grace  of  God  in  Christ. — The  Christian  applica- 
tion of  "My  fatherland  must  be  greater." — 
Neither  the  shepherds  nor  the  sheep  of  the  flock 
are  saints,  but  simply  men. — God  manifests  in 
flesh  a  divine  nil  humani  a  me  alienum. — The 
tabernacle  of  God  with  men,  Kev.  xxi.,  the  end 
and  aim  of  Jehovah's  action  as  shepherd.    . 


2.  Against  Edom,  with  respect  to  the  Mountains  of  Ishael,  in  consequence  of 
Jehovah's  Sanctification  of  His  own  Name  (Ch.  xxxv.-xxxvi.). 

1 ,  2  Ch.  XXXV.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,    Son  of  man,  set 
thy  face  towards  [against]  the  Mount  [the  moimtain  r.ange  of]  Seir,  and  prophesy  con- 

3  cerning  [against]  it ;  And  say  to  it,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I 
am  against  thee.  Mount  Seir,  and  I  stretch  out  My  hand  over  thee,  and  I 

4  make  thee  a  waste  and  a  desolation.     Thy  cities  will  I  make  ruins,  and  thou 

5  shalt  be  a  waste,  and  dost  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  Because  thou  hast 
enmity  for  ever,  and  deliveredst  the  children  of  Israel  into  the  hands  of  the 
sword,  in  the  time  of  their  calamity,  in  the  time  of  the  guilt  of  the  end ; 

6  Therefore,  as  I  live, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — blood  will  I  make  thee, 
and  blood  shall  pursue  thee  ;  where  thou  hatedst  not  blood,  there  shall  blood 

7  pursue  thee.     And  I  make  Mount  Seir  a  desolation  and  a  waste,  and  I  cut  ofl 

8  from  it  him  that  passes  over,  and  him  that  returns.  And  I  fill  his  mountains 
with  his  slain  ;  thy  hills,  and  thy  valleys,  and  all  thy  ravines,  the  slain  with 

9  the  sword  shall  fall  in  them.  I  will  give  thee  up  to  perpetual  desolations, 
and  thy  cities  shall  not  be  inhabited,  and   ye  know  that  I   am   Jehovah. 

10  Because  thou  saidst,  The  two  nations  {haggoiim)  and  the  two  lands,  min« 

1 1  shall  they  be,  and  we  possess  it  (Jerusalem  1),  and  Jehovah  was  there  :    There 


332 


EZEKIEL. 


fore,  as  I  live, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — so  do  I  according  to  thy 
anger  and  according  to  thy  envy,  which  tliou  out  of  thy  hatred  hast  shown 
towards  them  ;  and  I  make  Myself  known  among  them  as  Him  who  shall 

12  judge  thee.  And  thou  knowest  that  I  Jehovah  have  heard  all  thy  scornful 
speeches  which  thou  utteredst  against  the  mountains  of  Israel,  saying,  Lay 

13  waste,  to  us  they  are  given  for  food.  And  ye  magnified  yourselves  against 
Me  with  your  mouth,  and  heaped  up  your  words  against  Me ;  I  have  heard. 

1 4  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  as  [when]  the  whole  land   [the  whole  earth]  rejoices, 

15  1  will  make  thee  a  desolation.  According  to  thy  rejoicing  for  the  inheritance 
of  the  house  of  Israel  because  it  was  made  desolate,  so  will  I  do  to  thee ;  a 
desolation  shalt  thou  be.  Mount  Seir,  and  all  Edom,  the  whole  of  it,  and  they 
know  that  I  am  Jehovah. 


Vcr.    3.  Sept.:  .  .  .  ivrar  e-t  sprif^y  x.  Ipvif/MSvurr,.    Vulff. ;  .  .  .  desolahim  atque  duertum. 

Ver,     5.  .  .  .  ylvlrdoLI   gl  i^Opctv   ottMViov    x.   tUKxStirot?   Tit  o'lXai   'lap.   heKa>  iv   xccipti  i^Spaiv  In 
klivits  et'  Itr^eiTatv, 

Ver.    6.  .  .  .  it  fi.Y,v  ik  xtfiet  TifMepTii  X.  oti,t4a  fft  iiw^irtet.    VulR. :  et  rum  sanguinem  odevU — 

Ver.    7.  .  .  .  o^vSftet^cu?  X,  xTY^vr,,     (Anoth  read.:  HtDCtD^i  et  stuporem.) 

Ver.    9.  Anoth.  read. :  nj31Cn.  revertentur. 

Ver.  11.  Sept.:  .  .  .  yvutrhtrofMit  trot—  (Anuth.  read.:  ']BJOi  as  also  ^DNJpD''.) 

Ver.  1-5.  .  .  .  K.  Tao-a  n  'ISey^otiflc  kirt\tdpivBy,ffiTai  —  (Anoth.  read. :  n?3i  lolus  ipse.) 


Xttpt  /Aax«'/'«c  it  xatfim 


EXEGETIOAL  REMAIIKS. 

ill  looking  fonvard  to  the  restoration  of  Israel, 
ch.  x.x.Kiv.,  the  false  shepherds  chiefly  furnished 
the  connection  ;  in  what  follows  regarding  Israel 
IS  a  nation,  Kdoni  and  its  hatred  form  the  con- 
necting link.  Corap.  als«  what  is  said  in  p.  245, 
and  Doct.  Keflection  5,  p.  246.  Havernick  aptly 
points  out  the  "glaring  contrast"  to  the  preced- 
ing. '"The  light  of  Lsrael  is  set  in  relief  by  the 
shadow  of  Edom"  (Hengst.).  After  the  "marvel- 
lous hlessings  of  the  theocracy,"  comes  "thecur.se 
which  overtakes  Edom."  Now  since,  as  regards 
the  blessings,  the  true  Israel  in  Christ,  that  is, 
redeemed  luunanity,  has  ultimately  to  be  looked 
to,  so  the  curse  here  is  attached  not  so  much  to 
the  heathen  world  (HXv.)  as  to  the  heathenish, 
that  is,  the  Antichristian  world.  Hengstenberg 
thinks,  that  the  reference  is  not  to  the  heathen 
world  "at  large,"  but  "only  to  the  small  neigh- 
bouring nations,  which  stand  in  a  similar  relation 
as  Edom,  and  resemble  it  in  intensity  of  hatred  " ! 
Vet,  as  he  .says,  Edom  appears  here  "  as  a  radi- 
lally  corrupt  people,  that  is  to  have  no  share  in 
the  Messianic  salvation."  Our  prophecy  has 
nothing  to  do  with  ch.  xx.xiv.  29  (against  Keil). 
Cocceius  maintains  tliat,  us  the  dismissal  of  the 
.shepherds  formed  the  subject  in  ch.  xxxiv.,  so  the 
subject  here  is  the  dissolution,  by  the  coming  of 
Clirist,  as  foretold  in  Num.  xxiv.  18,  19,  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  represented  liere  by  Edom  and  Seir. 
The  Jewisli  nation  is  called  Seir  per  synecdochen 
partis,  "  lieoause  Edom  was  included  in  tlie  Jewish 
community  ;  tlie  Idumteans  formed  a  part  of  the 
nation,  and  the  kings  were  of  Edomite  descent ; 
just  as  the  land  of  Palestine  is  called  Idumsea, 
whence  Christ  comes,  Isa.  Ixiii."  The  significa- 
tion of  Edom  is  here,  however,  mainly  symbolical 
and  not  literal,  ;is  in  ch.  xxv.  12  sq.  Hengsten- 
berg makes  the  pro]ihecy  there  against  Edom  to 
be  resumed  here  on  the  "report  given  by  the 
fugitive  of  the  injustice  committed  at  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,"  etc.  (??). 

["Superficial  readeis  will  be  disposed  to  ask, 
what  has  Edom  to  do  here  ?  The  Lord's  judg- 
jieut  has  already  been  pronounced  against  Edom 


(ch.  xxv.  12-14),  among  the  enemies  of  tne 
covenant- people  ;  and  this  fresh  denunciation 
against  it  is  inserted  among  predictions  which, 
both  before  and  after,  have  immediate  respect 
to  the  covenant-people  themselves.  It  is,  how- 
ever, in  its  proper  place  ;  and  brings  out  another 
element  in  the  prosperity  which  the  Lord  pro- 
mises to  His  Church  and  people.  It  gives  body 
and  prominence  to  the  tliought  ex[iressed  in  ver. 
28  of  the  preceding  chapter,  that  '  they  should 
no  more  be  a  prey  to  the  heathen. '  So  far  from 
it,  the  prophet  now  declares  that  the  worst  and 
bitterest  of  all  the  heathen  shall  be  utterly  de- 
stroyed and  made  desolate  ;  and  that  tlmse  who 
were  then  rejoicing  over  Israel's  calamities  must 
themselves  become  a  spoil,  without  any  prospect  of 
recovery." — Fairbairn's iieiiV/,  p.  381. — W.  F.I 

Vers.  2-9.  Against  Edom,  i.e.  his  Bloodthir.tty 
3nviity  to  Israel. 

Ver.  2.   Ch.  vi.   2  (ch.  xxv.  2,  xxviii.  21,  xix 
2). — Gen.  xxxvi.  9. — Tyb'.in,  the  woody  mouu 

tain  region  in  the  south  of  that  part  of  Palestine 
which  lies  to  the  east  of  Jordan,  from  the  Dead 
Sea  to  the  ^Elanitic  Gulf ;  the  land  for  the 
people,  corresponding  antithetically  to  tha  pro- 
minence given  to  the  land  in  the  foregoing 
(ch.  xx.xiv.  25  .sq.). — Ver.  3.  Ch.  xxxiv.  10,  xiii. 
8,  20,  xxvi.  3,  et  pasKim. — Ch.  xxv.  7,  13,  vi. 
14.— Ch.  xxxiii.  28,  29.— Ver.  4.  Exemplifica- 
tion.    Thy  cities  and  naiPI  ranked  together ;  the 

latter  not  exactly :  "destruction,"  but  rather: 
"destroyed,"  heaps  of  rains. — Ch.  xii.  20,  xiv. 
15,  16. — Ver.  5.  Enmity  forever,  .as  in  ch.  xxv. 
15,  but  more  expressive  here  on  account  of  the 
kinship  between  Edom  and  Israel  (comp.  I's. 
c.xx.xvii.  7).  Infinitive  construction  pa-ssing  over 
to  the  verb  fin.  The  enmity  is  an  abiding  one  ; 
the  ne.xt  word,  ^jj  (Hiphil,  imperf.  ap.),  is  an  ex- 
pression of  that  enmity.  Besides,  in  this  as  well 
as  in  the  expression  ''B""<33,  the  people  already 

come   distinctly  out  from   the  land.      TK   i* 


CHAP.  XXXV.  6-n. 


833 


oppression ;  hence  :  burden,  calamit)-,  misfortune, 
farther  and  sufficiently  defined  by  what  imme- 
diately follows  (comp.  "ch.  .\xi.  30,  3i  [25,  29]). 
Oppression  of  brethren  calls  at  once  for  the  exer- 
cise of  compassion,  which  is  best  manifested 
where  no  one  is  innocent  ;  when  guilt  makes  the 
ind,  ancient  enmitj-  should  not  be  let  loose 
(Obad.  13).  —  Ver.   6.   Q-p,  is  there  an  allusion 

here  to  DHK?  a  suggesting,  although  not  an  ex- 
press naming  of  Edom  ?  In  this  case  could  there 
be  also  an  antithetic  allusion  to  "Adam"  (men) 
in  ch.  x.iudv.  31,  and  at  the  same  time  an  allu- 
sion to  Gen.  XXV.  30  !  ?  At  all  events,  the  four- 
fold   repetition    of    QT   has    some    significance. 

Edom  shall,  as  it  were,  become  entirely  blood  (ch. 
xvi.  3Sl,  and  stUl  farther,  blood  shall  follow 
him,  which  might  mean  that  he  will  leave  be- 
hind him  a  track  of  blood,  or,  the  etfiision  of 
blood  will  follow  him ;  so  that  by  this  phi-ase, 
which  is  again  repeated  at  the  end  of  the  verse, 
the  words :  blood  will  I  make  thee,  are  explained 
to  mean  :  the  effusion  of  blood,  namely,  of  Iky 
own  blood,  Mhalt  cleave  fa^t  to  thy  footsteps  (comp. 
ver.  8).  [Havekn.  :  I  will  make  the  event 
authenticate  thy  name,  and  blood-guiltiness  shall 
pursue  thee  everywhere  as  a  murderer,  to  cry  for 
vengeance  and  to  give  thee  up  to  punishment. 
EwALD,    who  reads   T]B?jn3   instead  of   IK'JfK : 

"because  thy  inclination  is  after  blood,  blood 
shall,"    etc.]       'm  {<^-aS   scarcely  implies  an 

oath;  affirmative,  as  Hengst.  :  "forsooth  thou 
hast  hated  blood,"  inasmuch  as  the  murderer 
hates  the  blood  which  he  sheds,  in  which  is  the 
hated  life  of  the  murdered  man  ;  and  although 
the  significant  play  upon  the  word  m  might  in- 
clude a  reference  to  the  blood-relationship  of 
Edom  and  Israel  (Theodoret),  had  not  the 
Hebrew  word  for  that  been  ltJ'3i  't  is  simpler  to 

adhere  to  the  negation  that  Edom  thus  hated  not 
bloodshed.    ["  The  most  peculiar  part  of  the  verse 

is  the  clause  nSib'  DT  N^DS,  w-hich  not  only 

our  version,  but  also  nearly  all  commentators, 
render:  '  since  thou  hast  not  hated  blood. '  But 
no  examples  can  be  produced  to  justify  such  a 
rendering,  and  the  remark  of  Hitzig,  that  as  the 
words  stand,  tliey  must  be  regarded  as  an  affirma- 
tive protestation,  is  quite  correct.  Taking  blood 
in  the  usual  sense,  1  do  not  see  why,  in  a  passage 
so  strongly  epigrammatic  and  alliteral  as  this,  the 
hatred  of  it  might  not  be  affirmed  of  Edom  ;  for 
the  grand  point  on  which  the  desires  of  the 
Edomites  were  centred  was  life,  life  in  them- 
selves, as  opposed  to  the  bloody  extermination 
they  sought  for  Israel  ;  the  shedding  of  their 
blood  was  what  they  would  on  no  account  think 
of.  I  take  the  meaning  to  be,  therefore  :  The 
preservation  of  thy  life  is  what  thou  art  intent  on 
securing  ;  the  thought  of  blood  being  shed  among 
thee  is  what  thou  art  putting  far  from  thee  as  an 
object  of  aversion  ;  but  God's  purposes  are  con- 
trary to  thine,  and  what  thou  hatest  He  will  send 
— blood  shall  pursue  thee." — Fairbaikn's  Eze- 
kiel. — \V.  F.] — Ver.  7.  nODC'  instead  of  DDBB', 

the  same  as  nDDC-    The  land  is  made  so  because 


the  people  fill  it  only  as  slain  (ver.  ■?*.  There  is 
no  going  to  and  fro,  no  traffic,  ch.  xxxiii.  2S. 
[Sept.  according  to  ch.  xxv.  13.] — Ver.  8.  Ch. 
xxxii.  5  sq.,  xxxi.  12.  Hence  the  desolation  o* 
death.— Ver.  9.  nblV  'OUS  '^  rejoinder  to  flTX 
D^y,ver5.  Instead  of  n2T."'n.  f™™  Tw"  (Keil), 
to  be  read  with  <  quiescent,  the  Qeri  has  njab'D, 
from  ytfy>  "not  to  return  "  to  its  original  condi- 
tion. Hesgst. :  "thy  cities  shall  not  sit,"  but 
lie  prostrate  (ch.  xxvi.  20), 

Vers.  10-15.   A'jainst  Edom,  his  Covetousness 
towards  Israel. 

Ver.   10.  "ly,  paraUel  to  ver.   5.      The  other 

side  of  Edom's  guUt  in  respect  to  Israel.  'With 
significant  allusion  to  their  separation,  Israel 
and  Judah  are  called  D'isn  »2t'.      In   speaking 

thus,  Edom  considered  them  as  heathen  nations, 
and  not  the  people  of  Jehovah  ;  or  this  is  the 
prophet's   representation.      Hence    riiiisn  "nB" 

can  mean  nothing  else  than  the  land  of  Israel 
and  the  land  of  Judah,  not  Idumiea  and  the 
land  of  Judah  (Jerome).  Grotius  sees  here  a 
reference  to  the  Assyrian  and  also  the  Baby- 
lonian captiWty.    mjth'l,  neuter  (Keil)  :  the  one 

land  as  well  as  the  other  (Eosesm.)  ;  HiTZiG: 
referring  to  the  plur.  fem.  If  we  understand  the 
clause    o&  niiTI    of  Jehovah's  presence  in  the 

temple,  then  for  believers  ideally,  as  it  also  in 
reality  was  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  it  comes 
into  consideration  for  both  kingdoms,  and  w<? 
may,  viith  other  expositors,  make  the  suffix  refei 
to  Jerusalem.  On  this  comp.  ch.  ix.  3,  .xi.  23. 
But  certainly  the  divine  presence  in  the  temple 
was  only  the  sensible  symbol  of  Jehovah's  govern- 
ing agency  among  His  people  generally  ;  hence, 
finally,  the  disregarding  of  Israel's  divine  election, 
the  ignoring  of  this,  was  the  mistake  in  the 
reckoning  which  Edom  made.  Better  thus  than 
to  say  that  Edom  insulted  Jehovah  by  coveting 
His  possession  (Hitzig)  ;  or  (as  Keil)  :  "as  if 
Jehovah  were  a  feeble  and  unreal  God,  unable  to 
protect  His  people  ;  "  but  that  which  had  been 
said  in  Israel,  ch.  viii.  12  (ch.  ix.  9),  in  excuse  for 
heathen  superstition,  the  heathen  unbelief  of 
Edom  repeats  here  with  respect  to  Israel's  eternal 
destiny,  which  rests  on  the  ground  of  Jehovah's 
covenant  revelation.  It  was  practical  atheism  in 
both  cases, — childish  neglect  of  God  in  Israel,  but 
active  hostilitj'  to  Him  in  Edom.  Edom's  reckon- 
ing took  sin  into  account,  calling  to  remembrance 
the  injury  done  by  Jacob,  the  father  of  Israel,  to 
Esau,  their  ancestor ;  but  took  no  account  of 
grace,  and  never  thought  that  "Jehovah  "  should 
come  into  consideration.     [From  ver.  12  Qg;  has 

been  also  interpreted  as  referring  to  Idumsea.] 

Ver.  11.  '•\2b,  as  in  ver.  6.     From  the  hating 

(infinitive)  come  anger  and  envy,  expressing 
themselves  not  only  in  word  (ver.  10),  but  also 
in  deed  (nn'bll)-  Jehovah  acts  according  to 
Edom's  doings. — The  making  known  D3,  not,  as 

Hengst.,  among  "the  children  of  Israel,"  which  ii 
too  remote  (ver.  5),  but  among  the  two  Q'^j  (ver. 


334 


EZEKIEL. 


10),  jnst  as  nj"nn  there  refers  to  the  two  lands 

coveted  by  Edom.  The  making  known  among 
Israel  shall  happen  as  well  as  the  judgment  on 
Edom — comp.  ch.  xxviii.  25  (ch.  xxvi.  20)  ;  not, 
however,  as  ifboth  liad  like  proportion  (Hengst.  ), 
bnt  because  thr  making  known  is  effected  by  the 
judgment.     "IB'SS,  as  Him  who,  etc. — Ver.   12. 

Thus  Edom  shall  know  by  experience  that 
Jehovah  does  not  leave  unpunished  such  a  say- 
ing as  Edom  has  said.  After  speaking  of  doings 
in  ver.  11,  there  is  now  a  return  to  the  sayings 
(ver.  10).  He  has  heard  all.  The  mountains  of 
Israel,  preparing  for  ch.  xxx vi.  1 ,  come  forth  in 
antithesis  to  the  mountiin  range  of  Seir.  Qeri 
IDDB'i  simplifying,  but  needlessly,  for  the  abrupt 

and  significant  riDOB'  (f^r.  15),  3perf.  fem.  sing., 

may  refer  to  the  land  or  be  understood  of  what  is 
meant ;  or  we  may  with  Rosenm.  read  ;   nODE', 

"a  waste,"  ch.  xxxiii.  28.  The  following  plural 
brings  in  the  people. — Ch.  xxxiv.  5,  8,  10. — Ver. 
18.     Thus  their  sayings  were  not  only  insults  to 

Israel  ('b?'  'IIT^J?),  land  and  people,  but  at  the 

same  time  boastings  with  their  mouth  heaped  up 

against  Jehovah  ('^ij?),  who  was  there  (ver.  10), 

wherewith  they  already,  as  it  were,  took  joyful 
possession  of  the  land.  They  exulted  over 
Jehovah  with  haughty  words  and  much  speaking. 
But  now — Ver.  14 — tie  who  hitherto  has  heard 
all  these  boastings  speaks  and  acts   ('nb'yK). 

According  as  the  one  happens,  so  shall  the  other 
happen  to  thee.  [Ewald  ;  "1  wiU  make  thee  a 
sport  (a  comedy)  to  the  whole  earth,"  etc.  HiTziG: 
While  all  the  world  rejoices  even  over  thy  deso- 
lation (?).]     However  natural  it  is  at  jnnrriiS 

to  think  of  the  "whole  earth,"  such  a  thought  is 
very  foreign  to  the  connection.  Havernick,  on 
the  other  liand,  insists  on  the  necessary  harmony 
with  the  following  verse,  according  to  which  the 
interpretation  must  be  :  as  all  Edom  exulted,  so 
also  should  all  Edom  be  subjected  to  punishment. 
The  curious  explanation,  to  take  3   here  as  an 

adverb  of  time  (so  also  Hitzig),  and  in  ver.  15  as 
a  word  of  comparison,  readily  suggests  itself. 
But  better  (Kimchi),  the  one  3    illustrates  the 

other;  hence  p  expressly  in  ver.  15,  as  also  the 

infinitive  nbB'  tere  points  to  ?|nnD!J'  in  ^^^-  15. 

To  rejoice  and  desolation  must  correspond  to  one 
tnother,  while  the  latter,  however,  must  be  the 
tiunishment.     For  and  instead  of  joy  of  the  whole 

land,   desolation  now.     The  71^  at  the  end  of 

the  verse  already  intimates  what  land  is  meant. 
There  is  not  a  word  said  in  the  whole  chapter  of 
the  "  earth "  ;  it  is  always  land  as  opposed  to 
land,  the  mountain  range  of  Seir  to  the  moun- 
tains of  Israel  (ver.  12).  Hengst.  best  shows 
what  the  "whole  earth"  introduces  into  the 
clear  text:  "The  glorious  salvation  which  comes 
to  Zion  is  a  subject  of  rejoicing  for  the  whole 
earth,  because  it  gives  testimony  to  the  ^lory  of 
God.  vrhc  can  only  bless  His  people,  so  that  in  them 


aU  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed.  Dent 
xxxii.  43  sq.  ;  Isa.  xlii.  10  sq. ;  Ps.  xcvii.  1,  xlviii. 
3  ;  Lam.  ii.  15."  [Klief.  :  "  But  when  all  that 
bears  the  name  of  Edom  shall,  through  the  judg- 
ment of  God,  be  subjected  to  devastation,  then 
the  whole  earth  shall  rejoice,  as  Edom  rejoiced 
when  Jerusalem  fell."  AVhere  is  such  an  extra- 
vagant idea  even  hinted  at  in  the  text  ?  Ch. 
xxxvi.  2,  5  speaks  only  of  Edom's  exultation. 
Hence   KeU  thus  applies   nbi5'3  '■    "  When   joy 

shall  be  prepared  for  all  the  world  (all  mankind ! ), 
then  shall,"  etc.] — Ver.  15.  That  the  rejoicing 
of  Edom,  which  is  to  be  requited  to  him,  had 
respect  to  the  inheritance,  etc.,  that  is,  the  land 
given  to  the  family  of  Israel  as  distinguished 
from  Esau- Edom  (Gen.  xxvii.,  xxviii.  4),  i.* 
now  brought  in  at  the  close  ;  and  as  thereby 
nbE'B  in  ver.  14  is  explained,  so  the  motive  for 

riDDB'  is  given  by  n»DB'""lB'S  hv-  I"  accord- 
ance with  this,  'Tl^-nb'VS  P  repeats  DDDS^ 
■n^-nbUK  (^er.  14),  and  consequently  is  not  to 

be  interpreted,  with  Hitzig :  so  will  I  make 
others  rejoice  over  thy  desolation,    n'nn  riDDtT, 

which  forms  the  complement  to  'jf{<  p,  is  the 

second,  not  the  third  person.  The  following 
feminine  suffix  indicates  the  land,  so  that  with 

rljiS  QilS-^3    the    meaning  also    of  jnsn-^3 

(ver.  14)  is  quite  clear.  Mount  Seir,  and  all 
Edom,  the  whole  of  it,  is  set  in  contrast  to  the 
inheritance  of  the  house  of  Israel. 


DOCTKINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  As  the  ideas  by  which  the  national  life  ot 
Israel  was  upheld  express  themselves  in  a  great 
variety  and  fulness  of  forms  of  worship,  as  to 
places,  times,  materials,  and  persons,  so  also  in 
the  course  of  the  divine  history  of  Israel,  indi- 
viduals and  whole  tribes  and  nations  became 
symbolized  into  spiritual,  and  also  unspiritual, 
very  expressive  types  oi"  character,  which  may 
serve  as  studies  for  the  minister  of  the  gospel. 

2.  The  sjTnbolical  or  typical  signification  of 
Esau-Edom,  while  treated  more  historically  in 
ch.  XXV.  (p.  246),  comes  out  with  perfect  clear- 
ness when  we  take  also  Heb.  xii.  into  considera- 
tion. Whether  he  is  called  (Heb.  xii.  16)  Tifics 
in  the  literal  sense,  with  reference  to  Gen.  xxvi. 
34  sq.,  or  in  a  figurative  and  spiritual  sense,  so 
that  the  expression  is  synonymous  with  /3s/3iiXo;, 
at  aU  events  the  picture  given  of  Edom  in  Eze- 
kiel  corresponds  to  the  latter  sense  of  the  word. 
To  Edom,  Judah  and  Israel  {divide  tt  impera  in 
his  thoughts)  are  merely  nations  and  lands. 
Anything  higher,  as  that  Jehovah  was  there, 
enters  not  into  his  thoughts.  It  is  the  ordinary 
profane  kind  of  a  materialism,  which  takes  its 
stand  on  natural  rights,  and  does  not  want  to 
know  of  grace  and  election,  and  so  repays  Jacob's 
sin  with  abiding  enmity,  and  actually  carries  out 
as  Edom  (Ezek.  xxxv.  6)  what  Esau  only  thi'eat- 
ened  (Gen.  xxvii.  41) ;  as,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
carnal  appetite  (/3/i«;»-i*f  /"'i)  is  still  exhibited  in 

ver.  12  of  our  chapter  (n^3K?). 
S.  In  this  sense  the  elder  son  Esau  forms  thi 


CHAP.  XXXV. 


33A 


Sadducean  parallel  to   the   Pharisaic  elder  son, 
Luke  XV.  25  sq. 

4.  There  is  also  in  Ezekiel  an  aTsSoxi/Aas-Pw, 
namely,  rejection  which  is  complete  desolation. 
As  Esau  receives  not  the  blessing  wliioh  he  wished 
to  inherit,  so  the  inheritance  of  the  house  of 
Israel  does  not  fall  to  Edom  to  devour,  however 
often  and  widely  he  opened  his  mouth  to  snatch 
it  (ver.  13).  the  anger  and  jealousy  of  Edom 
are  as  vain  (ver.  11)  as  the  tears  of  Esau  (Heb. 
xii.  17).  Instead  of  juiroiM/Bi,  Edom  exhibits  per- 
petual enmity  and  his  hatred. 

5.  Israel  has  now,  on  the  contrary,  eaten  up 
Edom,  incorporated  it  into  itself  by  circumcision. 
Thus  the  two  who  were  separated,  finally  come 
together.  But  the  contest,  which  began  even  in 
their  mother's  womb,  continues  to  the  end. 
Jacob-Israel  subdued  the  elder  brother,  but  in 
this  way  the  family  of  the  Idumsean  Herod 
obtained  the  Jewish  sovereignty,  and  the  perse- 
cution of  the  true  Israel  (Matt.  ii.  13  sq. )  was 
carried  out  to  the  full  by  the  Edomite  spirit  of 
murder  which  took  possession  of  the  people 
(Matt,  xxvii.  25).  Because  the  Herodians 
favoured  and  imported  Roman  heathenism,  the 
circus,  wild-beast  fights,  etc.,  the  conceptions  of 
Edom  and  Rome  run  into  each  other  in  the  later 
Jewish  writers. 

HOMILETIC   HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  After  the  blessing  upon  His  people, 
and  their  revival  and  prosperity,  comes  now  the 
contrast,  namely,  the  curse  upon  the  ungodly, 
and  their  desolation  and  miserable  end. — "For 
who  else  are  the  Idumfeans  but  Esau,  who  always 
persecutes  Israel  (Gal.  iv.  20)  ?  That  raises  up 
our  hope  when  we  are  tried  in  the  present.  For 
if  Christ  is  our  Redeemer,  He  has  redeemed  us 
completely,  and  we  have  not  to  fear  the  ungodly. 
If  suffering  is  a  means  to  conduct  us  to  the 
height  of  salvation,  then  tlie  temporal  prosperity 
of  the  wicked  only  increases  the  cause  of  their 
destruction  ;  and  one  day  there  comes  a  change 
of  affairs,  when  we  experience  the  goodness  of 
God,  and  they  His  deserved  wrath"  (Heim- 
Hoffmann). — "He  who  has  God  against  him 
has  also  God's  word  against  him"  (Richt.). — 
"The  word  of  the  Lord  is  a  veritable  treasury, 
out  of  which  continually  come  forth  things  new 
and  old.  It  leads  into  the  past  and  the  future, 
and  would  gladly  have  all  applied  to  the  pre- 
sent" (Berl.  Bib). 

Ver.  3  sq.  The  hand  of  God  is  the  solemn  mark 
of  interrogation  over  every  earthly  height  to 
which  we  look  up,  whether  things  or  persons. — 
"  When  punishments  break  in  and  are  already 
taking  their  course,  in  this  God  as  it  were 
stretches  out  His  hand.  Now,  since  His  hand  is 
not  shortened  to  help  His  children,  so  also  it  is 
not  too  weak  to  punish  His  enemies,  Isa.  lix.  1  " 
(Starke).— Desolateness  is  the  lot  of  the  wicked, 
for  the  world  passes  away  with  all  its  pleasure 
for  man  ;  but  this  comes  in  all  its  force  only  to 
him  who  was  at  home  there,  and  set  his  confidence 
thereon. 

Ver.  4.  "When  godliness  goes  out  of  cities, 
confusion  and  devastation  enter  in  "  (Starck). — 
We  can  never  sufficiently  recognise  that  God 
alone  is  the  Eternal. 

Ver.  5.  Where  enmity  leads  to  :  it  perpetuates 
itself  by  degrees  in  the  heart,  it  is  not  afraid 


even  to  use  the  sword  ;  first  the  malice  r.f  the 
tongue,  and  then  the  violence  of  malice. — There- 
fore always  become  reconciled  at  once  and  con.- 
pletely,  that  no  roots  may  remain  in  the  heart 
which  may  shoot  up  afterwards. — The  prayer  of 
an  implacable  man  is  certain  not  to  be  heard. — 
Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  also  forgive  our 
debtors. — "Woe  unto  you  who  are  glad  at  evil 
to  your  neighbour  and  rejoice  over  his  misfortune. 
Matt.  V.  25"  (Tub.  Bib.).  "God  makes  finally 
an  end  of  sin  even  when  the  sinner  will  not 
cease,  and  thus  many  a  one  has  been  hurried 
away  by  death  in  the  midst  of  a  course  of  sin. 
Hence  all  are  not  godly  who  cease  to  sin.  When 
one  has  no  longer  the  power,  then  he  must  cease, 
when  otherwise  he  would  be  still  veiy  willing. 
In  old  age,  in  sickness,  in  imprisonment,  in 
poverty,  much  must  be  ilispensed  with  because 
hands  and  feet  are  bound,  when  in  other  circum- 
stances there  would  be  no  want  of  will  ;  intliewill, 
however,  above  all  consists  the  sin  "  (Berl.  Bib.  ). 
Ver.  6.  God's  judgment  for  blood  over  Edom 
an  instructive  example,  a  disclosure  for  warning. 
^Blood  a  peculiar  sap. — The  Lord  an  avenger  of 
blood. — The  track  of  blood  behind  so  many  cele- 
brated figures  in  history,  behind  so  many  .';o- 
called  great  exploits. — The  shedding  of  blood  a 
characteristic  symptom  of  the  world,  a  mark  of 
the  spirit  that  rules  in  the  world,  and  of  the 
wickedness  in  which  it  lies. — Ver.  7  sq.  Trade 
and  intercourse  cease  wliete  God  sends  His  judg- 
ments.— "  The  Lord  destroys  nations  that  delight 
in  war"  (TijB.  Bib.).— Ver.  9.  "Sin  is  not  to 
become  eternalized,  therefore  eternal  punish- 
ment"  (Stakck). — "God's  aim  is  the  acknow- 
ledgment in  all  things  of  His  sole  and  supreme 
dominion  "  (Starke).  —  Where  sinners  have 
dwelt,  there  punishment  finally  bears  sway  ;  not 
only  Edom,  but  also  Judaea  serves  as  a  visible 
example  of  this. — Ver.  10.  Bear  always  in  mind 
that  God  still  is  there!— Every  sin  against  man 
is  always  at  the  same  time  sinning  against  God  ; 
unbelief,  practical  blasphemy. — Bloodthirstiness 
and  covetousness  two  satauic  sisters. — Disdain  of 
others  a  non-recognition  of  God,  who  has  be- 
stowed something  on  every  one. — Tlie  world's 
delight  in  blood,  and  also  its  contempt  of  be- 
lievers, a  proof  how  little  the  world  knows  wliat 
still  holds  together  the  earth  under  their  feet. — 
The  meek,  however,  shall,  according  to  Matt,  v., 
inherit  the  land. — "Most  men  speak  and  act  as 
if  God  could  neither  hear  nor  see  "  (Starck). — 
Ver.  11  sq.  Wrath  and  jealousy,  when  proceeding 
from  hatred,  do  not  escape  the  divine  judgment. 
— God  beholds  Himself  in  His  people. — The  reve- 
lation of  God  to  His  own  is  also  at  last  the  judg- 
ment over  the  world. — The  omniscient  and  omni- 
present, the  incorruptible  eye-  and  ear-witness. — 
Thirst  for  fresh  territory  an  Edomitish  charac- 
teristic.— The  hatred  against  the  sacred  things  of 
humanity  now  become  the  fashion. — Ver.  14  sq. 
Only  the  children  of  God  shall  inherit,  although 
it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  etc. — 
"  The  acceptable  year  of  Jehovah  is  inseparably 
and  necessarily  connected  with  a  day  of  vengeance 
of  our  God,  Isa.  Ixi.  2.  No  true  grace  without 
justice.  The  theocracy  must,  accordingly,  pass 
through  the  fire  of  affliction  and  become  purified 
(ch.  xxxiv.) ;  for  the  same  reason  the  heathenism 
whose  iniquity  is  fuU  must  show  that  it  ha< 
fallen  under  the  divine  justice.  For  grace  is  not 
toleration  of  the  bad  "  (Havernick). 


S36  EZEKIEL. 


CHAPTEE  XXXVI. 

1  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy  to  the  mountains  of  Israel,  and  say-; 

2  Mountains  of  Israel,  hear  the  word  of  Jehovah.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Because  the    enemy  says  over    you.  Aha !    and   the    everlasting 

3  heights  have  become  a  possession  for  us  ;  Therefore  prophesy  and  say,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Because,  because  "make  desolate"  [is said  to  you],  and 
they  snap  after  you  round  about,  that  ye  may  be  [become]  a  possession  to  the 
remnant  of  the  heathen,  and  ye  are  lifted  up  on  the  lip  of  the  tongue  and 

4  are  become  a  people's  talk  [a  calumny]  ;  Therefore,  mountains  of  Israel,  hear 
the  word  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  the  moun- 
tains and  to  the  hills,  to  the  ravines  and  to  the  valleys,  to  the  desolate  ruius 
and  to  the  forsaken  cities,  which  have  become  a  prey  [booty]  and  a  derision  to 

5  the  remnant  of  the  heathen  who  are  round  about ;  Therefore,  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  Surely  in  the  fire  of  My  jealousy  I  have  spoken  regarding  the 
remnant  of  the  heathen  and  regarding  the  whole  of  Edom,  who  gave  them- 
selves My  land  for  a  possession,  in  joy  of  the  whole  heart,  in  contempt  of 

6  soul,  on  account  of  its  pasturage,  for  a  prey.  Therefore  prophesy  concerning 
the  land  of  Israel,  and  say  to  the  mountains  and  to  the  hills,  to  the  ravines 
and  to  the  valleys,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I,  I  have  spoken  in 
My  jealousy  and  in  My  fury,  because  ye  have  borne  the  reproach  of  tlie 

7  heathen ;  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  I,  I  have  lifted  up  My 
hand ;  surely  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you,  they  shall  bear  their 

8  shame.     And  ye  mountains  of  Israel  shall  give  your  foliage  and  bear  your 

9  fruit  to  My  people  Israel ;  for  they  draw  near  to  come.     For,  behold,  I  come 

10  to  you,  and  turn  Myself  to  you,  and  ye  are  tilled  and  down.  And  I  mul- 
tiply upon  you  men,  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  all  of  it ;  and  the  cities  are 

11  inhabited  and  the  ruins  built.  And  I  multiply  upon  you  man  and  beast, 
and  they  multiply  themselves  and  are  fruitful,  and  I  settle  you  [make  you  in- 
habited] as  at  your  origin,  yea,  I  do  you  good  more  than  in  your  beginnings, 

12  and  ye  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  I  make  men  walk  over  you,  My 
people  Israel,  and  they  shall  possess  thee,  and  thou  art  to  them  for  an  in- 

13  heritancb,  and  thou  shalt  no  more  make  them  childless.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Because  they  say  to  you,  A  devourer  of  men  art  thou,  and  hast  made 

14  thy  people  childless;    Therefore  shalt  thou  no  more  devour  men,  and  no  more 

15  make  thy  people  stumble, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  I  will  no 
more  let  be  heard  against  [over]  thee  the  reproach  of  the  heathen,  and  thou 
shalt  no  more  bear  the  contumely  [mockery,  scom]  of  the  nations,  and  shalt  no 

1 6  more  make  thy  people  stumble, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.     And  the 

17  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  sajdng.  Son  of  man,  the  house  of  Israel  were 
dwelling  on  their  land,  and  they  defiled  it  by  their  way  and  by  their  works, 
as  the   uncleanness   of  the  monthly  separation  was  their  way  before  Me. 

18  And  I  poured  out  My  fury  upon  them  on  account  of  the  blood  which  they 

1 9  shed  upon  the  land,  and  by  their  foul  idols  defiled  they  it.  And  I  dispersed 
them  among  the  heathen,  and  they  were  scattered  in  the  lands  ;  according  to 

20  their  way  and  according  to  their  works  have  I  judged  them.  And  it  came  to 
the  heathen  whither  they  came,  and  they  profaned  the  name  of  My  holiness, 
since  it  was  said  of  them,  Jehovah's  people  are  these,  and  out  of  His  land 

21  have  they  gone  forth.  And  I  felt  pity  for  the  name  of  My  holiness,  which 
they,  the  house  of  Israel,  profaned  among  the  heathen  whither  they  came. 

22  Therefore  say  to  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Not  for 
your  sakes  act  I,  0  house  of  Israel,  but  on  account  of  the  name  of  My 

23  holiness,  which  ye  profaned  among  the  heathen  whither  ye  came.  And  I 
sanctify  My  name,  the  great,  the  profaned  among  the  heathen,  which  ye  pro- 
faned in  their  midst,  and  the  heathen  know  that  I  am  Jehovah, —  sentence  of 
the  Lord  Jehovah, — when  I  sanctify  Myself  on  [in]  you  before  their  [your]  eyes. 

24  And  I  take  you  out  of  the  heathen,  and  gatlier  you  out  of  all  lands,  and 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


331 


25  bring  you  into  your  land.  And  I  sprinkle  upon  you  clean  water,  and  ya 
become  clean  from  all  your  defilements  [uncieam.csses,  vei-.  17  >q.],  and  from  all  your 

26  foul  idols  will  I  clean.se  you.  And  I  give  you  a  new  heart,  and  a  new 
spirit  will  I  put  within  you,  and  I  take  away  the  heart  of  stone  out  of  )our 

27  flesh  and  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh.  And  My  Spirit  will  I  put  within  you, 
and  cause  that  ye  shall  walk  in  My  statutes,  and  keep  and  do  My  judgments. 

28  And  ye  dwell  in  the  land  which  I  have  given  to  your  fathers,  and  are  to  Me 

29  a  people,  and  I  will  be  to  you  a  God.  And  [yea]  I  help  you  from  all  your 
defilements,  and  I  call  to  the  corn  and  multiply  it,  and  will  not  send  upon 

30  you  hunger.  And  I  multiply  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  and  the  produce  of  the 
field,  that  ye  may  no  longer  have  to  bear  the  reproach  of  hunger  among  the 

31  heathen.  And  ye  remember  your  evil  ways,  and  your  doings  that  were  not 
good,  and  loathe  your  own  faces  for  your  iniquities  and  for  your  abomina- 

32  tions.  Not  for  your  sakes  act  I, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — be  it  known 
to  you  ;  be  ashamed,  yea,  shame  yourselves  away  from  your  ways,  0  house 

33  of  Israel.  Thus  saith"  the  Lord  Jehovah,  In  the  day  of  My  cleansing  you 
from  all  your  iniquities,  I  make  the  cities  inhabited,  and  the  ruins  shall  be 

34  built.     And  the  desolated  [devastated]  land  shall  be  cultivated,  instead  of  being 

35  a  waste  in  the  eyes  of  every  passer-by.  And  they  .say.  This  laud,  the  deso- 
lated, is  become  as  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  the  ruined  and  desolated  and 

30  demolished  cities  are  securely  inhabited.  And  the  heathen  that  are  left 
round  about  you  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  built  the  demolished  [c.ti-s],  and 

37  planted  the  desolated  [land]  ;  I,  Jehovah,  spoke  and  did.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  I  will  still  in  regard  to  this  let  Myself  be  inquired  of  by  the 
house  of  Israel  to  do  it  for  them ;  I  will  multiply  them  in  men  as  a  flock. 

38  As  a  flock  of  sacred  rites,  as  the  flock  of  Jerusalem  in  her  festal  seasons,  so 
shall  the  ruined  cities  be  full  of  flocks  of  men,  and  they  know  that  I  am 
Jeliovah. 


Vulg. :  quod  dfio'ati  estis  ^t  conculcati  per  cir- 


V'er.    2.  Sept  :  .  .  .  iim*  .  .  .  ip^-.y^  xta/tix — 

Ver.     3.   .  .  .  'AvTj  r.iv  i.riiJ^ir6r^ot.t  uuMi  X.  fjAtrr^vMX.!  itjuti  uro  T.  l9t^ 

witum —    (Another  readiiiE:  DDnVHi.) 

Vcr.    4.  .  .  .  X  T.  vxniti!  T.  ipr/^f^K"!  «■  ifxtirfuvxis,  x.  r.  ^iXir$f  r.  xttracXtXtifcfutxi:  .  .  .  x.  us  xxTxtcmfi^— 

Ver.    6.  Another   readinE:    702  c.    n  and  K'S33.       Sept.:  .  .  .  ir.<^«-«.Ti,-    ■^■^x'-   ■"■"  «»""«■«'  "  «/>«"?*» 
Vu'ig. :  .  .  .  ef  ex  tivimo,  et  (Jecei'unt  earn  ut  vtutarent. 

Ver.    8.  Sept.:   .    .   .  T*iy  rraJwAnv  «.  ray  XBtpTon  Wju*y  ^xyirm  i  \etr;  fM-j,  en  ikTilouffiv  TOu  iMtm. 

Ver.  10.   .  .  .  Toc*  ttxDv  'I<r^.  lU  TiXor 

Ver.  12.  .  .  .  hi  xTixvatS-^,vixi  «t'  awra-v.    Vulg. ;  etnon  addes  ultra,  ut  absque  eis  sis. 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  X.  *',Tixvu,u.i¥r,  vre  tcu  iflvot/f  rau  eye»ou,    Vulg.:  .  .  .  e(  sugocans  gentem  tuam. 

Ver.  14.  Viilg. :  .  .  ,  Oentem  tuam  non  necabis  ultra — 

Ver.  17.  Sept.:   .  .  .  oSar  .      ,  x.  iv  T.  itiuXoit  .  .  .  X.  iy  T.  i-Mtfla/Sfl-jax  txMTOm- 

Ver.  19.    .  .   .  X.  i).txu.r,tr3t  etirao! — 

Ver.  20.  Another  reading:   1t<3'V  so  the  old  translations. 
Ver.  21.  K.  '-fHirauKv  xvToiy —     Et  peperci  nomini — 

Ver.  23.  Another  reading:  Dn3  and  DHTV?  (so  also  the  Masora). 

Ver.  31.  Sept  :    .   ,  .   x.  vpOiOxStttn  xx-ret  ^poiaexov  aL'jTUy  i*  Taeif — 

Ver.  32.  Sept.  :...*.  ivrpx^viTi  tx  t.  o^uy — 

Ver.  35.  .  .  .  ui  x>,to;  rpufr,;  .  .  .  cxupxi  ixcc8t<rxy, 

Ver.  37.  .  .  .  tymSvmit^  rat—   Vulg.:  . .  .  invenient  me —   Another  reading:  BHINj  active  (Syr.  Arabs.) 


Ver  38. 


ui  :rpo3xvct  et-yiti — 


["In  this  chapter  we  have  a  continuation  of 
the  present  great  theme  of  the  prophet — Israel's 
prospective  revival  and  prosperity  as  the  Lord's 
oovenant-people.  But  it  treats  of  this  under 
ditferent  aspects.  In  the  first  section  (vers.  1-15) 
the  prophet  unfohls  the  essential  distinction  be- 
tween Israel  and  Edom  with  the  other  nations  of 
heathendom,  in  that  the  former  had,  what  the 
■  others  had  not,  an  interest  in  the  power  and 
fiiithfulness  of  God,  in  consequence  of  which 
Israel's  heritage  must  revive  and  flourish,  and  the 
hopes  of  the  heathen  concerning  it  must  be  dis- 
appointed.    In  the  next  section  (vers.  16-21)  the 


reason  is  given  why  the-  Lord  had  for  a  time 
acted  toward  His  land  and  people  as  if  their  con- 
nection with  Him  was  an  evil  rather  than  a 
blessing ;  it  is  traced  up  to  the  inconigible 
wickedness  of  the  people,  and  the  necessity  of 
God's  vindicating  the  cause  of  His  h()liness  by 
exercising  upon  tnem  the  severity  of  His  displea- 
sure. Then  in  another  section  (vers.  22-33)  the 
purpo.se  of  the  Lord  for  their  future  good  is  un- 
folded— His  purpose  for  His  own  name's  sake  to 
revive  His  cause  among  His  people,  and  that  in 
the  most  effectual  manner,  by  first  renewing  theil 
hearts  to  holiness,  and  then  by  reitoring  them  to 


338 


EZEKIEL. 


a  flourishing  condition  outwardly.  And  in  a 
short  concluding  section  (vers.  34-38)  the  general 
result  is  summed  up,  and  the  impressions  noticed 
which  the  whole  was  fitted  to  produce  upon  the 
minds  of  others." — Fairbaikn's  Eze.kiel,  p.  386. 
-W.  F.] 

EXEGETICAL  KEMARKB. 

\^ers.  1-15.   The  Mountains  of  Israel. 

After  that  ch.  xxxv.,  which  is  connected  with 
the  one  that  follows  as  antithesis  and  thesis,  has 
already  (ver.  12)  introduced  the  mountains  of 
Israel,  parallel  to  Mount  Seir  (again  ch.  x.vxv.  15 
for  the  last  time),  and  reminding  us  of  ch.  vi. 
(comp.  also  ch.  xxxiii.  28),  as  that  to  which  the 
prophecy  before  us  is  directly  addiessed,  they 
now  foim  the  immediate  theme  of  the  divine 
sayings. 

Ver.  1.  ^Kt  see  on  ch.  vi.  2.    Here,  too,  by  the 

mountains  of  Israel  it  is  not  the  land  that  is 
characterized  after  its  most  prominent  part,  but, 
as  ver.  2  will  immediately  show,  the  mountains 
come  into  consideration  according  to  their  re- 
ligious signification  for  Israel. — Ver.  2.  The 
phrase:  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  which,  when 
one  cannot  put  one's  self  in  the  position  of  those 
concerned,  is  repeated  to  weariness  in  our  chapter, 
belongs  to  its  peculiarities.  It  is  intended  not 
only  to  contradict  the  saying  of  the  adversary, 
but  still  more  to  contravene  what  the  poor  doubt- 
ing heart  itself  says,  when  looking  at  that  which 
the  eyes  see  ;  at  the  same  time  the  divine  comfort 
appears  in  presence  of  this  visibility  as  a  comfort 
solely  in  word,  as  correspondingly  in  the  closing 
part  of  the  chapter  the  name  of  the  Lord  wiD  come 
forth  above  all. — The  enemy  is,  as  the  word  im- 
plies, he  who  turns  himself  against  any  one,  in 
the  connection  here  Edom  (ch.  xxxv.  10),  but  in 
the  signification  developed  ch.  xxxv.  ;  hence,  as 
we  go  on  farther,  illustrated  also  by  the  heathen 
rotind  about  (ver.  5  ;  ch.  xxv.  3,  8,  12).-  -Comp. 
on  ch.  xxv.  3.  That  the  everlasting  heights 
lefer  primarily  to  the  temple  is  clear  ;  at  the 
tame  time,  however,  Zion  will  have  to  be  viewed 
as  the  seat  of  the  everlasting  royal  dominion. 
"An  allusion  to  the  inmost  and  most  tender 
feelings  of  Israel "  (Schmieder).  [Havernick 
refers  to  Gen.  xlLx.  26  (Deut.  xxxiii.  15), 
according  to  which  the  mountains  are  held  to 
stand  in  relation  to  the  promises  of  Israel  as 
imperishable  memorials  of  the  patriarch's  bless- 
ing. Hexgst.  ;  The  natural  mountains  as  a 
figure  of  the  unchangeable  grandeur  of  which 
Israel  boasted,  because  it  had  in  the  Eternal  its 
protector  and  the  guarantee  of  its  own  perpetuity 
(Ps.  cxxv.  2).]— Ch.  xxxv.  10.— 'Ver.  3.  Ewald 
directs  attention  to  the  first  five  repetitions  of 
therefore,  because  the  grounds  against  these 
enemies  always  press  on  anew  before  the  discourse 
becomes  caluter,  and  will  have  it  observed  that,  as 
inch.  v.  12 sq.,  sacred  numbers  (ch.  iii.  5)  fit  into 
one  another,  and  that  in  various  ways,  as  for  most 
certain  assurance  ;  there  is  a  threefold  address  to 
the  mountains  ;  and  the  assignment  of  reasons 
has  five  steps  in  its  process. — Ch.  xxi.  14,  xxxiii. 
— tV'3  jjr,  see   ch.    xiii.    10.— nitSlT  (Ewald, 

Atmf.-Lthrb.  8th  ed.  p.  611),  according  to 
(Jesenius,  properly  nom.   verbale,  but  here  only 


for  the  inf.  Kal  of  QOC'  transitive  :  "to  devas- 
tate." [Ewald  ;  "they  snap  and  puff  at  you 
round  about."  Hitzig  ;  "they  putt'  and  snap 
after  you,"  under  a  mistaken  comparison  of  Isa. 
xlii.  14  from  Dt'3-]  Now  if  it  cannot  be  ren- 
dered :  "they  devastate  you"  (Keil),  and  wUI 
scarcely  be  rendered,  with  Heiigst.  ;  ' '  ye  are 
devastated,"  then  perhaps  the  most  obvious  thing 
is,  in  accordance  with  ch.  xxxv.  12,  14  sij.,  to 
think  of  the  standing;  "make  desolate,"  "deso- 
lation "  !  They  appear  to  the  enemy  round  about 
as  a  morsel  ready  for  swallowing,  that  they  arc 
already  a  possession  for  the  remnant  of  th€ 
heathen,  as  3'3DD  is  more  definitely  explained 

to  be.  The  presupposition  in  n''"lSB'  (what  re- 
mains after  defeat)  is  the  judgment  inflicted  by 
the  Chaldeans.  As  with  a  little  brotherly  love 
the  injury  received  would  have  kept  them  back, 
so  with  their  enmity  against  Israel  it  goaded  them 
on  to  commit  still  farther  injury  to  indemnify 

themselves  on  Israel.  — :|pj;nV  according  tc 
Eosenm.,  imperf.  Kiph.  from  nhv  ('*>  ^^  lifted 
or  taken  up)  ;  according  to  Ewald,  intransitive 
imperf.  Kal  from  ypy  (Aramaic,  "to  press  in," 
"to  go  in");  according  to  Hitzig,  2d  plur.  Kalfrom 
n^y,  for  Ji^yni  ("ye  are  gone  up").     The  lip  as 

instrument,  the  tongue  as  originator ;  the  foi-mer 
having  as  its  parallel  calumny,  and  the  latter, 

people;  so  that  nDb  's  not  =  talk,  and  nB9  not 

T   T  '  T 

a  personification  for  talkers,  as  Klief.  thinks,  yet 
it  need  not  be   tautology  (Gesen.),   or  pc'|)  = 

speech,  people  (Haverx.). — Ver.  4.  (;h.  vi.  3. 
("  The  mountains  are  for  the  land  what  the  heads 
of  the  tribes  are  for  the  people,  as  it  were  the 
elders,  the  venerable  fathers  of  the  land,  to 
whom  the  word  of  the  Lord  which  is  applicable 
to  the  whole  land  is  announced,"  Schmieder.) 
The  mention  of  particulars  is  meant  to  point  to 
the  eye  which  observes  all,  the  divine  care  which 
beholds  each  and  all,  over  which  only  a  human 
eye  weeps,  or  on  the  contrary  rejoices.  As  a 
prey  points  back  to  the  beginning  of  ver.  3,  so  a 
derision  points  to  its  close. — Ver.  5.  The  fire  of 
my  jealousy  reminds  of  ch.  xxxv.  11. — Ch.  xxxv. 
15. — Ch.  xxv.  and  xxxv.  also  testify  that 
Jehovah  has  spoken  in  this  manner.— Comp.  ch. 
xxv.  6,  5,  although  the  application  here  is  some- 
what difl'erent.  Ewald:  "  in  mortal  contempt. " 
Hitzig  :  "  contempt  from  the  soul  "  (?). — 
rlBnjDi  according  to  Gesenius,  an  Aramaic  infini- 
tive from  \ir\3,  "in  order  to  empty  it  (the  unin- 
habited land)  for  a  prey. "  But  what  would  be 
still  there  to  empty  ?  Ewald's  translation:  "in 
order  to  drive  it  out  for  pillage,"  is  quite  as  un- 
suitable. Hitzig  does  better,  taking  it  as  a 
substantive,  but  wrongly  in  the  sense  of  "  pro- 
duce," and  according  to  a  peculiar  construction 

translating  :  "in  order  to  plunder  (jh?)  its  pro- 
duce." Hengst.  (Cocc.)  :  "that  its  environ? 
should  be  a  prey  to  them."     But  which  environs! 


CHAP.  XXXVI.  G-14. 


039 


of  the  laud  ?  Hence  he  is  obliged  to  substitute 
the  capital  as  the  centre  I  The  siguilication 
pasturage  would  at  least  be  simpler  ;  and  the 
emptied  land  is  iu  keeping  with  this,  and  is 
consequently  a  desirable  prey.  [Many  interpret 
aLso  :  "on  account  of  the  e.xpulsion  of  the  land  " 
(land  for  people),  ch.  .\.\xi.  11,  whereby  it  (now 
again    the  land)  has  become  a  prey.}— Ver.    6. 

n01X"?V>  hence  as  the  native  home  of  Israel, 

with  precursory  reference  to  the  return  of  rhe 
people,  ver.  8  sq.,  '28  sq. — Partly  a  repetition  of 
ver.  4.  —  Ver.  5.  The  reproach  is  to  be  under- 
stood of  words  (invectives,  vers.  3,  4)  as  well  as  of 
deeds. — Ver.  7.  Ch.  xx.  5.  The  attitude  of 
sweai'iiig,  yet  not  that  alone,  but  also  a  sign  of 
the  iutended  action. — The  roles  shall  change. 
Ver.  6,  ch.  xvi.  52.  Upon  the  heathen  the 
reproach  shall  abide,  but  not  upon  the  land 
which  they  have  thus  reproached  to  its  inhabit- 
ants !  — Ver.  8.  The  honour  to  be  restored  to  the 
land  is  represented  as  the  causing  of  it  to  yield 
leaves  and  fruit  ;  Hengst.  thinks :  leaves  and 
branches  as  food  for  cattle,  while  the  fruit  is  for 
man.  —  ttSzb  131p  ''■^'^  only  be    the  individuals 

concerned  of  the  people.  "  Of  the  seventy  years 
of  Jeremiah,  twenty  had  already  elapsed  (ch. 
xxxiii.  21)"  (Hengst.). — Ver.  9.  Because  hitherto 
(as  late  as  ch.   xxxiv.   10)  emi)loyed  in  a  hostile 

sense,  an  explanation  follows  the  '^x  'jjn  (Dent. 

xi.  12).  The  sowing  shows  that  the  work  of 
cultivation  is  the  subject  spoken  of,  hence 
already  with  reference  to  men. — Ver.  10.  Then 
farther  in  correspondence  with  the  cultivation  of 

the  land  is  the  peopling  of   it.  —  n^iS  'ri'3v3. 

antithesis  to  ch.  xx.xv.  15. — Ver.  4. — Ver.  11. 
To  the  men  also  cattle. — Gen.  i.  28.  "A  new 
creation-blessing,  as  it  were"  (Havern.).  The 
more  than  indicates  the  figurative  in  the  manner 
of  exj)ression  (Deut.  xxx.  5),  as  does  also  the 
fact  that  the  mountains  are  addressed. — Ver.  12 

rounds    otf   as    commerce    (<n3?ini)    what   has 

been  said  of  the  peopling,  after  there  has  pre- 
viou.sly  been  a  rural  population  with  tilling  of 
fields  and  rearing  of  cattle,  and  a  town  popula- 
tion with  building  of  ruins  ;  ami  the  mention  is 
made  of  the  abiding,  enduring  possession  of  the 

land  (npnjp,  as  inheritance). — a-,  what  must  be 

meant  is  the  land,  mountains  and  all ;  masc. , 
which  piK  (ver.    5)   may  be  also,  as  afterwards 

fern.  gen. — The  make  childleag,  said  of  the  land, 
may  also  be  referred  to  the  wild  beasts  introduced 
in  consequence  of  its  desolation  (ch.  v.  17,  xiv. 
15). — Ver.  13.  What  is  here  said  has  in  reality  as 
little  to  do  with  Num.  xiii.  32  (observe,  however, 
the  statement  of  motive  there)  as  with  2  Kings 
ii.  24  (a  mere  particular  case).  The  promised 
land  was  neither  in  itself  of  such  a  kind  (Deut. 
viii.  7  sq. ,  xi.  ]  0  sq. ),  nor,  without  giving  a  forced 
meaning,  can  we,  with  Hengst.,  understand  a 
reference  to  its  position  between  Asiatic  and 
African  powers  ;  but  what  is  here  said  to  the 
mountains  of  Israel  (as  previously,  ver.  12,  of  the 
land)  is  directed  against  the  reproach,  the  scorn 
of  the  heathen  (ver.  15),  who  would  ilraw  an 
itiference   from    the    desolation    of   the    capital 


against  its  holy  character  as  this  land  of  divine 
promise.  The  reference  here  made  to  Num.  xiii. 
can  only  be  this,  that  what  the  adversaries  say 
.appears  as  a  repetition  of  the  unbelieving  speech 

of  those  spies  (rTacn'  n^3X  pX),  "ith  which 

they  brought  out  piKH  031  (comp.  here  ver.  3); 

hence  here  somewhat  in  the  sense  of :  Israel 
should  have  stayed  away  from  it,  not  have  come 
into  the  laud,  not  have  trod  on  the  trap  (bird- 
lime) of  the  promise.  [Ew.vld  :  "an  extermi- 
nator of  men  art  thou,  and  an  unnatural  mothei 
of  thy  people  wast  thou."  Haverx.  :  "a  swal- 
lower  of  men,"  and  "making  nations  (Israel  and 
Judah)  childless. "     Hitzig  observes  :  ^ajj'  is  said 

of  a  mother — to  bring  children  dead  iuta  the 
world,  or  to  kill  them  afterwards.  But  is  it,  then, 
the  children  of  the  land,  and  not  rather  of  the 
inhabitants,  that  are  here  spoken  of  ?]  The  land 
is  desolation,  fit  now  only  for  pasture  (ver.  5), 
thinks  and  says  the  surrounding  heathen  world. 
In  opposition  to  this  there  was  forcibly  set  forth 
the  cultivation  of  the  land  already  and  the 
peopling  of  it  with  men,  to  whom  the  cattle  (ver. 
11)  were  only  an  adjunct  ;  also  the  rebuilding  of 
the  ruins,  in  view,  however,  of  the  cities  being 
again  inhabited  (ver.  10).  But  the  sight  of  the 
desolation  of  the  land  took  this  general  form  in 
the  mind  and  the  mouth  of  the  heathen,  that 
this  promised  land  consumes  those  who  receive 
it,  and  especially  that  it  can  be  no  po.'isession 
for  their  children,  and  consequently  no  inherit- 
ance. Comp.  on  this  what  was  said  in  reference 
to  the  wilderness.  Num.  xiv.  16  ;  Deut.  ix.  28  ; 
Exod.  x.\.xii.  12sq.  (Ezek.  xx.).  To  this  repeated 
reproaching,  which  is  at  the  same  time  a  re- 
proaching of  the  name  of  Jehovah  as  the  pro- 
miser  of  the  land, — especially,  however,  to  the 
second  jiart  of  it  (vers.  12,  13),  the  making  child- 
leas,  a  statement  immediately,  ver.  12,  exjilai)ied 
perfectly  by :  and  thou  art  to  them  for  an  in- 
heritance,— ver.  1 4  forms  a  parallel,  with  repeti- 
tion only  of  the  phrase  ;   to   devour  men.     The 

alliterative  (*)2>3,  Piel  instead  of  (ja:;'),  "making 

to  stumble  (to  fall),"  of  the  Kethib  is  significant, 
for  thus  is  brought  to  view  what  the  heathen 
standpoint  of  reproach  so  entirely  overlooked, 
what,  when  the  promised  land  had  to  be  spoken 
of,  should  have  been  said  of  its  abundance  and 
beauty,  namely,  that  thereby,  by  the  misuse  of 
its  resources,  it  had  been  the  occasion  of  /erael's 
sin  and  dovm/all ;  and  thus  also  a  preparation  is 
already  made  for  speaking  of,  first,  the  profaning, 
and  then  the  sanctifying  of  the  name  of  Jehovah 
treated  of  in  the  course  of  the  chapter.  (Keil  : 
"if  the  consuming  of  the  population  stands 
connected  with  the  stumbling,  then  the  people 
are  devoured  by  the  consequences  of  their  sins, 
that  is,  by  judicial  punishments,  sterility,  pesti- 
lence, and  war,"  etc. )  And  inasmuch  as  Israel 
is  now  to  possess  the  land  abidingly,  hence  in 
his  descendants,  ^jge^,  "to  make  childless,"  is 
accordingly  not  repeated.  This  decides  as  com- 
pletely as  possible  against  the  Qeri  '^3B'n  (alsc 
against  Hitzig) ;  while,  moreover,  (scs  is  repeated 
in  ver.  15  without  Qeri  in  the  Hiphil.     [Hengst 


510 


EZEKIEL. 


understaiuls  the  stumbling  in  the  sense  of  the  Qeii, 
and  evidently  under  the  influence  of  Hitzig's 
aljsurd  objection,  as  signifying  "to  make  unfor- 
tunate "  ij—Ver.  13.  According  to  another  trans- 
lation :  "and  I  will  no  longer  make  thee  hear" 
',K.EIL).— Vers.  6,  3,  4. 

Vers.  16-38.  Profanation  of  tlie  X'ame  of  Jehovah 

by  Israel  (vers.  16-21),  and  Sancti/ication  of 
it  by  Jehomh  Himself  (vers.  2'2-3S). 

Ver.  16.  A  new  word  of  God,  but,  as  we  liave 
seen,  prepared  for  by  what  has  preceded  (vers. 
14,  15). — Ver.  17  begins  with  a  retrospect  into 
tlie  moral  history  of  the  house  of  Israel,  for  which 
comp.  Lev.  xviii.  28  ;  Num.  xx.xv.  34  ;  Jer.  ii. 
7. — Their  way,  their  walk,  as  the  expression 
their  works  explains  (ch.  xiv.  22,  23),  and 
'nXtDD3  renders  still  more  clear.  nu  (from 
Ttlj  is:   "  rejection  "  =  abhorrence,  abomination, 

ch.  vii.  19  sq.  ;  then :  separation  =  purification, 
especially  the  monthly  purification  of  a  woman 
by  separation,  issue  of  blood  (Lev.  xv. ).  Gesen., 
on  the  other  hand,  explains  the  word  by  "un- 
cleanness,"  i.e.  an  unclean  issue  of  blood. 
Comp.  besides  Isa.  Ixiv.  5  [6].  Yet  not,  however, 
as  the  "most  loathsome  uncleanness"  (Keil) — 
it  is  in  reality  the  natural  peculiarity  of  woman 
— but  the  comparison  appears  to  be  used  on 
.iccount  of  the  blood,  as  ver.  18  makes  obvious. 
Concerning  the  tenses  comp.  Hitzig.  In  ver.  17 
a  habitual  state  in  the  past,  on  which  the  action 
in  ver.  18  breaks  in.  Ch.  vii.  8. — Ch.  x.xii.  3, 
3,  xxxiii.  25.— Comp.  on  ch.  vi.  4  (ch.  viii.  10). 
' '  Murder  and  idolatry,  with  reference  to  the  first 
commandment  of  the  first  table  and  the  first  of 
the  second"  (Hengst.).— Ver.  19.  Ch.  x.xii.  15. — 
Ch.  ^■ii.  3,  8. — Ver.  20.  The  singular  is  inter- 
preted by  Hengst.  of  the  fate  spoken  of  in  ver. 
19,  namely,  the  news  (!)  of  it,  although  he  goes 
on  giving  "the  following  turn  :  the  news  came  at 
the  same  time  with  themselves ;  they  were  the 
embodied  intelligence.  Keil  understands  it  more 
simply  as  meaning  the  house  of  Israel.  Hitzig, 
like  tile  ancient  versions,  reads  the  plural,  which, 
however,  should  be  doubly  avoided.  That  they 
themselves  came  to  the  heathen  is  repeatedly 
expressed  in  what  follows,  and  that  for  the  very 
purpose  of  explaining  the  fact  therewith  con- 
nected, the  actual  profanation  of  the  name  of  the 
Lord  by  Israel's  presence  there.  As  in  their  own 
land,  so  also  outside  of  it.  The  name  of  My 
holiness  is  not  simply  :  the  holy  name  of 
Jehovah,  but  the  name  in  which  His  holiness  is 
manifest,  so  that  by  it  man  names  His  holiness, 
and  hence  the  Holy  God  Himself.  The  profana- 
tion is  traced  home  to  the  Jews  as  originators, 
as   occasion   of  the   saying   which    follows  ;  and 

hence  it  is  said  indefinitely  Dn^  "^i2?*3>  ^°  ^^^^ 

the  heathen,  who  certainly  also  desecrated  the 
name  of  Jehovah  in  their  mouth,  are  yet  not 
looked  upon  as  tlie  desecrators  of  the  name  of 
His  holiness,  but  the  Jews  [Hengst.  :  "  not  by 
their  doing,  Rom.  ii.  24,  but  by  their  suffering, 
because  they  had  brought  on  the  fate  by  their 
ai'tive  desecration "],  who,  moreover,  unrepent- 
ingly  remained  silent  concerning  their  sin  and 
guilt.  They  just  came  where  they  came  ;  and 
with  their  impenitence  gave  there  the  impression 
merely  of  wretched,    unfortunate,   deceived,   be- 


trayed beings,  in  whom  the  blame  was  not  to  be 
.sought,  but  in  their  God,  who  was  powerless  in 
comparison  with  the  gods  of  the  heathen,  or  un- 
faithful  to   His   chosen    people.  —  'qjj    has    also 

been  interpreted  interrogatively  by  various  -.x- 
positors. — ^xv'  '«  as  much  as  to  say  :  and  thej 

have  run  away  out  of  Jehovah's  land  which  He 
had  promised  to  them,  where  He  dwelt  among 
them  ;  so  that  their  having  gone  might  be  ironi- 
cally held  as  a  voluntary  departure. — Ver.   21. 

^Dn  is  :  to  draw  one's  self  together,  to  bend  over 
(^y)  anyone,  to  incline  one'sself  to  him;  hence:  tc 

compassionate  him.  [Havern.  wrongly  :  "andl 
spared  for  My  holy  name's  sake"  (Sept.).  The 
Vulgate  is  confused.  RosENM. :  "  I  will  take  care 
for  it,  so  that  it  shall  not  come  to  harm."  In  this 
striking  expression  also  lies  somethiiig  more 
active  than  :  "to  have  compassion  "  (Klief.  I,  ur 
as  Hf.ngst. :  "I  had  pity  for  My,"sq.]  What 
follows  shows  what  is  contained  in  this  prophetic 
preterite. 

Ver.  22.  There  is  first  the  announcement, 
which  is  at  the  same  time  an  explanation  of  the 
diviue  ]>ity,  as  His  pitying  of  Himself  in  har- 
mony with  His  holiness,  in  short,  as  a  holy  love, — 
an  explanation  which  cuts  off  everything  possible 
with  men.  The  .self-existent  majesty  of  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,  who  stands  in  need  of  jio 

one,  says  :    D33yD^  th  (Deut.  ix.  6).     Neither 

in  Israel's  virtue,  nor  yet  in  his  misery,  is  there 
now  any  ground  for  Jehovah  to  act.  Israel  has 
no    qualification   whatever.  —  nbJy  'JS,    namely, 

what  I  do, — thus  spoken  absolutely,  denoting  the 
pure  action,  just   as   is   specially  suitable  here. 

He  does  it,  however,  for  glory  and  honour  to  (p, 
dat.  comm.)  His  name. — Ver.  23.  The  "acting" 
of  Jehovah  is  expressed  and  here  announced  as  a 
.sanctifying,  i.e.  of  My  holiness  as  expressed  in 
My  name,  securing  due  weight  to  it,  so  that  it 
shall  not  simply  be  named  as  name,  but  evidently 
experienced  as  fact.  In  its  being  the  name  of 
His  holiness  lies  the  necessity,  when  the  people 
who  can  thus  name  God  do  not  sanctify  it,  but 
on  the  contrary  only  contribute  everywhere  to 
its  profanation,  that  then  Jehovah  should  take  in 
hand  the  .sanctification  of  His  name  and  thereby 

of  Himself  ('enpna)-— ^IJH,  together  mth  the 

following  ^^non,   makes  observable  the  infinite 

grandeur  as  well  as  the  omnipotence  which  are 
able  to  secure  due  regard  for  themselves  (Josh,  vii, 
9;  Mai.  i.  11).  That  we  might  well  expect: 
"before  their  (instead  of:  before  your)  eyes," 
which  reading  is  almost  universally  preferred, 
Hengst.  also  acknowledges,  but  finds,  however, 
the  thought  of  the  manifest  salvation  better  ex- 
pressed in  those  immediately  concerned.  These, 
however,  are  not  the  Jews,  becau.se  they  have 
beheld  the  misery  (Job  xix.  27),  but  the  heathen 
as  spectators  of  the  profanation  of  the  divine 
name  by  the  Jews  (ch.  xx.  41,  xxviii.  25).  The 
Jews'  jiart  in  the  matter  is  sufficiently  expressed 
by  D33  (i"  y"''  persons). 

["The  expression  :  'when  I  sanctify  Myself  in 
you   before  your  eyes,'  for  which  many  critical 


CHAP.  XXXVI.  24-34. 


341 


authorities,  both  ancieut  and  modern,  would  sub- 
stitute 'before  their  eyes,'  namely,  those  of  the 
heathen — this  expression  creates  no  difficulty  to  a 
f-erson  who  enters  thoroughly  into  the  import  of 
the  passage.  For  it  jioints  to  the  fact  that  Israel, 
ts  well  as  the  heathen,  needed  the  manifestation 
in  question  of  Jehovah's  righteousness.  It  must 
be  done  first  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  who 
by  their  depravity  had  lost  sight  of  God's  teal 
character  ;  and  then  what  was  seen  by  them 
experimenfcilly  would  also  be  seen  reflectively  by 
the  heathen  wlio  dwelt  around.  This  twofold 
perception  of  God's  character  is  also  brought  out 
in  other  passages  of  our  prophet ;  as  in  ch.  xx. 
41,  42:  'And  I  will  be  sanctified  in  you  before 
the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  and  ye  shall  know  that 
I  am  Jehovah.'  " — Fairb.\irn's  Kzekiel. — W.  F.] 
Ver.  24.  The  first  thing  in  this  self-sanctifica- 
tion  of  Jehovah  is  an  act  of  power,  which  puts  an 
end  to  the  outward  occasion  for  the  saying  in  ver. 
20,  and  to  the  actual  profanation  of  the  name  of 
His  holiness  among  the  heathen  (ch.  xi.  17,  .xx. 
34,  41).  — Ver.  25.  The  next  thing,  to  which  the 
first  only  subserves,  is  the  raising  up  of  Israel 
inwardly  to  a  holy  nation,  so  that  D33  (ver.  23) 

signifies :  in  them,  as  well  as :  on  them ;  this,  too, 
is  a  forthputting,  yea,  the  most  mighty  forth- 
putting  of  jiDwer,  because  wrought  in  the  core  of 
the  national  life.  In  ver.  24,  Israel's  justification 
before  the  heathen  ;  in  ver.  25,  Israel's  sanctifica- 
tion  in  himself  as  also  amoutj  the  heatften. — The 
"  sprinkling,"  as  it  will  be  in  respect  to  a  nation 
the  only  imaginable  method  of  lustration,  so, 
moreover,  from  the  clean   water   (Q'-iinC  D'lD 

cannot  be  =  (rni  'D)  it  cannot  in  the  least  point 

to  the  rite  with  the  ashes.  Num.  xix.  (Hengst.)  : 
it  would  be  preferable,  with  Hcivern.,  to  think  of 
Num.   viii.   7  sq.,   but   DNtSn  'D  there  also   is 

something  different  from  what  clean  water  ex- 
presses here.  The  latter  is  meant  expressly  to 
symbolize  the  idea  of  purification,  and  specially 
from  all  etc.,  the  D3<niDt3  o*  the  people,  which, 

if  not  directly  explained,  is  yet  illustrated  by 
D3»7^")3  ;  the  "sprinkling,"  again  (comp.  E.xod. 

xxiv.),  is  doubtless  meant  to  signify  an  act  of  conse- 
cration. Because  sacrificial  blood  is  not  mentioned 
here,  but  such  emphasis  is  laid  on  clean  water, 
the  best  known  means  of  purification,  and  also 
the  most  suitable  for  stains  which  show  outwardly, 
we  are  as  little  at  liberty  to  import  without  farther 
mediation — as  Hengst.  attempts  un<ler  citation  of 
Isa.  liii.  11,  lii.  15 — New  Testament  ideas  into 
our  chapter  as  into  ch.  xi.  19  sq.  (see  Comm. 
there).  Neither  does  Ps.  li.  coincide  with  our 
passage.  The  immediate  sense  of  our  verse  is : 
That  Jehovah  leads  back  Israel  from  exile  into 
their  oivn  land,  and  consecrates  them  there  to  be  a 
people^  since  the  punishment,  so  characteristic  for 
tlie  sin  that  occasioned  it,  is  shown  to  be  removed 
by  the  brimjinfj  of  them  a<jain  into  their  oum  land  ; 
the  forgiveness  of  s'm  thereby  already  proclaimed 
at  once  evinces  and  manifests  itself  as  purification 
of  the  people,  and  the  people  (as  in  point  of  fact 
took  place  after  the  exile)  put  from  them  their  old 
life,  especially  their  idolatry  (ch.  xi.  18,  xviii.  31). 
Certainly  not  without  some  giound  has  Abarbanel 
referred  back  to  the  comparison  of  the  issue  of 
blood  used  in  ver.  17. — As  to  how  ver.  26  is  to 


be  understood,  comp.  on  ch.  xi.  19.  Instead  o 
the  new  heart  here,  ins  aS  is  mentioned  there 

and  only  the  "new  spirit"  is  spoken  of;  while 
here  both  heart  and  spirit  ^as  ch.  xriii.  31) 
appear  as  new,  whereby  the  religious  mora) 
regeneration  of  the  nation,  a  national  restoration, 
is  placed  in  prospect.  "It  is  very  consonant  tc 
the  priestly  character  to  portray  the  new  com- 
munity as  a  ti-uly  spiritually  purified  band  ol 
Levites  or  priests,  Isa.  Ixi.  6  "  (Havern.  ?). — Ver. 
27.  Since  Jehovah's  Spirit  is  put   D33"lp3,   and 

thus  is  brought  to  pass  that  Israel's  conformity 
to  law  in  walk  and  honesty  of  dealing  return 
again,  therefore  the  "new  spirit"  of  ver.  26  is 
primarily  to  be  understood  as  a  divine  spiritual 

I  impulse  back  to  the  law  of  Jehovah  (ch.  xi.  20). 

I  — Ver.  28.  By  the  dwelling  in  the  land,  etc.  (the 
"renewal  of  old  gifts  "),  we  are  reminded  of  the 
close  of  ch.  xxxiv.  [Kliefoth  here  looks  forward 
as  far  as  the  ''last  times,"  since  God  will  gather 
out  of  the  whole  world  His  people,  who  are  still 
scattered  in  a  quite  dift'ereut  manner  and  far 
wider  in  the  world,  and  will  place  them  in  the 
heavenly  Canaan,  free  them  absolutely  from  sin 
(ver.  25),  and  as  absolutely  renew  them  inwardly 
(ver.  26),  and  by  both  acts  as  absolutely  sanctify 
them  (ver.  27).]  Comp.  Lev.  xxv.  18,  xxvi.  12. 
Ver.  29.  'nvcnm  is  hy  anticipation  under- 
stood Messianically  (Matt.  i.  21)  by  those  re- 
solved to  find  the  New  Testament  ordo  salutis  in 
Ezekiel,  interpreted  of  the  divine  protection  (ch. 
xxxiv.  22),  or,  by  way  of  distinction  from  ver. 
25,  refeiTed  to  the  consequences  of  the  defilements 
of  Israel.  The  expression  rather  sums  up  the 
foregoing,  which  regarded  the  people,  while  now, 
subjoined  to  ver.  28,  a  transition  is  made  to  the 
land.  Idolatry  disappears,  and  the  promises  con- 
cerning the  land  are  fulfilled,  ch.  xxxiv.  29. 
(The  opposite,  although  in  the  same  figure,  we 
find  in  2  Kings  viii.  1.) — Ver.  30.  Ch.  xxxiv.  27, 
29. — Ver.  31.  Ch.  xx.  43  ;  comp.  on  ch.  vi.  9. 
The  anti-heathen  abhorrence  and  loathing  became 
national,  and  still  speaks  out  of  its  distorted 
pietism  in  Pharisaism.  If  the  gospel  order  ol 
salvation  were  to  be  sought  in  ver.  25  sq. ,  then  we 
wonld  rather  expect  to  find  here  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  (Lev.  xxvi.  40).— Ver.  32.  Comp.  on  ver. 
22. — That  this  acting  of  Jehovali,  irrespective  of 
them,  is  still  so  particularly  placed  before  and 
inculcated  on  them,  is,  however,  by  no  means 
designed  to  leave  the  Jews  undisturbed,  as  if  they 
might  simply  wait  for  the  things  which  would 
come  upon  them  and  happen  to  them  ;  but  as  the 
love  of  God,  without  worthiness  deserving  it,  cer- 
tainly excludes  any  merit  on  the  part  of  man,  yet 
should  so  much  the  more  awaken  to  reception  and 
love  in  return,  so  there  is  attached  to  the  promise 
here  the  imperative,  repeated  with  additional  eni- 
jihasis,  in  relation  to  the  family,  the  household  ol 
Israel. 
Ver.  33.  Ver.  25.— Hitzig  translates  '•naS'ini : 

"then  I  again  erect  the  cities,"  make  them  to 
sit  instead  of  lying,  since  he  denies  that  it  ever 
(Isa-  liv.  3)  signifies:  "to  make  inhabited. "  So 
also  Hengstenberg  always :  "  sit,"  in  contrast  to : 
lie  prostrate,  and  here :  ' '  cause  to  sit. "  Gesenius, 
Ewald,  etc.,  on  the  other  hand,  support  the 
causative  signification,  as  :  to  cause  tliat  one  sit, 
dwell  therein,  to  make  inhabited.  Keil  :  maka 
stocked  with  inhabitants. — Ver.  34.  Ver.  9.— Ch. 


S42 


EZEKIEL. 


XXI r.  3,  vi.  14.— Ch.  v.  14.— Ver.  85.  ^ipXI  "re 
those  individualized  from  "i3ijj"73,  ver.  34. 
(ilf^n    only  licre,  =^  HTjin,    but     probably    fern.) 

Observe  the  antithesis  to  ch.  .xx.icv.  12,  9,  and 
the  probable  allusion  in  Eden  to  Edom  (ch.  xxxi. 
8,  9  ;  Gen.  xiii.  10  ;  Isa.  li.  3  ;  Joel  ii.  3).  From 
this  allegorical  way  of  speaking,  Hengstenberg 
justly  rejects  the  idea  of  "  the  restoration  of 
Canaan  to  a  really  paradisaic  glory." — Ewald  : 
"flourish,  well  fortified."  He.n'gst.  :  "sit  forti- 
tied  ; "  whereas  a  city  whose  wall  is  broken  lies  on 
the  ground.  According  to  another  translation, 
said  of  the  inhabitants,  who  feel  themselves  secure, 
protected  therein  as  in  fortresses.  (Comp.  on  ch. 
xxxviii.  11.) — Ver.  36.  The  heathen  brought  in 
as  left  ("the  remnant  of  the  heathen,"  ver.  3) 
are,  on  the  contrary,  made  known  only  by  the 
judgments  that  have  passed  over  them,  but  by 
no  -estitution.     Comp.   ch.    xvii.    24.  — Ver.   37. 

Ch.  xiv.  3  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  6,  7).  On  Qn^  Vy^, 
coirp.  on  the  opposite,  the  nb'VJN    tw  (^ers. 

32,  22). — The  land — well,  we  are  again  in  it,  but 
where  are  the  people  ?     This  question   Jehovah 

will  answer  by  actual  (nitJ'J??)  increase  (ver.  10 

sq.),  in  that  He  will  show  them  as  a  flock  (eh. 
xxxiv.  ;  Micah  ii.  12).  [While  Hitzig  takes 
mX  as  in  apposition  to  CDX  (them,  the  men,  as 

a  flock),  Kliefoth  translates  innon-ectly  :  "  that 
they  became  the  flock  of  mankind."]  Havernick 
lites  Bochart  for  the  particularly  gi-eat  increase  of 
flocks  of  sheep.  (Comp.  also  ch.  xxxiv.  31.) 
Hut  what  Ver.  38  says  on  this  is  more  significant. 
According  to  Hengstenberg,  formal  mention  is 
made  of  the  festivals  in  general,  but  the  connec- 
tion (as  Mark  xv.  6)  points  to  the  great  accumu- 
lation of  sheep  at  the  passover  (2  Chrou.  xxxv.  7), 
with  which  the  abundance  in  men  of  restored 
Israel  is  compared.  (Thus  the  Chaldee.)  Heng- 
stenberg tran.slates  ;  "as  consecrated  flocks  of 
sheep  "  (the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Lord),  and 
seeks  the  fulfilment  in  the  Church  of  Christ  rather 
than  in  the  times  between  the  exile  and  Christ. — 
D""np.  that  is,  of  hallowed  ones,  in  this  sense  ; 

of  sacrificial  beasts  (Rom.  xii.  1);  whereby  the 
.'eference  to  the  consecration  of  the  people  (ver. 
25)  gains  confirmation.  The  people  is  embraced 
.n  its  chief  points  of  worship,  Deut.  xvi.  16. 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  The  comparison  of  our  chapter  with  ch.  vi. 
indicates  that,  in  considering  the  "mountains  of 
Israel,"  especially  when  they  are  by  the  best  in- 
terpreter, the  "enemy,"  sneeringly  termed  the 
"everlasting  heights, "  we  are  not  to  direct  our 
attention  to  the  mountainous  character  of  the 
Holy  Land.  Palestine  is  a  hilly  country,  which 
eans  upon  the  towering  heights  of  Lebanon  and 
Hermou ;  but  this  conformation  did  not  so  much 
.jualify  it  for  its  significance  in  the  Old  World,  so 
that  We  might  at  once  recur  to  that,  as  its  posi- 
tion on  the  buundaiies  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe, 
and  again  its  peculiar  isolation,  while  occupying 
such  a  position  in  the  centre  of  the  Old  World. 
In  considering  this  position  of  the  land,  its  little- 
oese,  ridiculed  as  is  well  known  by  Cicero,  and 


from  which  the  Eoman  statesman  would  infer  the 
little  god  of  the  Jews,  has  as  little,  or  rather  as 
much,  to  say  as  the  grain  of  mustard  seed  in  the 
parable,  Matt.  xiii.  The  focus  of  the  concav" 
mirror  is,  in  like  manner,  merely  a  point.  The 
outward  littleness  of  the  Holy  Land  only  compels 
us  to  one  thing,  and  that  is,  to  keep  always  in 
view  its  spiritual  significance.  As,  then,  for  suen 
a  view,  its  separation  from  the  otlier  countries, 
and  again,  at  the  same  time,  its  jiosition  in  the 
midst  of  them  (ch.  v.  5)  (the  tormer,  that  amid 
the  universal  blowing  of  the  world  and  the  nations 
there  might  be  a  protecting  hand  before  the  light ; 
the  latter,  that  when  the  light  burst  forth,  its 
brilliancy  might  easily  shine  in  all  directions), 
claim  our  attention  much  more  than  its  moun- 
tainous character, — so  under  the  "  everlasting 
heights,"  the  "mountains  of  Israel,"  Zion,  as 
seat  of  the  Davidic-Messianic  kingdom  (Ps.  ii.), 
and  the  temple-mountain,  in  so  far  as  Israel  wor- 
shipped what  it  knew  (John  iv. ),  and  the  <toitk!iz 
in  T«uv  'Uuiaiuv  irriy,  must  come  iuto  considera- 
tion (ch.  .xxxiv.  26  ;  Isa.  ii.  2  ;  Micah  iv.  1 ) ; 
however  beautifully  that  reads  which  has  been 
said  by  Sehmieder,  accordant,  no  doubt,  with 
"natural  human  feeling,"  while  citing  Ps.  xc.  2 
and  Job  xv.  7,  and  referring  to  the  "  ways  and 
manners  of  mountaineers,"  and  the  thread  of 
"  remembrances,"  especially  Israel's  (Gen.  xxii. ; 
1  Kings  xviii.). 

2.  The  antithesis  of  Seir  places  before  our  eyea 
the  rugged  mountain  height  and  the  rude  moun- 
tain strength,  that  is,  exactly  the  things  which 
have  no  value  for  enduring  victory,  for  abiding 
blessing  in  the  higher  order  of  things. 

3.  The  combating  of  the  allegorizing  method  of 
explanation — for  example,  by  J.  A.  Ciusiu.s,  from 
whom  Rosenmiiller  quotes  when  commenting  on 
our  chapter — is  unquestionably  in  the  right  against 
the  arbitrary  extravagances  and  exaggerations  of 
Cocceius  and  his  followers  ;  but  where  the  Bible 
language  in  general  is  symbolical,  with  the  pro- 
phets, above  all,  a  symbolical  way  of  speaking 
will  be  conceded.  A  natural  or  historical  sub- 
stratum on  which  the  symbolical  is  based  is  sup- 
posed with  the  symbolical  itself.  Consequently, 
all  that  is  here  said  in  Ezekiel  has  a  fulfilment 
in  the  time  after  the  exile.  On  the  other  hand, 
modern  apocalypticism,  by  its  converting  the 
letter  of  prophecy  into  future  revelations  of  any 
and  every  kind,  sets  itself  against  the  apocalyptic 
mode  of  expression,  the  characteristic  of  which  is 
certainly  not  literality.  The  national  physio- 
gnomy of  Israel,  as  Genesis  traces  it  back  to  A(lam, 
the  father  of  all  men,  indicates  a  reference  to 
humanit)'  as  a  whole.  This  reference  prevails  in 
Noah's  prophetic  discourse.  Gen.  ix..  when  Japhet 
is  destined  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem,  and 
Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  to  be  a  servant  in  the 
house.  The  Holy  Land  fits  in  with  Abraham  to 
this  symbolism  of  the  nation,  and  Abraham  is  to 
be  a  blessing  (as  is  said  in  Gen.  .xii. :  "to  all  the 
families  of  the  earth,  Adamah  "),  through  his  seed, 
which  is  Christ,  as  the  apostle  says  in  Gal.  iii. 
Hence  humanity  in  Christ  will  also  be  the  theo- 
logical point  of  view  in  the  case  of  the  Und  ol 
Israel.  So  long  as  He  who  is  TsXof  »o^»u  (Piom. 
X.  4)  was  not  born  in  the  land  of  p;omise,  the 
land  remained,  in  respect  to  the  realization  of  the 
blessing  of  Abraham  to  the  race  of  Adam,  a  pro- 
phetic symbol  of  the  earth,  just  as  the  nation  wa« 
symbolico-prophetic  for  the  nations  of  mankind 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


343 


The  land  of  Israel  is  also  tsftii  (from  ►■'|<«"),  and, 
like  tile  legal  nationality  of  Israel,  has  its  final 
fulfilment  in  Christ.  As  His  beatitudes  (Matt,  v.) 
assign  to  His  people  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  so 
also  do  they  the  inheritance  of  the  land.  Hitherto 
out  of  Israel  shines  humanity,  and  representa- 
tively for  it  the  Sou  of  man,  the  true  Israel. 
The  Christian  interpretation  of  the  people  of 
Israel  as  the  Church,  the  kingdom  of  God,  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  embraces  now  also  the  Holy 
Land  in  the  signification  of  the  land  of  glory, 
paradise,  and  Eden,  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
fulfilling  of  Israel  as  to  its  universal  human  signi- 
tii'ation  by  Clirist,  the  Old  Testament  outward 
expression  of  the  letter,  that  is,  what  is  said  pro- 
psdeutically  and  piedagogically  in  accordance  with 
the  economy  of  the  (Jld  Covenant,  in  the  style  of 
the  people  and  the  land,  may  remain  in  its  full 
force ;  but  what  is  given  with  the  idea  of  Israel, 
uaraelj',  tliat  the  promises  in  question  are  to  be 
fidfiUed  in  a  very  dift'erent  sen.se  from  the  outward 
literal  sense,  that  the}'  are  to  be  fulfilled  "in 
spirit  and  in  truth," — this  even  the  literal  ex- 
pression itself  demands  from  its  unmistakable 
depth  of 'meaning,  which  often  makes  plainly 
ridiculous  a  merely  literal  interpretation,  whether 
looking  to  tlie  time  after  the  exile,  or  to  the  very 
last  time.  All  the  prophets  and  the  law  pro- 
phesied until  John,  the  bajitizer  of  Christ  (Matt. 
xi.  13  ;  Luke  xvi.  IB).  And  what  Christ  said 
^Johniv. )  of  worshipping  at  .Jerusalem  :  "the  hour 
Cometh,  and  now  is,"  bears  witness  to  the  Messianic 
(Christological)  and  in  general  the  spiritual  sense 
of  the  Old  Testament  letter  ;  as  the  setting  of  it 
free  from  every  temporary  limitation  as  to  place 
or  nation  bears  witness  to  its  sense  for  eternity, 
and  to  the  spiritual  interpretation  as  that  which 
is  at  the  same  time  interpretation  "in  truth,"  the 
true  understanding,  so  tliat  the  Christian  truth  of 
the  prophecies  is  also  to  be  regarded  as  their  true 
and  full  reality.  The  Jewish  Chri-stianity  of  in- 
dividual expositors  {e.g.  of  Baumgarten)  is  not 
the  Old  Testament  Christianity  of  tbe  prophets. 

4;  On  ch.  iii.  17  the  characteristic  individualiza- 
tion was  noted  as  a  mark  of  the  time ;  but  that 
which  is  peculiar  to  the  Christological  utterances 
of  our  prophet  (IntroJ.  S  9).  his  putting  of  the 
Christological  thought,  as  ch.  xl.  sq.,  in  the  fomi 
ol  Palestinian  worship,  and  so  generally  in  the 
manner  of  the  people  and  land  of  Israel,  is  always 
to  be  adhered  to.  Fundamentally,  the  latter  form 
was  only  that  of  the  law  as  early  as  Ex.  xx.  12. 
But  when  the  Son  of  man,  of  the  seed  of  David 
according  to  the  flesh,  realized  the  kingilom  of 
Israel  as  eternal — when,  by  the  outpouring  ot  the 
Holy  Ghost,  His  gift  of  prophecy  became  the 
common  property  of  mankind,  then,  as  with  the 
worshipping  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  the  peculiar 
localization  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  priestly  ser- 
vice, always  accomplished  for  the  time,  ceased  ; 
Israel  also  could,  in  whatever  part  of  the  ea,rth, 
consider  themselves  as  in  their  own  land,  and  so 
much  the  more  as  their  true  King  had  (John 
xviii.)  witnessed  tbe  good  confession  of  the  supra- 
mundane  nature  of  His  kingdom  before  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Roman  earthly  world-power. 
For  the  Israel  of  fulfilment  Canaan  lay,  in  the 
first  instance,  in  the  world  above  with  Christ,  as 
the  apostle  Paul  says  in  Phil.  i.  23,  where  also 
paradise  is  (Luke  xxiii.  43  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  4) ;  and  in 
this  world  only,  in  the  renewal  of  heaven  and 
earth  according  to  the  Christian  hope.     So,  like- 


wise, the  true,  the  fulfilled  nation.ality  of  Israel 
is  to  be  sought  for  in  the  Christian  world,  in 
humanity,  according  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  now 
in  measure,  in  fuluess  only  hereafter.  Rev.  xxi.  3. 

5.  Schmieder  sums  up  the  moral  guilt  of  Edom 
as  threefold  :  (1)  taking  possession  at  his  own 
hand;  (2)  doing  this  in  a  bad  frame  of  mind, 
with  malignant  joy  and  scornful  laughter  ;  (3) 
doing  this  not  to  keep  and  cultivate  the  land  (for 
which  man  was  ordained  of  God  in  paradise),  but 
to  devastate  and  plunder  it. 

6.  It  belongs  to  the  local  colour  of  the  land 
that,  when  it  is  spoken  of  distinctively,  its  fruit 
fulness  also  is  spoken  of.  Comp.  for  climate  and 
nature  of  the  soil,  the  well-known  passages  ol 
Scripture.  Writers  in  the  first  century  still 
bear  witness  to  what  heathens  and  Jews  of  former 
times  celebrated  with  one  accord,  the  immense 
population  ot  the  land,  corresponding  to  its  great 
fertility.  At  present,  indeed,  Jerusalem,  the 
largest  city  of  Palestine,  has  scarcely  more  inha- 
bitants than  the  smaller  towns  of  Galilee  had  ir. 
the  time  of  Josephus. 

7.  On  the  parallel  minatory  prophecy  in  ch.  vi. 
it  was  observed  (p.  94)  how  Israel's  idolatrous 
self- righteousness  is  broken  in  pieces  in  every  way 
by  God's  judgment.  A  parallel  observation  will 
correspond  to  the  kernel  and  inmost  contents  of 
our  chapter,  namely,  that  divine  grace  alone  will 
restore  Israel,  land  and  people — the  latter  espe- 
cially, in  the  way  of  Jehovah's  sanctifying  Hi.'. 
own  name.  In  this,  Israel's  misery  is  as  little  the 
motive  as  any  righteousness  on  the  side  of  Israel. 
What  befalls  the  heathen,  indeed,  with  respect 
to  Israel,  happens  to  them  because  they  have  in 
suited  in  His  people  the  name  of  Jehovah  revealed 
in  Israel.  Hence  the  fundamental  reference  which 
Jehovah  takes  is  finally  Himself.  Israel,  as  has 
been  repeatedly  said,  four  times  in  succession  (in 
the  cosmic  number,  vers.  20-23),  gave  by  their 
exile,  and  hence  by  their  misery,  occasion  for  the 
profanation  of  the  name  of  Jehovah.  Their  misery 
made  the  heathen  sin  agixinst  Jehovah  ;  thus  it 
was  viewed,  but  by  no  means  as  cause  of  the 
divine  pity.  What  is  said  of  pity  is  Jehovah's 
pity  for  His  own  name,  ver.  21.  The  divine  love 
appears  not  as  compassion  in  relation  to  misery, 
but  the  misery  itself  appears  as  sin,  so  that  the 
reference  is  taken  simply  to  sin ;  the  divine  love 
ap])ears  purely  as  giace. 

8.  Havernick  emphasizes  this,  that  "the  holi- 
ness of  God  forms  the  centre  of  the  discourse 
before  us ;"  but  he  makes  too  little  account  of  the 
holiness  of  Jehovah,  when  he  makes  no  more  of 
it  than  "the  relation  therein  established  of  God 
to  t!ie  evil  "  So  also  it  is  not  acutely  thought, 
when,  in  explanation  of  vers.  1-15,  that  "tiie 
punitive  judgment  threatened  against  the  heathen 
must  have  its  ultimate  explanation  "  from  the 
holiness  of  God,  Havernick  places  the  essence  of 
heathenism  in  assailing  the  holiness  of  God.  It 
must  be  observed,  however,  that  heathenism 
knows  nothing  of  God's  holiness.  The  name  of 
Jehovah's  holiness,  as  the  expres.sion,  cho,sen  three 
times  in  succession  (according  to  the  number  of 
the  godhead,  vers.  20,  21,  22),  and  which  is  not  to 
be  resolved  into  the  "hoh'  name  of  Jehovah," 
significantly  runs,  is  even  as  "name"  (as  Beck 
justly  observes)  "the  expression  with  living 
power  of  the  divine  presence  in  revelation,"  so 
that  by  the  name,  of  Jehovah's  holiness  thia 
revelation    of   God   as    adapted    exclusively  to 


■'H( 


EZEKIEI,. 


Israel  is  set  forth  ;  hence,  as  to  the  "transgres- 
sions of  the  heathen,  '  no  direct  relation  of  them 
to  the  holiness  of  God  is  expressed,  but  a  misap- 
prehension of  the  revelation  of  the  holy  in  Israel, 
consequently  a  relation  to  Israel  as  the  people  of 
Jehovah.  The  holiness  of  God  has,  however,  so 
much  the  more  significance  in  our  chapter,  as  the 
setting  of  it  forth  in  Israel  is  thoroughly  in 
accordance  with  what  is  thus  emphasized,  that 
what  Jehovah  does  (vers.  22,  32)  He  does  for  His 
own  sake.  For  God's  holiness  is  "the  real  in- 
trinsic ideality  of  God,  His  hai-moniousness  of 
essence,  as  it  manifests  itself  also  in  this,  that 
He  makes  Himself  known  in  a  church  of  His 
pure  divine  consciousness,  and  preserves  and 
perfects  this  church  in  the  ideality  of  its  pure 
essence,  until  by  it  the  world  is  restored  to  per- 
fection in  the  real  ideality,  the  personal  harmo- 
niousness  of  essence "  (P.  L.^NGE,  Pos.  Dogm. 
p.  95).  By  setting  forth  the  holiness  of  God, 
as  is  done  in  our  chapter,  Ezekiel  puts  himself  in 
harmony  with  Isaiah  (p.  41). 

9.  Lange  observes  on  the  holiness  of  God,  that 
the  concept  of  it  is  "  mediated  to  us  through  the 
Old  Testament  almost  more  than  any  other 
concept ;  "  "  the  leading  thought  of  the  Hebrew 
view  of  the   world   is   holiness  ;   the    {>'iTp,    or 

^X"ib"  EHTpi  is  He  who  is  pure  in  essence,  true 

to  Himself,  corresponding  to  His  name. "  Lange 
finds  the  "niythologico-typical  reflection  "  of  holi- 
ness in  ideality,  the  "leading  thought  of  the 
Hellenic  view  of  the  world,"  just  as  he  calls 
"  the  Greek  culture  the  mythologico-typical 
counterpart  of  the  theocracy." 

10.  Because  love,  which  is  God,  is  holy,  break- 
ing of  the  law,  ami  still  more  the  dishonom-ing 
of  divine  benefits,  as  in  ver.  16  sq. ,  can  expect 
no  support  or  inclulgeuce  in  Him,  the  righteous 

■  God,  the  ' '  Founder  and  Guardian  of  right " 
(L.\nge).  Since  He  as  the  "Holy  One,"  who  is 
the  absolute  opposite  of  the  evil,  can  originate 
nothing  evil,  so  contrariety  to  Him  as  such,  and 
especially  misuse  of  His  gifts,  here  of  the  land, 
can  find  no  encouragement  with  the  "Holy  One 
of  Israel,"  the  Giver  of  righteous  recompense. 
Since  the  native  land  of  a  people,  especially  like 
Israel,  may  be  misused  as  the  Soj  fie,  5r»i/  /mn  in 
relation  to  heaven  or  higher  interests  than  the 
earth,  the  corresponding  righteous  opposition  and 
reaction  of  the  holiness  of  God  will  be  either 
deterioration  of  such  a  land  (failure  of  crops  and 
the  like),  or  expulsion  of  the  people  from  it,  or 
both.  So,  too,  the  earth  must  finally  pass  away 
for  mankind,  although  for  the  people  of  God 
there  is  hope  of  a  "  new  earth."  The  latter  gives 
prool  of  (iod's  truth  and  faithfulness,  which, 
keeping  promise,  provides  for  the  need  of  finite 
.spirits  not  only  a  corporeity,  but  also  a  locality 
in  harmony  therewith,  according  to  the  purpose 
of  His  wise  and  holy  will ;  and  perhaps  this  is 
typified  also  in  Israel's  possession  of  the  land  in 
the  signification  of  their  native  land.  But  with 
God  not  only  is  goodness  accompanied  by  justice, 
as  that  according  to  which  God  gave  Israel  scope 
and  opportunity  to  expel  (exile)  themselves  from 
their  land  among  the  heathen — just  as  man  can 
procure  hell  for  himself — and  thus  left  as  well  as 
gave  their  right  to  Israel,  but  divine  justice  as 
revelation  of  God's  holiness  is  more  than  mere 
retriliution  ;  it  becomes  on  and  in  the  sinner  self- 
sanctification  of  God. 


11.  As  the  Holy  One,  Jehovah  is  the  God  o) 
Israel  (Lev.  xi.  44  sq. ) ;  and  it  is  only  in  keeping 
with  this  relation  that  Israel,  His  people,  have 
to  appear  before  Him,  not  merely  in  symbolica! 
but  still  more  in  legal  moral  purity  of  lite,  above 
all  in  that  they  keep  themselves  religiously  jiure 
from  idols.  It  is  not  only  this  mutual  relation 
that  results  to  Israel  from  the  fact  that  their  God 
is  the  Holy  One,  but  also  that,  so  long  as  the 
relation  of  the  Holy  One  to  Israel  has  not  ceased, 
in  like  manner  the  holiness  of  this  people  is  not 
to  be  surrendered  ;  hence  that,  as  on  them  by  exile 
and  by  restoration,  so  in  them  Jehovah  will 
sanctify  His  name  or  Himself.  "  The  command: 
Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy,  contains  (says  Haver- 
nick)  at  the  same  time  the  promise  of  the  realiza- 
tion of  a  holy  kingdom  of  God  as  surely  as  God 
Himself  is  holy.  But  God  reveals  Himself  as  the 
Holy  One  not  merely  in  condenming  evil  and 
destroying  the  oft'ender,  but  also  in  the  extirpa- 
tion of  evil  and  the  transformation  and  renewal 
of  the  sinner  by  virtue  of  a  new  di^nne  breath  of 
life,  the  spiritual  creation  of  God  in  man. " 

12.  Sanctification  implies  in  general  that  some- 
thing is  removed  from  its  common  worldly  rela- 
tions. Since  this  does  not  usually  take  place 
without  reference  to  sinful  concomitants,  the 
symbolical  act  of  washing  readily  connects  itself 
with  sanctification ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  to  have 
a  merely  negative  interpretation,  as  "annulling 
of  the  false  profane  world-relation  of  the  object  " 
(L.A.NGE),  especially  when,  as  here  in  Ezekiel,  no 
mention  is  made  of  the  positive  symbol  o! 
anointing  :  which,  moreover,  does  not  symbolize 
induction  into  the  service  of  the  Lord,  the 
"  restoration  of  the  true  religious  world-relation,  ' 
but  the  divine  equipment  for  the  service  of  the 
Lord.  Even  in  itself,  and  still  more  from  its 
thus  standing  alone,  washing  will  represent  puri- 
fication, which  is  consecration. 

1 3.  Jehovah  sanctifies  Himself  on  Israel  before 
the  eyes  of  the  rest  of  the  world  (ver.  23 'i,  in  that 
by  taking  and  gathering  Israel  out  of  all  nations 
and  countries  He  actually  places  them  again  as 
His  people  in  the  land  of  promise  (ver.  24). 
Jehovah  sanctifies  Himself  in  Israel,  hence  in 
Israel's  own  consciousness,  by  making  them  ex- 
perience, as  a  fresh  national  dedication,  a  moral 
and  religious  purification.  The  expressions  em- 
plpyed  are  to  he  interpreted  as  referring  to  the 
nation  as  such,  and  not  to  single  individuals  ;  we 
have  not  so  much  to  understand  spiritual  states 
of  mind  as  to  think  of  national  regeneration. 
But  if  what  has  been  already  remarked  on  ch. 
xi.  suflices  as  to  the  letter  for  our  chapter  also 
and  ch.  xviii.,  the  sprinkling  of  the  clean 
water  in  ver.  25  symbolizes  the  national  moral 
and  religious  cleansing  of  Israel,  and  the  "new 
heart"  in  ver.  26  is  nothing  else  than  a  "heart 
of  flesh"  instead  of  a   "heart  of  stone"  in  the 

flesh ;  yet  in  ver.  27  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  (Till). 

which  the  "new  spirit"  within  Israel  is  inter- 
preted to  mean,  points  beyond  ch.  xi.  19  (ch. 
xviii.  31) ;  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  appears  as  the 
spirit  of  Israel,  just  as  "God  as  Spirit  of  the 
Church  and  indweUer  in  the  human  heart  is  pre- 
eminently the  Holy  One  "  (NiTZSCH).  And 
although  ver.  25  sq.  in  relation  to  ver.  8  sq.  may 
he  taken  as  complement  of  the  promise  given 
there,  or  even  as  the  condition  for  the  promised 
inheritance  continuing  to  the  children,  and  htncf 


CHAP.  XXXVI. 


343 


parallel  thereto  (ver.  24  carrying  out  the  declara- 
tion: "for  they  draw  neai-  to  come,"  ver.  8),  yet 
we  are  not  hindered  from  making  the  Messianic 
salvation  of  the  people,  as  the  true  and  full  sanc- 
tification  of  Jehovah  in  as  \vell  as  on  them,  shine 
forth  behind  all  this  (p.  24),  and  the  "clean 
Trater"  of  ver.  25  approximates  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  (Joel  ii.  28  sq.).     Comp.  Umbreit. 

14.  "  The  trae  essence  of  the  Messianic  time," 
says  Havemick.  "its  very  kernel,  from  which 
all  its  other  blessings  flow,  and  its  entire  glory 
unfolds  itself,  is  the  purification  of  the  people. 
At  the  time  of  Christ  this  idea  was  deeply  rooted 
in  the  national  consciousness,  and  Jolm  the 
Baptist  unquestionably  adapted  to  it  his  rite  of 
lustration,  the  ^a-rrtTfia  vr,;  filTanias.' 

15.  Jesus  could  (John  iii.  5)  refer  to  ver.  25 
sq.  of  our  chapter,  namely,  that  water  and  spirit 
are  requisite  for  regeneration  for  the  kingdom  of 
God,  which  truth  the  master  in  Israel  (ver.  10) 
sliould  have  known.  "  For  Ezekiel  teaches  here 
in  clear  words  that  Israel  had  to  receive  another 
and  new  heart  and  spirit — that  it  had  to  be 
sprinkled  with  clean  water  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Thus  should  a  master  in  Israel  liave  known 
regarding  water  and  spirit  in  this  relation " 
(CoccEius). 

16.  "Striking  is  the  word  of  the  prophet,  and 
pointing  exactly  to  the  times  of  Christian  fulfil- 
ment,— the  people  of  the  new  planting  shall 
never  again  experience  the  reproach  of  nunger 
among  the  heathen.  A  deep  saying,  when  we 
divest  it  of  its  allegorical  covering,  and  under- 
stand by  it  the  eternal  appeasing  of  hunger  of 
spirit.  It  was  indeed  a  reproach  to  Israel,  that, 
nourished  as  they  were  by  the  divine  food  of  life 
in  the  words  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  they 
went  after  the  imaginary  gods  of  the  heathen, 
and,  being  carried  away  into  the  countries  of 
strangers,  were  obliged  to  suffer  hunger  in  a  dry 
land,"  etc.  (Umbkeit). 

HOMILETIC  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  The  mountains  of  Israel  not  only 
figures,  but  also  places  of  the  promises  to  Israel. 
— Word  and  name  of  the  Lord  ;  the  former  the 
revelation  of  His  will,  the  latter  the  revelation 
of  His  nature. ^Ver.  2.  "Thus  they  mocked  at 
the  promises  of  God,  as  if  their  eternity  were 
now  come  to  an  end  "  (Berl.  Bib.  ).  — The  scorn  of 
the  world  an  old  experience. — "Thus  were  the 
prophets  and  Christ  reproached,  and  the  Lord 
said  that  men  would  speak  all  manner  of  nvil 
against  His  disciples.  Matt.  v.  11,  and  Paul,  that 
we  should  be  a  spectacle  to  the  world,  1  Cor.  iv. 
9"  (Heim-Hoffmann). — "All  things  may  and 
shall  work  for  good  to  Christians,  Rom.  viii.  28  " 
(Cf..). — The  wicked  also  shall  have  an  eternity, 
but  of  what  kind  ?  Just  the  eternity  into  the 
possession  of  which  they  have  put  themselves, 
according  as  their  works  deserve,  as  death  is  the 
wages  of  sin. — Ver.  3  sq.  God  knows,  sees,  and 
hears  the  misery  of  His  children  ;  that  must 
comfort  them,  therefore  they  cannot  despair. — ■ 
"  How  ready  men  often  are  not  only  to  count  up 
the  sufferings  of  others,  but  also  in  their  talk  to 
exaggerate  them  stiU  more  !  "  (Starck.) — Ver.  5 
sq.  What  God  calls  His  cannot  be  lost  for  ever. 
He  is  jealous  with  but  also  for  His  possession. — 
God  lets  His  people  be  stricken  only  by  w^hom 
He  will ;  one  cannot  simply  open  the  mouth  and 


devour  them  at  pleasure.  — Ver.  8  sq.  '  •  Thuf 
shall  the  ruined  churches  bring  fruit,  wine,  asd 
bread,  that  is,  the  mysteries  of  doctrine,  to  the 
profit  of  the  people,  that  they  may  no  longer  bt 
rude  and  ignorant,  but  a  people  taught  of  God 
Therefore  the  spiritual  husbandmen,  vine-dressers, 
till  and  sow  diligently.  With  the  plougli  of  feai 
thay  turn  up  the  soil  of  the  heart,  in  which  they 
sow  the  new  word  of  the  gospel,  whereby  the 
for-saken  churches  become  planted  anew :  and 
these  are  the  mountains  which  the  Lord  addresses  " 
(Heim-Hoff.manx). — "  When  He  appeared  in 
the  holy  land  who  could  say  of  Himself,  '  Come 
unto  Mc,  ye  who  labour  and  are  hea\-y  laden,'  He 
far  outshone  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  "  ( H  f.xgst.  ). 
— "The  wicked  have  no  cause  to  rejoice  over  the 
chastisement  of  God's  children,  Jer.  xlviii.  27  ' 
(Staeke).— "The  affairs  of  the  people  cf  God 
are  never  in  so  bad  a  state  that  God  sliould  be 
unable  to  set  them  right  again  ;  nay,  experience 
has  taught  that  the  Church  after  persecution 
only  increases  so  much  the  more"  (0. ). — "They 
are  far  wTOng  who  consider  a  great  increase  ot 
men  as  a  curse,  because  it  gives  rise  to  want  and 
distress.  God  can  nourish  many  as  well  as  few, 
and  we  should  live  moderately,  avoid  endeavour- 
ing to  surpass  others  in  expenditure,  and  seek  for 
concord  in  families,  etc."  (Luther). — Ver.  12 
sq.  "  The  promised  good  is  always  to  be  under- 
stood with  the  condition  that  men  repent,  Mai. 
iii.  7"  (Starke). — "The  self-evident  condition 
is,  that  they  do  not  fill  up  the  measure  of  their 
sins  anew.  There  is  no  charter  of  immunity 
against  Ye  would  not"  (Hexgst.). — "How 
often  is  the  country  or  a  district  made  to  hear 
the  blame  when  there  comes  a  pestilence  among 
men  or  cattle,  when,  however,  it  should  be  known 
that  sin  gaining  the  upper  hand  provoked  God's 
WTath  thereto  "  (0.). — "As  already  observed  by 
Jerome,  the  Jews  refer  this  to  a  kingdom  of  a 
thousand  years,  when  Jerusalem  shall  be  built 
and  the  temple  of  the  latter  chapters  of  our  pro- 
phet erected  ;  while  in  the  opinion  of  others,  the 
fulfilment  took  place  under  Zerubbabel,  which 
cannot  possibly  be  the  case,  as  also  Jerome  grants, 
and  then  compares  the  Christian  Chiliasts  with 
the  Jewish  dreamers  of  their  millennium.  Hence 
we  must  abide  by  the  spiritual  interpretation 
regarding  these  blessings  promised  to  the  people, 
to  which  we  are  directed  besides  by  Christ  and 
the  apostles"  (Luther). 

Ver.  16  sq.  "Man's  previous  course  of  action 
is  the  cause  of  God's  subsequent  course  of  action, 
Jer.  ii.  19"  (Stakke). — "  The  goodness  of  God 
inrites  us  to  repentance,  but  not  to  evil-doing 
and  pride  "  (Stakck). — We  shall  have  to  give 
account  not  only  because  of  the  evil  which  wf 
have  done,  but  also  for  the  good  tilings  which 
we  have  had. — The  earth  should  not  be  full  cf 
wickedness  and  folly,  but  full  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  and  of  love  unfeigned. — "The  world 
is  perfect  throughout  where  man  does  not  come 
in  to  disturb  it." — In  our  impure  acting  our 
impure  nature  also  always  comes  forth.  Storms 
clear  the  air,  an  observation  which  bears  applica- 
tion in  regard  to  the  judgments  of  God. — Ver. 
19.  The  scattering  power  of  sin  ;  in  truth,  it 
scatters  the  souls  of  men  into  the  whole  world, 
and  that  is  already  their  judgment  which  sinner." 
have  to  experience. — Ver.  20.  With  the  sinner 
goes  also  his  curse,  his  other  shadow. — Our  mis- 
fortunes and  mistakes  are  very  often  God's  sen- 


$46 


EZEKIEL. 


tence  on  our  transgressions,  which,  indeed,  are 
best  known  to  Him  and  ourselves.  — How  much 
blasphemy  against  God  and  offence  against  the 
truth  do  not  those  very  persons  occasion  who  are 
called  to  make  God's  word  and  name  honoured, 
acknowledged,  and  exalted  above  the  world !  — 
To  have  regai-d  to  the  enemy, — a  point  to  be  well 
attended  to  for  the  walk  of  the  friends  of  God  in 
this  world. — "Thus  this  chapter  teaches  us  how 
the  first  petition  of  the  Lord's  prayer  should  be 
understood.  The  naiue  of  the  Lord,  to  wit,  is 
hallowed  as  well  by  the  prosperity  of  the  elect, 
which  may  obtain  even  under  the  cross,  as  by 
their  purification  from  sin"  (Richteu).  —  A  bad 
life  ought  not  to  put  good  doctrine  in  question. 
— Ver.  21  .sq.  God  His  own  justification  in  this 
world  (Theodicy). — "Gdd  sanctifies  His  name 
among  men  by  benefits  as  well  as  by  judgments 
and  punishments"  (Starck).  — "  So  saints  are 
accustomed  to  pray  who  put  no  trust  in  their 
own  merit,  but  humbly  entreat  God  to  look  to 
His  own  name,  that  it  may  be  praised  and 
sanctified.  But  Christ  is  the  holy  name  of  God, 
for  wliose  sake  God  is  gracious  to  us  ;  whoever 
calls  uptm  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved  " 
(Heim-Hoffmann). 

Ver.  24.  We  shall  come  home  out  of  this 
world. — Gathering  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
scattering  of  this  world  is  of  the  grace  of  God. — 
Ver.  25  sq.  "  It  is  God  alone  who  can  truly  con- 
vert us  to  Himself,  and  purify  our  hearts  by  His 
almighty  Spirit,  Jer.  xxxi.  18"  (TiJB.  Bib.). — 
"Without  true  purification  from  sin  no  one  can 
come  into  real  union  and  communion  with  God, 
Isa.  i.  16  sq."  (Starke). — "No  unclean  person 
shall  enter  into  the  New  Jerusalem,  Rev.  xxii., 
hence  our  cleansing  has  to  take  place  in  this 
life  "  (Starck). — "  Purification  must  precede  the 
filling  of  men  with  the  new  spirit.  David  in  the 
first  place  supplicates  God  to  wash  him  quite 
clean  from  his  guilt,  and  then  prays  for  the  crea- 
tion in  him  of  a  clean  heart  and  of  a  new  sted- 
f:ist  spirit,  Ps.  li."  (Umbreit).  —  "The  prophets 
frequently  reproach  the  Jews,  as  a  stiff-necked 
people,  that  they  will  not  hearken  to  the  word  of 
the  Lord.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  a  heart  and 
spirit  which  shall  be  new  is  promised  to  them, 
that  they  may  not  henceforth  live  after  their 
former  custom,  but  begin  a  new  manner  of  life, 
so  that  the  old  and  disobedient  heart  of  stone 
may  become  the  new  but  pliant  and  submissive 
heart"  (Luther).  —  "The  heart  of  stone  does 
not  bear  bending  according  to  God's  will,  whereas 
the  heart  of  flesh  is  soft,  and  of  such  a  texture 
that  God  can  impress  into  its  understanding  a 
living  knowledge,  into  its  will  a  voluntary 
obedience,  and  into  the  inclinations  a  holy  order  " 
(Starke). — "Our  heart  and  inward  parts  are 
designed  to  be  occupied  as  an  abode  by  God  Him- 
self, John  xiv.  23  "  (Starck). — For  the  furniture 
with  which  God  is  accustomed  to  furnish  His 


abode  in  man,  see  Gal.  v.  22. — "Of  tlesh  and 
fleshly  (carnal)  are  two  different  things  ;  the 
former  may  be  dealt  with,  the  latter  becomes 
always  harder"  (Starck). — "The  new  birth 
does  not  consist  in  annihilating  the  man,  nor  in 
the  entire  removal  of  sinful  corruption  and  of  the 
old  Adamic  disposition,  but  in  the^reation  of  an 
entirely  new  disposition  and  nature,  2  Cor.  v.  17; 
Gal.  vi.  15;  Ephes.  iv.  24"  (Starke). — "God 
gives  the  Holy  Ghost  and  all  the  riches  of  grace 
not  for  gold,  but  He  gives  all  things  without 
price  to  all  who  ask  Him  for  them,  Isa.  Iv. " 
(Cr.).— Ver.  27.  "The  Holy  Ghost  is  not  in- 
active in  the  regenerate,  but  active  and  power- 
ful, Rom.  viii.  15  sq.  "  (Starke). — First  the 
inward  and  then  the  outward  change'  is  God's 
order,  while  we  men  always  proceed  in  the  re- 
verse order. — "What  good,  however,  a  iiian 
does  is  not  his,  but  God's  work  in  him,  Phil:  ii. 
13"  (Starke). 

Ver.  28  sq.  To  the  heavenly  among  men  there 
is  no  lack  even  on  earth  ;  to  him  who  has  what 
alone  is  worth  having  nothing  shall  be  wanting. 
— So  long  as  Christ  was  not  born  in  the  land  of 
promise,  the  land  of  promise  had  to  be  also  the 
home  of  Israel.  Since  the  time  that  Christ  is  in 
heaven,  only  heaven  can  be  the  true  home  of  the 
true  Israel. — "The  regenerate  man  stands  in  the 
covenant  of  grace  with  God"  (Starke). — Ver. 
30.  God  wQl  not  only  finally  redeem  us  from  all 
distress  of  body  and  soul,  but  will  also  free  us  from 
all  reproach;  so,  then,  we  do  not  in  vain  believe  in 
a  resurrection  of  the  body  and  an  eternal  life. — 
Ver.  31.  In  conversion  man  regains  his  memory. 
— A  man  can  be  of  good  courage  when  he  loathes 
himself. — Loathing  is  not  a  sign  of  sickness  only, 
but  in  matters  spiritual  it  is  a  sign  of  conva- 
lescence.— The  loathing  of  oneself,  the  requital  of 
self-complacency. — Our  lile  must  become  sorrow 
to  us,  otherwise  sorrow  will  not  become  life  to  us. 
— Ver.  32  sq.  Grace  works  shame,  and  so  much 
the  more  as  it  makes  the  wilderness  a  paradise, 
the  beggar  a  king,  and  the  sinner  a  priest. — 
"Blessed  shame"  (Sciisiieder). — We  boast  of 
nothing  in  Christ,  and  we  boast  of  all  things.  — 
Ver.  35  sq.  The  last  sentence  of  the  world  on 
the  people  of  God  will  be  its  own  self-condemna- 
tion, just  as  it  will  be  our  justification.  It  will 
not  be  in  vain  that  we  have  comforted  ourselves 
with  God  in  this  world. — Our  help  stands  in  ths 
name  of  the  Lord. — The  comfort  of  the  Church, 
that  God  is  Builder  and  Planter. — "Yea,  this  is 
the  honour  of  the  holy  name  of  God.  He,  the 
Creator,  who  created  what  was  not,  is  also  th<! 
Restorer,  who  creates  anew  that  which  was  ruined 
and  laid  waste  by  the  guilt  of  disobedient  crea 
tures"  (Schmieder). — Ver.  37  so.  "But  th*. 
men  of  this  flock  shall  also  be  as  the  sheep,  thai, 
is,  no  wild  beasts  shall  be  among  them  ;  hence  it 
follows  that  God  will  purify  His  Church  from 
these  noxious  animals"  (Cocc). 


The  Vision  of  the  Resurrection  and  Re-quickening  of  the  Dead  Bones,  and  the 
Symbolical  Action  with  the  One  Stick  out  of  the  Two  Sticks,  along  with  tub 
Interpretation  (Ch.  xxxvii.). 


1  The   hand   of    Jehovah   was   upon   me,  and   [as]   Jehovah  took  me  out 
in  the  Spirit  and  made  me  rest  [brought  me,  set  me  down]  in  the   midst  of   the 

2  valley,  and  it  was  full  of  hones.     And  He  led  me  over  by  them  round  about, 
and  behold,  [there  were]  very  many  on  the  surface  of  the  valley,  and  behold 


CHAP.  XXXVII.  347 


3  [ti.cy  wtie]  very  dry.      And  He  said  to  me,  Son  of   man,   will  these   bonea 

4  live  [become  alive]  1  And  1  Said,  Ijord  Jeho\ah,  Thou  knowest.  And  He  said 
to  me,  Prophesy  over  these  bones,  and  say  to  them.  Ye  dry  bones,  hear  the 

5  word  of  Jehovah,     Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  these  bones.  Behold,  I 

6  bring  spirit  into  you,  and  ye  live.  And  I  give  sinews  on  you,  and  make 
flesh  to  come  up  over  you,  and  cover  you  with  skin,  and  give  breath  in  you,  and 

7  ye  live,  and  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  I  prophesied  as  I  was  com- 
manded ;  and  there  came  a  voice  as  I  prophesied,  and  behold,  a  rustling,  and 

8  the  bones  drew  near,  bone  to  his  bone.  And  I  looked,  and  behold,  sinews 
and  flesh  came  up  on  them,  and  skin  covered  them  from  above,  yet  breath 

9  [wa~]  not  in  them.  And  He  said  to  me.  Prophesy  to  the  Spirit ;  prophesy, 
son  of  man,  and  say  to  the  Spirit,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Come  from 
the  four  winds,  thou  Spirit,  and  breathe  into  these  slain,  that  they  may  live 

10  [i.ecome  alive].  And  I  prophcsied  as  He  commanded  me,  and  the  Spirit  came 
into  them,  and  they  lived  [became  aiive],  and  stood  upon  their  feet  a  very  great 

1 1  army.  And  He  said  to  me.  Son  of  marn,  these  bones  [aie]  the  whole  house  of 
Israel ;  Behold,  they  say,  our  bones  were  dried  and  our  hope  perished,  for  us, 

12  we  are  undone.  Therefore  prophesy,  and  say  to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Behold,  I  open  your  graves,  and  lead  you  up  out  of  your  graves, 

13  My  people,  and  bring  you  to  the  land  of  Israel.  And  ye  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah,  when  I  open  your  graves  and  lead  you  up  out  of  your  graves.  My 

14  people ;  And  I  give  My  Spirit  Ln  you,  and  ye  live,  and  I  bring  you  to  rest 
upon  your  land,  and  ye  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  spoke  and  did — sentence  of 

15,  16  Jehovah.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying.  And  thou,  son  of 
man,  take  to  thee  a  stick,  and  write  on  it,  For  Judah  and  for  the  sons  of 
Israel,  his  associates ;  and  take  another  stick,  and  write  on  it,  For  Joseph,  the 

17  stick  of  Ephraim,  and  of  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  his  associates.  And  bring 
them  near  the  one  to  the  other  for  thee  into  one  stick,  that  they  may  be 

18  [become]  onc  in  thy  hand.     And  when  the  sons  of  thy  people  shall  speak  to 

19  thee,  saying.  Wilt  thou  not  show  us  what  these  [sticiw]  are  to  thee^  Then  say 
to  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  take  the  stick  of  Joseph, 
which  is  in  the  hand  of  Ephraim,  and  the  tribes  of  Israel  his  associates,  and 
put  them  on  it,  that  is,  the  stick  of  Judah,  and  make  them  one  stick,  that 

20  they  may  be  one  in  My  hand.     And  the  sticks  on  whioli  thou  shalt  write  are 

21  in  thy  hand  before  their  eyes.  And  say  to  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Behold,  I  take  the  sons  of  Israel  out  from  among  the  heathen, 
whither  they  went,  and  gather  them  from  round  about,  and  bring  them  to 

22  their  land.  And  I  make  them  one  people  in  the  land,  on  the  mountains  of 
Israel,  and  one  king  shall  be  king  to  them  all ;  and  they  [there]  shall  no  more 
be  two  peoples,  and  they  shall  never  again  be  divided  into  two  kingdoms. 

23  And  they  shall  no  more  defile  themselves  with  their  foul  idols,  and  with  their 
detestable  things,  and  with  all  their  transgressions ;  and  I  help  them  from  all 
their  dwelling-places  where  they  have  sinned,  and  cleanse  them,  and  they 

24  shall  be  My  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God.  And  My  servant  David  shall 
be  king  over  them,  and  one  shepherd  shall  be  to  them  all ;  and  they  shall 

25  walk  in  My  judgments,  and  shall  keep  My  statutes,  and  do  them.  And  they 
dwell  upon  the  land  which  I  gave  to  My  servant  Jacob,  in  which  your  fathers 
dwelt,  and  they  dwell  on  it,  they  and  their  sons,  and  their  sons'  sons,  for  ever, 

26  and  David  My  servant  [is]  prince  to  them  for  ever.  And  I  make  for  them  a 
covenant  of  peace,  an  everlasting  covenant  [covenant  of  eternity]  shall  be  with 
them ;  and  I  give  them  and  multiply  them,  and  give  My  sanctuary  in  their 

27  midst  for  ever.     And  My  dwelling  is  over  them,  and  I  am  their  God  and 

28  they  shall  be  My  people.  And  the  heathen  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  sanstifj 
Israel,  in  that  My  sanctuary  is  in  their  midst  for  ever. 

Ver.  1.  Vulg. :  .  ,  ,  in  spiritu  domini — 

Ver.  6,  Sept.:  .  .  .  its  yuxe  tntutut  C«^f. 

Ver.  6.  .  .  .  nvpst  .  ■  .  tr^iv/jM.  td^u  i^'  iii^at— 

Vet.  7.  moLimt  itmAxrc  /ui  nvfm—    (Another  reading :  ^y\)S  *IK'K3,  Syr.,  Vulg.,  Anbi.) 


518 


EZEKIKL. 


Ver.    9.  .   .  .  «.  ifd,fur*]iro*  iU  r.  ntxpov;  iovT6tji  at.  ^n^etrmrett. 
Ver.  10.    .    .   .    ffiivotyatyy:  u^yoL^n  ff^oipec. 
Ver.  11.    .        .    htXTltanir,KttU.tt. 
Ver.  14.   ...   X.  Gy.ffofiUti  litjutf  iiTi  t.  yr,t  ipuav — 
Ver.  16.  .      .  foL^'hti  .  .  .  Touf  rparxfif^iva-ji  irp»t  xutm. 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  vs  p.  /cwa»  Toy  Jii^ai  aiiTxi .  «.  imrxt  £»  T.  x*'^'  ""•    tAnother  reading:  plur.  ^n*3.) 
Ver.  19.  Sept. :  .  .  .  rnv  fuXviv  'iMtni^  t*j»  iia.  x^'Pos  'E<ppeti/M  .  .  .  iTi  T.  ^yA»5i'  Tfly  'Iw5«  .  .  .  ty  T.  3;fi^i  'I»yJ«.     Vnlg. 
et  dabo  eas  pariter  cum  ligno  J.  .  .  .  inmantt^us.    (Anoth.  reading;  n*3.) 
Ver.  21.  Sept.:  .  .  .  X«/*Sa»4r  iroevTa  «r»ev 'I.  .  .  .  yt]v 'I. 
Ver.  22.  .   .  .  awToyj  £(>  ifl»ef  ev  t.  y*)  /«u — 

Ver.  23.  .  .  .  irtc  ^*j  .  .  .  £*  fl'f  r.fjucp'Tiira.Y  ey  auTWS,  ».  fy  T.  T^oo-ax^*^/**'"  «iT*y  *.  .  .  .  ixc  (r«(r«y  T.  cLvof^mr  «f 
i<«.tT(iir«y  l»  «ilT«it—    (Another  reading :  DiTyCB  et  Arabs.) 

Ver.  24.    .    .    .    ApxtUV  it  fAtm  OLIJTIM    .   .    .    OTi  sy  — 
Ver.  25.   .   .    .   ol  retrlpn  atuTan — 

Ver.  28.  Sept. ;  .  .  .  o  ecyixXoiv  xutous — 


EXEGETICAL  KEMAKKS. 

The  two  sections  of  the  chapter,  vers.  1-14  and 
vers.  15-28,  are  already  distinguished  by  the 
introductory  formula  (vers.  1,  15) ;  still  more 
decidedly  by  their  difference  of  form, — first  a 
vision,  and  then  a  symbolic  action  ;  as  also  by 
their  contents,  which,  however,  with  all  their 
diversity,  show  the  most  intimate  connection^ 
what  in  the  first  section  is  prophesied  of  the 
whole  of  Israel  is  in  the  second  ratified  by  pro- 
mise in  relation  to  the  parts.  [Hencst. :  "the 
restoration  of  Israel  as  a  covenant-people,  and  the 
restoration  of  Israel  as  a  brotherhood."]  The  re- 
Huickening  and  reunion  of  Israel.  The  interpre- 
tation is  connected  with  both  prophetic  sections 
of  our  chapter,  appended  (vers.  11-14)  to  the 
first,  while  in  the  second  it  is  given  along  with 
the  prophecy.  The  connection  with  ch.  xxx.  is 
apparent  from  the  close  of  that  chapter,  ver.  24  sq. 

Vers.  1-10.   The  Quickening  o/tJie  Bones  in  the 
Valley. 

Ver.  1.  nn'n,  comp.  ch.  i.  3  (vijy  «nm)  and 
ch.  xxxiii.  22   (i^j<  rUTTl).      Although   not  the 

stronger  introductory  formula  (as  in  ch.  viii.  1), 
yet  the  description  given  of  Ezekiel's  condition 
is  sufficient  simply  to  set  aside  a  mere  "product 
of  poetical  intuition"  (Hitzio).  "The  abrupt 
commencement  without  and  "  is,  according  to 
Hengstenberg,  meant  to  point  out  that  ' '  the  fact 
here  related  is  e.xtraordinary,  and  out  of  connec- 
tion with  the  usual  prophetic  activity."  ["As 
the  subject  itself  is  a  quite  unusual  one,  so  also 
the  description  is  such  as  Ezekiel  never  elsewhere 
draws.  Such  a  never  -  seen  sight  is  seen  by 
itself  in  a  moment  of  higher  inspiration,  or 
never,"  EwALn.]  As  the  Vulgate,  so  also  Hitzig, 
against  the  accent :  "  in  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  ;  " 
but  niiT  's  subject,  and  ^1^3  simply  :  i»  ■xmu/^d-n 

(Matt.  x.\ii.  43),  in  contra.st  to  iy  truftitri  (2  Cor. 
xii.  2),  to  which  it  is  easy  to  supply  D<n?S  (ch. 

xi.  24),  which  (as  Keil  justly  observes)  was 
omitted  because  of  the  nin'  (comp.  ch.  viii.  3). 

Ecstatic  state  in  which  he  was  inwardly  trans- 
ported from  the  things  around  him.  — The  valley 
can  only  b.  the  one  mentioned  in  ch.  iii.  22, 
when  we  consider  that  those  wlio  speak  in  ver.  11 
were  settled  there  in  the  neiglibourhood,  and 
lonsequently  could  be  represented  as  the  bones 


in  the  valley.  At  all  events,  it  is  not  a  valley  iu 
general,  but  a  certain  valley  ;  and  if  nothing  else, 
that  (K'Dl)  which  was  full  of  bones.  Hengsten- 
berg points  out  the  contrast  to  the  mountain  (ch. 
xvii.  22),  the  "  lowness  of  condition  "  !  Hitzig- 
' '  The  valley  is  fitted  to  represent  a  huge  grave  ; ' 
but  the  thought  is  less  of  graves  than  of  theii 

opposite  (<3a"?J?,  ver.  2),  namely,  that  the  slain 

(ver.  9)  have  remained  unburied,  their  bones  bleach 
and  dry  there. — The  bones  are  men's  bones  (Isa. 
Ixvi.  14)  ;  in  the  connection  here  ;  the  remains  of 
the  slain,  abundance  of  which  might  be  in  the 
disturbed  districts  of  Judah  ;  acrording  to  the 
Talmudists  :  slain  Ephraimite.s,  1  C'hron.  vii.  20 
sq.  Looking  from  the  midst  of  the  valley,  he 
could  warrant  that  it  was  full  of  bones. — Ver.  2. 

DH'^y,   °^6r  ''y  them,  or   "over  past  them;" 

hence  not :  "  over,"  to  tread  them  with  the  feet,  or 
to  hover  over  them,  bnt ;  round  about,  so  tliat  he 
might  be  able  to  view  them  exactly,  as  the  re- 
peated   njni,   as  the  result  of  such  inspection, 

brings  to  view  the  very  many  and  their  being 
very  dry,  neither  sap  nor  strength  in  them. 
Comp.  moreover,  ch.  vi.  [Ewald  refers  for  "the 
rapid  narration,  with  its  constant  fall  into  the 
present,"  to  his  Grammar,  §  342  b.] 

The  question  in  Ver.  3  is  fitted  to  bring  the 
prophet,  and,  through  him,  his  hearers  and 
readers,  to  the  consciousness  of  the  impossibility 
presented  to  human  eyes  (son  of  man) ;  and  con- 
sidering the  words  uttered  by  Israel  (ver.  11),  its 
intention  doubtless  is  to  bring  out  the  despair  of 
the  people,  in  order  to  make  room  in  their  hearts 
for  the  prophecy  of  salvation  (ver.  12).  Ezekiel's 
answer  refers  the  matter  to  God  (Rev.  vii.  14),  for 
with  God  there  is  no  impossibility,  unless  He  wills 
it,  and  that  God  alone  can  know.  Comp.  on  this 
point  Isa.  xxvi.  19.— Ver.  4.  "When  Ezekiel  is 
summoned  to  prophesy  over  the  bones,  their 
future,  asked  (ver.  3)  by  Jehovah  in  relation  to 
them,  comes  to  \'iew  as  an  affair  of  Jehovah's,  ol 
His  counsel,  will,  and  purpose  ;  they  may  there- 
fore be  addressed   (DfT'i'X  't38<l)>   however  dry 

they  are.  Grotius  observes  :  so  much  the  more 
as  the  prisoners  in  the  exile  are  to  be  understood. 
— The  word  of  Jehovah  (ch.  xxxvi.  1,  4)  mediates 
the  salvation,  the  life  to  be  prophesied.  Henca 
not  see,  for  then  death,  and  nothing  but  dfath, 
will  come  to  view.  In  Ezekiel's  vision  aL  de 
pends  on  "hearing;''  recognise  God's  word,  and 


CHAP.  XXXVII.  5-9. 


MS 


h-ust  to  it  (John  iv.  48,  xx.  19).  This,  at  the 
Marae  time,  legitimates  as  divine  the  word  of 
Ezekiel's  prophetic  announcement.  The  tenor, 
however,  of  the  divine  word — Jehovah  announces 
wliat  will  take  place,  what  He  purposes  to  do 
(Amos  iii.  7) — loUows  in  Ver.  5.  What  is  said  to 
them  is,  from  the  certainty  of  its  being  accom- 
plished, in  reality  said  of  them,  as  njn  already 

formally  points  to  the  accomplishment.  —  nn, 
although  followed  by  Dn"ni  of  the  effect  gene- 
rally ou  the  whole,  is  yet  not  exactly  D"n  '"I 
of  Gen.  vi.   1",  or  'n  'TflDCJ  of  Gen.  vii.  22, 

"  breath  " ;  for  it  is  just  that  which  is  in  a  living 
being  that  is  here  left  out  of  view,  and,  in  contrast 
to  that  which  is  dried  np,  above  aU,  simply  the 
creative  divine  power,  hence  Bpirit  quite  objec- 
tively and  generally  is  contemplated.  ("  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  the  principle  of  all  real  life  in  the 
creaturely  existence,"  Hav. )  That  we  have  here 
another  order  (Hengst.)  than  in  the  execution 
(ver.  7  sq.)  is  not  the  case,  for  the  more  detailed 
description  which  follows  immediately  in  ver.  6 
presents  tlie  same  order  as  the  execution  follows. 
The  Spirit  also  does  not  press  forward  at  the 
beginning  as  the  (Hitzig*  chief  thing,  without 
which  the  rest,  the  merely  bodily  resurrection, 
is  of  no  importance  (Hengst.),  but  as   Dn"ni 


implies  :  "  tn  live  "  in  general,  without  separation 
for  the  present  into  political  and  spiritual,  so 
'T  D33  N'2D  '3S  introduces  the  divine  causality 

simply  as  first,  as  conditio  sine  qua  non.     The 

more  special  is  expressed — Ver.  6 — by  a  parallel 
'nrui;   and  afterwards  by  D'T3,   the  "binding 

matter,"  the  sinews,  and  by  the  making  of  "flesh 
to  come  up,"  and  by  the  Q-\p  (a  word  only  found 
in  Ezekiel),  with  skin,  the  outward  form  of  life  is 
completed,  from  which  the  spirit  which  enlivens 
the  flesh  is  distinguished,  but  is  as  yet  to  be  con- 
sidered as  natural,  now  as  breath,  the  individual 
life,  in  consequence  of  which  it  certainly  can  be  said : 
'cni'TV       ]5"t  tlis  spiritual  element,  although 

intimated  in  this,  is  first  expressly  stated  in  the 
interpretation  (ver.  14),  with  reference  back  to 
ch.  xxxvi.  27. 

The  prophecy,  in  accordance  with  the  command 
given  to  Ezekiel  (ver.  4),  is  not  limited  (as 
Hen'Gst.  )  in  Ver.  7  to  the  summons  to  the  bones 
to  "hear,"  sq.,  but  comprehends  al.so  what 
Jehovah  says  to  these  bones  in  vers.  5,  6  ;  for 
that  He  is  the  speaker  makes  the  saying  a  pro- 
phecy, although  to  prophesy  in  general  may  be 
said  to  mean  the  same  as:  "to  speak  in  the 
Spirit. " — The  voice  which  came  was  audible  ;  its 
simplest  interpretation  is  in  accordance  with  ch. 
i.  25.  The  prophet  was  to  prophesy;  what  Jehovah 
purposed  to  say  to  the  bones  (vers.  4-6),  the  pro- 
phet now  prophesies  ;  and  since  he  prophesies 
according  to  the  command,  Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
that  which  was  prophesied  to  the  bones  is  from 
God,  and  the  voice  is  to  be  understood  as  Jehovah's, 
from  whicli  the  New  Testament  representation  is 
perhaps  coloured  (John  v.  28),  and  neither  a 
" noise  "  nor  "sound  "  in  general-  anything  like 
*  thunder-clap  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  sub- 
lime and  orderly  connection — nor  in  particular  : 


"the  sound  of  a  trumpet."  Keil's  position,  that 
it  cannot  be  supposed  that  God  should  l>iud  His 
voice  of  power  to  the  prophecy  of  the  prophet,  has 
in  reaUty  no  significance.  On  the  jther  hand, 
he  is  right  in  referring  t;fjn  (ch.  iiL  12,  xii.  18) 

to  the  noise  by  which  the  eft'ect  of  the  word  of 
Jehovah  announced  itself  to  the  bones,  now  com- 
ing together  in  conssequence  thereof.  [Havernick 
makes  the  "  sound  "  pass  into  a  "  mighty  peal." 
Hitzig,  in  order  to  have  the  "  fitting  impulse  " 
from  the  ground,  translates  :  "  earthquake  " 
(Matt,  xxvii.  51),  under  reference  to  ch.  xxxviii. 
19.]  Gcd's  voice  of  power  is  followed  by  a  rust- 
ling, caused  by  the  bones  coming  rustling  up  from 
the  surface  of  the  valley.  Thereafter  {)  consecu- 
tive) "the  bones  come  together,"  which  may  be 
thus  distingtiished  from  what  follows,  that  it 
refers   to   whatever   belongs  to  one  body,  while 

'SJTPK  DVIJ  specializes  a  single  bone  in  relation 

to  another,  e.g.  the  upper  to  the  lower  part  of  the 
arm  (on  the  form  ^aipn,  see  Ew.\U),  Gr.  p.  505). 

["  This  may  also  be  interpreted  of  the  first  move- 
ments of  the  scattered  Israelites  in  the  various 
settlements  in  Chaldea,  and  their  assembling  for 
quiet  consultation,  where  the  members  of  the 
people  met  again  in  secret,"  Schmieder.] — Ver. 
8,  as  was  promised  in  ver.  6.  ["May  be  inter- 
preted of  Israel's  first  growth  in  hope,  conscious 
strength,  and  vigour,"  Schmieiiei;.]  The  re- 
mark that  yet  breath  was  not  in  them  may  ser\'e 
formally  for  the  dramatic  colouring  of  the  event 
in  the  representation  ;  as  to  actual  fact,  it  sets 
forth  the  creative  power  of  God  in  the  action, 
which  is  in  this  way  twofold.  That  thereby  is 
shown  that  "the  restoration  is  first  pre-eminently 
an  external,  political  one"  (Hengst.),  is  not  of 
necessity  contained  in  the  text,  but  the  original 
creation  of  man,  as  related  in  Gen.  ii.  7,  forms  a 
pattern  for  the  text.  (John  vii.  39  makes  the 
deepest  application  of  the    'nni.)^Correspond- 

ingly,  therefore,  Ezekiel  has  in  Ver.  9  to  pro- 
phesy once  more,— this  time  to  the  Spirit  (ver.  5), 
that   is,   not   to   the   "breath,"  for  that  is  nil 

only  in  a  living  person,  as  we  have  already  said, 
and  still  less  to  the  "wind,"  which  is  the  sensuous 
natural  symbol  of  the  Spirit.  And  from  wliat 
follows  it  is  still  clearer  that  the  "  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  "  cannol  be  spoken  of  here,  but  what  is 
spoken  of  is  the  universal  spirituality  which  per- 
vades all  creation.  Hence  the  Spirit  is  to  come 
from  the  four  winds;  not  without  reference,  more- 
over, to  ch.  v.  10,  12,  xii.  14,  xvii.  21  (Matt. 
xxiv.  31  ;  Rev.  vii.  1).     'j)3-|S)3  makes  clear  the 

distinction  between  nini")  and  nnn.  Our  pas- 
sage has  nothing  to  do  with  the  "  breathing  on  " 
in  John  xx.  22,  and  just  as  little  is  "  the  fulness 
and  force  of  the  Spirit's  operations.  Acts  ii.  2  " 
(Hengst.),  indicated  by  the  "wind  from  the  four 
winds. "     T\B\  makes  a  very  plain  allusion  to 

Gen.  ii.  7.  ["The  quickening  Spirit  of  God 
awakens  the  resolution  to  return  to  God's  covenant 
and  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,"  Sch.mieder.]— 
Slain  :  killed,  not  deceased  (Doct.  Reflect.  5) 
The  colouring  is  taken  from  those  condemneu 
and  executed  by  the  Chaldeans  (ver.   ]1).     Ee 


350 


EZEKIEL. 


gardiiig  ViTI,   comp.  on  ver.    5. — Ver.    10.    Ex- 

cliangint;  Hithp.   <nX23ni  (EwALD,   Gr.  p.   331) 

for  Niphal  of  ver.   7,  and  <J1S  Piel  in  place  of 

Pual  in  ver.  7. — Ver.  9,  5.  The  Spirit,  in  order  to 
become  the  breath  of  life  in  them  (comp.  ch.  ii. 
2,  iii.  24).— 2  Kings  .xiii.  21  ;  Rev.  xi.  11. 

Vers.  11-14.    The  Divine  Interpretation  of  the 
Vision. 

The  process  in  the  vision  vers.  1-10  is  symbo- 
lical, as  shown  by  the  phrase  in  ver.  11 :  these 
bones  are,  etc. ,  which  refers  to  the  whole  vision 
as  it  treated  of  the  bones.  Hence  the  bones, 
which  lay  there  very  dry,  but  at  .Jehovah's  word 
became  alive,  which  were  very  many  (ver.  2), 
a  very  great  army  (ver.  10),  bear  the  sense  of 
and  signify  the  whole  house  of  Israel ;  and  this 
already  prepares  for  the  second  section  of  our 
chapter.  According  to  Hitzig,  Judah  and  Israel 
combined  denote  the  State  broken  up  by  the  war, 
and  also  the  generation  cut  olf  by  it ;  against  which 
view  we  observe  tliat  the  dead  cannot  be  "say- 
ing "  here  any  more  than  the  bones,  but,  as  in  cli. 
xi.  15  sq.,  the  Israel  in  exile  must  he  contem- 
plated, who  now  indeed  compared  themselves  to 
the  dead,  but  to  whom,  on  the  contrary,  life  is 
immediately  (ver.  12)  to  be  proclaimed  and  pro- 
mised. In  what  they  say  (comp.  ch.  xxxiii.  10) 
is  contained  the  so  frequently  overlooked  Irrtium 
comparationiSy  and  the  cause  for  the  vision  in 
vers.  1-10.  Hence  the  diviue  interpretation  does 
not  primarily  start  from  the  outward  eoudition  of 
the  people  in  general,  and  stUl  less  from  that  of  a 
jiart  of  them,  the  dead  of  Israel,  but  from  what 
the  despair  of  those  in  exile  says,  hence  from  the 
frame  of  mind  which  thus  found  voice:  our  bones 
are  dried,  etc.  The  relation  of  vS''2^  and  niL'O'' 
(ver.  2)  to  each  other  is  evident.  —  !|3"lt33,  pro- 
perly :  ' '  cut  off, "  separated,  shut  out  from  God's 
help  (Ps.  Ixxxviii.  6  [a\  xxxi.  23  [22]  ;  Isa.  liii. 

8). — xh-:  according  to  Gesenius,  a  superfluous  pro- 
nominal dative,  as  much  as  to  say :  "We  are  undone. 
Hitzig  :  Reduced  to  ourselves.  [Delitzsch  :  It 
is  over  with  us.  Hencst.  :  We  are  cut  off  for  us, 
referring  the  "  for  us  "  to  the  sadness  of  the  fact 
for  those  concerned.]  The  language  which  they 
employ  corresponds  thoroughly  to  the  question  iu 
ver.  3.  That  which,  believing  themselves  aban- 
doned, without  any  hope  (eh.  xix.  5)  of  again 
rising  up  to  be  a  nation,  they  say  of  themselves, 
Ezekiel  beheld  in  the  valley, — merely  very  dry 
bones.  So  much  the  more,  and  the  more  literally, 
can  what  was  done  with  these  bones,  a  procedure 
which  the  prophet  had  to  prophesy,  and  was 
afterwards  permitted  to  behold,  avail  as  a  promise 
to  them. — Ver.  12  therefore  parallel  to  ver.  4  sq., 
but  still  keeping  primarily  in  view  the  despairing 
speech   of    the   exiles :    ritpNI  N33n,    uot  yet, 

however,  'mi  D23  K'ap  '3K  nan  (ver.  5),  as  ver. 

1 4  hereafter,  but  first ;  behold,  I  open  your  graves, 
meaning  thereby  the  abodes  of  the  exile,  since 
the  Jews  who  were  in  exile  considered  themselves 
like  dead  men.  The  accommodating  interpreta- 
tion changes  the  valley  with  the  many  bones  on 


its  surface  into  many  graves,  which  have  "to  b« 
opened,"  etc.  My  people,  here  ami  in  the  follow- 
ing a  very  comforting  title.  Israel,  however, 
ought  always  to  be  so,  and  therefore  also  to  have 
constantly  been  so.  Consequently  we  have  at 
the  same  time  prominence  giS'en  to  the  contrast 
between  Israel's  destiny  and  its  deadly  despair, 
and  hence  a  notification  of  its  unbelief  and 
otfences  in  general. — What  in  the  vision  the 
clothing  with  sinews,  flesh,  and  skin  was  in 
relation  to  the  bones  (ver.  6  sq. ),  could  in  the 
interpretation  applying  to  the  living  be  regarded 
as  political  restoration,  as  this  has  to  begin  with 
leading  out  of  Babylon  and  bringing  back  to 
Canaan. — Ver.  13.   Dnj?Tl  reminds  of  Dni?T'1  '" 

ver.    6. — Ver.    14   takes    up   n^"l   D03  Tinjl   ol 

ver.  6  and  the  rest  of  the  vision,  pointing,  how- 
ever, by  'nn  to  ch.  xxxvi.   27,  as  by  Tinsm  to 

DpijJ?   in   the   following,    for   which   comp.    eh. 

xxviii.  26,  xxxiv.  The  inspiriting  and  quicken- 
ing for  a  home  system  which  is  to  have  perma- 
nence, and  especially  in  the  ease  of  a  people  like 
Israel,  will  of  necessity  be  spiritual  and  religious. 
— Isa.  xiv.  1. — Ch.  xvii.  24,  xxii.  14,  x.xxvi.  36 

Vers.  15-18.    The  Reunion  of  Israel  and  Judah. 

After  the  vision  thus  interpreted,  there  follows 
in  Ver.  16 — accompanied  by  an  interpretation — a 
symbolic  action,  the  outward  reality  of  which 
there  is  no  difticulty  in  admitting.  Both  the 
contents  (comp.  ver.  11)  and  the  transition  with 

1  connect  what  follows  with  the  first  section  of 

the  chapter,  of  which  it  forms  the  continuation 
and  completion.  Israel  again  become  a  nation, 
must,  overcoming  the  separation  which  had 
taken  place,  also  again  become  one  nation.  What 
tbllows  draws  the  consequence  from  what  has 
preceded. — yy,   "board"  (tablet),  or  "stafl',"or 

simply  "wood,"  stick. — For  the  "writing," 
comp.  Num.  xvii. — The  sons  of  Israel,  his  asso- 
ciates (while  the  text  reads  the  singular  for 
"association"),  are,  according  to  Hengstenberg,  a 
' '  small "  part  of  Benjamin,  Simeon,  and  Levi,  and 
the  members  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes 
who  had  attached  themselves  to  Judah  ;  accord- 
ing to  Keil :  the  "greater"  part  of  Benjamin 
and  Simeon,  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  the  pious 
Israelites  wlio  had  at  various  times  immigrated 
into  Judah  from  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes, 

2  Chron.  xi.  13  sq.,  xv.  9,  x.xx.  11,  IS,  xx.xi.  1. 
— Joseph  is  placed  first,  as  Hengstenberg  says, 
because  Ephraim's  equality  with  Judah  rests 
upon  him  in  consequence  of  the  blessing  of  Jacob; 
more  simply,  because  it  is  the  (jenealojical  ritk 
of  the  patriarch.  That  the  stick  of  Ephraim 
(comp.  ver.  19),  which  has  been  looked  on  as  a 
later  intei-polation,  is  subjoined,  is  an  addition 
taken  from  historical  reality,  for  Ephraim  wa. 
the   head  of  the   kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes. — 

Ver.  17.    nnN-^JK  nns  onx  2•^p^    reminds    of 

illustrates    rj^,    corresponding   to    the    symbol!.; 

action — here  in  the  hand  of  ^zekiel,  as  hereafter 
in  his  word.     In  order  to  make  them  appear  a* 


CHAP.  XXXVII.  18-26. 


351 


one  stick,  they  must  hare  been  adapted  for  that, 
and  could  scarcely  have  been  "staves." 

Ver.  18.  Conip.  ch.  xxiv.  19.  The  purpose  of 
the  symbolic  action,  what  it  was  meant  to  incite, 
on  which  account  it  is  to  be  conceived  of  as  ex- 
ternally real  (ver.  in). — What  (are)  these  sticks 
to  thee  1  that  is :  what  is  their  signification  ? — 
Ver.  19,  the  inter]iretation.  WTiere  ver.  16  has 
the  stick  of  Ephraim,  we  have  now  the  stick  of 
Joseph,  which  first  of  all  implies  exactly  the 
same  as  the  stick  described  "for  Joseph."  In 
what  respect  it  is  designated  the  stick  of  Ephraim 
is  then  made  plain  by  the  words :  which  is  in  the 
hand  of  Ephraim  (the  expression  T3   doubtless 

suggested  by  T|T3,  ver.  17) ;  and  thereby,  at  the 

same  time,  the  ti'ansition  is  made  from  the  sign 
to  the  thing  signified,  for  to  be  in  the  hand  ^ 
to  be  in  the  possession,  in  the  power,  hence  it 
denotes  the    supremacy  of   this   tribe.       Hence, 

too,  instead   of  7^{^i;''  n'3"?31,  more  expressly 

PKIB"^  ''D3B"  ("staves,"  "sticks,"  as  "tribes"). 

— If  the  nouu  is  anticipated  by  V7V,   it  would 

certainly  be  better  to  read,  with  Hitzig,  px,  than 

DK  :  "to  it,  to  the  stick  of  Judah."     It  lies 

away,  however,  from  np^,  as  Keil  connects,  to 

combine  DniX,  namely,   the  tribes,   after  they 

have  been  put  on  the  stick  of  Joseph  (V7jf),  by 

nx  with  the  stick  of  Judah  ;  besides,  one  does 

not  see  why  the  tribes  already  joined  to  Joseph 
should  still  have  to  be  united  with  him.  The 
"taking"  is  ended  with  the  tribes  of  Israel,  his 
associates;  the  "giving"  relates  to  those  (QniN) 

taken  together  ()),  that  is,  Joseph-Ephraim  and 

his  tribes,  for  the  purpose  of  union  (}'J?7  Dfl'b'jn 

nriK)  with  Judah,   and  it  is  only  to  this  that 

vijy  can  refer.    Hengstenberg  explains  nS  :   "the 

stick  of  Judah,  I  mean,"  "to  indicate  that 
Judah  is  the  proper  stem  of  the  people  of  God." 
The  interpretation  still  keeps  a  firm  hold  of  the 

symbolic  action  (inX  Vih)i  *°d  H'a  IPIK    evi- 

dently  expresses  an  antithesis  to  Ephraira's  hand, 
— the  iiniun  hy  and  in  Ood,  as  opposed  to  the  sepa- 
ration hy  and  in  Ephraim  (comp.  Isa.  xi.  13). 

Ver.  20.  The  symbolic  sign  which  the  pro- 
phet is  to  perform  (ver.  16)  is  expressly  designed 
for  the  eyes  of  those  concerned,  and,  with  the  re- 
petition of  the  thing  to  be  done,  at  the  same  time 
mediates  the  connection  with  what  follows. — 
Ver.  21  sq.  treats  of  the  effecting  of  the  reunion 
of  the  nation,  after  first  glancing  back  to  ver.  12 
sq.     Comp.   ch.  xxsvi.   24,   xi.   17,   xx.   34,    41, 

xxxiv.  13.  -Vor.  22.   nn«  "iJ^  DHiK  \Tbin    is 

the    nnx  )*5J^  On'bVI    of   ■^er.    19.      The  now 

plainly  expressed  signification  of  the  stick. — Ch. 
xxxiv.  13  14. — The  one  nation  will  be  one  king- 
dom. Comp.  vers.  24,  25  ;  comp.  Hos.  iii.  5. 
TAccording  to  Havemick,  the  unity  of  the  king- 


dom testifies  to  its  truth,  that  it  represents 
Jehovah.]     Qeri  vn\  but  'ij  might  also  serve  as 

subject  to  n'nv     Strong  and  effective  negation  oi 

the  old,  that  has  passed  awiiy  for  ever. — Since  sin, 
and  especially  idolatry,  had  contributed  to  the 
separation  spoken  of,  the  discourse  turns  to  that, 
ver.  23.  Comp.  ch.  xiv.  11,  xxxvi.  25,  v.  11. 
—  DH'nbB'iO  ought  not,  after  ch.   vi.   6,   14,  to 

cause  so  much  dilEculty  to  expositors.  The  worship 
of  idols,  which  is  the  subject  of  discourse,  is  just 
localized  "  transgression."  The  relief  consists  in 
this,  that  idolatry  disappears,  ch.  xxxvi.  29.  To 
think  with  Hengstenberg  of  the  places  of  abode 
in  the  exile,  so  that  the  earlier  sins  in  Canaan  did 
not  come  into  account — that  they,  as  it  were,  left 
their  sins  behind  tbem  in  the  foreign  land,  etc., 
neither  suits  the  piesent  connection, — isa  thought 
here  postponed,  as  Hitzig  justly  observes, — nor 
harmonizes  with  ver.  12  sq.,  according  to  which 
the  exile,  on  the  contrary,  localizes  the  wages  of 
sin,  i.e.  death.  Alteration  of  the  text  is  equally 
unnecessary,  just  as  Keil's  "preserving  from," 
and  Kliefoth's  idea  of  leading  out  into  the  glori- 
fied Canaan,  are  imported  into  the  text.  Comp. 
besides,  ch.  .xxxiv.  13.  — Ch.  xxxvi.  25,  xxxiii.  28, 
xxxiv.  24.  The  closing  statement,  recurring  in 
ver.  27,  only  in  reverse  order,  seems  to  interrupt 
the  consecution  of  the  verses,  so  that  the  prophecy 
forms  itself  into  two  sections — vers.  21-23  and 
vers.  24-27 — with  one  conclusion.  What  the 
first  section  contains  more  as  to  the  thing  done 
and  generally,  is  given  in  the  second  Messiani- 
cally  and  as  to  the  individual,  for  the  full  com- 
pletion of  the  thought. 

Ver.  24.  See  on  ch.  x.xxiv.  23.— Ver.  22.— Ch 
xi.    20,   xxxvi.    27.— Ver.    25.  Ch.    xxxvi.    2?, 

xxviii.    25,   xx-xiv.    24. — D^isny^    so  that  the 

terminus  ad  qtiem  is  "  concealed,"  cannot  be 
seen  ;  hence  for  an  interminable  future,  is  to  be 
understood  Messianically,  that  is,  in  Christ,   as 

shown  by  the  immediately  following  D7ij;7,  and 

all  that  comes  after.  As  we  find  expressed  here 
without  interruption  (this  is  the  peculiarity  of 
the  whole  prophecy  here,  in  distinction  to  that  re- 
peated from  ch.  xxxiv.  and  xxxvi. )  the  unity  o( 
the  nation,  its  continued  possession  of  Canaan, 
and  that  very  plainly  of  the  earthly  Canaan,  so 
just  as  plainly  is  all  conceived  of  under  the  domi- 
nion of  the  King  Messnah.  Israel's  nationality  in 
Canaan  is  bound  up  (ver.  22)  with  this  one  king- 
dom. As  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  ol 
the  people,  their  position  towards  God  (ver.  23), 
ver.  24  connects  likewise  with  the  one  shepherd, 
the  King  David  =  Messiah,  the  "  walking  in, 
sq.,"    "keeping,"   and    "doing."     And   in   the 

same  connection  occurs  Ver.  26  (likewise  DTij)?, 

and  also  Q^ij)  ri'ia),  for  which  comp.  ch.  xxxiv. 

25  (Isa.  It.  3  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  40).  As  .shown  by 
comparing  ch.  xxxiv.  25,  and  confirmed  by  the 
connection  with  vers.  21-23,  especially  ver.  23, 
as  that  is  the  peculiar,  the  leading  idea  of  the 

divine  covenant,  to  which  the  Qn?  corresponds. 

and  by  the  whole  mode  of  expression  here,  in- 
cluding the  repeated  "giving,"  the  making  ol 
the   covenant  proceeds  from   God  in  the  mosi 


EZEKIEL. 


manifest  exhibition  of  grace.  The  fact  that 
Di?"'  n'"13  is  alike  explained  and  completed 
H  cHjf  ma,  expresses  the  Messianic  charac- 
ter of  this  covenant ;  for  the  terminus  ad  quern 
(C^jO  of  Israel,  still  hid  to  appearance,  is 
just  the  Messiah.     In  the  "salvation"  (Di")t;»), 

when  it  embraces  time  and  eternity,  eternity  in 
time,  alongside  of  the  ideal  reference  in  the  whole, 
the  real  side  in  the  particular  cannot  be  wanting : 
hence  what  is  the  daily  bread  for  a  nation, 
namely,  putting  them  in  the  position  of  increase, 
cannot  be  wanting;  therefore  :  And  I  give  them 
[Keil  :  to  be  a  nation]  and  multiply  them,  ch. 
xxxvi.  10,  11,  37.  But  mth  the  giving  of  the 
sanctuary  of  Jehovah  in  their  midst  for  ever, 
another  Mesx'ianic  type,  now  in  close  prepara- 
tion for  ch.  xl.  sq.,  is  presented  to  us  in 
the  text,  in  addition  to  the  one  king  and 
shepherd  for  all,  the  servant  of  Jehovah,  David. 
Comp.  on  ch.  xi.  16.  The  reference  to  Lev. 
xxvi.  9,  11  is  shown  by  the  harmony  of  the 
prophecy  with  the  promise  given  by  Moses. 
And  although  the  p^'D   there  in  ver.    11   (as 

pjy  is  said  of  the  symbol  of  Jehovah's  presence 

in  the  wilderness)  does  not  so  much  signify  the 
outward  building,  and  in  Ezekiel  too  (ver.  27)  it 

is  regarded  as  Dn'>V,  yet  D3in3,  which  stands 
beside  CTpo,  points  to  the  midst  of  the  people ; 

comp.  Ex.  XXV.  8.  Hitzig  is  right  in  this,  and 
also  as  to  what  distinguishes  this  passage  from 
ch.  xi.  16.  But  he  overlooks  the  express  refer- 
ence to  each  other  of  Q^J)^  031713  't^pD  and 
*Xlt;""nj{  CTPDi  ^^r- 28.    There  is,  at  aU  events, 

expressed  a  visible  national  unity  in  Canaan  as 
formerly,  one  political  govenmient,  which,  how- 
ever, as  mediated  by  the  one  King  Messiah, 
exhibits  itself  as  a  national  life  purified  from 
idolatry  and  conformed  to  law,  hence  moral,  so 
also  an  outward  serving  of  God  by  Israel  is  here 
prophesied,  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  in  the  midst 
of  Israel — that  this  cannot  he  Zerubbabel's  temple 
is  triumphantly  proved  to  the  Jews  by  Keil,  from 
the  fact  conceded  by  themselves,  that  the  She- 
chinah  was  wanting  to  it ; — but  the  heathen  see 
therein  (nVHS,  ver.  28)  something  yet  different, 

namely,  the  continuing  (particip.)  sanctification 
of  Israel  by  God,  hence  religious-moral  conditions. 
[Xot  merely  gratiosa  Dei  habitatio  in  cordibns 
eoriim,  as  PiscaTok.]  We  remember  here,  where 
what  is  prophesied  of  the  sanctuary  is  so  evi- 
liently  connected  with  the  promised  servant 
David  as  king  and  prince,  that  the  kingship  is 
specially  prominent  in  Ezekiel's  figure  of  the 
Messiah  (Introd.  §  9)  ;  and  besides  this,  the 
passage  here  shows  that,  as  likewise  observed  in 
the  Introduction,  §  9,  with  Ezekiel  the  main 
point  of  view  continues  to  be  the  Messianic 
nation,  the  Messianic  salvation  of  the  nation. 
And  so  the  phrase  :  My  eanctuary  in  their  midst 

for  ever,  cfTi)P  explaining  itself  in  cnpo  (ver. 

28),  appears  essentially  as  prophesied  of  the  future 
church  of   salvation,    the   realized   kingdom   of 


priests  (Introd.  §  9).  (Comp.  Zech.  ii.  14  [10] : 
John  i.  14;  Rev.  xxi.  3,  vii,  15;  1  Cor.  iii.  16, 
vi.  19  ;  2  Cor.  vi.  16.)  ["This  promise  has,  at 
all  events,  come  to  be  gloriously  fulfilled  in  tht 
election  which  forms  the  stem  of  the  Christian 
Church.  It  is  again  taken  up  in  the  saying  of 
Christ :  '  Lo,  I  ara  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world,'  "  Hkng.st.] 

At  this  point  of  the  understanding  of  our  pro- 
phecy— and  herein  its  most  important  advance,  in 
distinction  to  ch.  .xi.  16,  is  perhaps  announced — 
the  certainly  not  unintentional  exchange  of :  My 
sanctuary  in  their  midst,  of  ver.  26,  for :  My 
dwelling  over  them,  in  ver.  27,  must  decidedly 
be  taken  more  spiritually  than  is  done  when 
Hengstenberg  refers  it  to  the  "protecting  power  " 
which  is  afforded  in  the  house  of  God  (Ps.  Ixviii. 
29  [30]),  or  Keil,  to  the  "  position  of  the  temple 
towering  up  over  the  city."  Hitzig  comes  nearer 
the  truth  when  he  directs  attention  to  Goil's 
dwelling  in  heaven,  directly  (?)  over  the  temple  ot 
Jerusalem  (Isa.  xx.\iii.  5  ;  Ps.  x.xix.  9,  civ.  3  ; 
1  Kings  viii.  33,  34  ;  Gen.  xxviii.  17  ;  Ps.  rii.  7 
[8]).  The  sanctification  of  Israel  before  the  world, 
as  connected  with  the  Kingship  of  the  Messiah,  and 
the  establishing  of  the  eternal  sanctuary  of  God 
in  Israel's  midst,  as  effected  by  the  founding  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  serve  for  illustration  and 

fulfilment  of  the  Dn'7V  in  Ezekiel  here,  as  is  very 

clear  from  Acts  ch.  ii.,  to  which  is  prefixed  a 
repeated  (comp.  Luke  xxiv.  50  sq.)  and  circum- 
stantial account  of  the  exaltation  of  the  Sou  of 
man,  ch.  i. — Ver.  23.  Ch.  xi.  20  ;  Gen.  xvii.  7. 
—  Ch.  xxxiv.  30.— Ver.  28  (ch.  xxxvi.  23,  36). 
Although  the  mention  of  the  heathen  is  still  con- 
fined to  the  "knowing"  of  the  sanctification  of 
Israel,  yet  such  knowledge  cannot  remain  without 
result,  without  fruit;  comp.  Isa.  xliv.  5. — "In- 
dication of  the  participation  of  the  heathen  in 
the  promised  salvation  "  (Hengst.). — Ch.  x.x.  12. 
"  To  sanctify  "  is  to  purge  from  sin  as  well  as  to 
consecrate,  hence  embracing  forgiveness  of  sin, 
and  quickening.  The  former  must  become  clear 
to  the  heathen  from  the  latter,  and  so  much  the 
clearer  as  they  have  seen  the  judgment  of  God 
executed  on  His  people — have  even  executed  it 
themselves.  Comp.  for  the  hannony  with  the 
promises  in  the  Pentateuch,  Ex.  xxxi.  13  ;  Lev. 
x.xii.  32. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  CH.  XXXVII. 

["In  closing  this  section,  we  present  a  brief 
outline  of  the  view  that  has  been  taken  of  the 
prophecies  contained  in  the  three  closely  related 
chapters,  xxxiv.,  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.,  and  which  in  sub- 
stance applies  equally  to  many  other  portions  of  the 
prophetical  Scriptures.  1.  They  were  originally 
given  to  revive  and  animate  the  hearts  of  God's 
covenant -people,  by  holding  out  to  them  the 
assured  prospect  of  a  reversion  from  the  present 
evil,  and  their  still  certain  destination  in  God's 
purpose  to  the  highest  and  most  honourable  place 
on  the  earth.  2.  It  was  the  duty  of  those  to 
whom  such  prophecies  were  delivered  at  once  tc 
believe  the  word  spoken  to  them,  and  apply  them- 
selves in  earnest  to  do  what  was  needed  to  secure 
its  accomplishment ;  and  had  they  only  done  this, 
a  far  larger  measure  of  the  promised  good  would 
have  been  reaped  than  they  actually  experienced  ■ 
this  later  prospect  of  blessing,  like  the  earlier. 


CHAR   .WXVll. 


359 


given  before  entering  Canaan,  greatly  failed 
tiirougli  their  own  sinful  unbelief.  3.  But  there 
being  manifestly  ideal  features  introduced  into 
the  delineation,  especially  the  good  s])oken  of 
being  so  peculiarly  connected  with  the  rule  and 
presidency  of  David,  clearly  betokens  a  kind  and 
degree  of  blessing  which  could  not  have  been 
completely  fultilled  under  the  Old  Covenant,  nor 
inti'nded  to  be  altogether  fulfilled  any  time  ac- 
cording to  the  letter.  It  shows  the  prophecies  in 
question  to  be,  like  several  of  an  earlier  kind  in 
Ezekiel,  descriptions  of  the  future  under  the  form 
and  image  of  the  past — not  as  if  tlie  past  were 
actually  to  return  again,  but  that  its  general 
spirit  and  character  were  to  revive.  4.  The  new 
things  thus  to  be  looked  for  in  the  future  could 
only  meet  with  their  full  and  adequate  accom- 
plishment in  Christ,  who  is  certainly  the  David 
of  the  promise.  They  are  consequen  tly  of  a  higher 
and  more  comprehensive  nature  than  any  that 
could  be  enjoyed  under  the  Old  Covenant,  when 
the  kingdom  of  God  was  so  straitened  in  its 
dimensions,  and  so  outward  and  earthly  in  its 
visible  constitution.  But  still  they  were  of  neces- 
sity described  under  the  hue  and  aspect  of  the 
tilings  belonging  to  the  Old  Covenant — as  if  it 
were  these  only  returning  again,  or  these  with 
certain  alterations  and  improvements,  such  as 
might  give  the  future  a  pre-eminence  in  glory 
over  the  past.  For  only  by  means  of  what  be- 
longed to  e.xisting  or  previous  disjiensations  of 
God  could  the  prophet  have  given  any  detailed 
exhibition  of  what  might  be  expected  under  an- 
other and  higher  dispensation.  The  details  of 
the  future  mint  have  been  cast  into  the  mould  of 
things  already  perceived  or  knowii.  5.  There- 
fore, in  fonning  one's  conceptions  now  of  the  real 
import  of  such  prophecies — now  that  the  transi- 
tion has  been  made  into  the  new  and  higher  dis- 
pensation— we  must  throw  ourselves  back  upon 
the  narrower  and  more  imperfect  relations  amid 
which  they  were  written,  and  thence  judge  of 
what  is  still  to  come.  Thus,  as  the  David  of  the 
25romise  is  Christ,  so  the  covenant-jieople  are  no 
longer  the  Jews  distinctively,  but  the  faithful  in 
Christ;  and  the  territory  of  blessing  no  longer 
Canaan,  but  the  region  of  which  Christ  is  king 
and  lord.  AVliat  was  spoken  immediately  of  the 
one  class  of  personages  and  relations,  may  most 
fully  be  applied  to  the  other  ;  and  by  such  a 
method  of  interpretation  alone  do  we  get  a 
uniform  and  consistent  principle  to  carry  ns 
through  the  whole.  AVhOe  those,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  would  find  a  literal  Israel,  and  a  non- 
literal  Daviil,  or  a  literal  restoration  in  Christian 
times,  and  a  non-literal  tabernacle  and  ritual  of 
worship,  arbitrarily  confound  together  things  dis- 
similar and  incongruous,  and  render  certainty  of 
interpretation  absolutely  impossible.  6.  Sixthly, 
the  view  thus  given  is  confirmed  by  the  repro- 
duction of  some  of  these  prophecies  m  the  field  of 
the  New  Testament  Church,  set  free,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  from  the  outward  distinctions  and  limits 
of  the  Old.  Thus,  in  particular,  the  resurrection- 
scene  of  this  37th  chapter  substantially  recurs  in 
the  20th  chapter  of  Revelation,  and  is  followed 
precisely  as  here  by  the  attack  from  the  em- 
battled forces  of  Gog  and  Magog  ;  while  not  a 
word  is  said  which  would  confine  the  things 
spoken  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  or  the  literal  Israel ; 
it  is  the  Church  and  people  of  Christ  at  large  that 
tre  discoursed  of.     We  say  nothing  respecting] 


the  probable  time  and  nature  of  the  events  there 
referred  to,  but  simply  point  to  the  identity  in 
character  of  what  is  written  with  the  propheciea 
before  us.  In  those  visions  of  the  Apocalypse, 
the  inspired  evangelist  stretches  out  the  hand  to 
Ezekiel,  and  shows  how  the  word  spoken  so  long 
before  by  that  servant  of  God,  freed  from  th-j 
peculiarities  of  its  Jewish  form,  is  to  find  its  ap- 
plication to  the  Christian  Church.  The  shell  h:is 
gone,  but  the  substance  remains.  7.  We  may 
add,  lastly,  that  the  common  interpretation,  whii'h 
understands  Christ  by  David,  and  takes  all  the 
rest  litei-ally,  must  inevitably  tend  to  justify  the 
Jew  in  his  unbelief.  For  he  naturally  says,  Your 
Messiah  has  not  done  the  thing  you  yourselves 
hold  must  be  done — to  fulfil  the  prophecy  ;  He 
has  not  set  up  His  throne  in  Canaan,  and  gathered 
Israel  there,  and  re-established  the  old  worship 
in  its  purity  ;  this  was  the  very  purpose  for  which 
He  was  to  appear,  and  we  must  wait  till  He  comes 
to  do  it.  On  the  basis  of  the  literal  interpreta- 
tion, there  seems  no  satisfoctory  answer  to  this  ; 
and  it  is  weU  known  that  since  it  has  become 
prevalent,  many  Jews  believe  that  Christians  are 
coming  over  to  their  view  of  the  matter.  We  are 
not  surprised  to  hear,  as  we  have  heard,  of  con- 
verted Jews  declaring  that  such  a  mode  of  inter- 
pretation would  carry  them  back  to  Judaism. " — 
F,\irbair.n's  Hzekiel,  pp.  412-414.— W.  F.] 

DOCTRINAL  REFrECTIOXS. 

1.  WHiat  has  Jehovah  caused,  vers.  1-10,  to  be 
prophesied  for  comfort  to  His  people  (vers.  12, 
13) !  The  resurrection  of  the  dead  in  the  literal 
sense  KHefoth  still  maintains,  a  view  which  is 
the  older  ecclesiastical  one,  shareii  by  Jews  and 
Christians,  so  that  Jerome,  when  expressing 
a  different  opinion  regarding  famosam  haiw 
visioneit,  oniiiium  eccksiarum  Chn-'iti  lection^, 
cflebratam,  thought  it  necessary  to  state  that  ne 
did  not  therefore  by  any  means  wish  to  deny 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  How  little  the 
connection  in  Ezekiel  says  in  favour  of  the  dogma 
of  the  general  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  best  seen 
from  the  artificial  way  in  which  ver.  11  sq.  is  dis- 
posed of.  Kliefoth  interprets  the  proplusied 
bringing  of  Israel  into  their  own  land  (as  already, 
ch.  x.xxn.  28)  of  the  "final  introduction  of  the 
people  of  God  into  the  eternal  Canaan,"  and  the 
quickening  in  ver.  14,  of  "inward  renewal  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  ; "  an  interpretation  whieh  he 
has  also  put  upon  ch.  x.xxvi.  25  sq.  From  similar 
perplexity,  ver.  11  has  been  combined  with  the 
"first  resurrection"  of  Rev.  xx.,  and  the  bringing 
of  Israel  into  their  own  land  understood  in  accord- 
ance with  Matt.  V.  5.  Hengstenberg,  holding 
that  "all  the  other  comforting  words  of  the  pro- 
phet relate  to  things  of  this  world,"  insists  upon 
this  connection  in  general,  and  singles  out  in 
particular  ch.  x.\xvi.  S,  "which  was  soon  to  take 
its  beginning,"  and  the  connection  of  ver.  15  sq. 
and  the  vision.  If  the  relation  is  this,  that  the 
house  of  Israel  of  the  vision,  reanimated  bv  thi 
Spirit  of  God,  is  "the  whole"  (ver.  IW,  and 
hence  is  to  experience  the  reunion  symbolized 
(ver.  15  sq. ),  then  this  union,  which  cannot  be 
sought  for  among  "the  last  things,"  will  also 
not  suppose  the  re-quickening  of  Israel  past. 
But  in  addition  to  the  contradiction  betiveen  the 
^vider  and  the  narrower  connection,  comes  also 
the  contrariety  of  the  picture  drawn  here  to  the 


3Si 


EZEKIEL. 


doctrine  laid  down  in  1  Cor.  xv.  ;  those  who  rise 
again  in  Ezekiel's  vision  simply  return  into 
earthly  existence,  with  skin  and  flesh  and  bones. 
If  the  doctrine  of  the  general  resurrection  is 
maintaineil  in  ver.  1  sq.,  then  rer.  11  sq.  must 
more  or  less,  as  also  Kliefoth  gives  to  understand, 
be  denied  to  be  "  in  the  proper  sense  an  interpre- 
tation and  explanation  of  the  significant  occur- 
ence : "  we  must  content  ourselves  with  an 
application  for  an  express  purpose,  namely,  in 
Older  to  comfort  and  raise  up  the  hope  of  Israel 
with  the  prospect  in  question  (see  above,  ver.  1). 
.Against  this  Heugstenberg,  appealing  at  the  same 
time  to  analogies  in  Daniel,  Zechariah,  and  Ezekicl 
himself,  justly  observes  :  "  Whosoever  feels  him- 
self constrained  to  take  vers.  11-14  not  as  an 
interpretation,  even  thereby  expresses  judgment 
concerning  his  view  of  vers.  1-10."  Ver.  11 
begins  expressly  with  an  explanation  of  the  sig- 
nification of  "these  bones,"  which  formed  the 
subject  of  discourse,  vers.  1-10. 

2.  A  question  which,  unless  one  dismisses 
entirely  the  doctrine  of  the  resurreclio  mortuorum 
from  the  text  before  us,  comes  into  consideration 
is,  whether  this  dogma  already  existed  in  the 
iime  of  Ezekiel  ?  Hengstenberg,  for  example, 
denies  indeed  the  express  application  of  the  doc- 
trine to  our  passage,  but  makes  the  dogma  serve 
as  "  ligure."  Hence  he  must  answer  the  question 
put  in  the  affirmative.  It  is  a  necessary  supposi- 
tion, not  only — as  already  TertuUian,  de  rexitrr. 
carnu<,  points  out  to  the  Gnostics,  and  Jerome 
expresses  himself — that  the  tyjiical  application  of 
the  resurrection  of  tlie  dead  by  Ezekiel  implies 
the  actual  taking  place  of  that  resurrection,  and 
consequently  its  truth  must  be  beyond  doubt, 
but  also  that  the  doctrine  of  tlie  resurrection  was 
already  at  that  time  a  common  property  of 
religious  popular  knowledge  in  Israel,  if  it  could 
thus  be  figuratively  applied  in  Ezekiel.  Heng- 
stenberg (C'Arato/oj;/,  vol.  iii.  p.  51,  Clark's  trans. ) 
cites  Pareau's  Comment,  de  Immortal,  p.  109,  and 
refers  to  Isa.  .xxv.  S,  xxvi.  19  ;  Dan.  xii.  2.  The 
raising  of  the  dead  (1  Kings  xvii.  22  ;  2  Kings 
iv.  35,  xiii.  21)  can,  as  isolated  cases,  prove 
nothing  in  its  behalf ;  and  passages  like  Deut. 
xxxii.  39,  1  Sara.  ii.  6,  attest  only  the  omnipo- 
tence of  the  living  God.  Comp.  Havekx. 
Varies,  iiher  die  Theol.  des  A.  T.  p.  109,  and  his 
Comment,  p.  581 ;  Oehler,  V.  T.  sentsntia  de 
rebus  p.  mart.  Jut.  p.  37  sq.,  42  sq.  Further- 
more, ver.  3  of  our  vision,  where  the  prophet 
leaves  to  the  Lord  the  answering  of  the  question 
put  to  him,  says  nothing  in  favour  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.  If  there  was  such  a  consciousness,  we 
ihould  certainly  expect  a  corresponding  answer 
Tom  the  prophet.  Comp.  John  xi.  23,  24. 
(Hiivernick'  "If  the  prophet  could  have  sup- 
posed such  a  general  belief,  he  would  neces- 
sarily (?)  have  appealed  to  it  in  order  to  establish 
thereon  the  restoration  of  the  people,  etc.  But  in 
Buch  a  hopeless  case  as  ver,  11  the  prophet  cannot 
make  suppositions,  norwUIhe  ;  he  will  just  build 
anew — establish  firmly  a  new  hope  in  the  heart.") 

3.  Hengstenberg  says;  "The  prophet,  how- 
ever, does  not  merely  set  out  from  this  doctrine 
and  use  it  as  a  means  of  representation  ;  his 
primarily  figurative  representation,  and  the  his 
torical  confirmation  which  it  received,  must  also 
have  served  to  awaken  powerfully  the  beliet  in 
the  resurrection.      If   God  proves   Himself  the 


master  of  death  in  the  figurative  sense,  if  He 
redeems  His  people  from  odtward  and  the  spiri- 
tual misery  into  which  they  had  fallen  during  the 
exile,  how  should  the  death  of  the  body  set  » 
limit  to  His  grace  ?  "  And  again  :  "  The  salTa- 
tion  announced  here  under  the  figure  of  the 
resurrection  is  completed  in  the  resurrection  ; 
comp.  1  Cor.  XV.  19." 

4.  But  the  text  protests  also  against  this 
merely  typical  acceptation  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection.  There  are  indeed  (ver.  2)  "vei'y 
many,"  according  to  ver.  10  "a  very  gi-eat 
army,"  sufficient  to  suggest  all  the  dead,  at  any 
rate  sufficient  for  the  interpretation  In  ver.  11  ol 
the  "whole  "  house  of  Israel.  They  are,  however, 
not  the  bones  of  deceased  men,  but  of  slain  men, 
as  expressly  stated  in  ver.  9.  The  open  surface 
of  the  valley,  moreover,  hardly  corresponds  to 
the  situation  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ; 
the  graves  in  the  interpretation,  still  closed  and 
j'et  to  be  opened,  would  be  more  suitable. 
Finally,  the  twofold  transaction  in  regard  to  the 
re-quickening  in  the  vision  (ver.  7  sq.,  ver.  9  sq. ) 
can  hardly  set  before  the  eye  the  representation 
of  the  awakening  of  the  dead  ;  but  as  the  direct 
design  of  the  vision  is  to  make  prominent  the 
creative  in  what  is  prophesied,  the  thing  that  is 
possible  with  God  alone  (ver.  3),  so  the  first  and 
the  second  act,  especially  the  observation  after 
the  first  in  ver.  8,  that  "yet  breath  was  not  in 
them,"  serves  from  the  outset  to  make  prominent 
the  point  of  the  interpretation,  namely,  God's 
putting  His  Spirit  in  them,  ver.  14. 

5.  Hitzig's  view  of  the  vision  takes  more 
account  of  the  noteworthy  circumstance  that  it 
treats  of  slain  men.  But  how  '  He  makes  (as 
already  in  ch.  xx.xiv..  King  David)  the  Lsraelitea 
slain  in  the  destruction  of  the  two  kingdoms  be 
called  upon  by  the  prophet  to  rise  again.  Thus 
the  vision  is  a  vision  of  a  partial  resurrection. 
There  was  already  a  similar  opinion  among  the 
Talmudists  (Sanhedr.  xcii.  2) — comp.  on  ver.  1  : 
and  it  is  also  maintained  that  such  a  resurrection 
did  actually  take  place,  and  even  that  those  who 
rose  again  begot  offspring  in  Canaan  ;  thus  one 
Talmudist  expressly  declares  his  descent  from  one 
of  them. '  To  say  nothing  of  the  strangeness  o< 
such  a  view,  —  for  which  certainly  the  "super- 
natural character  of  the  Hebrew  system  "  ofl'ers, 
as  Hitzig  must  grant,  no  sufficient  support, — "  the 
idea  itself  of  the  resurrection  "  proves  nothing, 
but  it  must  be  maintained  in  ch.  xx.xiv.  23,  24, 
xxx\-ii.  24,  25,  in  order  that  it  may  be  referred  to 
for  the  vision  before  us  ;  moreover,  as  to  the  con- 
text, such  a  resurrection  prophecy  does  not  fit  in 
excellently  before  and  after,  as  Hitzig  supposes. 
For  the  multiplication  of  the  people  promised 
in  ch.  .xxxvi.  37,  38  (comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  10)  surely 
points  to  something  else  than  specially  a  multi- 
plication by  resurrection  of  the  slain  ;  and  the 
combination  of  the  vision. in  the  chapter  here 
with  ch.  xxxviii.,  however  ingenious  and  plaus- 
ible, is  by  no  means  the  necessary  combination 
imperatively  required  by  the  text.  Comp.  the 
exegesis  in  loc. 

'  It  may  be  remarked  In  passing,  that  Havemick  misap- 
prehends the  dealincs  between  Phuiisees  and  Sadducees  in 
the  Talmud  regardinp  the  resurrection,  for  the  Sadducees 
there  do  not,  when  appealing  to  Ezek.  xxxviL.  claim  the 
figurative  as  the  received  explanation  of  oui  passage,  bul 
onl.v  suppose  in  the  passage  not  the  returrectio  futuH 
$giculU  hut  on  the  contrary  a  merely  particular,  ar  d  r  ot  thi 
general  reBlUTection. 


CHAP.  XXXVII. 


35; 


6.  Thus  the  dogma  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  as  well  as  the  anQOunoement  of  a  *'  first 
resurrection"  of  Israel,  or  of  his  slain,  literally 
understood,  must  be  dismissed  from  our  chapter. 
So  also  the  parabolic^al  application  of  that  dogma 
is  not  the  sense  of  the  CAt.  If  the  view  is  put 
forward  that  the  whole  is  figurative,  then  a  mere 
poetical  figure  e.xcogitated  by  Ezekiel  cannot  cer- 
tainly be  harmonized  with  the  express  character 
of  vers.  1-10  ;  comp.  on  ver.  1.  We  have 
before  us  a  divine  vision,  which  the  Lord  in 
express  revelation  g-.ive  His  prophet  to  behold. 
Hence  there  must  be  more  to  find  in  this  vision 
than  the  clothing  of  an  idea,  "  well  conceived 
and  carried  out  with  dramatic  effect"  (Philipps.). 
The  objection  raised  by  Havernick  against  the 
view  of  only  outward  liberation  of  the  people 
and  the  flourishing  of  the  State  anew  already 
under  Zerulibabel  ^GKOTIUS,  Vatablus,  Am- 
mon's  BM.  'J'/ieoD,  and  also  against  Ewald's 
deeper  penetration  into  the  matter,  the  objection, 
namely,  that  it  is  not  permissible  to  repeat  this 
idea  from  ch.  xx.xvi.,  cannot  be  maintained.  But 
we  have  first  to  deal  with  the  fomi,  and  then  we 
will  liave  to  remember  that  the  conformation  of 
the  thought  as  contained  in  the  vision  cannot  be 
suggested  by  what  is  known  and  suitable  for 
restoration  of  any  kind,  as  is  coming  to  life 
again  out  of  a  state  of  death,  but  on  the  con- 
trary will  have  to  be  accounted  for  on  other 
ground.s.  The  vision — and  this  is  the  reason 
why  it  proceeds  in  the  form  before  us — is  in- 
tended to  afford  to  Israel  a  strong  ground  for  what 
is  already  prophesied  to  him,  a  specially  strong 
encouragement  against  his  hopelessness.  The 
ground  on  which  what  is  promised  to  the  people 
is  based  is  the  creative  power  of  God  (comp.  on 
vers.  5  and  8).  "God  Himself  api)ears  to  the 
prophet  a-s  the  quickeuer  of  the  bones,"  as 
Hii /ernick  justly  observes.  "A  thoroughly  real 
rel  ition  is  treated  of,  namely,  the  relation  of  God 
to  death. "  Then,  as  regards  the  encouragement 
to  Israel  on  this  ground,  it  must  speak  so  nmch 
the  more  powerfully  to  their  hearts,  when,  taking 
them  at  their  word,  it  borrows  from  their 
despairing  words  the  answer  against  all  doubts. 
The  vision  (vers.  1-10)  is  such  a  thorough  answer 
in  a  matter-of-fact  form,  because  He  who  answers, 
the  Promiser,  is  the  Almighty  God  of  Israel,  who 
"speaks  and  does,"  ver.  14.  Comp.  how  very 
near  Calvin  {Inst.  ii.  10)  came  to  this  under- 
standing. Only  because  Kliefoth  is  so  confused 
in  the  exposition  of  our  chapter  does  it  appear 
that  he  couhl  gather  nothing  from  Havernick's 
remarks,  which  so  often  hit  the  sense,  and  who 
refers  with  far  better  right  than  the  expositors  of 
the  literal  resurrection  of  tlie  dead  to  Deut. 
sxxii.  39  ;  1  Sam.  ii.  6  ;  Hos.  xiii.  14,  etc. 

7.  The  vision  of  Ezekiel  in  our  chapter  takes, 
as  has  been  said,  the  discouraged  of  the  Israelites 
at  their  word.  Already  in  ver.  3,  where  the 
question  put  to  the  prophet  tends  in  this  direc- 
tion, the  way  is  opened  up  for  the  after  interpre- 
tation. At  the  very  outset  in  ver.  2,  where  the 
bones  filling  the  valley  (ver.  1),  which  are  very 
many,  are  described  as  "very  dry,"  the  whole 
house  of  Israel  lies  before  us,  namely,  those  who 
say,  "Our  bones  were  dried,"  as  the  interpre- 
tation (ver.  11)  puts  beyond  all  doubt.  By  their 
speaking  thus — since  their  "  perished  hope  "  was 
Jerusalem  and  the  people  in  the  land  of  Judah — 
the   exiles  ir  their  despondency  compare  them- 


selves to  those  who  had  perished  in  their  jativ* 
land;  and  this  explains  the  designation  "slain' 
given  in  the  vision,  which  takes  them  for  what 
they  give  themselves  out  to  be,  as,  on  the  othei 
hand,  from  the  close  interweaving  of  vers.  1-lG 
and  vers.  11-14,  the  interpretation  speaks  of  theii 
places  of  residence  in  exile  as  their  "giaves. ' 
At  the  same  time,  by  the  bones  which  He  places 
before  the  prophet  in  the  valley,  the  judgment 
formerly  (comp.  ch.  vi. )  threatened  by  Jehovah  is 
conceded  to  liave  taken  place.  Since  this  judg- 
ment was  executed  as  killing,'  to  which  death 
what  of  Israel  still  exists  has  given  itself  up  (ver. 
11)  with  full  sympathy,  if  there  is  still  prospect 
of  salvation  after  the  judgment  and  arising  out 
of  the  judgment,  this  salvation  can  only  be  life, 
God's  act  of  salvation,  and  consequently  nothing 
but  re-quickening.'  And  because  the  slain,  to 
whom  Israel  in  exile  compare  themselves,  are  to 
be  supposed  in  Cana;in,  the  bringing  back  of 
Israel  to  their  own  land  is  connected  repeatedly 
(ver.  12  sq. )  with  the  re-quickening  of  the  nation. 
Thus  the  salvation  to  be  prophesied  is  externally 
restoration  of  the  nation — Israel  is  again  in  his 
own  land.  There  is  one  element  which  the  vision 
could  not  set  forth  (unless,  perhaps,  it  is  hinted 
at  by  the  expression  :  "and  stood  upon  their 
feet,"  ver.  10),  but  which  the  interpretation 
brings  in  felicitously  through  the  dead  bones  of 
the  vision,  by  the  bringing  of  them  "out  of  the 
graves."  The  vision  has  chiefly  in  view  the 
inward  .side,  namely,  the  quickening  by  the 
Spirit,  in  general  the  national  life  as  such, 
although,  as  is  clear  from  the  interpretation  (ver. 
14),  not  without  spiritual  reference  back  to  ch. 
xxxvi.  ;  comp.  the  exposition. 

8.  "The  faith  of  Israel  in  his  redemption  was 
to  rest  not  so  much  on  the  belief  in  a  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  as  on  belief  in  God  the  Creator,  who 
brings  being  out  of  nothing,  who  awakens  life 
out  of  death,  even  in  its  most  fearful  form,  the 
annihilation  of  all  existence"  (Haverx.).  It 
may  be  said  more  generally  regarding  the  signifi- 
cance of  hope  for  faith,  that  hope  demonstrates 
the  blessedness  of  faith,  yet  is  not  the  ground  of 
its  knowledge  or  certainty,  but  as  certainly  as  I 
believe,  so  certainly  shall  I  also  behold — the 
future,  which  hope  expectantly  anticipates. 

9.  As  has  been  above  remarked,  Kev.  xx.  was 
early  introdueeil  into  the  discussion.  Kliefoth 
recently,  while  making  "the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  generally,  limited,  however,  to  a  single 
definitely  bounded   field   of  dead "    (njjp3),   'jf 

*  "It  is  from  the  beginning  a  fundamental  law  for  all 
human  development,  that  death  is  decreed  for  the  trans- 
gression of  th«  divine  commandment;  holding  good  in  the 
tirst  instance  for  the  individual  life,  but  also  for  the  national 
domain,  where  the  law  lays  hold  of  Jehovah's  Israel  as  an 
individual  personality,  and  sets  in  view  before  it  life  and 
d*-atli,  particularly  the  latter,  for  the  decisum  of  llie  nation 
from  the  beginning  onward  takes  always  moie  plainly  the 
similitude  of  Adam's  deci>ion.  Captiviry.  or  the  separation 
of  Israel  from  their  laiid.  announced  as  the  last  and  worst 
punishment,  is.  according  to  the  law.  to  be  conceived  of  ai 
the  death  of  the  nation.  This  the  Old  Testameiit  conscious- 
ness looks  upon  as  death,  for  the  individual  is  related  to  his 
body  as  the  nation  to  Its  land,  and  the  land  sepaiated  from 
the  nation  is  subjected  to  the  nioat  feaiful  desi'lation  ana 
devastation  (ch.  xsxw.).  like  the  human  body  bereft  of 
the  soul.  Or,  as  death  dissolves  into  dust,  so  the  captivity 
of  Israel  is  its  dissolution  into  the  primal  elements  out  of 
which  it  was  at  first  formed,  etc." — Hacmgartkn. 

2  Hofmann  rightly  observes,  that  what  is  illustrated  1 
Ezekiel  is  "not  so  much  the  newness  of  the  life  into  trhich^ 
as  rather  the  completeness  of  the  state  of  death  cut  0/  irfiick 
Israel  is  to  be  restored  " 


!IS6 


EZEKIEL. 


shown  to  the  prophet  (vers.  1-10),  "because  it 
is  yfterwarils  to  be  referred  to  the  appointed 
resurrection  of  the  people  of  God,"  borrows  from 
Rev.  XX.  a,  very  jieculiar  confirmation  of  this 
exjjosition  of  liis.  Tlie  aiotirrarte  it  Tf-um  in  ver. 
5  tliere,  namely,  is  based  on  our  passage,  and  the 
pi-oof  of  this  he  makes  to  be  that  the  souls  of  the 
vtriXixiiriiitan  there  (who  are  the  D'mn   here) 

are  seen,  and  that  both  here  and  there  Gog  and 
llagog  follow  on  the  resurrection.  He  who  is 
constrained  to  recognise  in  the  first  section  of 
our  chapter  the  re-quickening  of  Israel  as  a 
na\ion,  will  not  be  thereby  hindered  from  con- 
ceding that  it  will  be  followed  by  the  re-quicken- 
ing of  all  Israel,  that  is,  as  Paul  expresses  it  in 
1  Cor.  XV.  23,  of  al  ^piirTov  iv  Tfi  Tafoveruz  ai/Tsu. 
If  this  Ji;o!rojn<n,-  is  likewise  meant  in  Rev.  xx.  4 
(i^tiirat),  then  the  reference  of  our  passage  to  it 
can  as  little  be  denied  as  that  the  (3airiXsi/£i»  furx 
^fiiTTov  may  be   prefigured  in   ver.    23  sq.,   the 

repeated  obiy?  ^'^^'^  '^'^n  be  interpreted  by  x'^'" 

iT9i  there,  the  ha  ^n  Tkavtiirv  to.  xhrt  in  in  Rev. 
XX.  3  compared  with  ver.  28  here,  and  that  the 
xpi/ix,  Rev.  XX.  4,  refers  to  ch.  xxxviii.  But  the 
beheaded  witnesses  of  the  Apocalypse  of  John  by 
no  means  harmonize  with  the  slain  of  Ezekiel ;  and 
although  Gog  and  Magog  make  their  appearance 
in  Rev.  xx.  8  sq. ,  as  here  in  ch.  xxxviii.,  yet 
already  Rev.  xix.  17  sq.  makes  reference  to  ch, 
xxxix.  and  xxxviii.  in  Ezekiel.  Moreover,  Rev. 
XX.  6  also  can  be  compared  to  the  so  often  used 

DTlJf^  of  our  chapter. 

10.  "  Since  God  as  the  self-existent  life  in 
itself  is  Spirit,  all  life  in  its  various  grades  and 
forms  originates  and  subsists  only  through  the 
Spirit,  which  proceeds  from  God  ;  the  possession 
of  spirit  forms  the  universal  ground  of  life,  con- 
necting the  whole  creation  with  God"  (Beck.). 

11.  We  have  here  iyufuv  and  ^«u»t»/i/>  together, 
the  full  and  entile  conception  of  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  working  of  the  Son  in 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  conip.  John  v.  21  sq. 

12.  In  regard  to  the  religious  spirit  which  ani- 
mated the  returned  exiles,  reference  has  been 
rightly  made  to  the  prophecies  of  Haggai  and 
Zechariah,  and  also  to  the  psalms  belonging  to 
this  period. 

13.  The  truth  of  the  section  vers.  1-14  is  not 
so  well  expressed  by  saying  with  Ewald,  "that 
the  individual  or  the  nation  that  docs  not  despair 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  is  never  in  any  situation 
forsaken  by  that  Spirit,  but  is  always  borne 
onward  to  new  life,"  as  by  saying  that  it  has  its 
expression  in  the  eternity  of  the  Church  of  God. 
"  We  need  not,"  says  Hengstenberg,  "extend  our 
prophecy  to  the  unbelieving  Jewish  people  and 
their  future  conversion.  As  expressly  stated  in 
vers.  12, 13,  it  applies  only  to  Israel  as  the  people 
of  God,  and  the  dispensation  of  grace  grows  out 
of  this  relation.  ' 

14.  "It  is  doubtless  the  power  of  his  people 
which  the  prophet  sees  in  this  vision  rising  up  to 
new  life  ;  it  is  the  sons  of  Israel,  held  in  captivity 
and  scattered,  who  are  destined  to  return  to  the 
soil  of  their  beloved  heritage.  But  on  the 
ground  of  the  deep  word  of  typical  representation 
we  read  the  joyous  announcement :  I  live,  and  ye 
«hjll  live  also  "  (Umbkeit). 

15.  The  reunion  of  Israel  and  Judah  has,  in 


consequence  of  the  pronounced  heatlienizino 
character  (still  continuing  in  the  Samaritans)  ol 
the  former  (Doct.  Reflec.  4  on  ch.  xx.  „  a  co- 
I'eference  to  the  heathen  ;  and  this  is  more  to 
be  thought  of  than  "the  separation  between  be- 
lievers and  unbelievers,"  which  Hengstenbfrg 
makes  ensue  "after  the  coming  of  Christ,"  as 
"a  still  worse  "  separation.  Yea,  the  less  Israel- 
Judah  has  become  one  in  the  Messiah,  who  is 
Christ,  the  more  has  the  heathen  world  come 
into  consideration  for  the  fulfilling  of  the  pro 
phesied  union,  Rom.  xi.  26 :  «.  oirs;  tx;  'l<rpxr,\. 

16.  As  the  exile  of  the  Jews  ceases  in  Christ, 
so  the  alieuship  of  the  heathen  ends  in  Christ, 
Eph.  ii. 

17.  "A  continued  separate  existence  of  the 
ten  tribes  in  some  unknown  region  is  a  fable" 
(Hengst.). 

18.  Why  could  not  the  Jews,  like  other  nations 
of  the  sinking  worid-doniinion  of  Rome,  preserve 
their  nationality  in  a  distinct  state  ?  Think  of 
the  Maccabees.  Not  only  their  exclusive  national 
habits,  but  still  more  the  Messianic  hope  in  the 
heart  of  the  nation,  fitted  the  Jews  for  this  above 
other  nations.  From  within  and  from  without 
everything  was  here  conjoined  for  building  up 
a  strong  and  important  nationality  among  the 
fluctuating  nations  and  gods  of  the  Old  World. 
In  both  respects  there  was  given  with  the  return 
from  exile  a  new  tone  to  their  history.  (On  the 
characteristic  peculiarities  of  Israel,  their  parti- 
cular national  disposition,  comp.  the  Doct.  Reflec. 
on  ch.  xxxiv. )  Their  greater  zeal  for  the 
law  of  Jehovah,  the  more  decided  antithesis  of 
the  national  life  to  the  heathen  world-form  after 
the  exile,  has  been  often  remarked  on  ;  and  also 
that  a  more  definite  expectation  of  the  Messiah 
is  clear  consciousness  of  the  pious  of  the  land, 
and  not  of  the  prophetic  circle  alone.  The 
Jewish  people  have,  in  the  great  part  of  them 
scattered  through  all  nations,  served  to  prepare 
the  heathen  for  Christianity.  Consider  the  im- 
portance of  Jewish  Hellenism  ;  think  of  the  net 
of  the  proselytism  "of  the  gate  "  drawn  through 
the  heathen  world  ;  and  do  not  overlook  the 
Septuagint.  How  much  might  their  gathering 
together  in  Christ  into  a  Christian  people  and 
state  have  contributed  to  the  ingathering  of  the 
heathen  !  When  the  kingdom  of  jiriests  which 
Israel  should  have  been  became  contracted  to  the 
number  twelve  of  the  apostles  (Matt.  xix.  28), 
still  the  effect  of  this  mission  into  the  world  is 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles.  What  the  empha- 
sizing of  Judah  (ver.  19)  already  signifies,  is 
expressly  uttered  in  a  Messianic  sense  by  the 
repeated  naming  of  the  "one  king"  (ver.  22)  as 
David  the  servant  of  Jehovah  (vers.  24,  25). 
Our  promise  can  relate  only  to  Christian  Israel, 
for  the  Jewish  nation  either  completed  itself  in 
the  Messiah  by  receiving  Christ,  or  deprived 
itself  of  Him,  as  may  be  read  in  John  xix.  15. 
Then  with  the  perishing  of  its  spirit,  its  flesh 
also  perished  ;  what  still  remained  in  form  of 
Israel  was  therefore  broken  up  by  the  false 
Messiahs,  the  Romans,  etc.  It  is  a  fundamental 
mistake  still  to  seek  at  the  present  day  to  see  in 
the  Jews  a  nation,  esjiecially  when  the  remains  ol 
nationality — the  ofispring  of  pride — which  still 
manifested  themselves  in  the  Middle  Ages  in  the 
individual  members  of  the  race,  are  being  e.ei 
more  and  more  spiritualized,  or  even  materialized, 
by  the  spirit  of  indifl'ereuee,  into  cosmopolitanism. 


CHAP.  XXXVII. 


3&; 


Because  they  are  "My  people"  (vers.  12,  13), 
Jehovah  makes  the  leading  out  of  exile  aud  the 
return  to  Canaan  to  be  prophesied  to  them.  In 
view  of  the  Messiah,  He  promises  them  a  united 
nationality  (ver.  21  sq.),  and  the  inhabiting  of 
Canaan  for  ever,  the  peaceable  possession  of  the 
land.  The  promise  here  has  nothing  to  do  with 
"individuals,"  and  what  Hengstenberg  says  of 
its  conditionality  in  this  respect  is  superfluous. 
After  the  people  of  Israel  relinquished  their 
claim  to  nationality  in  presence  of  the  manifested 
Messiah,  there  can  be  no  further  talk  of  their 
conversion  as  a  nation  to  Christ  (Keil)  ;  and  so 
much  the  less  as  the  kingdom  of  God  over  Israel 
as  a  nation  has  passed  over  for  fulfilment  to  the 
idea  of  humanity  given  in  Israel.  In  this  last 
and  at  the  same  time  highest  respect,  the  unity 
and  eternity,  kingly  and  priestly,  under  the  one 
shepherd,  here  prophesied,  have  in  Christianity — 
alike  as  regards  the  kingship  and  as  regards  the 
sanctuary  (ver.  26  sq.) — their  universal  and  also 
their  progressive  realization  (John  x.  16  ;  Rev. 
i.  6,  xxi.  3,  22  sq.,  .xxii.  3  sq.). 

19.  The  literally  verbal  interpretation  of  our 
prophet  has  been  repeatedly  spoken  against. 
For  in  whatever  way  the  prophets  may  prophesy 
the  glorious  future  of  Israel,  the  popular  form  of 
their  discourse,  expressed  in  accordance  with  the 
times,  must  not  keep  out  of  view  the  eternal 
hope  of  Israel,  the  Spirit-anointed  One.  Since 
the  beginning  and  the  end  of  God's  march  in 
history  through  the  world  is  man,  is  humanity, 
it  must  seem  childish  to  believe  that  the  "  mil- 
lennial kingdom  "  will  be  centralized  at  Jeru- 
salem, that  this  will  be  its  capital  under  the 
Jews  brought  back  to  Palestine,  that  the  Lord 
will  at  His  coming  again  dwell  in  a  real  temple, 
and  that  the  law  of  Moses,  and  even  the  cere- 
monial aud  the  civil  law  of  Moses,  will  be  the  law 
of  the  kingdom,  etc.  This  is  "realistic  "  exposition 
indeed  ;  and  while  people  cross  and  bless  them- 
selves with  it  against  "spiritualism, "  the  thought 
never  troubles  thtm  that  they  are  borne  along  by 
the  materialistic  current  of  the  age.  The  New 
Testament  has  not  thus  understood,  not  thus 
expounded  the  Old.  Comp.  moreover,  the 
penetrating  and  partially  conclusive  arguments 
of  Keil  in  loc.  against  the  Chiliasm  of  the  modem 
Apocalyptic.  From  God's  covenant  with  Abra- 
ham onward,  the  develop/ment  of  Israel  moves  in 
the  direction  of  the  formation  of  a  nation  and 
the  possession  of  a  land,  the  land  of  Canaan. 
The  prophets  would  have  been  unintelligible  to 
Israel  had  they  prophesied  to  it  f  futuie  witLouv 
regard  to  these  two  particulars.  How  far  that 
which  after  the  judgment  of  the  exile  was  pro- 
phesied, as  restitution  of  people,  land,  and  cultus, 
had  to  serve  the  purpose  of  affording  the  historical 
nexus  and  point  of  departme  for  the  Jlessiah — to 
what  e.vtent  what  was  prophesied  on  these  points 
would  have  political  earthly  reality,  could  be  dis- 
cerned from  the  very  character  of  the  coming 
Messianic  kingdom.  A  kingdom  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  confession  before  Pilate,  is  not  of  this 
world,  could  not  fail  to  show  that  the  apparent 
sensuousness  of  the  pro[ihecies  portraying  the 
future  of  the  people  and  land  of  Israel  is  in 
reality  spiritual  allegory.  In  the  history  of  the 
nation,  in  its  institutions,  etc.,  the  vessels  were 
sufficiently  well  placed  for  tj-pes  and  symbols,  in 
order  in  due  time  to  change  the  water  in  them 
•nto  the  wine  of  Christ. 


[See  additional  note  above,  at  the  close  of  the 
Exegetical  Remarks.  —  \V.  F.  ] 

20.  "TheXew  Testament, "  says Hengstenbeig, 
"knows  nothing  of  a  future  posse^sicu  of  th» 
land  of  Canaan."  "If  the  fulfilment  is  sought 
in  this,  then  the  interruption  of  two  thousand 
years  is  inconceivable,  since  a  constant  possessien 
is  here  placed  in  prospect.  With  respect  to  the 
perpetual  possession,  we  must  rather  look  to  Matt. 
xxiii.  37,"  etc.  "For  supplementing  Ezekiel  we 
have  Zechariah,  one  of  his  immediate  successors, 
who  soon  after  the  return  from  the  exile  predicts 
(ch.  xi. )  a  desolation  of  the  land  in  consequence 
of  the  rejection  of  the  Good  Shepherd." 

21.  The  two  powers  which  in  the  second  sec- 
tion of  our  chapter  (ver.  15  sq.)are  destined  to 
realize  the  idea  of  the  symbolized  unity  of  the 
nation,  are  the  royal  power  (ver.  22)  and  the 
sanctuary  (ver.  26).  As  these  express  that  which 
from  the  commencement  Israel  was  appointed  to 
be  (Ejc.  xix.  6),  Israel's  destiny  as  a  nation,  they 
are  the  two  pillars  of  its  unity.  When  the 
kingdom  was  divided,  and  the  sanctuary  was  no 
longer  the  one  sanctuary  for  all,  then  there  came 
an  end,  first  to  Israel,  and  then  to  Judah.  ,\s 
without  the  raising  up  again  of  the  kingdom  of 
David,  and  without  the  restoration  of  the  sanc- 
tuary of  Jehovah,  there  can  be  no  re-quickening, 
so  there  can  be  no  reunion  of  Israel.  That 
which  the  last  destruction  of  the  temple,  on  the 
one  hand,  gives  to  the  Jews  to  ponder  to  tliis  veiy 
hour,  Pilate  on  the  other,  by  his  (juestion  (John 
xix.  15),  laid  on  the  consciences  of  their  national 
representatives  of  that  time,  and  in  such  a 
manner  that  we  feel  reminded  of  verses  like  ver. 
22  and  others  here. 

22.  In  relation  to  ch.  xi.  16  it  has  to  be 
observed,  1st,  that  where  [jyo  occurs  there  we 

End  here  DTlj;? — in  contrast  to  the  temporary  the 
comjiletion  appears  in  a  permanent  form;  2d, 
that  where  we  have  there  B^pD^  Dn^  TIKI, 
we  have  here  Qains  'C'lPD  ''rin:i ;  hence,  in- 
stead of  the  "  I,  the  temple"  of  the  exile,  which 
also  appeared  in  Christ  (John  ii.),  the  perfect  and 
also  the  final  will  be  (Rev.  xxi.  22) — as  Paul 
says — "the  temple  of  God  are  ye."  .\s  the 
latter  will  be  an  enduring,  an  eternal  one,  inas- 
much as  it  forms  the  other  side  of  the  final 
tabernacle  (Rev.  x.xi.  3),  so  it  is  expl.ained  in  ver. 
27  by  this,  that  the  presence  of  the  Eternal, 
lomierly  represented  by  the  angel  of  the  covenant 
in  the  cloud,  will  now  as  our  flesh  be  exalted  to 
heaven,  in  consequence  of  which  Christ  "by  His 
Holy  Spirit  pours  out  the  heavenly  gifts  into  us, 
His  members,  as  He  also  protects  and  preserves 
us  by  His  power  against  all  enemies  "  (Heidei.b 
C.iT.  Question  51). 

HOMILBTIO  HINTS. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "The  hope  of  the  Israelites  lay 
quite  prostrate  ;  but  the  hope  of  the  people  of 
God  shall  never  cease,  because  God  will  assuredly 
reveal  and  glorify  His  grace  on  us.  Therefore  i 
God  by  His  word  always  furnishes  fresh  courage 
in  every  affliction,"  etc.  (Diedrich.) — "  This 
valley  is  found  indeed  everywhere.  In  other 
words,  is  there  not  plenty  of  dead  bo.- est  The 
best  thing  is,  that  God  still  cares  even  tor  such '' 


3o8 


EZEKIEL. 


(Eeri..  B[B. ). — Ver.  2.  "When  our  btate  seems 
to  113  so  extrcnu'ly  miserable  that  none  of  God's 
prouises  will  a)iiily  to  it,  then  we  should  remem- 
ber these  bones"  (Stauck). — The  Church  of 
Christ,  too,  may  at  times  look  like  such  a  field  of 
the  dead. — "What  else  are  we,  too,  through  our 
corrupt  nature,  than  dry  bones,  empty  and 
alienated  from  the  life  of  God  and  from  the 
ric;hteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  until  the  Lord 
gives  us  His  Spirit  of  life  ?  "  (Berl.  Bib.) — "It 
is  the  Lord  who  makes  the  dead  to  live,  who 
visits  His  people  in  grace  and  raises  them  again 
from  the  dust,  who  redeems  us  by  His  Spirit 
from  spiritual  bondage,  yea,  who  will  also  in  the 
last  days  awaken  the  dead,"  etc.  (Tije.  Bib,  > — 
Ver.  3.  "God  asks  counsel  of  us,  that  we  may 
learn  to  acknowledge  our  ignorance,  John  vi,  6, 
7"  (Cr.). — "Would  that  all  theologians  had 
thus  confessed  their  ignorance,  and  not  sought 
to  cover  it  with  a  semblance  of  knowledge !  " 
(SiHMiEnER.) — "  It  is  God  Himself  who  gives  in 
us  the  first  presentiments  of  regeneration  and 
resurrection"  (DiEmtiCH). — Not  only,  however, 
in  that  which  is  impossible  with  men,  but  in  all 
things  should  we  look  to  God. — The  recourse  of 
faith  when  assailed  to  the  divine  omnipotence. — 
"Since  God  is  omniscient  and  omnipotent,  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  is  possible;  but  since  He 
has  also  promised  it,  and  cannot  break  His  word, 
it  is  also  certain,  John  v.  25"  (Starke). — Vers. 
1-3.  Faith  in  the  field  of  the  (lead  world  and  of 
the  dead  church  ;  what  it  sees  (death,  and  with 
men  the  impossibility  of  life)  ;  on  what  it  trusts 
(on  the  T^ord  alone). 

Ver.  4  sq.  "As  God  here  addresses  the  bones 
by  the  prophet,  so  He  also  by  the  gospel  speaks 
to  the  dead  in  sin.  He  says,  namely,  that  He 
can  quicken  from  death  in  sin  ;  and  commands 
the  dead  to  hear,  and  to  arise  from  the  dead,  or 
to  repent,  that  is,  to  believe  that  they  are  dead 
iu  sins,  and  in  wdnt  of  divine  illumination  and 
sanctifieation,  and  to  lift  up  their  eyes  to  the 
truth  which  is  iu  Christ,"  etc.  ;  Rom.  iv.  17  ; 
John  V.  28,  29  ;  Kph.  v.  14  (Cocc.).— "  Even  the 
dead  must  hear  the  word- of  God  from  the  lijis 
of  men  ;  the  man  of  God  speaks  to  them  " 
(DiEDHR'H). — We  are  in  our  whole  life  and  in 
death  directed  above  all  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord — entirely  to  the  Lord  who  is  the  Word, 
John  i. — "  The  wretched  state  of  sin  dominant 
in  a  man  cannot  be  more  forcibly  ty])ified  than 
by  the  state  of  the  dead,  1  Tim.  v.  6"(Lange). 
— "  From  this  we  may  draw  an  important  lesson 
both  for  ourselves  and  others,  namely,  that  how- 
ever worn  out,  however  unconscious  and  dead  to 
our  condition  we  may  be,  yet  God  is  able  to 
redeem  us  from  it,  and  to  impart  a  life  so  much 
the  greater  the  less  hope  of  life  there  is  apparent. 
This  makes  the  soul  still  hope  against  all  hope, 
Rom.  iv.  18.  The  worse  and  the  more  hopeless 
the  prospect  aroumi  the  soul,  the  more  is  it  aware 
that  it  is  well  with  it,  and  that  God  is  able  of 
stones  to  raise  up  children  to  Abraham,  Matt, 
iii.  9.  Althougli  the  soul  esteems  all  as  lost, 
yet  it  troubles  not  itself  about  that,  and  does  not 
Bay,  I  am  lost  and  shall  never  come  back,  which 
is  the  language  of  self-love,"  etc.  (Berl.  Bib.) 
— "Without  God  there  is  only  death,  whether 
natural  or  spiritual,  whereas  God's  Sjiirit  is  able 
to  quicken  all  and  eveiything  "  (Starok). — "We 
have,  however,  chiefly  to  see  to  it  that  we  our- 
ktlves  are  alive,  and  so,  above  all,  may  have  part 


in  the  first  resurrection.  For  blessed  and  holy, "  etc. 
(Berl.  Bib.)— Vers.  4,  5.  The  word  of  God 
over  the  dead  bones,  how  it  is  spirit,  and  promise) 
life. — Ver.  6.  In  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  it 
will  not,  however,  be  as  the  hymn  says  ;  "  Then 
shall  this  very  skin,  as  I  believe,  surround  me." 
— "As  this  spiritual  resurrection  here  is  a  gradual 
process,  so  also  in  ccnversion  and  renewal,  the 
man  jjroceeds  from  glory  to  glory,  until  he  stands 
fast  iu  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  His  might, 
in  order  to  walk  henceforth  in  the  ways  of  the 
Lord"  (Starck).— Ver.  7  sq.  :  When  it  is  pro- 
phesied according  to  God's  word,  there  are  stil 
always  voices,  noise,  movement,  and  things  that 
belong  to  one  another  come  together. — "  If  the 
voice  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  heard  in  the  heart, 
then  there  is  a  movement  of  the  heart,  and 
blessed  is  he  who  obeys  the  impulse"  (Starck). 
— The  wonderful  experiences  on  the  field  of  the 
dead  in  the  churches. — But  what  do  bones, 
sinews,  flesh,  and  skin,  all  brought  together  and 
fitted  to  one  another,  avail  without  the  spirit  ? 
This  remark  applies  not  so  much  to  the  con- 
fessions of  the  churches,  as  to  the  attempts 
at  revival  through  constitutions  and  liturgies. 
Certainly  the  coming  together  of  members  of  each 
body — if  the  passage  is  made  to  apply  to 
"  reunion  "  (as  by  Richter) — is  God's  work  ;  but 
not  when  the  bodies,  taken  from  difi'erent  bodies, 
are  as  a  matter  of  compulsion  bound  together 
promiscuously.  The  spirit,  and  not  the  uniform, 
is  that  which  truly  unifies  ;  and  the  consciences 
of  men  are  not  to  be  dealt  with  as  the  regimental 
tailor  deals  with  soldiers.  The  fact  that  an 
"  army  "  is  spoken  of,  ver.  10,  cannot  certainly 
give  the  tone  to  our  view  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
— Pure  doctrine  is  not  skin  and  bones,  flesh  and 
sinews,  but  spirit,  which  has  and  brings  life. 
But  those  who  teach  their  own  wisdom  and  holi- 
ness still  seek  life  where  it  cannot  be  found. — 
Ver.  9.  Thou  mayest  prophesy  to  the  wind,  pro- 
vided thou  prophesiest  only  God's  word  :  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  and  not  :  Thus  must  ye  do. — 
Ver.  10.  Richter  suggests  of  this  "very  great 
army,"  that,  consisting  of  those  drawn  "from 
restored  Israel,"  it  "will  serve  for  the  spiritual 
conquest  of  all  the  Gentile  nations,  and  especially 
for  the  gaining  over  of  the  Mohammedans  to 
the  kingdom  of  Christ." — "All  (?)  Scripture 
announces  that  the  children  of  Israel,  once  con- 
verted, will  be  full  of  zeal  to  subject  to  the  gentle 
rule  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  grace  those  nations 
which  will  not  be  extirpated  as  anti-Christian  (!) 
by  divine  justice.  These  dry  bones,  still  scattered 
at  present  upon  the  earth,  shall  be  changed  into 
preachers  and  apostles,"  etc.  (Where  is  it  said  that 
the  "army  "  has  to  conquer  the  world  ? ) — "  One 
needs  no  power  or  aimy  when  there  is  nothing  to 
fight  with  and  conquer,  and  no  enemy  to  over 
come.  But  this  conversion  of  the  world  will 
first  take  place  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  when. 
Rev.  XX.,  the  devil  shall  be  bound  in  the  bottom- 
less pit,  etc.  The  spirit  of  gi-ace  and  of  supplica- 
tion will,  however,  make  them  invincible  ;  and 
the  blood  of  the  New  Covenant,  which  their  fathers 
shed  with  blind  fury,  will  so  inspire  them,  that 
they  would,  if  necessary,  drink  even  the  cup 
which  their  Saviour  drank  (Matt.  xx.  22).  By 
the  confession  of  their  sin,  above  all,  will  they 
work  to  procure  entrance  for  His  name  and  His 
mysteries  into  the  remotest  lands,  etc.  In  this 
the  natural  ability,  warmth,  and  activity  of  ti  it 


CHAP,  xxxviir. 


359 


people  will  be  exceedingly  useful,  especially, 
however,  through  the  Spiiit  of  God,  Zech.  ix. 
15,  13,  14." — The  Berleburg  Bible  subjoins  to 
ver.  9  sq.  the  prayer  :  "  WouUl  that  it  might  also 
please  our  great  prophet  Je.sus  Christ  to  prophesy 
with  power,  and  by  His  intercession  and  mission 
compel  the  Spirit  to  come  !  Oh,  what  a  great  army 
will  then  come  forth  to  do  battle  against  the 
be:ist  and  the  whore  !  " 

Ver.  11  sq.  These  bones  are,  that  is,  signify, 
sq.,  and  3'et :  "this  bread  is  my  body,"  etc.,  is 
held  not  to  signify  ! — "  We  see  the  foolishness  of 
our  flesh  when  we  are  pressed  by  afflictions  which 
go  quite  contrary  to  our  expectations  ;  we  then 
either  forget  the  divine  promises,  or  accord  to 
them  scarcely  a  half  faith  "  (Luther). — The  lan- 
guage of  unbelief  makes  the  calamity  great,  and 
God's  power  to  help  little. — Ver.  1 2  .sq.  "  But  He 
opens  the  graves  of  despair,  and  makes  the  light  of 
a  better  state  arise  to  the  house  of  Israel,  to  which 
all  the  elect  belong.  As  the  spirit  of  life  is  given 
to  the  bones  from  all  tlie  four  corners  of  the  world, 
so  must  the  true  Israelites  be  brought  together 
by  the  same  spirit  out  of  the  four  corners  of  the 
world,  from  all  places,  to  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
and  these  obtain  the  inheritance  that  pa.sseth  not 
away  "  (Hei.m-Hoffmann). — Ver.  14.  Only  let 
us  not  forget  that  heaven  is  our  fatherland,  and 
that  we  should  delight  to  be  with  Christ. — "  The 
Lord  has  always  shown  Himself  sucli  a  God  in 
His  people.  His  people  remain  for  ever,  and 
have    already    often    experienced    resurrection  " 

(DiEDItlCH). 

Ver.  15  sq.  "  How  often  does  God  repeat  His 
promises  !    how   many  seals   does  He  append   to 


them  !  Is  it  not  wonderful  that  men  doubt  not 
withstanding?  Isa.  xi.  12  ;  Hos.  i.  11  "  (St.^bke). 
— (We  may  mention  here  the  wooden  alphabet!  ■ 
of  the  ancient  Britons,  e.g.  the  runes  written  or 
engi-aved  upon  wood. ) — Ver.  19  sq.  "  That  was  a 
type  of  the  union  of  all  believers  in  the  who's 
world,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  through  one  spirit  End 
faith,  under  one  Head,  King,  and  Saviour,  tht 
promised  Messiah  "  (Toss.iNUS).  —  "  Thus  tho 
kingdom  of  Israel  was  to  cease  entirely,  and  not 
to  rise  up  again  "  (St.\rke). — "  Unity  is  a  mark 
of  the  Spirit"  (Heim-Hoff.m.\nn).— Vers.  22,  23. 
The  union  which  is  not  merely  two  sticks  in  one 
hand  (above  all  in  a  secular  hand)  :  (1)  That 
which  is  preceded  by  separation  from  the  State, 
it  is  a  purely  ecclesiastical,  and  e.g.  not  a  mili- 
tarj'  one  ;  (2)  MTiere  the  unifying  Head  in  every- 
thing is  seen  ever  more  and  more  to  be  Christ, 
and  not  the  king,  as  bishop  of  the  country  ;  (3) 
Where  the  essential  thing  is :  to  be  God's  people, 
and  not  so  much  a  German  Established  Church. 
— "  The  separation  arose  from  the  worship  of 
idols,  and  the  earthly-minded  never  ask  after 
unity  and  purity  of  doctrine  "  (Diedkich). — Ver. 
24.  Comp.  on  eh.  xxxiv. — The  royal  dominion 
of  the  Anointed  One  as  the  fulHlment  of  God's 
promises,  as  the  pledge  rich  in  promise  of  eter- 
nity.— "Of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  there  shall 
be  no  end"  (St.\kck). — Ver.  26  sq.  "Jesus  is 
the  temple  of  the  Godhea<l,  through  which  we 
obtain  what  we  ask"  (Heim- Hoffmann). — The 
covenant  of  peace,  an  everlasting  covenant  and  a 
holy  covenant. — The  everlasting  priestly  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah  (Ps.  ex.  4),  the  revelation  for  the 
heathen. 


4.  Against  Gog  and  Magog  for  the  Glorification  of  Jehovah  in  the  World 
(Ch.  xx.kviii.  and  XXXl-X.). 

Chap,  xxxviii.  1 ,  2.  And  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to  me,  saying,     Son  of  man, 
set  th}'  face  towards  Uiisinst]  Gog,  of  the  land  of  Magog,  the  prince  of  Rosh,  Me- 

3  shech,  and  Tubal,  and  prophesy  concerning  him.  And  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  Behold,  I  am  against  thre,  Gog,  prince  of  Eosh,  Meshech,  and  Tubal. 

4  And  I  lead  thee  back,  and  give  rings  in  thy  jaws,  and  bring  thee  forth,  and  thy 
whole  army,  horses  and  riders,  all  of  them  perfectly  clothed,  a  numerous  assem- 

5  Wage,  with  long  shield  and  short  shield,  all  handling  swords  :   Persia,  Cush,  and 

6  Phut  with  them,  all  of  them  with  shield  and  helmet :  Gomer  and  all  his  squad- 
rons ;  the  house  of  Togarmah,  the  farthest  north,  and  all  his  squadrons ;  many 

7  nations  wth  thee.     Be  prepared  and  hold  prepared  for  thyself,  thou  and  all  thy 

8  assem])lages  which  assemble  around  thee,  and  be  a  guard  unto  them.  After 
many  days  thou  art  visited ;  at  the  end  of  the  years  thou  shalt  come  to  a  land 
recovered  from  the  sword,  gathered  from  many  nations,  upon  the  mountains  of 
Israel,  which  were  perpetually  for  devastation;  and  it  was  brought  forth  out 

9  of  the  nations,  and  all  of  them  dwell  securely.  And  thou  ascendest,  as  a  tem- 
pest shalt  thou  come,  like  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land  shalt  thou  be,  thou  and  all 

10  thy  squadrons,  and  many  nations  with  thee.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  : 
And  it  comes  to  pass  on  that  day,  words  shall  ascend  upon  thy  heart,  and 

1 1  thou  devisest  an  evil  device  ;  And  sayest,  I  will  go  up  to  a  plain  country,  I  will 
come  upon  those  who  are  at  rest  [qoiet],  who  dwell  securely,  all  of  them  dwell- 

12  ing  where  there  is  no  wall,  and  they  have  no  bars  and  gates.  To  take  spoil 
and  to  seize  prey,  to  draw  back  thy  hand  over  (re-)  inhabited  ruins,  and  to  a 
people  gathered  from  the  heathen,  who  acquire  cattle  and  goods,  dwelling  upoii 

13  the  navel  of  the  earth.  Sheba  and  Dedan,  and  the  merchants  of  Tarshish,  and 
all  his  [her]  young  lions,  will  say  to  thee,  Comest  thou  to  take  spoil  ?  hast  thou 


SCO  EZEKIEL. 

assembled  thy  assemblages  to  seize  prey  1  to  lift  silver  and  gold  ?  to  take  cattle 

14  and  goods  1  to  take  great  spoil? — Therefore  prophesy,  son  of  man,  and  say  to 
Gog  :  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  In  that  day  when  My  people  Israel  dwell 

15  securely,  shalt  thou  not  know  [experience]  it?  And  [yei]  thou  comest  out  of  thy 
place,  from  the  farthest  north,  thou  ahd  many  nations  with  thee,  all  of  them 

16  riding  upon  horses,  a  great  assemblage  [community],  and  a  numerous  army  ;  And 
goest  lip  upon  My  people  Israel,  like  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land ;  in  the  end 
of  the  days  it  shall  be,  and  [yet]  I  make  thee  come  upon  My  land,  that  the 
heathen  may  know  Me  when  I  sanctify  Myself  on  thee  before  their  eyes,  0  Gog. 

17  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah:  Art  thou  he  of  whom  I  spoke  in  former 
days  by  the  hand  of  My  servants,  the  prophets  of  Israel,  who  in  tliose  days 

18  prophesied  for  years  that  I  would  bring  thee  upon  them?  And  it  comes  to 
pass  on  that  day  on  the  day  of  the  coming  of  Gog  upon  the  land  of  Israel — 

19  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah — My  fury  shall  come  up  in  My  nose.  And  in 
My  jealousy,  in  the  fire  of  My  wrath,  do  I  speak,  if  there  shall  not  be  on  that 

20  day  a  great  shaking  over  the  land  of  Israel !  And  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and 
the  fowl  of  heaven,  and  the  beast  of  the  field,  and  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  ground,  and  every  man  that  is  on  the  face  of  the  earth  shall 
tremble  before  My  face ;  and  the  mountains  are  thrown  down,  and  the  clitfs 

21  fall,  and  every  wall  shall  fall  to  the  earth.  And  I  call  the  sword  upon  him  at 
all  My  mountains — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovali — the  sword  of  every  one 

22  shall  be  against  his  brother.  And  I  carry  on  My  plea  with  him  in  pestilence 
and  in  blood ;  and  overflowing  [gushing]  rain  and  hailstones,  fire  and  brimstone, 
will  I  rain  upon  him  and  upon  his  squadrons,  and  upon  the  many  nations  that 

23  are  with  him.  And  I  show  Myself  great,  and  sanctify  Myself,  and  make  ily- 
self  known  before  the  eyes  of  many  heathen  nations,  and  they  know  that  I  am 
Jehovah. 

Ver.    2.  Sept.:  .  .  ,  k.  tv.v  yviv  t.  M,    Vuig. ;  terram  H.,  principem  capitis  .  .  .  de  eo.    (Another  read.:    i  7]1-) 

Ver.     3.   .    .    .   Tuy  xui  atp^cvret. 

Ver.    4.   K.   rripiirrpf^^  tn  .  .   .  x.  trvvcciat  ri  .  .  .  ivhiv/Altcut   Smpttxatt  vatrirs  t£At«j  x.  rrtptxt^xXxtat  K.  /Mtl^w^M. 
Volg.  :  Et  circrjinagam  te — 

Ver.   6.  Another  read.:  nOJ^ID. 

Ver.    7.  Sept. :  .  .  .  x.itrr.  fioi  us  rpefukixxxv.    Vulg. :  .  .  .  «w  in  prsecepium. 

Ver.     8.  iTeiUMffBY,trtTiiu  .  .  .   iTi  t.  yr,v  T.  'Icp. 

Ver.  11.  Sept.  ;   .  .  .  im  yrpi  ofTipipLf/.tvYtti, — 

Ver.  12.    .   .   .  rev  ixi^Tpt'i'Xi  Tr.k  x^'f"^*  ***''  •  •  •   xtTOitsKOTCti  XTrvtit, — 

Ver.  13.  .  .   .  X.  o't   fjL^opot  Ka^;t>:Soy(Oi  *.  xttffBti  ccl  xmfMct  etvTtiy — 

Ver.  14.  .  .  .  i^Eyip9y,iry,- — 

Ver.  16.  .  .  .  irayTa  t  idvv;—    i'M  is  omitted,  or  they  transfer  it  to  following  verse. 

Ver.  19.  .  .  .  ctiirtMct—    Vulg.:  .  .  .  commotio— 

Ver.  20.  .  .  .  *.  patyy.ffivTeti  T.  cpr,  X.  Ttirouvrcti  ttl  ^xpxyyls —     Vulg. :  .  .  .  et  ctuknt  sepes  et, 

Ver.  21.  .  .  .  ST  xvro  1TXV  fc&ef  fMcx^'P"^! — 

Ver.  22.  K.  xptvtf  xi/Tiv — 

Ver.  24.  Sept.  .  .  .  x.  UielxcdnrcfAxt — 


EXEGETICAL  REMABKS. 

Ver.  2.  See  ch.  vi.  2  Magog  is  known  from 
Gen.  X.  2  (1  Chron.  i.  5) ;  he  i.s  one  of  the  Japhet- 
ites.  The  article  pointing  to  what  is  known, 
Jijtsn,  shows  that  he,  or  rather  the  people  de- 
noted bj'  him,  is  meant.  Already  Josephus,  and 
doubtless  in  accordance  with  generally  received 
tradition,  recognises  in  them  the  Scythians. 
Conip.  Hav.  p.  599  sq.,  and  also  Gesen.  Lex. 
When  J>"ij{  is  expressly  added,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary, with  Hitzig,  to  seek  in  the  syllable  JUa  from 
the  Coptic  and  the  Sanscrit  the  idea  of  land. 
Even  if  the  translation  is  not  to  be  "Gog,  prince 
of  the  land  of  Magog,"  yet  it  does  not  need  to  be 
translated,  with  Havernick  and  Ewald,  as  depen- 
dent on  Tt'OB  D^'^-    "against  Gog,   towards  the 


land  of  Magog  ; "  but  jijtsn  )*"1X  is  a  brief  ex- 
pression for :  in  or  of  the  land  of  Magog.  As  he 
is  immediately  entitled  X'b'J,  't  lies  ou  the  sur- 
face to  see  in  jij  the  king  of  the  land  of  the 
people  of  Magog.  A  Eeubenite  "Gog"  is  named 
in  1  Chron.  v.  4. — It  appears  that  we  have  before 
us  rather  an  official  than  a  personal  name.  A 
comparison  of  the  word  (in  full  jij',   like  the 

Arab.  " yagtig ")  with  Jj,  "roof,"  the  "top"  ol 

the  altar,  would  countenance  this,  if  the  latter  is 
to  be  derived  from  nX3,  S(3i  "to  be  high;"  hence: 

the  high,  sublime,  supreme.  The  Tartaric  and 
Turkish  "kak,"  "chakan,"  "khan,"  has  been 
thought  of  (a  traveller  calls  a  Tartaric  chief  of 
the  13th  century  " Gog  Khan  ").     [Cocc.  :  "Gog 


CHAP.  XXXTIII.  4. 


361 


denotes  him  v.  ho  sets  himself  like  the  roof  in  the 
midst  botwee.i  heaven  and  earth,  between  God 
and  men"  (ch.  xx^aii.  14,  16).]  The  very  pro- 
table  formati-in  of  the  name  from  "Magog" 
would  confirm  the  interpretation  and  derivation 
which  it  imp.'ies,  since  the  national  character 
(for  this  people  is  to  be  conceived  of  as  on  the 
Caucasus,  which  Herodotus  calls  the  greatest 
mountain  range  of  the  earth),  and  thus  their 
nature  and  residence  in  the  high  north,  might  be 
very  suitably  outlined  in  the  official  name  of 
their  leader  and  representative.  In  form  it 
would  be  as  if  we  said,  instead  of  the  Chinese 
Emperor  :  the  Chin  of  China.  Rev.  xx.  8  takes 
"Gog  and  Magog"  from  Ezekiel  as  title  for 
"the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth."  That  Gog  represents  Magog  is  the 
less  surprising,  because  Magog  on  its  side  repre- 
sents a  whole  complex  of  nations :  Sosh,  Ueshech, 
and  Tubal.  For  the  two  latter  see  on  ch.  xxvii. 
13,  xx.xii.  26  ;  the  former  betiveen  the  sources  of 
the  Phasis  and  Cyrus,  below  Colchis,  the  latter 
on  the  coast  of  the  Euxine,  west  of  Trapezus.  It 
is  not  exactly  said  that  "they  dwelt  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Magog"  (Keil),  but  that  they 
are  in  a  state  of  subjection,  as  vassals,  to  Gog; 
and  this  Hengstenberg,  like  Ewald,  and  ancient 
translators  and  expositors  before  them,  find 
expressed    by    U'NI  K'B'J,   which  they  render  : 

"chief  prince"  (king  of  kings) — a  combination 
which  would  be  allowable  (y*{{"l  "I^D  on  coins) 
if  it  were  meant  to  be  the  translation  of  jij, 
whence  also  it  might  be  repeated  unabbreviated 
in  ver.  3;  ch.  .xxxix.  1.  (It  cannot  be  trans- 
lated appositionally  :  "the  prince,  the  head  of 
Meshech  and  Tubal.")  But  some  who  are  of 
this  opinion  appeal  more  to  the  non-occurrence 
elsewhere  (in  Scripture  or  in  Josephus)  of  a 
people  Bosh ;  while  on  the  other  side,  reference 
has  been  made  to  the  Byzantines  of  the  tenth 
century,  who  mention  »/  'Pis,  a  barbarous  people 
about  the  north  of  Taurus.  An  Arabian  writer 
of  the  same  age  knew  of  the  heathen  nation 
"Rns,"  on  the  Wolra  itself.  CWhether  the  in- 
habitants of  "Eass,  '  Koran  xxv.  50,  are  to  be 
cited,  is  very  questionable.)  Gesenius  observes 
that  it  can  scarcely  be  doubtful  that  the  first 
trace  of  the  Russians  is  here  given.  Comp. 
Hilvemiek,  p.  604.  It  is  curious  that  Heng- 
stenberg cannot  bear  to  see  the  "poor  Russians  " 
ranged  among  the  enemies  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Hitzig  points  out  that  also  in  Gen.  x.  there 
is  subjoined  to  Meshech  and  Tubal  a  third  nation, 
Tiras,  which  von  Hammer  brings  into  connection 
with  Rosh,  conjecturing  their  original  abode  to 
have  been  on  the  Araxes.  The  name  {Boss, 
horse)  seems  to  indicate  an  equestrian  people,  like 
the  Scythians,  under  which  name  the  Greeks 
very  early  comprehended  all  the  nations  of  the 
north  :  especially  as  living  from  mare's  milk, 
they  are  described  (Iliad,  xiii.  5,  6)  as  "  mare- 
milkers."  In  the  name  Roxolani  (Rhoxalani), 
whom  Bochart  combines,  "  ala  "  means  the  same 
as  horse  (Hitzig).— Ver.  3.  Comp.  xxvi.  3, 
xxviii.  22,  x.xix.  3,  10. 
Ver.    4.    Hitzig    translates    the    Pilel   njity, 

•'allure,"  just  as  the  Targ.  :  "decoy."  [Keil: 
in  the  sense  of ;  to  a  dangerous  undertaking. 
H.ivEP.N.  :  with  force,  as  a  will-less  beast  out  of 
his  land,  away  from  his  former  path,  and  on  to 


the  way  of  destruction.]  Hitzig:  "The  Scythian 
is  in  the  outset  thought  of  as  a  wild  beast,  u  hich 
rashes  aside  from  the  jjath,  and  must  fir.=it  he 
brought  back."     But  22S\i'  means  properly:  tc 

cause  one  to  return  (a  repeating  and  strengthen- 
ing form),  a  meaning  which  Hengstenberg  justly 
retains  as  the  simplest  and  most  natural!  Ha 
interprets  thus  :  in  Gog,  the  earlier  enemies  of 
God's  people,  namely,  the  Chaldeans,  reappear. 
For  the  signification  of  the  word  adopted  by  him 
he  appeals  to  ver.  8  and  ch.  xxxix.  27,  and  com- 
pares also  ver.  12,  remarking  at  the  same  time, 
that  in  the  appearance  of  Gog,  ver.  17  and  ch. 
xxxi-x.  8,  the  fulfilment  of  earlier  prophecies  is 
recognised  in  which  Gog  is  not  expressly  con- 
templated. The  giving  of  special  prominence  to 
the  Chaldeans  is  not  in  accordance  with  Ezekiel's 
manner  (see  Introd.  to  ch.  x.\ v. -xx.xii.,  and  on 
ch.  xxi.  28  sq. ).  It  is  at  all  events  more  obvious, 
and  permits  us  to  retain  exactly  the  proper 
signification   of  33i{?,    to  assume  a  reference  to 

the  inroad  of  the  Scythians  (B.C.  633)  related  by 
Herodotus  (I.    103-6),   the    news    of   which  in- 
duced Cyaxares  to  raise  the   siege  of  Nineveh. 
This   effect,    and   still   more   the   fact  that    the 
Scythians  were  a  powerful  army  (as  Herodotus 
.■iays),  which  under  the  command  of  their  king 
.Madyas   defeated  the  Medes,   who  thereby  lost 
the  dominion  over  Asia,  of  which  the  Scythians 
took  entire   possession,  fitted  these  latter  to  be 
a  serviceable  form  for  our  prophecy.      It  was  a 
kind  of  collision  of  nations,  like  the  later  bar- 
barian  migrations.       The   polemic   of  Delitzsch 
(comp.  Strauss  on  Zephaniah)  against  the   "Scy- 
thian hypothesis,"  which  Winer  also  calls  most 
uncertain,  is  well  founded  as  regards  Zephaniah, 
Jeremi.ah,  and  Habakkuk.     But  if  the  Scythians, 
whose  equestrian  hordes,  marching  south  through 
SjTia  in   B.C.  626,  overran  Judea,  neither  plun- 
dered nor  laid  waste  Palestine,   etc.   (Delitzsch, 
Habakkuk,    p.    xviii.),    but    "quietly   went   up 
again   along  the  coast  of  the   Mediterranean  as 
they  had  come  down  as  far  as  Philistia"  (■),  at 
any   rate   lelt   behind   them    pre-eminentlv   the 
impression  of  a  quite  sudden  (that  is  the  Apoca- 
lyptic feature,  comp.   Luke  xvii.   24)  and  unex- 
pected irruption,  and  not  that  of  a  definite  judg- 
ment of   God  on  Israel,  like  the  Assyiians  and 
Babylonians, — then    the    silence   of    the    sacred 
record   regarding  this   inroad   of  the  Scythians, 
who  (according  to  Herodotus)  let  themselves  be 
turned     away    from    Egypt     by    Psammetiehus 
through   means   of    presents   and    entreaties,    is 
comprehensible,   the   question   of  ver.    17   made 
intelligible,   and  the  compulsory  bringing  back 
in  our   verse  explained.      As   they   disappeared 
after   they   had   shown   themselves,   to    people's 
great  surprise,  so  would  they  also  have  remained 
out  of  sight  ;  but  Jehovah  will  bring  them  back, 
according  to  His  purpose  and  by  His  power, 
othermse  than  they  came  the  firet  time,  and  in  a 
stiU  different  manner  of  appearing.     For  Klie- 
foth's    observation    regarding    nations    hitherto 
unhistoric,  more  properly  nations  not  yet  come 
into  consideration  for  the  kingdom  of  God,   is 
applicable  to  the  matter  in  hand.     The  prophecy 
points,  as  we  shall  see,  far  beyond  the  immediate 
historic  present  and  its  nations  ;  and  a  complex 
of  nations  coming  thus  from  the  far  north,  such 
as  the  generic  name   "  Scythians  "  (for  :  unculti- 
vated barbarians)  suggested,  after  the  above-men 


362 


EZEKIEL. 


tioned  inroad  into  Media,  etc.,  was  excellently 
adapted  for  that  purpose.  Moreover,  what  is 
here  said  in  order  to  give  due  prominence  to  the 
diWne  direction,  and  above  aU  to  the  higher 
intention  and  guidance:  And  give,  etc.,  and 
bring  thee  forth,  is  accounted  for  in  ver.  10  sq. 
from  the  natural  will  of  the  people  in  these 
respects.  Their  wild  ungovemahleness  is  evident 
from  the  figurative  expression  :  give  rings  in  thy 
jawB  (for  which  comp.  ch.  xxix.  4),  coming  be- 
tween  ^I'naniir    and    ^nssin,    and   explaining 

both  ;  even  to  the  shambles  (Ewald).  The  force 
which  makes  Gog  return  takes  him  from  his  own 
land.— D^BnSI  O'DID,  comp.  ch.  xxvii.  14. 
Here,  at  aU'  events,  horses  and  riders  is  a  de- 
cidedly Scythian  trait,  for  the  richness  in  horses 
of  these  hordes,  mostly  equestrian  tribes,  was 
already  known  to  Herodotus  ;  whOe  with  the 
expression  :  all  of  them  perfectly  clothed  (see 
ch.  xxiii.  12),  an  Assyrian  element  is  introduced, 
thus  the  figure  of  Gog  is  enlarged. — 3")  -Jrij? 
(ch.  xvii.  17)  resumes  •^'rn'bs,  i^  "^d^''  ^7  ^^^ 

description  of  the  armour  (comp.  ch.  xxiii.  24) 
to  suggest  doubtless  the  Chaldeans.  Hitzig 
rightly  considers  the  large  shield  as  respecting 
only  an  army  of  cavaliy.  AVe  may  suppose 
infantry,  but  it  is  better  to  suppose  a  description 
embracing  all  and  sundry  kinds  (handling 
Bwords,  etc.),  for  the  Scythians  are  only  the 
nucleus     (iJoi  n3S,    loosely    combined).         To 

such  a  description  correspond  also  —  Ver.  5 — 
Persia  (ch.  xxvii.  10),  representing  the  far  East, 
Cush  (ch.  XXX.  4  sq.),  the  remote  south,  and  Phut 
(ch.  XXX.  5,  xxvii.  10),  the  south-west ;  thus, 
especially  as  the  farthest  north  is  expressely 
added  in  ver.   6,  altogether  (like  Rev.   xx.  8)  rx 

i^w»j    ra    iv    TStts    Tlffffutfiffi    yuviat;    T>];  yn;. — (Shield 

and  helmet,  as  in  ch.  xxvii.  10.) — Gomer,  Gen. 
X.  2  (1  Chron.  i.  5),  the  Cimmerians,  already 
mentioned  by  Homer  (Odyss.  xi.  14  sq.),  dwell- 
ing at  the  end  of  the  earth  and  Okeanos,  where 
the  entrance  to  the  lower  world  is, — wretched  men, 
enveloped  in  cloud,  darkness,  and  night,  ami 
never  shone  upon  by  Helios  ;  afterwards  placed  on 
the  west  coast  of  Lower  Italy,  near  Cumse,  and 
still  later  supposed  to  be  on  the  northern  shores 
of  the  Euxine,  so  that  the  entrance  into  the 
Palus  Mfeotis  was  called  the  Cimmerian  Bosporus; 
after  this  they  were  removed  to  the  EhipaBan 
Mountains,  into  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Hyper- 
boreans, and  finally  became  identified  with  the 
German  Cimbri  and  the  Celtic  CjTiiry.  "The 
old  sound  of  their  name  is  still  retained  in  the 
mouth  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wales,  who  caU 
themselves  Cumri  or  Cymry,  and  their  land 
Cymru"  (Delitzsch).  May  not  the  name  be 
derived  from  x"/^'f"i,  corresponding  to  the  cloudy, 
wintry  nature  of  their  territory  ?  (Hesychius  in- 
terprets xlfi/iipoi   eix^vs   ofii^Xri.)     See  DtlNCKER, 

Qesch.  d.  AUerth.  i.  p.  739  sq.— On  n'B3N"i'3V 

comp.  on  ch.  xii.  14. — The  hotise  of  Togarmah 
!ch.  xxvii.  14),  as  Knobel  thinks,  including  the 
Phrygians  ;  just  as  the  Armenians  still  to  this 
day  call  themselves  "  house  of  Torgom  "  (Torko- 
•natsi)— on  Assyrian  monuments  "Tarkheler,' 
from  "Tagoma." — A  pictorial  and  manifestlj 
lymboli  'al  grouping  of  nations. 


Ver.  7  announces  from  the  decree  concerning 
Gog  the  demand  made  upon  him.    |3n,  ««/•  «&'• 

Niph.  pro  imperativo,  very  energetic,  and  tha 
more  so    as  imperat.   Hiph.    j3Pi  (ch.  vii.   14) 

follows  :  he  himself  is  to  be  ready,  and  to  make 
everything  ready  for  leading  out ;  or,  the  former 

referring  to   nOK  and  the  latter  to  '?]''7np~731, 

recapitulated  and  combined  by  ^^3B'0?  DH?  n"ni, 

abstract  for  concrete,  that  is,  he  who  takes  care 
of  them.  [Hengst.  :  Thou  art  authority  to  them=: 
they  are  obedient  to  thee.  Havern.  :  And  thou 
art  a  law  to  them,  as  leader  and  commander-in- 
chief.  Ewald  :  And  thou  servest  as  ensign  to 
them.  Hitzig  (Sept.)  :  And  thou  shalt  be  to  Me 
a  reserve,  which  1  hold  in  readiness  for  the  coming 
day  (ver.  8),  etc. ,  or  :  and  stand  thou  at  My  order.  J 
Half  ironical,  for  it  will  be  seen  immediately  how 
the  matter  turns  out. — Ver.  8.  The  time  when 
and  the  direction  in  which  this  preparation  and 
equipment  shall  take  place.  'd'31  D'D>D,  comp. 

Isa.  xxiv.   22,  according  to  which  parallel,  npsn 

seems  to  signify  :  to  "  visit,"  and  that  in  wrath,  as 
the  word  (according  to  Delitzsch)  does  not  occur 
in  the  sense  of  gracious  visitation.  Hitzig  replies 
that  it  is  not  yet  time  to  speak  in  the  connection 
here  of  the  infliction  of  punishment,  and  denies 
that  "ipg  with  accus.    of  the  person  signifies  to 

visit  iu  a  bad  sense.  But  the  ambiguous  expres- 
sion only  says  even  here  that  the  judgment  upon 
Gog  will  begin  to  be  prepared,  hence  it  is  not 
immediate  infliction  of  punishment ;  the  sallying 
forth  from  his  land,  to  which  he  will  be  moved,  is 
his  visitation  referred  to  in  the  connection — npgn 

equivalent  to   'T|»n33iti,  ver.    4.      The  radical 

signification  of  the  word  in  the  Hebrew  is  :  to 
seek  =^  to  examine,  to  inspect,  to  survey,  from 
which  "to  visit "  easily  follows  ;  hardly,  however, 
as  Hitzig  ;  "thou  shalt  receive  command,"  or 
as  HiVERN.  :  "thou  art  missed,"  that  is,  con- 
sidered as  a  nation  that  has  disappeared  and 
perished  ;  "  then,  however,  thou  burstest  forth 
unexpectedly  with  so  much  the  more  fonnidable 
forces  into  the  land  of  promise."  Havern.  accord- 
ing to  this  takes  D'JtS'H  n'lriKS  as  an  tithetical 

to  D'3T  D^D'C  whereas  the  expiration  of  a  long 

time  is  expressly  supposed  to  be  in  the  last  time, 
which  is  the  consummation  not  only  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  but  of  the  world  generally.  Days 
and  years  interchange  harmoniously  ;  that  which 
appears  in  the  single  event  as  many  days  is,  for 
the  Apocalyptic  eye,  which  ranges  over  the  whole, 
the  summation  for  that  which  is  still  outstanding, 
that  is,  stiU  in  aiTears,  in  years  or  time  generally. 
Of  the  future  in  general,  and  hence  of  an  indefinite 
time,  nothing  is  accordingly  said.  Hexgst.  : 
the  catastrophe  belongs  to  a  quite  new  order  of 
things  ;  both  phrases  denote  the  Messianic  epoch. 
(But  as  to  its  final  terminus).  Rev.  xx.  7  sq. — 
That  now  the  land  comes  to  view  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  joining  on  to  ch.  xxxvii. ,  as  the  mountains 
of  Israel  point  to  ch.  xxxvi.  What  is  said  of  the 
land,    'n33iy'P  {part.  p.  PH.,  comp.   ^''FI33iC', 

ver.  i),  "  made  to  return  bom  the  sword,"  tha° 


CHAP.  XXXVIII.  9-12. 


363 


is,  after  war  had  raged  over  it  (ch.  vi.  5),  applies 
in  substance  to  the  people  of  the  land,  as  also 
'nS3pD  (Pii'P<^s.) — comp.  eh.  xi.  17,  xx.  34,  41, 

xxxvi.  24,  xxxvii.  21 — shows,  and  still  more 
clearly ';3t;"1i  ^  <^o°<=lusion.    [Hitzig:  the  turned 

away  from  the  sword,  not  in  the  sense  of ;  which 
has  desisted  from  war,  but :  which  expects  no  war, 

in  careless  secvirity.J  Keil  connects  '>-\7\  pj)  with 
Niin.  Comp.  ch.  xxxvii.  22.  The  closer  designa- 
tion of  them  as  perpetually,  that  is,  continuing 
a  long  time  for  devastation  (ch.  v.  1 4),  rather 
connects  the  mountains  of  Israel  with  the  people 
assembled  upon  them,  who  possess  and  inhabit 
them.  The  time  referred  to  during  which  they 
were  laid  waste  is  to  be  considered  as  previous  to 
what  was  prophesied  in  ch.  x.\xvi.  xxxvii.  ;  more- 
over, the  phrase  :  from  many  nations,  does  not 
necessarily  point  beyond  the  Babylonian  exile, 
although  the  spiritual  sense  :  that  "  the  Son  of 
God  gathers,  protects,  and  upholds  for  Himself 
an  elect  church,  etc.,  out  of  the  whole  human 

race,"  readily  results  from  it.  Comp.  on  nD3P) 
ch.  xxviii.  26,  xxxiv.  25,  27. — Ver.  9.  n'i'J?1,  not 

a  mere  vox  militaris  (Isa.  vii.  1  ;  comp.  Eev.  xx. 
9),  but  coloured  by  DNiB'r)  which  signifies  "sub- 
version," destruction,  as  well  the  state  (waste, 
desolation),  as  the  cause  which  produces  it ; 
storm,  as  it  may  also  denote  the  moment  of 
devastation,    the   crash    (XIB',   nXB',   "  to  come 

smashing  down").  The  continuation  of  the  com- 
parison by  |3jf3  (ch.  xxx.  18)  makes  the  transla- 
tion given  too  obvious  for  its  needing  to  be 
intei'preted,  with  Hengstenberg,  "  like  ruin." 
("  Gog  is,  as  it  were,  desolation  incarnate.") 
["The  cavalry  of  the  Tanjou  frequently  consisted 
of  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  men,  formidable 
by  the  matchless  dexterity  with  which  they 
managed  their  bows  and  their  horses,  by  their 
hardy  patience  in  supporting  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather  :  unchecked  by  torrents  or  by  preci- 
pices, by  the  deepest  rivers  or  by  the  most  lofty 
mountains,  they  spread  themselves  over  the  face  of 
the  country,  and  overthrew  all  who  opposed  them. '' 
—  Gibbon.]  —  But  that,  notwithstanding  this, 
only  the  "covering"  is  held  up  to  view,  limits 
essentially  the  evil  significance  of  this  expedition  ; 
it  is  in  the  first  instance  merely  threatening. 

Ver.  10  completes,  through  means  of  subjec- 
tive morality,  the  representation  given  theocrati- 
cally  in  principle  from  the  divine  purpose  in  vur. 
4.  For  although  a  host  not  only  so  numerous, 
but  also  so  tumultuous,  wild,  and  disorderly,  is  a 
temptation,  yet  Gog  too  is  put  in  the  position 
with  respect  to  the  people  and  land  of  peace  on  the 
mountains  of  Israel,  to  settle  down  in  this  peace 
with  his  nations  and  participate  in  it,  as  the  sal- 
vation from  the  Jews  is  announced  to  all  the 
world,  even  to  its  remotest  corners  and  ends.  If, 
therefore,  Gog's  impetuosity  and  urgency  to  depart 
from  his  abodes  is  not  thence  explained,  then 
behind  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  we  will  have  to 
assume  in  addition  (Rev.  xx.  7  sq. )  o  ratrafoif  and 
his  TXx^virai  TO.  i^tTt,  and  to  conceive  of  the  relation 
to  ver.  4  as  of  that  of  1  Chron.  xxi.  1  to  2  Sam. 
xxiv.   1,  and  generally  to  direct  our  view  to  the 


world  of  nations,  which  has  remained  unreceptive, 
notwithstanding  that  the  gospel  has  been  preached 
in  the  whole  world  -rairri  t»j  jcTtiru.  On  the  ex- 
pression :  on  that  day,  comp.  ch.  xxix.  21. — ipj;< 
illustrates  Tfhv^  '"  ''^^^    ^- — D''13T    ^^^  ^<^^' 

' '  things, "  but  (as  and  sayest,  ver.  11,  immediately 
proves)  in  the  first  instance  :  words,  which  ascend 
upon  the  heart,  after  they  were  thoughts  in  the 
heart  (and  so  proceed  out  of  the  heart,  Mark  vii. 
21).  3C'n,  to  settle  something  inwardly,  to  con- 
ceive in  thought,  to  devise,  especially  in  a  bad 
sense,  denotes  the  inward  process  which  precedes 
and  accompanies. — Ver.  11.  The  evil  purpose  is 
well  characterized  by  the  contrast  to  niPS  I'^Xi 

a  plain  country,  which  has  no  mountain  fortresses, 
no  walled  cities  ;  whereby  is  intended,  not  so  much ; 
which  lies  open  on  all  sides  (Hitzig),  as  :  which 
offers  no  incentive  for  conquest ;  comp.  Esth.ix.  19; 
Zech.  ii.  4.     In  accordance  with  this,  ni"HV3.  i" 

ch.  xxxvi.  35,  is  to  be  understood  of  a  high  secure 
position.  The  whole  description,  and  particularly 
what  follows,  is  an  idyl,  which,  rather  than 
matter  for  dogmatism,  has  a  symbolic  character, 
and  is  especially  designed  to  bring  out  the  guilt 
of  Gog  through  his  device  against  such  peace  of 
God.  Comp.  in  addition,  Judg.  xviii.  7  ;  Jer. 
xlix.  31  ;  Micah  v.  10  sq. 

Ver.  12.  As  such  an  attack  is  an  evil  device, 
80  also  is  the  intention  of  plundering.  [Hengst. 
makes  "the  community  of  God  to  be  depicted  in 
its  want  of  earthly  defence  or  help,  in  this  its 
disadvantage  against  the  world,  while  God  has 
reserved  to  Himself  to  be  its  defence."  It  is  not, 
however,  "  the  perception  of  this  defenceless  state 
which  presents  the  occasion  for  the  undertaking 
of  the  enemy  ; "  this  proceeds  rather  from  the 
wanton  self-sufficiency  of  carnal  power  and  might.  ] 
^T  3'tJ'n?,  a  fresh  instance  of  what  the  heathen 

had  done  before,  connects  itself  with  the  "and 
sayest"  in  ver.  11.      In  njpD  (see    Ges.  Lex.) 

here,  while  in  other  passages  the  sense  of  the 
word  is  otherwise  defined  (Gen.  xxxi.  18,  xxxvi. 
6,  xxxiv.  23),  the  possession  of  flocks  by  the  patri- 
archs is  referred  to,  and  the  synonym  pjp  is  to 

be  defined  in  accordance  therewith  ;  comp.  on 
ver.  13.  "Very  beautifully  does  the  Archaic  ex- 
pression delineate  the  revival  of  the  patriarchal 
state,  the  resemblance  which  the  future  bears 
to  the  past"  (HiVERX.).  [Hitzig:  "attending 
to  productive  labour  and  commerce."  Ewald  i 
"who  possess  land  and  goods."  Both  transla- 
tions obliterate  the  idyllic  character  of  the  descrip- 
tion.]      As   "H3!3   can   be  said   of  any   height, 

curved  elevation  (Mount  Tabor!),  so  it  here  sig- 
nifies the  same  as  to  tX«t«  tik  yn  (Rev.  xx.  9), 
the  symbolical  elevated  plateau  of  the  earth,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  — 
a  position  thus  of  prominent  centrality  (see  Hitzig) 
— "the  highlands  of  the  Spirit, "  as  Lange  expresses 
it.  Comp.  on  ch.  v.  5.  "The  designation 
applies  so  much  the  more  closely,  because  the 
land  itself  lies  high,  and,  sloping  both  to  the  east 
and  the  west,  exposes  a  navel  to  view  "  (Hitzig). 
Israel's  peacefulness  and  significance — the  Israel 
of   the   fulfilment   in   Christ — are   meant   to    b« 


364 


EZEKIEL. 


counter-types  to  tlie  restless  and  the  essentially 
mean,  to"  the  rapacious,  materialistic  disposition 

of  the  C'hristless  heathen  world,     y?'^    and   |3 

{how  what  alone  Gog  wants  with  the  Lord's 
people.  Haremiek  rightly  remarks  that  "  the  in- 
ward significance  "  of  the  conflict  is  meant  to  be 
portrayed.  ' '  The  heathen  power  has  assembled 
Its  forces,  as  if  about  to  fight  with  one  of  the 
greatest  world-kingdoms.  According  to  mere 
human  opinion,  and  in  view  of  such  disparity  of 
outward  power,  the  evil  appears  here  to  march  to 
certain  victory."  Ought  we  not  also  to  be  able 
to  infer  from  the  representation  given,  that  the 
community  of  God  has  at  the  time  ceased  to 
appear  in  "dominant  churches,"  and  has  also 
dispensed  with  the  support  of  the  temporal  arm 
in  the  way  of  state  churches?  It  looks  here 
quite  like  re  ^ixpov  Totfiviov,  Luke  xii.  32,  which 
possesses  nothing  except  the  it-Sajejjfl-iv  of  the 
Father  and  the  itumi  tuv  /See^iXksv.  Hiivernick 
mentions  in  this  connection  the  "true  destination 
of  the  theocracy,  as  it  is  already  set  before  us  in 
the  law,"  and  then  adds  :  "  Israel  was  not  in- 
tended to  stand  out  among  other  nations  as  a 
politically  great  people  in  the  outward  sense  ;  its 
weapons  and  honour  were,  in  direct  contrast  to 
the  powers,  of  this  world,  to  belong  to  an  incom- 
p.irably  higher  sphere."  He  nevertheless  makes 
"  the  theocracy  be  an  object  of  allurement  for 
covetousness  and  plunder,"  in  that  he  makes 
"  the  new  nation  rich  in  flocks  and  possessions," 
as  already  the  Chaldee  Paraphrast  does, — an  idea, 
however,"  which  the  text  does  not  express,  and 
which  is  not  contained  in  'nb'V-     1°  ^^^^  '^^^  °^^ 

could  not  but  choose  to  hear  in  Ver.  13  the 
"  similar  interest  of  avarice,"  the  "  participation 
in  joy  over  such  a  robbing  expedition  ;  "  against 
which  HiTZiG  •  "but  why  are  traders  named, 
and  not  rather  arch-enemies,  like  Edom  and 
Moab  ?  "  Sheba  ;  see  ch.  xxvii.  22,  23.  Sedan ; 
ch.  xxvii.  15,  20.  The  merchants  of  Tarshish; 
ch.  xxvii.  21,  36,  12,  25.  First  of  all,  traffic 
which  crosses  sea  and  land  presents  a  contrast 
to  the  settled  system  and  peaceful  procedure, 
vers.  11,  12.  Then  further,  those  named  by 
means  of  the  clause  ;  n''TB3"i'31  (Hitzig  :  "its," 

the  land  of  Tarshish's,  "  authorities  ;  "  Keil  : 
"  the  rapacious  iiilers  of  these  commercial 
nations;"  Grotius  :  "sea  pirates"), — comp. 
ch.  xix.  2,  3  (ch.  xxxii.  2), — are  placed  alongside 
of  the  greedy  and  rapacious  Gog.  ("The  mag- 
nates of  Tarshish  are  designated  as  fierce  lions  on 
ai'count  of  the  heartless  cruelty  which  goes  hand 
in  hand  with  the  spirit  of  trade,"  Hkngst. ) 
The  meaning,  however,  is  not:  "where  there 
is  spoil  the  traders  gather,"  so  tha*  "the  question, 
in  the  case  of  affirmation,  implies  s  prospect  of 
joyful  participation  "  (Hengst.),  for  finally  they 
figure  as  connoisseurs,  as  men  skilled  in  robbery 
and  plunder  ;  and  this  not  merely  "  for  bringing 
out  the  evident  desire  of  Gog's  hordes  "  (Keil) — 
for  if  it  is  "  evident,"  what  need  is  there  of  the 
"  bringing  out  "  ? — but  rather  to  place  an  almost 
ironical  point  of  interrogation  after  the  greed  and 
rapacity  of  Gog  in  respect  to  the  patriarchal 
possessions  and  goods  mentioned  in  ver.  12  ; 
lomewliat  thus  :  what  wilt  thou  get  then  ?  as  if 
even  for  them  who  delight  to  rob  and  plunder 
for  their  living,  the  greatness  of  the  attack  bore 


no  proportion  to  the  smalluess  of  the  object ' 
Moreover,  what  is  put  into  their  mouth  is  iL 
keeping  with  this.  In  the  first  place,  they 
simply  take  up  Gog's  intention  (ver.  12),  askiig 
in  his  own  words,  Comest  thou  witn  this  in- 
tention ?  are  thine  assemblages  for  this  ?  Then, 
however,  very  characteristically,  the  merchants, 
the  cimnoisseurs,  immediately  speak  of  "  silver 
and  gold  "  as  that  above  all  which  should  reward 
such  an  expedition  as  Gog's.  This,  however, 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  description  in  ver.  12,  so 

that  the  naming  again  of  the  jHafJi  njpo  looks 

antithetical,  and  this  the  more  as  the  questioners 
conclude  :  to  take  great  spoil.  To  take  cattle 
and  goods  of  that  kind  must  recommend 
itself  poorly  to  hordes  which  have  come  from 
such  a  distance. 

After  those  skilled  in  pillage  have  given  their 
dictum  by  their  question,  Jehovah  now  says, 
Ver.  1 4,  that  Gog  wUl  find  it  just  as  those  of 
kindred  spirit  to  him  have  already  said. — There- 
fore, because  in  fact  it  is  as  those  say,  the 
prophet  also  shall,  on  God's  part,  confirm  it 
(saan).    The  interrogatory  :  And  say  to   Gog, 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  In  that  day  . 
shalt  thou  not  know  it  ?  is  parallel  to  the  inter 

rogating  speakers    in   ver.    13  (^p  IION')-     '* 

is  so,   and  therefore  will  also  be  so  when  Gog 

shall  be  in   a  position  to  know  it.     [yin   ^^ 

been  most  commonly,  as  already  by  the  Chaldee 
Paraphrast,  understood  of  knowing  through  pun- 
ishment. Havemick  regards  at  least  "  the  whole 
foregoing  leading  forth  "  as  that  "  of  the  truth  " 
of  which  "Gog  shall   have   living  experience." 

Ewald  and  Hitzig  read  -iyn  (Sept.)  :  "  wilt  thou 

set  thyself  in  motion  ?  "] — On  that  day,  ver.  10. — 
Ver.  11. — Ver.  15.  Although  thou  comest  to 
this  knowledge,  neverthele,»s  thou  comest,  etc., 
because  (ver.  16)  I  make  thee  come  according  to 
My  intention. — Comp.  vers.  8,  6,  9. — Eiding 
horses,  etc.,  comp.  ch.  xxiii.  6.  It  is  related  of 
the  Scythians  that  they  eat,  diink,  and  sleep  in 
the  saddle.  Duncker  remarks  on  Herodotus' 
expedition  of  the  Scythians  :  "  Only  on  the  west 
shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  only  through  the  pass 
of  Denbend  was  it  possible  that  the  numerous 
bands  of  cavalry  (he  supposes  the  Sarmatian 
tribes,  which  pressed  forward  towards  the  Cau- 
casus, and  that  neighbouring  hordes  of  the 
Scolots,  from  the  Tanais  (Don)  to  the  Tyras 
(Dniester),  joined  in  this  movement)  could  take 
and  open  up  for  themselves  the  way  to  the  south. 
It  led  into  the  heart  of  the  Median  territory." — 

Ch.  xxvi.  7. — Ver.  16.  Comp.  ver.  9.— nnnS3 
D^D'H  combining  the  two  designations  of  ver. 
8. — '\Su7i  th^  divine  purpose  at  ver.  4,  in  dis- 
tinction to  Gog's  pui-pcses,  ver.  12.  That  which 
was  meant  to  end  in  a  plundering  expedition 
issues  in  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah  ;  while  'jy  the 
expression  :  when  I  sanctify  Myself  on  thee, 
Gog  is  exhibited  as  a  parallel  and  at  the  same 
time  an  antithesis  to  Israel, — a  parallel  as  Jehovah 
has  sanctified  Himself  in  judgment,  an  antithesis 
as   He  has  sanctified    Himself  in  mercy  in  Hii 


CHAP.  XXXVIII.  16-23. 


;i65 


tKiojile.  ["  Known  as  the  Holy  One,  whose 
lonour  and  estate  no  one  is  permitted  to  touch, 
even  in  His  weak  protegees,"  Schmieder.] 
Comp.  ch.  XX.  41,  xxviii.  22,  xxxvi.  23. 

The  vocative  Jij,  ver.  16,  prepares  for 
K^ri'rinsn,  Ver.  17.     The  interrogative  fonn  is 

not  so  much  intended  to  make  a  stronger  affirma- 
tion, as  to  call  special  attention  to  the  former 
prophetic  announcement.  The  affirmation  to  the 
question  also  does  not  lie  in  the  last  clause  of 
the  verse  (Keil),  for  this  clause  rather  expresses 
the  immediate  contents  of  the  earlier  prophecy 
referred  to, — what  will  come  upon  the  community 
of  God  as  end  and  consummation.  That  the 
prophets  of  Israel  had  already  named  Gog  is 
directlj'  excluded  by  the  iutenogation.  If  they 
mentioned  names,  these  were  rather  other  national 
forms,  hut  behind  all  these  there  remained  a 
point  of  interrogation  ;  and  for  this  reason,  that 
especially  accompanying  all  the  prospects  of  grace 
for  Israel,  there  remained  in  prospect  a  final 
judgment  over  his  and  God's  enemies,  over  the 
world  that  withstands  the  kingdom  of  God  (over 
the  heathen  world).  This  interrogative  realizes 
itself  here  in  Ezekiel  by  this  Gog.  Hence  it  is 
not  only  difficult  to  point  out  distinct  sayings  of 
the  older  prophets  (Ewald  :  Isa.  x.  6,  xvii.  14  ; 
Hengst.  :  Joel  iii.  3  [ii.  30]  sq.  ;  Isa.  xxiv.- 
xxvii.,  xxxiv.  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  ;  Keil  ;  Joel  iii.  2, 
11  sq.;  Isa.  xxv.  5,  10  sq.,  xxvi.  21  ;  Jer.  xxx. 
23,  25),  but  also  superfluous  to  do  so,  and  above 
all  to  imagine  "lost"  passages  (Ewald).  The 
judgment  of  the  world  shall,  according  to  the 
word  of  the  prophets  of  Israel,  be  the  transform- 
ing of  the  Church  militant  into  the  Church 
triumphant.  [ "  The  predictions  of  the  earlier 
prophets  are  in  so  far  alluded  to  as  the  victory  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  over  the  heathen  world,  and 
the  judgment  of  the  Lord  on  it,  are  announced 
in  them.  It  is  only  thus  that  the  reference  to 
the  prophecies  accords  with  the  other  contents  of 
the  section.  The  special  announcements  regard- 
ing the  invasion  and  overthrow  of  Assyria  and 
Babylon  may  also  be  included,"  Hengst.] — 
'3blp!   D'iblpt  what  in  relation  to  the  speaker, 

or  some  one  else  referred  to,  belongs  to  ancient 
times. — 'T3,  Dan.  ix.  10. — Qnn  D'D'3  repro- 
duces D'jiDip  D"'D'3>  i°  order  to  designate  by 
the  accusative  of  duration,  Q'JJJ',  "during  years," 

the  prophecy  as  one  "  going  through  the  whole 
course  of  the  times  "  (Hengst. ).  [Others,  e.g. 
Havernick,  take  it  as  an  asyndeton.  Ewald  : 
"who  prophesied  in  those  days  of  years."] 

Ver.  18  is,  according  to  Hitzig,  a  quotation 
from  the  former  prophecy,  of  which  we  do  not  see 
the  necessity.  Our  verse  brings  to  actual  fulfil- 
ment what  was  prophesied  by  :  that  I  would  bring 
thee  upon  them  (ver.  17). — On  that  day, 
more  definitely  :  on  the  day  of  the  coming  of 
Gog,  etc.,  Diion  the  land  of  Israel,  explains 
upon  them  (ver.  17). — Comp.  moreover,  Ps.  xviii. 
9,  16  (8,  15).     ^BK3,  not  :  "in  my  wrath,"  but 

the  short  breathing  of  the  nose,  anthropopathically 
as  the  gesture  indicative  of  an  angry  man,  or 
poetically,  as  in  general  also  of  the  horse,  lion, 
irocodile,    etc.    (ejx,  from   SIJN,  »■«■  to  breathe 


through   the   nose,  to    puff,    corret.    nt,"j,   {j'gj^ 

through  the  mouth).  Comp.  ch.  xxiv.  8. — Ver. 
19.  (Ch.  V.  13,  xxxvi.  6.)  Comp.  ch.  xxi.  31, 
xxii.    21.  —  Tna'l,    prophetic  perfect,   not,   m 

Hitzig,  :=  'rna'ii  in  ver.  17,  as  repetition  before 

introducing  the  expression  left  out  in  ver.  18,  so 
that    ver.    18    continues    itself    with    ver.    196. 

Forced  and   artificial.  —  By  S^-QS,  'ma'l    be. 

comes  an  oath  :  surely.  The  "shaking"  is  not 
merely  a  shaking  of  the  earth,  because  the  land 
of  Israel  is  immediately  mentioned.  For  this 
reference  is  made  obvious  by  the  locality  of  the 
judgment,   and  besides,    i;*j;t  takes    place  over 

(7j;)  the  ground  and  soil  of  Israel,  just  as  Hupf. 

on  Ps.  xviii.  directs  attention  to  the  shaking  of 
the  earth  by  thunder,  and  the  violence  of  Eastern 
tempests.     What  is  meant  by  t;'jn  is  explained 

in  Ver.  20  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  "greatness  " 
of  the  shaking  :  ''JSO  1{^'y^^.  That  the  moun- 
tains, etc.,  are  thrown  down  (ch.  xxx.  4),  is  only 
one  element  in  the  whole,  which,  as  a  whole,  is 
described  as  a  cosmic  catastrophe,  sympathized 
in  by  every  xTin;  (comp.  Zeph.  i.  3 ;  Jer. 
iv.  25;  Gen.  vii.  21),  like  a  world's  overthrow-. 
ni3"nt3n,  according    to   Gesenius,    particularly : 

"stair-like  rocks"  (like  «Xi|UatJ),  from  jt^,  from 

which  Meier  deduces  the  signification  :  rift,  fissure. 
Proceeding  from  the  Arabic,  njllO  might  denote 

something  to  be  ascended,  a  height. — Every  wall 
that  is  to  fall  includes  natural  walls,  as  well  as 
those  made  by  man. 

Ver.  21.  V^'Vi  l'^<^*'^6  tlie  judgment  of  the  fury 

and  jealousy  of  Jehovah  is  aimed  at  Gog  and  his 
bands. — The  sword,  thus  his  own  weapon  (ver. 

4).  —  P37,  etc.,  Hitzig  distributive  :  on  all,  sq.  ; 

Keil  :  towards  all,  sq.,  indicating  the  direction. 
This,  which  is  certainly  not  "forced  into  the  con- 
nection "  (Hitzig),  is  explained  from  ver.  9  (16) 
from  the  cloud  covering  the  land.  Gog's  bands  are 
in  all  directions,  therefore  also  the  sword  is  in  all 
directions  (ch.  xxxix.  4). — My  mountains,  the 
Lord  says,  casting  a  glance  at  His  people  there 
(ver.  8).  [Hitzig  grounds  it  on  Zech.  xiv.  4  sq. 
(?).]  For  what  purpose  the  sword  is  called  for  is 
indeed  self-evident ;  but  here  one  assails  the  other 
therewith  in  discord  (contrast  to  the  assembling 
at  first,  ver.  7),  probably  as  usual  at  the  dividing 
of  the  booty  made.  Comp.  Zech.  xiv.  13.  Pre- 
vious types,  Judg.  vii.  22  ;  2  Chron.  xx.  23.  In 
the  first  instanc3  Jehovah  merely  "calls." — Ver. 
22.  He  grasps  it  still  more  personally  as  a  judge: 
'riBSB'J,  ch.  xvii  20.      The  colouring  for  the 

farther  description  reminds  us  of  the  plagues  of 
Egypt,  whence  Hengstenberg  makes  them  be 
"partly  taken,  and  from  the  destruction  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,"  Gen.  xix.  24.  Comp.  also  ch. 
xxviii.  23,  and  on  ch.  xiii.  11,  13  (Josh.  x.  11) 
Ver.  23  proves  that  it  is  an  intervention  of  Jehovah 
Himself^  Hb  fighting  for  His  people,  who  an 


S66  EZEKIEL. 


small  compared  with  the  greatness  of  Gog  (vei. 
15).  —  'ri^^jrin  is  to   be   understood  from   the 

eontrast  to  the  greatness  of  Gog.     Comp.  on  ch. 
sjtrri.   23.     On  'nB''Ipnn,  comp.  on  ver.  16. — 


''nVTiJ.  comp.  ch.  XXXV.  11  (ch.  xxxix.  7,  xx 

5,  9). — The  many  heathen  nations,  correspond- 
ing antithetically  to  the  repeatedly-mentioned 
"many  nations"  (according  to  ver.  22). — Comp. 
ver.  16. 


CHAPTEK  XXXIX. 

1  And  thou,  Son  of  man,  prophesy  against  Gog,  and  say.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  Gog,  prince  of  Eosh,  Meshech,  and 

2  Tubal ;  And  I  lead  thee  back,  and  drive  thee  on,  and  make  thee  come  up  from 

3  the  farthest  north,  and  make  thee  come  to  the  mountains  of  Israel.  And  I  dash 
thy  bow  out  of  thy  left  hand,  and  will  make  thy  arrows  fall  out  of  thy  right  hand. 

4  On  the  mountains  of  Israel  shalt  thou  fall,  thou  and  all  thy  squadrons,  and  the 
nations  that  are  with  thee  ;  to  birds  of  prey  of  every  kind,  and  to  the  beasts 

5  of  the  field  I  give  thee  for  food.     Upon  the  face  [flat]  of  the  field  shalt  thou 

6  fall,  for  I  have  spoken  it :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. — And  I  send  fire 
into  Magog  and  into  [among]  those  that  dwell  securely  in  the  isles,  and  they 

7  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  the  name  of  My  hohness  will  I  make  known 
in  the  midst  of  My  people  Israel,  and  I  will  not  let  the  name  of  My  holiness 
be  profaned  any  more ;  and  the  heathen  nations  know  that  I  am  Jehovah, 

8  holy  in  Israel.     Behold  it  came  and  was  done, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, 

9  — this  is  the  day  of  which  I  spoke.  And  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of 
Israel  go  out  and  set  on  fire  and  burn  the  armour,  short  shield  and  long 
shield,  the  bow  and  the  arrows,  and  the  hand-cane  and  the  spear,  and  they 

10  keep  a  fire  burning  with  them  seven  years.  And  they  shall  not  carry  [fetch] 
wood  from  the  field,  nor  cut  it  out  of  the  forests,  for  they  shall  keep  a  fire 
burning  with  the  armour ;  and  they  spoil  their  spoilers  and  plunder  their 

11  plunderers  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  it  comes  to  pass  on  that 
day,  that  I  will  give  to  Gog  a  place  of  burial  in  Israel,  the  valley  of  the 
passers-through  east  of  the  sea,  and  it  stops  the  passers-through ;  and  there 
they  bury  Gog  and  all  his  tumult,  and  they  call  it  the  valley  of  the  tumult  of 

12  Gog.     And  the  house  of  Israel  are  seven  months  burying  them,  in  order  to 

13  cleanse  the  land.  And  the  whole  people  of  the  land  bury  them,  and  it  is  to 
them  for  a  name,  on  the  day  of  My  glorifying  Myself :  sentence  of  the  Lord 

1 4  Jehovah. — And  they  shall  sever  out  [appoint]  set  men,  who  pass  through  in  the 
land,  who  bury  with  the  passers-through  those  that  remain  on  the  face  of  the 
land,  to  cleanse  it ;  after  the  end  of  seven  months  they  shall  hold  a  search. 

15  And  the  passers-through  in  the  land  pass  through,  and  he  [one  of  them]  sees  a 
human  skeleton,  and  sets  up  by  it  a  mark,  untU  the  buriers  bury  it  [the 

16  skeleton]  in  the  valley  of  the  tumult  of  Gog.     And  also  the  name  of  a  city 

17  [is,  shall  be]  "  Hamonah  "  [tnmuit].  And  they  cleanse  the  land.  And  thou.  Son 
of  man,  thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  Say  to  birds  of  every  kind,  and  to 
every  beast  of  the  field.  Assemble  and  come,  gather  around  over  My  sacri- 
fice which  I  kill  for  you,  a  great  sacrifice  on  the  mountains  of  Israel,  and  ye 

18  eat  flesh  and  drink  blood !  Flesh  of  mighty  men  [heroes]  shall  ye  eat,  and 
blood  of  princes  of  the  earth  shall  ye  drink  ;  rams,  lambs,  and  he-goats,  bul- 

19  locks,  fatlings  of  Bashan  all  of  them.     And  ye  eat  fat  to  the  full,  and  drink 

20  blood  to  drunkenness  from  My  sacrifice  which  I  have  killed  for  you.  And 
ye  become  full  at  My  table,  with  horse  and  chariot,  mighty  man  and  every 

21  kind  of  soldier  :  sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  I  give  My  glory 
[honour]  among  the  heathen,  and  all  the  heathen  see  My  judgment  [justice]  which 

22  I  have  executed,  and  My  hand  which  I  have  laid  upon  them.  And  the  house 
of  Israel  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  their  God,  from  this  day  and  henceforth. 

23  And  the  heathen  know  that  the  house  of  Israel  wandered  out  [were  ca-Tied  away 
captive]  for  their  iniquity,  because  they  were  unfaithful  to  Me ;  and  I  hid  My 
face  from  them,  and  gave  them  into  the  hand  of  their  oppressors,  and  they 

24  all  fell  by  the  sword.     According  to  their  uncleanness  and  according  to  theu 


CHAP.  XXXIX.  1-6.  3G7 

25  transgressions  have  I  done  unto  them,  and  I  hid  My  face  from  them.  There- 
fore thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  N<>w  will  I  turn  the  calamity  of  Jacob, 
and  I  have  mercy  on  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  and  I  am  jealous  for  the  name 

26  of  My  holiness.  And  they  bear  their  reproach,  and  all  their  unfaithfuln»sa 
which  they  have  unfaithfully  done  towards  Me,  when  they  dwell  securely 

27  upon  their  land,  and  there  is  none  that  makes  them  afraid  ;  When  I  bring 
them  back  from  the  nations,  and  gather  them  out  of  the  lands  of  their 
enemies,  and  sanctify  Myself  on  them  before  the  eyes  of  many  heathen. 

28  And  they  know  that  I,  Jehovah,  am  their  God,  in  that  I  led  them  captive  to 
the  heathen,  and  have  gathered  [gather]  them  to  their  o^vn  iMid,  and  I  will 

29  leave  no  more  of  them  there ;  And  I  will  no  more  hide  My  face  from  them, 
because  I  poured  out  My  Spirit  upon  the  house  of  Israel :  sentence  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.  2.  Sept.:  K.  nvxlu  ri  «.  xa6olr.yr,cai  k.  irit^i^ttrm  ri  .  .  .  x.  rvy«c{«  ri  ix/ —  Vulg.:  Et  circumagam  tt  ti 
tducam —    (Another  reading ;   ^^H   ?X-) 

Ver.    3.    K.  otiroiM  ........  rrjS   Sf^jxr  x.   tutrecfia^  trt   (4)   in   r«  «/t)  .   .  .   K.  wm  .  •  •   Ut   rA*;^  Ofrltrt.      Ilxtrt 

wfntvv  X.  r»fft¥  T.  Qr^mt —     Vlllg.:  Ferii  aribus  omnique  volaiili.     (Another  reading ;  D'^^H    D^DVI,   11^11   /31.) 

Ver.     6.  Sept.:    .   .   .   k.  KairatKia-Or.ro^Txt  At  itr,r9t'ir' U^ir,t. 

Ver.    7.  .  .  .  a-a*Ta  t.  iB^r. — 

Ver.     8.  ...  X.  y^airr,  in  iffroLt  — 

Ver.  11.  .  .  .  T«irev  fiye^^KTTov,  fj.^r.uAitn  ...  re  Te\vx>iptof  ran  ixtXSatTan  wpa  r.  BctXxrfctir  x.  xtfioixoia/jtr.rwni  rt 
wtfiirrciuov  Trf  ^ntpetyyoi  X.  xare/fJ^ivg-it  iXU   .  .   .  «.  x?,v&r,ff-ITeu  T«  Fat  TO  ToXvxtipm  T»u  Vlfy.    Vulg.:   .  .    .  vailem  viatorum 

.  .  .  qux  obslupMcere /adet  praetereunus, — 

Ver.  13.  Sept.:  .  .  .  tU  ov«u^cirTot. 

Ver.  14.  ,  .  .  trxrxv  t.  yr^v,  8x^ai  T.  7utretXt>.tt/j,fUn>ve  iwl  ,  .  .  xatSccptrett  .  .  .  fiirct  Ttjf  iwTxfLttrtr —  Vulg.  ;  fwl 
upfUant  et  requirant — 

Ver.  15.  .  .  .  K.  tereti,  Tae  o  itctiropit/Ofj^tte!  rx^ar  T.  yi}i  X.  ilatt— 

Ver.  16.  .  ,  .  me  s-«Xcft>;  GcXvxtZpiint,    VuJg. :  Amona. 

Ver.  18.  .  .  .  xfiivj;  x.  fxAiaxbv!  x.  -rpxyoni  cl  i*cfx"  Unttrmfjutu  ratne,  Vulg. :  ,  .  .  <l  attiiium  €t  pimgymm 
omnium. 

Ver.  21.  .  .  .  it  iipuv — 

Ver.  23.  Sept.:  .  .  .  rxtrx  r.  ie.ij. 

Ver.  26.  .  .  .  X.  (Xi*:rw  T.  oixev  I. 

Ver.  26.  Vulg.:-.  .  .  neminem /ormidaTita.    (Another  reading:  ^KtfJV) 

Ver.  27.  Sept. :  .  .  .  ix  t.  x'*?*"  ^-  is**" — 

Ver.  28.  .  .  .  i»  t«.  i»if«>r,«,  ^i  atiriii  i>  t.  ie>i<ri>.     (Another  reading:  IK   /V<  «*«•) 

Ver.  29.  .  .  .  ■{ix**  ^0'  ^1*^  ^f. 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

The  further  execution  of  the  divine  judgment, 
already  announced  at  the  close  of  ch.  xxxviii., 
begins  in  ver.  1  with  a  repetition  from  ch.  xxxviii. 
2,  3,  of  the  most  formal  address  to  Gog. — Ver.  2, 
comp.  on  ch.  xxxviii.  4.     If  ^'n^bvni,  etc.,  did 

not  immediately  follow, — and  it  could  not  follow 
after  the  execution  of  the  judgment  on  Gog, — and 
if  I'rHE'K'l  did  not  stand  between  ^'naatJ'l  and 

ITrbyni,  whereby  a  signification  not  so  very  far 

removed  from  this  connection  is  suggested,  then 
we  might  listen  to  Hengstenberg's  translation 
(J.  KiMCHi) :  "and  I  six  thee," — by  which  he 
understands  the  infliction  on  Gog  of  the  six 
plagues  of  ch.  xxxviii.  22.  Others,  too,  appealing 
to  ch.   xlv.    13  (DJI'tS'tt'))  have  interpreted  from 

CJg; :  I  leave  a  sixth  part  of  thee.     But  the  position 

of  t)ie  word  (which  is  Ezekiel's  own)  here  assigns 
to  it  most  fittingly  an  intensifying  sense,  such  as  : 
drive,  or  the  like  (see  Havem.  in  loc.).  Meier 
holds  the  Piel  SE'B'  t°  ^^  2°  abbreviated  form  ^ 

KK'MEi'-    Gesenius  (KO'ti')  translates:  "and  lead 


thee  forth."  It  is  said  that  the  signification  :  "  to 
walk  along,"  "  to  march,"  is  admissible  from  the 
Ethiopic,  hence  here  conjugated  only  transitively. 
Following  the  Chaldee  ("I  lead  thee  astray"), 
Ewald  renders  it :  "  and  entice  thee  away  and 
keep  thee  in  leading-strings,"  which  Hitzig  finds 
good  (!).  Rashi  :  "deceive  thee." — Ch.  xxxviii. 
9,  16.— Ch.  xxxviii.  6,  15.— Ch.  xxxviii.  16,  8.— 
Ver.  3.  The  left  hand  holds  the  bow,  the  right 
bends  it  and  fits  on  the  arrow.  It  does  not  even 
come  to  an  attack,  because,  ch.  xxxviii.  21  sq., 

aBword,etc.  consumes  Gog. — Ver.  4.  p^SK  of  ver. 

3  leads  to   ^gn  here.— On  '<-in  bs,  couip.  cli. 

xxxviii.   6,   9,  22. — Qiy  is  :  "  animal  of  prey," 

therefore  more  exactly  described  here  by  ligv. 

"  bird  generally. " — Comp.  ch.  xvii.  23.  Hengst.  ; 
"  as  many  as  have  wings. " — Ch.  xxix.  5. — Ver.  5, 
On  account  of  the  previous  "  beast  of  the  field," 
the  "mountains  of  Israel"  are  changed  for  the 
face  of  the  fieli — Ch.  xxiii.  34,  xxvi.  5. 

Ver.  6.  If  we  are  not  to  extend  the  judgment 
"  also  over  the  land  of  Gog  and  all  (?)  the  heathen 
who  dwell  securely  "  (Keil),  which,  however,  ii 
plainly  expresaed  both  by  ji3D3  and  ^J  *3t5''2» 


i6S 


EZEKIEL. 


nD3^  D^'Xn,  then  we  must,  with  Hensgt.,  take 

D"N~  '"'"■   "  states  and  countries  in  general," 

"  islands  in  the  sea  of  the  world,"  and  understand 
the  "  security  "  to  be  such  as  "  induces  them  to 
the  expedition  against  the  people  of  God"  (!!); 
or  we  must,  with  Rosenm.  at  <3B^3V  etc.,  think 

of  ch.  xxxviii.  13.  But  the  fire  does  not  neces- 
sarily compel  us  to  agree  with  either  of  these,  for 
it  do'es  not  stand  here  as  in  ch.  xxxviii.  22,  but 
apart  by  itself,  so  that  we  have  to  compare  here, 
e.g.  ch.  v.  4,  and  the  many  similar  pa.ssages  in 
which  it  occurs  as  a  s)Tnbol  of  the  divine  ven- 
geance. Our  chapter,  while  it  carries  into  further 
detail,  also  supplements  the  picture  given  in  ch. 
xxxviii.      Thus  the  judgment  extends  from  the 

mountains  of  Israel,  as  also  'nn^B'  expresses,  "  to 

Magog,"  the  people  concerned,  in  among  them  at 
home  :  whUe  their  collective  character  (comp.  ch. 
xxxviii.  2)  is  then  again  depicted  by  the  expres- 
sion :  those  that  dwell  securely  in  the  isles. 
Gog's  expedition  is  made  by  land,  but  has  its 
sympathisers  in  islands  and  coast  lands  as  well  as 

at  home— in  fact,  over  sea  and  land  (nD3^  appears 

to  be  retaliation,  with  a  reference  to  ch.  xxxviiL 
8,  11,  14).  The  return  to  the  point  of  departure 
of  this  extension  of  judgment,  as  indicated  in 
ver.  7,  by  the  expression  :  in  the  midst  of  my 
people  Israel,  forms  no  argument  against  the  so 
plain  contents  of  ver.  6  ;  for  not  only  has  the  pur- 
posed knowledge  of  Jehovah  (ver.  6)  to  be  more 
closely  defined,  but  preparation  has  also  to  be 
made  for  the  execution,  ver.  9  sq. — Comp.  on  ch. 
xxxvi.  20  sq.  (ch.  xxxviii.  23).  Hengst.  trans- 
lates thus  :  "  and  1  will  not  any  more  profane," 

Kc.    ^riK  is  Hiphil.     The  revelation  of  holiness 

in  Israel  precludes  further  profanation  of  Jehovah 
in  reference  to  Israel  among  the  heathen  ;  comp. 
in  addition,  ch.  xxxvii.  28. 

Ver.  8.  The  fulfilment  is  assured  to  the  prophet 
with  as  much  certainty  as  if  it  were  already  an 
accomplished  fact.  That  which  came  and  was 
done  is  made  abundantly  plain  by  the  day,  etc., 
for  which  comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  18,  19  (not  ver.  17). 

Ver.  9.  Israel,  for  whom  the  Lord  has  put  an  end 

to  the  fearful  assault  in  a  manner  still  more  fear- 
ful, now  takes  a  walk,  as  it  were,  out  to  the  place 
of  judgment.  Everything  by  which  the  enemy 
could  terrify,— in  general  :  aimour,  properly  : 
what  is  joined  together  (pgij),  as  distinguished 

from  specialties  which  follow — wooden  helmet  and 
breastplate,  probably  covered  with  leather  ;  then 
(comp.   ch.   xxxviii.   4)  short  shield,  etc.,  and 

biJOi  of  uncertain  derivation,   "twig,"   "cane," 

"  staff" — with  T  certainly  not :    "  handstaff,"  or 

"  cudgel "  (Kum.  xxii.  27),  or  "  baton  of  the 
commander,"  but  the  riding-switch  so  suitable 
for  bands  of  riders  ae  here, — all  these  have  so  lost 
their  terrors,  that  they  now  come  into  considera- 
jion  only  as  firewood — for  useful  appliance,  in 
iirect  contrast  to  the  terror  and  injury  they  were 
meant  to  produce.  For  the  weapons  of  the  enemy 
■  ire  not  here,  as  often  elsewhere,  burnt  at  once 
after  the  battle  ;  and  with  this  Havernick  connects 


Isa.  ix.  4,  and  recognises  in  the  destruction  of  the 
most  diverse  kinds  of  weapons,  and  the  cleansing 
of  the  land  in  this  (?)  respect,  the  character  of  the 
Messianic  times ;  while  Hitzig  brings  out  simply 
the  thought  that  Israel  under  his  protecting  Gdl, 
who  has  just  now  fought  for  His  people,  needs  no 
weapons,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of 
Israel  (ny  ^atS*',  etc. ,  antithetic  to  D"Rn  »3t'\ 

ver.  6)  make  fires  of  and  burn  the  wood  it 
question  seven  years  long.     Hitzig  makes  ^-lya 

inchoative  ("  to  set  on  fire  "),  and  ^ipifein    "  to 

make  a  fire. "  The  undoubtedly  symbolic  character 
of  the  number  seven  (symbol  of  the  divine  covenant ) 
illustrates  at  the  same  time  the  veiy  dramatic 
character  of  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  account. 
Hengst.  :  "  the  word  on  which  faith  has  to  live 
puts  on,  as  it  were,  flesh  and  blood,  to  gain  an 
influence  over  the  fancy,  in  which  frightful  foims 
so  readily  take  their  s'eat.  It  would  be  against 
the  evidence  to  attribute  a  real  import  to  the 
specialties,  which  are  so  obriously  only  means  of 
representation."  "He  who  has  seen  the  battle 
of  nations  at  Leipzig, "  obssrves  Schmieder,  "  has  a 
weak  copy  of  Ezekiel's  sublime  description  of  the  _ 
days  after  the  battle.  "-Ver.  10  strengthens  what 
has  been  said  positively  by  a  corresponding  nega- 
tive description,  and  subjoins  •^p^-^r  and  ifp- not, 

however,  in  order  to  make  the  riches  now,  as  the 
heaps  of  wood  formerly,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
Israel,  but  simply  to  make  manifest  the  retaliation 
(comp.  ch.  xxxviii.  12),  and  perhaps  also  to  bring 
to  remembrance  the  question  (ch.  x.xxviii.  13), 
but  how  differently  now  over  the  dead  bodies. 
For  what  the  weapons  as  firewood  for  Israel,  as 
well  aa  the  spoiling  and  robbing,  declare  is  this, 
which  consequently  is  meant  as  preparation  for 
ver.  11,  namely,  that  Gog  and  his  bands  are  all 
dead  corpses  (Isa.  xxxvii.  36)  ;  comp.  besides, 
Jer.  XXX.  16. 

Ver.  11.  AVhat  Jehovah  gives  to  Gog  in  Israel, 
how  diflerent  from  that  which  he  intended  to  take 
to  himself  in  Israel !  "inp  QG'-Dipp,  not  so  much: 

"a  spot  where  he  may  be  buried  in  Israel" 
(Hitzig),  as  :  "a  place  where  there  is  a  grave  in 
Israel,"  to  wit,  nothing  else  is  for  him  in  Israel ; 
Havernick  ;  "  namely,  a  quite  special  one,  like 
no  other  in  Israel. "  Thus  will  God  settle  accounts 
with  the  predatory  and  rapacious  G^g.  [The 
Sept.   doubtless  read    DB*- }— D'13jfn  »3    Hitzig 

translates:  "  the  valley  of  the  opposite  heights," 
formed  by  mountains  standing  over  against  one 
another  (1  Sam.  xvii.  3) ;  he  reads  D"3yn"''3,  and 

makes  a  veiy  far-fetched  reference  to  Zech.  xiv. 
4, 5  !  According  to  Havernick,  the  passage  reminds 
of  Joel  iii.  (the  valley  of  Jehoshaphaty,  but  the 
name  belongs  purely  to  the  idea,  to  which  it 
entirely  corresponds,  for  a  "valley  of  the  passers- 
through"  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  Old 
Testament ;  but  the  prophet  himself  gives  a  three- 
fold explanation  of  the  name— in  ver.  11,  as  an 
annoyance,  an  object  of  horror  for  the  passers-by 
in  ver.  14  reminding  of  the  men  that  pass  through 
the  land  to  cleanse  it ;  and  thirdly,  of  the  hostile 
bands  that  formeriy  passed  through  here.  Only 
the  latter  reference  can  come  into  consideration 
if  the  traditional  punctuation  is  to  be  retained. 


CHAP.  XXXIX.   11. 


369 


ind  the  appellation  :  "valley  of  the  passers- 
through,"  is,  like  the  "  valley  of  the  inultitude  of 
Gog,"  to  be  considered  as  given  as  a  memorial  of 
what  had  taken  place.  The  te.\t,  however,  seems 
rither  to  suppose  a  valley  which  can  be  designated 
a.s  that  "  of  the  passers-througli,"  and,  because  it 
call  be  a  valley  for  the  passers-through,  is  fitted 
to  be  a  burial-place  for  Gog  and  his  followers  ; 
moreover,    'j,  ■' low  ground,"  may  remind  us  of 

^bv\  <^tc.   in   ch.   xjixviii.    10,  rhvti  in   ^'^■'-   11> 

etc.,  as  a  contrast  thereto.  Gog  and  his  bands  can 
be  beheld  in  their  Scythian  prototypes),  as  described 
by  Herodotus),  as  well  as  with  reference  to  "pass- 
ing through  "  (passing  by),  because  their  whole 
appearance  was  to  be  merely  that  of  a  pa.ssing 
thunder-cloud  ^ch.  .xxxviii.  9,  16)  ;  nothing  was 
abiding  except  their  grave.  That  which  Jehovah 
will  give  to  Gog  as  lap  DC*"DipO.  is  more  exactly 

described  by  n'"i3Vn  'j  ;  and  "  the  valley  of  the 

passers-through,"  again,  is  the  one  fitted  to  be 
"the  valley  of  the  tumult  of  Gog."  The  situa- 
tion of  this  is  more  exactly  fixed,  and  conseiiuently 
conceived  of  as  an  actual  locality,  by  D>n  JlDTp, 

which  (nDlp,  «'<*<■  conslr.  pi-efixed  as  a  preposi- 
tion) can  yield  no  other  meaning  than  :  east  of 
the  sea.  But  the  context  tells  nothing  about 
what  sea  is  spoken  of,  although  in  other  instances 
it  always  fixes  the  particular  sea,  and  indicates 
when  it  does  not  expressly  mention  the  nearest. 
Hence,    and    so    also   with    D'lQ'Vn  '3.    we   are 

referred  to  the  idea  which  upholds  and  animates 

the  whole  with  its  symbolic  character.     7J<"lt;"3 

excludes  only  the  Eed  Sea.  Ewald  translates 
thus:  "as  a  place  where  a  grave  in  Israel  is 
possible  (!),  the  valley  of  the  devourers  opposite 
the  sea,  and  whic-h  confines  the  breath  of  tra- 
vellers;" and  he  understands  thereby  "the 
frightful,  unhealthy  valley  opposite  the  Dead 
Sea  (ch.  xlvii.  8),  which  covers  the  proud  of  old, 
the  Sodomites,  and  still  has  its  name  from  them, 
and  the  smell  of  which,  even  far  oH',  stops  up  the 
nose  of  travellers  (Rev.  xx.  lu  ;  comp.  with  ch. 
xiv.  10)."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  when 
expositors  understand  here  the  Dead  Sea,  its 
designation   as  'jbliSD  D»n  i^  floating  in  their 

mind.  Hitzig's  objection,  that  the  valley  did 
not  as  yet,  and  never  did,  generally  bear  the 
name,  is  of  no  weight,  when  the  only  thing  that 
comes  into  consideration  is,  whether  Jehovah  in 
the  prophet  can  say  of  it  D'"I35)-  The  introduc- 
tion of  "  proud "  is  far-fetched,  unfounded. 
Keil,  who  makes  the  valley  to  be  "without  a 
doubt  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  above  the  Dead 
Sea"  [so  also  Schmiedkk:  "the  valley  of  salt, 
on  the  extreme  border  of  the  land  of  Israel,  near 
Mount  Seir  (comp.  ch.  xxxv.  2),  reminds  us  of  a 
defeat  of  the  Edomites  (comp.  Ps.  Ix.,  David's 
psalm  of  victory),  and  of  Chedorlaomer,  liOt,  and 
Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.)  ;  and  the  adjacent  Dead 
Sea  is  the  abiding  type  of  all  divine  judgments  "], 
denies,  under  appeal  to  Gen.  ii.   14,  that  ntOlp 

Bin  can  (?;  mean  "east  of  the  sea,"  and  trans- 
Ut«<>  tha."     "facing  the  aea."     But  the  Medi- 


terranean Sea  is  by  no  means  excluded  by  the 
fact  that  "  the  whole  land  of  Israel  lay  east  cJ 
the   Mediterranean,"   for    Qin  DOTp    i^'^"    ''^'^1 

well    be   made   parallel   with   ^K1C"3i   J"*'    *' 

qualify  the  description,  esjiecially  if  we  would 
reflect  on  the  apocalyptic  signification  of  the  .sea 
as  the  fluctuating  life  of  nations  !  Keil's  exposi- 
tion of  the  D'"135Jn,  as  referring  to  the  "  travel- 
lers (?)  who  pass  through  the  land,  or  more 
particularly  those  who  pass  over  from  Fersea  to 
Canaan,"  has  no  significance  for  the  explanation 
from  the  type  of  the  Scythians,  or  from  Ezekiel's 
description  of  Gog's  expedition  (see  above),  and 
also  very  little  significance  in  itself,  as  it  is  sup- 
ported by  ]io  other  passage  of  the  Old  Testament. 
What  is  affirmed  by  the  expression  regarding  the 
valley  :  nODhli  <=tc.,  is  made  quite  clear  by  the 

toUowing  phrase:    Qt'  n3p1.   "-'tt:-.   w-hether  we 

assume  a  reference  to  ver.  1-t  sq.,  or  infer  from 
ver.  12  sq.  who  are  the  buricrs  as  also  the  callers 
(l6<"lpl)i  "^  simply  render  it :  they  bury  and  they 

call  it.      The  D'"I3V  ^>'<^  of  course  the  same  as 

those  alluded  to  in  D'lS'Vri  "l-     By  the  valley 

in  question  ttiey  (Gog  and  his  bauds)  are 
hemmed,  shut  up,  enclosed,  bridled  in,  which  is 
the  meaning  of  ddH  (Deut.  xxv.  i)  ;  it  is,  as  it 

were,  their  muzzle  (DiDIT;.   Ts.   xxxix.   2  [1]), 

after  all  their  "words"  which  rose  uji,  ch. 
xxxviii.  10.  It  cannot  be  a  "blocking  up  of  the 
way  "  that  is  spoken  of,  when  it  is  plainly  said  : 
"the  passers- through."  Their  grave  in  the 
valley  is  the  stopping  and  liuisliing  of  them  and 
their  going  up.  A  blocking  \ip  of  the  way  for 
travellers  can  hardly  be  thought  of,  since — and 
perhaps  not  without  significance,  as  we  shall  see 
— the  following  representation  in  ver.  14  sq. 
supposes  an  unhindered  passing  through  in  the 
land.  [The  Sept.  dreamt  of  a  walling  lound  of 
the  unclean  place.  Hitzig,  indeed,  does  the 
same.]  Hengstenberg,  too,  removes  the  valley, 
on  account  of  its  name,  to  "thegieat  commejcial 
and  military  road," — the  one,  namely,  "between 
Egypt  and  the  Euphrates," — and  seeks  to  show 
from  Hergt  {Pakeetina,  p.  77)  that  it  is  the 
valley  of  Megiddo,  famed  as  a  battlefield  ;  the 
expression:  "east  of  the  sea,"  implies  that  "a 
well-known  and  celebrated  valley  pretty  near  the 
sea"  must  be  meant,  such  as  Megiddo,  a  narrow 
pass  or  region  abounding  in  raWnes,  which 
hinder  the  passers  ■  through.  Such  passes,  he 
observes,  are  found  there.  In  this  "dangerous 
locality  the  prophet  makes  Gog  be  overtaken 
by  the  divine  judgment."  But  where  is  that 
said  in  the  text  which  simply  makes  Gog  be 
buried  there  ?  In  all  probability,  says  Heng- 
stenberg, Lejun  (Legio),  the  later  name  of 
Megiddo,  is  derived  from  our  passage,  con'espond- 
ing  to  the  multitude  here  (tumult) ;  and  this  is 
the  more  probable,  as  in  ver.  16  the  adjacent  city_ 
also  will  receive  the  name  "great  multitude.  ' 
Since  the  prophecy  regarding  Gog  (he  goes  on  to 
say)  was  during  the  Roman  rule  certainly  applied 
pre-eminently  to  it,  men  eagerly  anticijiated  the 
time  when  the  great  heathen  grave  at  Megiddo 
should  receive  the  Roman  legions.     HengstcL'.>erji 


370 


EZEKIEL. 


further  observes:    "From  pon  X'3  (ver.  11)  is 

fcrmed  the  Ki/aumv  cf  Judith  vii.  3,  to  which  the 
camp  of  Holofernes  extends ;  and  so  also 
Kx/i/ii»'x  is,  according  to  the  Onom.  of  Eusebius, 
six  Roman  miles  from  Legio. "  Rashi,  following 
the  Chaldee  paraphrase,  places  the  -valley  to  the 
east  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  (Lake  of  Gennesaret), 
and  Bdii'o-a*   ([XiJ'  n'3,    "house    of    rest"),     as 

named  by  the  Greeks  ^ku^toXi;,  has  been  said  to 
favour  this.  This  latter  name  is  certainly  incon- 
ceivable from  "  Succothpolis "  (as  Grimm  on  1 
jracc.  V.  52  still  maintains),  yet  it  requires  no 
settlement  of  Scythians  in  the  seventh  century 
B.C.  ;  but  from  the  population,  in  great  part 
lieathen,  which  settled  there  during  the  Baby- 
lonian exile,  the  name  may  have  become  current 
in  the  post-Maccabsean  age,  while  the  exposition 
or  ap]ilication  of  our  prophecy,  particularly  ver. 
16,  may  also  have  had  some  influence  in  the 
matter  (see  Hav.  p.  599  sq. ).  Comp.  besides,  ch. 
xxxi.  18,  xxxii.   31  ;  on  "inrii  ch.   xxiii.   42.     A 

kind  of  pendant  to  this,  ch.  xxvi.  13  ! 

Ver.  12.  Since  ^JXij^'a  ~i2p  ^ver.  11)  is  the 
main  element  in  the  description,  this  nap  is  re- 
peated immediately,  and  again  in  Ver.  13.  First, 
the  house  of  Israel  is  mentioned,  and  then  the 
whole  people  of  the  land;  neither  of  these  have 
needed  to  tight.  Their  enemies  fell  by  Jehovah, 
who  has  left  nothing  for  them  to  do  but  to  bury. 
—  According  to  this  parallelism  of  the  two  verses, 
the  clause  :  in  order  to  cleanse  the  land  (the 
number  seven,  as  in  ver.  9).  will  have  to  be  illus- 
trated by  the  statement :  and  it  is  to  them  for  a, 
name ;  hence,  that  the  cleansing  of  the  land  from 
the  dead  bodies,  and  the  zeal  displayed  therein 
(ver.  14  sq. ),  will  cause  the  people  of  the  land  to 
be  named,  to  vnt,  a  holy  people,  or  will  thereby 
make  them  a  name.  [Hav.:  "As  the  people 
thoroughly  separated  from  heathenism. "  Hengst.  : 
"That  the  house  of  Israel  should  bury  the  foe, 
not  the  revei'se,  ser\'es  them  for  fame  :  which, 
however,  has  its  root  not  in  themselves,  but  in 
their  God,  who  can  deliver  from  death,  and  send 
destruction  on  their  enemies."]  Comp.  moreover, 
ch.  xxxiv.  29.  As  there  :  blessing  instead  of  re- 
proach, so  here  :  holiness  instead  of  the  former 
uncleannesses  of  Israel.  Those  now  cleanse  the 
land  with  all  diligence  who  formerly  defiled  it 
with  all  manner  of  abominations,  etc.  Perhaps 
there   is   also   an   allusion    to    the   name    Israel 

(?S"lb"  n'3,  '^er-  12),  intimating  that  this  people 
wrestles  with  God,  and  therefore  prevails !     q\ 
on  the  day,  accusative  of  the  time  of  Jehovah's 
glorification  of  Himself  by  the  overthrow  of  Gog, 
and,  finally,  by  his  grave  in  Israel. 

Ver.  14.  To  be  understood  in  the  sacred  inte- 
rest of  the  cleansing  of  the  land. — "  Men  of  con- 
etaut  continuance  "  (l^Dfl)  ar^  appointed  to  the 

ofhce  permanently,  or  at  least  for  a  lengthened 
period.  There  are  two  kinds  of  them:  "the 
jjassers-through  in  the  land  "  (antithetical  to  Gog's 
"  passing  through "),  and  those  who  bury  with 
the  "passers-through,"  i.e.  as  ver.  15  explains, 
with  their  help,  and  following  the  marks  they  set 
up.  —  onnlin    (Niphal  particip.   from  -JT)    are 


those  who,  notwithstanding  the  seven  months' 
burying,  still  remain  on  the  face  of  the  laud,  for- 
gotten, neglected  corpses  or  skeletons.  Therefore, 
after  the  expiration  of  the  seven  months,  the  ap- 
pointed men  that  have  been  spoken  of  enter  on 
their  office. — Ver.  15.  It  can  hardly  be  with<  ut 
intention  that  the  -135;  is  thus  repeated,  and  sc 

strongly     emphasized  :    D'13'yn  I'lDJJV       Tliest 

"  passers  -  through  "  for  the  piu'pose  of  burying 
are  set  in  characteristic  drntrast  to  the  "passers- 
through  "  who  passed  through  the  land. — nsil- 

etc.  explains,  by  way  of  example,  the  task  of  the 
"passers-through."  After  seven  months  it  must 
indeed  be    QVl?. — tVS  is  a  guide-post  of  stone — 

here  as  a  mark  for  the  buriers  proper.  But  all 
comes  finally  into  the  one  great  grave  of  Gog. — 
Ver.  16.  The  great  burying  still  perpetuates  itselt 
in  the  name  of  a  city  :  njion,  an  echo  of  jioH. 

Thus  what  has  taken  place  lives  on  with  pos- 
terity. Comp.  besides  on  ver.  11.  [Schmiedki:  : 
"There  could  not  be  an  inhabited  city  in  this 
valley  of  the  dead ;  it  must  be  a  city  which  con- 
sists not  of  houses  but  of  graves."]  The  cleans- 
ing of  the  land,  however,  remains  the  chief  thing  ; 
hence  it  is  again  added  by  way  of  conclusion. 

Ver.  17,  liukiug  on  to  ver.  4,  does  not  bring 
forward  a  parallel  to  the  burying  of  Gog  ami  his 
bands.  We  have  rather  to  think  of  sometliing 
that  came  in  immediately  after  Gog's  fall  on  tlie 
mountains  of  Israel.  A  further  carrying  out  "I 
the  statement :  "to  birds  of  prey,"  etc.  in  ver.  4. 
But  Gog's  grave  in  Israel  is  the  divine  monument, 
the  actual  token,  that  Jehovah  is  the  Holy  One 
in  Israel  (ver.  7) ;  and  this  result,  this  old  trutli, 
Israel  at  the  same  time  proves  on  his  part  witli 
all  zeal,  through  the  repeated  and  finally  emph.'- 
sized  burying  in  order  to  cleanse  the  land.  Now, 
as  the  skeletons  are  buried  in  that  valley,  so,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  fle.sh  of  them  is  immediately 
devoured  on  the  mountains  of  Israel  by  the  birds 
and  beasts  of  prey.  Not  only  is  Israel  to  prove 
itself  a  holy  nation,  a  nation  of  priests,  but 
Jehovah  will  forthwith,  on  the  fall  of  Gog,  make 
known  His  holiness  in  the  land,  in  the  midst  of 
Israel  (ch.  xxxvii.   26  sq.);  and  'n2t>  etc.,  the 

likewise  repeatedly  -  mentioned  "sacrifice,"  will 
have  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  this.  It  has 
been  commonly  observed  that  Ezekiel  had  in  view 
only  Jer.  xlvi.  10  ;  Isa.  xxxiv.  6  ;  but  comp.  also 
Zeph.  i.  7.  Jehovah  as  Sacrificer.  Tliat  "the 
Lord  takes  for  Himself  the  sacrifice  refused  to 
Him,"  whereby  the  idea  of  the  cherem,  the  con- 
trast of  the  sacrifice,  is  introduced,  has  been 
dragged  into  the  text  by  Hengstenherg.  The 
sacrifice  (n3t)  's,  however,  expressly  declared  to 

be  the  "sacrifice  which  I  have  killed  for  you" 
(ver.  19).  In  this  way  the  idea  of  sacrifii-e  is 
essentially  resolved  into  that  of  the  sacrificial 
feast  connected  with  the  n3t  i"^-  xxix.  5,  xxxi. 

13,  xxxii.  4  sq. ;  Rev.  xix.  17).  Jehovah  as  Host, 
who  sends  forth  the  invitation  by  the  prophets. 
There  is  no  want  of  food  or  of  drink.  Ver.  18 
makes  prominent,   in  this   respect,   ani33    (<"h 

xxxii.  12,  27),  captains,  and  pKn  'N'i."J  (princei 

of  the  earth) ;   comp.   Rev.  xix.   18  ;   and  also 


CHAP.  XXXIX.  19-29. 


371 


in   the    foUowing   figurative    expression :    D'^S 

(bullocks),    strengthened     by    a^3  [{^3  'S'HDi 

fatlings'of  Bashan  all  of  them  (since  Bashan, 
renowned  for  its  fat  meadows,  is  often  applied 
in  the  propliets  to  proud,  despotic,  wanton 
enemies  of  God  and  His  people ;  comp.  also 
Ps.  xxii.  13  [12]),  enlarges  upon  those  set  forth 
at  the  beginning.  There  is,  besides,  a  compari- 
son with  the  small  cattle  fit  for  sacrifice,  on  which 
Schraieder  observes  :  "for  food  to  the  beasts,  as 
the  flesh  of  the  sacrificial  animals  for  the  priests. " 
— Ver.  19  (ch.  xvi.  28,  xxiii.  33)  describes  a  lavish 

sacrificial  banquet.  ny^Cv,  continued  still  more 
definitely  by  DnVSC"!)  ^^'^■y  ^  ^^^-  ^^-  — 
Jehovah's  table  is  the  battlefield. — If  33-1  along- 
side of  DID  is  "chariot,"  then,  of  course,  the 
fighters  in  chariots  are  meant.  Hitzig  will  not 
admit  the  supposition  of  chariots  of  war  in  re- 
spect to  the  Scythians.  Hence  others  think  of 
"cavalry"   (Gesen.)   or    "cart-horses. "  —  "1133, 

from  ver.  18,  whoever  has  proved  himself  brave, 
like   the   captains,   as  distinguished  from  whom 

nont'O  E"X,  the  equipped  and  practised  men  of 

war  individually. 

Ver.  21.   On  ni33  (My  glory),  comp.  pp.  40, 

52.  Even  until  the  final  judgment  over  the 
world — yea,  how  significantly  here!  —  does  the 
leading  thought  of  Ezekiel's  prophecy  sound  forth 
perceptibly  ;  in  respect  to  the  heathen,  explained 
by  the  clause  :  and  aU  the  heathen  see,  etc., 
it  lies  before  their  eyes  (ch.  xxxviii.  23)  ;  comp. 
Kev.  xvi.   7.      >T>  is  inferred  from  in'i"y- — Ver. 

22.  The  converse  relation,  to  wit,  to  Israel.  In 
this  relation  the  text  notes  the  knowledge  of 
.lehovah  as  Israel's  God,  the  God  of  them  who 

belong  to  Israel  (iiJTI'l,  Dn'ritis),   an<i  tliit   by 

His  having  manifested  Himself  as  such  in  the 
final  judgment  and  thenceforth  ;  hence  an  abiding 
relation  that  can  no  more  be  disturbed.  The 
13;T   (ver.   22)  now  leads  over  in  Ver.   23  to  a 

;t 

coiTespondiug  knowledge,  in  addition  to  the  ^KIV 

ver.  21,  on  the  part  of  the  heathen  also.  From 
tlie  end  .lehovah  directs  their  regard  back  to  their 
oppression  of  Israel,  by  carrying  tliem  away  cap- 
tive. The  heathen  now  know  that  their  power 
over  Israel  was  Israel's  guilt,  defined  more  par 
ticularly  as  ^PJ/D,  etc.    (comp.   on  ch.  xiv.   13), 

their  unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah,  in  consequence 
of  which  Jehovah  hid  His  face  from  them  (Deut. 
xx.\i.  17),  and  abandoned  them  (comp.  ch.  xvi. 

27).      dV^i  i"  general,  exceptis  excipieTuiis. — Ver. 

24  (ch.  xxxvi.  17  sq.,  xlv.  11).  Comp.  ch.  vii. 
27. 

Hengstenberg  sees  in  vers.  25-29  a  "close  of 
*he  whole  system  of  prophecies  of  a  predominantly 
comforting  character,  from  ch.  xxxiii.  21  (?)  on- 
«aid,  as  the  prophet  had  already  closed  complete 
sections  with  a  like  finale."  After  the  heathen 
lie  pointed  back  to  the  past,  the  application  is 


made  with  pp,  therefore  (because  Jehovah  has 

dealt  with  them  as  in  ver.  24),  to  the  present 
(nnjj)  °'  Israel. — Comp.  on  ch.  xvi.  53. — Jacob 

corresponding  as  much  to  "  misery  "  as  Israel  to 
"pity;"  a  significant  alternation.  I'omp.  ch. 
xxxvi.  5,  6,  21  sq. ;  comp.  first  on  ver.  7  — Ver. 
26.  ^itJ'jl,  6tc.  [Hengst.  ;   "they  take  upon  them, 

sq."]  is  to  be  read:  iXb'J-      Comp.   ch.    x\-i.   54 

Jehovah's  jealousy  for  His  holy  name  (ver.  25) 
shows  itself  among  Israel  subjectively  in,  as  well 
as  objectively  on  them.  Because  their  guilt 
against  Jehovah  (ver.  23  sq. )  shall  be  known,  as 
by  the  heathen  so  by  themselves,  and  fully  only 
by  themselves,   they  bear  their  misery  as  their 

reproach  (DflQ^B)  '>  hence  to  reproach  is  added 

unfaithfulness,  etc.  (ver.  23).  Only  they  ap 
pear  miserable  (ver.  21) ;  only  Jehovah  appears 
glorious.  Where  deserved  ]iimishment  comes 
over  them,  righteousness  appears  before  Jehovah  ; 
they  exhibit  themselves  as  worthy  of  reproach, 
obliged  to  i-eproach  themselves  because  of  their 
faithlessness;  Jehovah  manifests  Himself  as  holy, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  as  their  God  (ver.  22), 
faithful  in  pity  as  in  judgment,  who  will  turn 
aside  their  misery  (ver.  25).  Their  reproaidi  ami 
all  their  unfaithfulness  must  buiden  them  so 
much  the  more  from  the  very  fact  that  they  dwell 
securely,  etc.  Comp.  on  ch.  xxviii.  25,  26, 
xxxiv.  28.  This  humbling  grace  is  the  objective 
practical  proof  of  Jehovah's  jealousy  over  them, 
which  Ver.  27,  stretching  back  beyond  ver.  26lj, 
and  casting  a  glance  at  their  desire  during  the 
present  state  of  exile,  follows  out  farther.  [Hitzig, 
who  reads  ^tJ'jl,  translates:  "and  they  shall  for- 
get their  reproach,"  which  they  have  hitherto 
borne.  It  has  also  been  proposed  to  translate  ; 
they  shall  "  take  away,"  i.e.  expiate,  etc.  Ewald 
would  admit  the  rendering:   "they  bear,"  if  we 

were   to  read  ^30  for   |j3  nSI  '<   ^nd  so  he  ton 

translates  :  "that  they  may  forget  their  shame," 
etc.,  and  assumes  a  play  of  words,  because  "in 
fact  the  whole  is  a  play  of  words  upon  the  Chal- 
deans."—  Dn3B'3  I'l's  been  understood  by  others, 

e.g.  Grotius :  "when  they  dwelt."]  For  the 
rest,  comp.  as  to  ver.  27,  ch.  xxxviii.  8,  xxxvii. 
21,  xxxvi.  23  sq.,  xx.   41.— Ver.   28  (ver.  22).— 

Ewald  wrests  Tlii'jnB,  etc.  into  its  direct  oppo- 
site, for,  reading  p  instead  of  ■){{,  ^^  "o^'  fi''''^ 

the  sense  to  be :  "  in  that  I  caused  them  to  re- 
turn from  among  the  heathen."  The  context 
certainly  does  not  compel  him  to  this.  On  the 
contrary,    it   suggests    the    significant    ptiallel  : 

'?»,  iiN-— Ch.  xxii.  21.— Tnis,  couip.  ch.  vi.  8, 

xii.  16.  Hengstenberg  observes  on  this  :  "after 
the  fall  of  the  Chaldean  monarchy,  access  to  their 
native  land  was  free  to  all  Israel,  and  those  who 
voluntarily  remained  yet  had  in  Canaan  their 
home,  and  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  their 
spiritual  dwelling-place.'  —Ver.  29.  Comp.  vers. 
23,  24.  A  promise  of  never-failing  grace  on  ac- 
count of  (nt^,   "  because  ")  God's  having  poured 

out  His  Spirit,  where  formerly  His  "fury,"  e.g 


EZEKIEL. 


ch.  xiv.  19,  xxii.  -22  ;  comp.  ou  cb.  xxxvi.  27  ; 
but  here  more  significant,  as  perhaps  r^ti^y  indi- 
cates. Ewald  remarks  on  the  "ebullient  lan- 
guage." although  he  expounds  the  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  to  this  effect  ;  that  Israel,  "just  because 
including  in  it  from  of  old  the  Divine  Spirit,  is 
the  indefeasible  foundation  of  the  true  Church. " 
Comp.  Isa.  xxxii.  15,  16,  xliir.  3  ;  Joel  ii.  28 
(ch.  iii.  1  sq. ).  Schmiedeb  :  "Spoken  in  anti- 
cipation of  the  time  which  the  Lord  promises. 
And  the  Lord,  through  Jesus  after  His  glorifica- 
tion, actually  poured  out  the  Spiiit  in  Jerusalem, 
according  to  His  promise.  But  the  house  of 
Israel  would  not ;  and  is  the  spiritual  Israel  of 
Clu'istendom  more  thankful  to  God  ? " 

Additional  Note  on  Ch.  xxxviii.,  xxxix. 

[Ezekiel's  object  in  the  chapters  before  us  was, 
"through  the  Spirit,  to  jjresent  a  picture  of  what 
might  be  expected  in  the  last  scenes  of  the  world's 
history ;  and  according  to  the  native  bent  and 
constitution  of  his  mind,  the  picture  must  be 
lifelike.  Not  only  must  it  be  formed  of  the 
materials  of  existing  relations,  but  it  must  be 
formed  into  a  perspective  with  manifold  and  in- 
tricate details :  yet  so  constructed  and  arranged, 
that  while  nothing  but  the  most  superficial  eye 
could  look  for  a  literal  realization,  the  gi'eat 
truths  and  prospects  embodied  in  it  should  be 
patent  to  the  view  of  all.  What,  then,  are 
these  ?  Let  it  be  remembered  at  what  point  it  is 
in  Ezekiel's  prospective  exhibitions  that  this  pro- 
phecy is  brought  in.  He  has  already  represented 
the  covenant-people  as  recovered  from  all  their 
existing  troubles,  and  made  victorious  over  all 
their  surrounding  enemies.  The  best  in  the  past 
has  again  revived  in  their  experience,  freed  even 
from  its  former  imperfections,  and  secured  against 
its  ever-recurring  evils.  For  the  new  David,  the 
all-perfect  and  continually-abiding  Shepherd, 
presides  over  them,  and  at  once  prevents  the  out- 
breaking of  internal  disordei-s,  and  shields  them 
from  the  attacks  of  hostile  neighbours.  All 
around,  therefore,  is  peace  and  quietness ;  the 
old  enemies  vanish  from  the  field ;  Israel  dwells 
securely  in  his  habitation.  But  let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  the  conflict  is  over,  and  that  the 
victory  is  finally  won.  It  is  a  world-wide  do- 
minion wiiich  this  David  Is  destined  to  wield, 
and  the  kingdom  of  righteousness  and  jieace 
estaljlished  at  the  centre  must  expand  and  grow 
till  it  embrace  tlie  entire  circumference  of  the 
globe.  But  will  Satan  yield  his  empire  without 
a  struggle  ?  Will  he  not  rather,  when  he  .sees 
the  kingdom  of  God  taking  firmer  root  and  rising 
to  a  higlier  elevation,  seek  to  effect  its  dismem- 
berment or  its  downfall,  by  stirring  up  in  hostile 
array  against  it  the  multitudinous  and  gigantic 
forces  that  lie  scattered  in  the  extremities  of  the 
faith  ?  Assuredly  he  will  do  so  ;  and  God  also 
A'ill  direct  events  into  this  channel,  in  order  to 
treak  effectually  the  power  of  the  adversary,  and 
s'cure  the  ditfusion  of  Jehovah's  truth  and  the 
giorv  of  His  name  to  the  remotest  regions.  A 
conflict,  therefore,  must  ensue  between  the  em- 
battled forces  of  lieathenism,  gathered  out  of 
thtir  far-distant  territories,  and  the  nation  that 
holds  the  truth  of  God.  But  the  issue  is  certain. 
For  God's  people  being  now  holiness  to  Him,  He 
jannot  but  fight  with  them  and  give  success  to 


their  endeavours.  So  that  the  arm  of  heatheni.sn) 
shall  be  completely  broken.  Its  mightiest  ellortj 
only  end  in  the  more  signal  display  of  its  own 
weakness,  as  compared  with  the  truth  and  cause 
of  God  ;  and  the  name  of  God  as  the  Hciy  Or.e 
of  Israel  is  magnified  and  feared  to  the  utmost 
bounds  of  the  earth. 

"Such  is  the  general  course  and  issue  of  things 
as  marked  out  in  this  prophecy,  under  the  Ibrui 
and  aspect  of  what  belonged  to  the  Old  Covenant, 
and  its  relation  to  the  world  as  then  existing.  . 
But  stripping  the  vision  of  this  merely  temporary 
and  imperfect  exterior,  since  now  the  higher 
objects  and  relations  of  the  New  Covenant  have 
come,  we  find  in  the  prophecy  the  following 
series  of  important  and  salutary  truths.  1.  In 
the  first  place,  while  the  appearance  of  the  new 
David  to  take  the  rule  and  presidency  over  God's 
heritage  would  have  the  ett'ect  of  setting  His 
peojde  free  from  the  old  troubles  and  dangers 
which  had  hitherto  assailed  them,  and  laying 
sure  and  broad  the  foundations  of  their  peace,  it 
should  be  very  fai'  from  securing  them  against  all 
future  conflicts  with  evil.  It  would  rather  tend 
to  call  up  other  adversaries,  and  enlarge  the  field 
of  conflict,  so  as  to  make  it  embrace  the  most 
distant  and  barbarous  regions  of  the  earth.  For 
the  whole  earth  is  Christ's  heritage,  and  sooner 
or  later  it  must  come  to  an  issue  between  the 
adherents  of  His  cause  and  the  children  of  error 
and  corruption.  Though  the  latter  might  have 
no  thought  of  interfering  with  the  ati'airs  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  and  would  rather  wish  to  pur- 
sue their  own  courses  undisturbed  (see  on  xxxviii. 
4),  yet  the  Lord  will  not  permit  them  to  do  so. 
He  must  bring  the  light  of  heaven  into  contact 
with  their  darkness  ;  so  as  to  necessitate  a  trial 
of  strength  between  the  powers  of  evil  working  in 
them,  and  the  truth  and  grace  of  God  as  dis- 
Iilayed  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  2.  From  the 
very  nature  of  the  case,  this  trial  would  fall  to 
be  made  on  a  very  large  scale,  and  with  most 
gigantic  resources  ;  for  the  battlefield  now  is  the 
world  to  its  farthest  extremities,  and  the  ques- 
tion to  be  practically  determined  is,  whether 
God's  truth  or  man's  sin  is  to  have  possession  oi 
the  field.  So  that  all  preceding  contests  should 
appear  small,  and  vanish  out  of  sight,  in  com- 
parison of  this  last  great  struggle,  in  which  the 
world's  destiny  was  to  be  decided  for  good  or 
evO.  Hence  it  seemed,  in  the  distance,  as  if  not 
thousands,  as  formerly,  but  myriads  upon 
myriads,  numbers  without  number,  were  to  stand 
here  in  battle  an-ay.  3.  Though  the  odds  in 
this  conflict  could  not  but  appear  beforehand 
very  great  against  the  people  and  cause  of  Christ, 
yet  the  result  should  be  entirely  on  their  side  ; 
and  simply  because  with  them  is  the  truth  and 
the  might  of  Jehovah.  Had  it  been  only  carnal 
resources  that  were  to  be  brought  into  play  on 
either  side,  victory  must  inevitably  have  been 
with  those  whose  numbers  were  so  ovenvhelm- 
ingly  great.  But  these  being  only  flesh,  and  nut 
spirit,  they  must  fall  before  the  omnipotent 
energy  of  the  living  God,  who  can  make  His 
people  more  than  conquerors  over  all  that  ij 
against  them.  And  so  in  this  mighty  conflict, 
in  which  aU  that  the  powers  of  darkness  couli 
muster  from  the  world  was  to  stand,  as  it  were, 
front  to  front  with  the  people  of  Goii,  there  were 
to  be  found  remaining  only,  on  the  part  of  the 
I  all  vursaries,  the  signs  of  defeat  and  ruin.     4 


CHAP   XXXVIII.,  XXXIX. 


37S 


lastly,  as  all  originated  iu  the  claim  of  Messiah 
ind  His  truth  to  the  entire  possession  of  the 
A'orld,  so  the  whole  is  represented  as  ending  in 
the  complete  establishment  of  the  claim.  The 
kingdom  through  every  region  of  the  earth 
liecomes  the  Lord's.  He  is  now  universally 
known  and  sanctified  as  the  God  of  truth  and 
holiness.  It  is  understood  at  last,  that  it  was 
His  zeal  for  the  interests  of  righteousness  which 
led  Him  to  chastise  in  former  times  His  own 
professing  people  ;  and  that  the  same  now  has 
induced  Him  to  render  them  triumphant  over 
every  form  and  agency  of  evil.  And  now,  all 
counter  rule  and  authority  being  put  down,  all 
disturbing  elements  finally  huslied  to  rest,  the 
prospect  stretches  out  before  the  Church  of 
eternal  peace  and  blessedness,  in  what  have  at 
length  become  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
;arth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 

"It  may  still,  perhaps,  seem  strange  to  some, 
;f  this  be  the  real  meaning  and  import  of  the 
vision,  that  the  prophet  should  have  presented  it 
under  the  aspect  of  a  single  individual  gathering 
immense  forces  from  particular  regions,  and  at 
the  head  of  these  fighting  in  single  conflict,  and 
fulling  on  the  land  of  Israel.  They  may  feel  it 
difficult  to  believe  that  a  form  so  concrete  and 
tally  developed  should  have  been  adopted,  if 
nothing  more  local  and  specific  had  been  in- 
tended. But  let  such  persons  look  back  to  other 
portions  of  this  book,  especially  to  what  is 
written  of  the  king  of  Tyre  in  ch.  .xxviii.  (which 
iir  form,  perhaps,  most  nearly  resembles  the  pro- 
phecy before  us),  and  judge  from  the  shape  anil 
aspect  there  given  to  the  past,  whether  it  is  not 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  ascertained  charac- 
teristics of  Ezekiel's  style  to  find  him  giving 
here  such  a  detailed  and  fleshly  appearance  to 
the  future.  There  Tyre  is  not  only  viewed  as 
personified  in  her  political  head,  but  that  head  is 
represented  as  passing  through  all  the  experiences 
of  the  best  and  highest  of  humanity.  It  is,  as 
we  showed,  a  historical  parable,  in  which  every 
feature  is  admirably  chosen,  and  pregnant  with 
meaning,  but  all  of  an  ideal  and  not  a  literal  or 
prosaic  kind.  And. what  is  the  present  vision, 
a.s  now  explained,  but  a  prophetical  parable,  in 
which,  again,  every  trait  in  the  delineation  is  full 
of  important  meaning,  only  couched  in  the 
language  of  a  symbolical  representation  ?  Surely 
we  must  concede  to  the  prophet,  what  we  would 
never  think  of  withholding  from  a  mere  literary 
author,  that  he  has  a  right  to  employ  his  own 
method  ;  and  that  the  surest  way  of  ascertaining 
this  is  to  compare  one  part  of  his  writings  with 
another,  so  as  to  make  the  better  known  reflect 
light  upon  the  less  known — the  delineations  of 
the  past  upon  the  visions  of  the  future. 

"  At  the  same  time,  let  us  not  be  understood  as 
declaring  for  certain  that  the  delineation  in  this 
prophecy  must  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  par- 
ticular crisis  or  decisive  moment  in  the  C'hurch's 
history.  It  is  perfectly  possible  that  in  this  case, 
us  in  most  others,  there  may  be  a  culminating 
pDint,  at  which  the  spiritual  controversy  is  to  rise 
t"  a  gigantic  magnitude,  and  virtually  range  on 
either  side  all  that  is  good  and  all  that  is  evil  in 
the  world.  It  may  be  so  ;  I  see  nothing  against 
such  a  supposition  in  the  nature  of  the  prophecy; 
but  1  nuist  add,  I  see  nothing  conclusively  for 
it.  For  when  we  look  back  to  the  other  prophecy 
just  referred  to,  we  find  the  work  of  judgment 


represented  as  t.akiug  effect  upon  Tyre,  preciselj 
as  if  it  were  one  individual  that  was  concerneil, 
and  one  brief  period  of  his  history ;  while  stili 
we  know  blow  after  blow  was  required,  and  even 
age  after  age,  to  carry  forward  and  consummate 
the  process.  Perfectly  similar,  too,  was  the  cas; 
of  Babylon,  as  described  in  the  thirteentli  and 
fourteenth  chapters  of  Isaiah  ;  it  seems  as  if 
almost  one  act  were  to  do  the  whole,  yet  how 
many  instruments  had  a  hand  in  it,  and  over 
how  many  centuries  was  the  work  of  destruction 
spread  !  We  see  no  necessity  in  the  form  of  the 
representation,  or  in  the  nature  of  things,  why  it 
should  be  otherwise  here  ;  none,  at  least,  why  a 
diff'erent  mode  of  reaching  the  result  should  be 
expected  as  certain.  We  believe  that  as  the 
judgment  of  Tyre  began  when  the  first  breach 
was  made  in  the  walls  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
as  the  judgment  of  Babylon  began  when  the 
Medes  and  Persians  entered  her  two-leaved  gates, 
so  the  controversy  with  Gog  and  his  heathenish 
forces  has  been  proceeding  since  Christ,  the  new 
David,  came  to  lay  the  everlasting  foundations  of 
His  kingdom,  and  asserted  His  claim  to  the 
dominion  of  the  earth  as  His  purchased  posses- 
sion. Every  stroke  that  has  been  dealt  since 
against  the  idolati-y  and  corruption  of  the  world 
is  a  part  of  that  great  conflict  which  the  prophet 
in  vision  saw  collected  as  into  a  single  locality, 
and  accomplished  in  a  moment  of  time.  He 
would  thus  more  clearly  assure  us  of  the  certainty 
of  the  result.  And  though,  from  the  vast  extent 
of  the  field,  and  the  many  imperfections  that 
still  cleave  to  the  Church,  there  may  be  much 
delay  and  many  partial  reverses  experienced  in 
the  process ;  tliough  there  may,  too,  at  particular 
times,  be  more  desperate  straggles  than  usual 
between  the  powers  of  evil  in  the  world  and  the 
confessors  of  the  truth,  when  the  controversy 
assumes  a  gigantic  aspect,  yet  the  prophecy  is  at 
all  times  proceeding  onwards  in  its  accomplish- 
ment. Let  the  Church  therefore  do  her  part, 
and  be  faithful  to  her  calling.  Let  her  grasp 
with  a  firm  hand  the  banner  of  truth,  and  in  all 
lands  display  it  in  the  name  of  her  i-isen  Lord. 
And  whichever  way  He  may  choose  to  finish  and 
consummate  the  process, — whether  by  giving 
fresh  impulses  to  the  hearts  of  His  people,  and 
more  signally  blessing  the  work  of  their  hands, 
or  by  shining  forth  in  visible  manifestations  of 
His  power  and  glory,  such  as  may  at  once  and 
for  ever  shame  into  confusion  the  adversaries  of 
His  cause  and  kingdom, — leaving  this  to  Himself, 
to  whom  it  properly  belongs,  let  the  blessed  hope 
of  a  triumphant  issue  animate  every  Christian 
bosom,  and  nerve  every  Christian  arm  to  main- 
tain the  conflict,  and  do  all  that  zeal  and  love 
can  accomplish  to  hasten  forward  the  final 
result." — Fairbaikn's  Ezekiel,  pp.  425-430. — 
W.  F.] 

DOCTRINAL  REFLECTIONS. 

1.  With  our  two  chapters  the  prophecy  of 
ICzekiel  passes  over  to  the  apocalyptic  (comp. 
Introd.  pp.  19,  20.  Comp.  in  general  what  is 
said  by  Lange  in  the  introduction  to  the  Revela- 
tion of  St.  John,  p.  2  sq. ).  Characteristic  apoca- 
l}rptic  features  as  to  form  and  contents  are  per- 
ceptible, just  as  the  very  circumstance  that  the 
New  Testament  Apocalypse  begins  with  the 
transition  of  ch.  xxxvii.  to  ch.  xxxviii.,  to  borrow 
important  (eschatological)  elements  for  its  closing 


874 


EZEKIEL. 


visions,  must  suggest  something  apocalyptic. 
The  [irophetic  element,  the  element  of  doctrine 
ami  of  application,  still  pervades  ch.  xxxriii. , 
T.x.dx.,  but  this  element  will  subside,  ch.  xl.  sq.; 
and  our  chapters,  too,  present  to  us  and  delineate 
\  tableau  of  unity, — the  impressive  picture  of  a 
national  expedition,  a  mignvtion  of  nations,  a 
battle  of  nations,  and  still  more  of  God.  Although 
contained  in  the  word  of  prophecy  ("Thus  saith 
the  Lonl "),  yet  the  description  of  the  march  of 
the  army  (ch.  xxxviii.),  and  of  its  fearful  over- 
throw in  Israel  (ch.  xxxix. ),  assumes,  as  else- 
where, the  appearance  of  a  vision.  Scene  succeeds 
scene.  The  style  is  typical  to  such  a  degree,  that 
what  of  historical  from  the  past  or  present  may 
liere  form  the  basis,  assumes  at  once  the  form  of 
pure  symbols,  whose  idea  stretches  far  beyond  the 
Did  Testament  theocracy,  and  on  to  the  end  of 
time.  The  consummation  of  Israel  shows  itself 
as  the  consummation  of  the  world.  The  contrast 
of  the  world  to  Israel  is  in  our  chapters  not  so 
much  the  traditional  one  of  the  heathen  as  opposed 
to  the  people  of  God,  as  coarse  callousness,  resem- 
bling insensibility,  in  relation  to  the  peace  in 
which  the  royal  priesthood,  the  people  of  the 
possession  of  an  eternal  covenant  of  Jehovah 
(ch.  xxxvii.  26),  delight  themselves.  Compare 
the  impressions  and  utterances  of  Balaam  in 
Num.  xxiii.  9,  10,  so  very  different  from  ch. 
xxxviii.  11  sq. !  On  the  other  hand,  the  impel- 
ling force  to  the  savage  irruption  into  the  quiet- 
ness of  such  a  people  in  the  land  is  appropriately 
conceived,  viz.  on  the  one  part,  as  divine  com- 
pulsion of  the  Judge  overruling  to  the  end  in 
view,  it  is  high  as  heaven  (but  comp.  ch.  xxxviii. 
4  with  xxxviii.  10  sq.) ;  on  the  other  part,  as 
demoniac  selfishness  and  worldly-mindedness,  it 
is  deep  as  hell.  Considering  the  apocalj'ptic 
character  of  our  two  chapters,  with  which  the  re- 
mainder of  the  book  of  Ezekiel  announces  itself, 
the  suddenness  of  Gog's  appearance  on  the  scene 
and  also  of  his  overthrow  is  worthy  of  observa- 
tion, reminding  us  of  the  iv  'rx^n  (Luke  xviii.  8), 
and  of  the  oft-repeated  t«;^o  of  the  Revelation  of 
tSt.  John,  and  also  of  the  final  completeness  of  the 
judgment  and  its  execution. 

2.  Hengstenberg  has  very  justly  observed : 
"  We  have  here  a  good  preparation  for  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  vision  of  the  new  temple.".  But  what 
he  pronounces  a  specialty  of  Ezekiel, — how  "wide 
a  space"  is  given  by  him  to  "painting,"  how 
"  attentive  "  he  is  "to  fill  the  imagination  with 
holy  figures," — depends  rather  on  the  apocalyptic 
character  of  the  prophecy  regarding  Gog.  More- 
over, to  confront  the  imagination  of  timidity  with 
tlie  imagination  of  faith,  to  pour  forth  light  and 
comfort  in  opposition  to  thoughts  despairing  of 
the  future,  is  precisely  p  mark  of  all  apocalypse 
proper.  Lange  says  beautifully  and  strikingly  of 
apocalypses  in  this  respect  ;  "As  they  have  pro- 
ceeded from  the  divine  quieting  and  comforting 
of  a  longing  of  the  hearts  of  elect  prophets,  whicli 
flamed  aloft  in  times  of  great  oppression  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  so  they  are  also  designed  to 
direct  and  guide,  to  comfort  and  calm,  in  the 
first  place,  the  servants  of  God,  and  through 
them  the  Church,  in  times  of  similar  and  fresh 
oppres.'rion  in  the  future — nay,  even  to  change 
for  them  all  tokens  of  terror  into  tokens  of  hope 
and  jiromise. " 

3.  In  Hengstenberg's  interpretation,  at  all 
events,   not  only  does    the   "  so-called  biblical 


realism  "  entirely  disappear,  to  which,  as  he  says, 
it  so  often  happens  to  take  the  garb  for  the  man, 
but  as  the  exposition  has  already  incideutam 
ind;.iated,  the  nations  named  in  ch.  xxxviii., 
although  in  themselves  historical,  appear  in  the 
connection  here  as  elements  of  an  idea  which  ii= 
summed  up  in  the  symbolic  Gog  of  the  land  ol 
Magog,  namely  as  the  last  outbreak  of  enmity 
against  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  symbolized 
idea  is  at  all  events  also  historical  —  nay,  even 
world-historical  in  the  highest  sense,  or  pert.iiii- 
ing  to  the  universal  judgment.  The  world's  his. 
tory  is  theocratically  determined  by  it,  determined 
by  the  kingdom  of  God  finally  developing  itself 
into  the  consummation  of  humanity  and  the 
world.  But  Magog,  Gomer,  Meshech,  Tubal, 
Sheba,  Dedan,  and  Phut  are  as  such  no  longer 
historically  to  be  found.  Of  Cush  Hengstenberg 
asserts  ;  that  it  is  "a  Christian  people,  and  such 
a  one  as,  according  to  recent  experience,  will 
scarcely  again  attain  to  world-wide  influence." 

4.  As  Grotius  and  others,  e.g.  Jahn  (Introd.  ii. ), 
interpret  of  the  days  of  the  Maccabees  and  Antio- 
chus  Epiphanes,  so  Luther  found  in  our  chapters 
the  Turk,  who,  even  in  the  hymns  and  prayers  of 
the  Church,  was  for  a  long  time  firmly  held  to 
be,  together  with  the  Pope,  the  chief  enemy  of 
German  Christianity.  While  individual  Jewish 
expositors  apply  what  is  said  sometimes  to  Rome, 
and  sometimes  interpret  it  of  the  Crusades,  yet 
we  find  also  in  Shabb.  cxviii.  1  ;  Berach.  vii.  2  ; 
the  Jerusalem  Targum  on  Num.  xi.  25  ;  Dent, 
xxxiv.  2,  Gog  shifted  into  the  times  previous  to 
the  Messiah,  and  the  battle,  in  which  the  Messiah 
annihilates  Gog,  discoursed  of.  Likewise,  in 
reference  to  the  Messianic  kingdom,  the  Sibylline 
books  speak  of  Gog  and  Magog,  placing  him  in 
the  farthest  south  of  Egypt  (see  Havernick,  p. 
602).  In  the  notices  which  the  Koran  makes  of 
Dzu-Ikarnayn,  i.e.  Alexander  the  Great  and  his 
adventurous  warlike  expeditions  (Sur.  1 8  and  21 ), 
Yagug  and  Magug  are  designated  as  mischief- 
makers  on  earth,  and  enclosed  by  an  iron  wall ; 
which,  however,  will  be  at  last  turned  to  dust, 
whereupon  Gog  and  Magog  break  forth,  and  the 
universal  judgment  ensues.  (Spkenof.r  :  Da» 
Leben  und  die  Lehre  des  Mohammcul,  ii.  p.  474 
sq. )  "  The  fear  of  these  northern  nations,"  says 
W.  Menzel,  "  is  very  ancient,  and  has  been  justified 
by  the  Scythian,  and  afterwards  by  the  Hunnish- 
Mongolian  warlike  expeditions,  which  have  already 
often  overrun  both  Europe  and  Asia  ;  and  this 
Oriental  popular  tradition  coincides  (?)  with  the 
widespread  German  tradition  of  the  armies  of 
Charlemagne  or  Barharossa  sleeping  in  the  moun- 
tain, which  will  burst  forth  at  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  conquer  a  new  golden  age." 

5.  Havernick  adduces  the  following  reasons  for 
the  interpretation  of  the  time  as  the  time  of  the 
completion  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  (1.)  The 
names,  which  do  not  so  much  indicate  single 
nations  then  existing,  as  that  we  have  to  do  with 
a  "  view  of  future  new  relations  only  starting  fron) 
the  present."  "Whatever  far  remote,  more  oi 
less  known,  national  names  can  be  named,  the 
prophet  collects  here  ;  and  specially  miportant  is 
the  free  formation  of  the  name  Gog."  (2.)  The 
connection  with  ch.  xxxvi.,  xxxvii.  represents  the 
way  prepared  for  the  glorification  and  completion 
of  the  theocracy  ;  the  judgment  over  Edom  (ch. 
xxxv. )  is  regarded  as  having  taken  place,  in 
which  old  hereditary  enemy,  the  enemies  hitherto 


CHAP.  XXXVIU.,  XXXIX. 


of  th*;  covenant-people  appear  judged  in  their 
immediate  ncighbCiurhood.  It  still  remains,  how- 
ever, "to  marshal  the  entire  (?)  world-power  in 
its  sinful  insurrection  against  God  (?),  and  thus 
to  perfect  the  salvation,"  just  as  this  idea  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  the  fourth,  the  Roman  empire, 
prophesied  by  Daniel,  the  contemporary  of  Eze- 
kiel  (EusEE.  Demonstr.  Ev.  ix.  3).  (3.)  The  pro- 
phetic denunciation  of  heathen  nations  always 
regards  them  as  representatives  and  supporters  of 
definite  ideas, — in  Edom  the  hitherto  antitheo- 
cratic  tendency,  in  our  prophecy  the  idea  of  future 
enmity  as  experienced  by  Israel  in  the  completion 
of  its  salvation.  (4.)  The  fulfilment  is,  in  ch. 
Kxxviii.  8,  li5,  expres.sly  placed  in  the  latter  days. 
(5.)  The  announcements  of  former  projihets,  re- 
ferred to  in  ch.  xixviii.  17,  point  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  last  day,  just  as  also  the  prophet's 
picture  is  made  to  conform  with  those  models. 
(6. )  Lastly,  the  resumption  of  the  subject  in  Rev, 
XX. — It  tells  particularly  for  the  apocalyptic 
character  of  the  representation  given  by  Gog,  that 
it  is  pervaded  not  only  by  reminiscences  of  Assy- 
rians and  Chaldeans — of  Edom  only  locally,  in- 
deed ("on  the  mountains  of  Israel,"  comp.  on 
this  point  ch.  xxxv.  with  ch.  xxxvi. )— but  also 
by  presentiments  of  much  later  heathen  powers. 
For  it  is  quite  in  the  apocalyptic  way  and  man- 
ner always  to  present  to  us  types  stamped  anew 
from  history  as  it  gravitates  towards  the  end  of 
the  world. 

6.  In  the  Introduction,  p.  19,  the  importance 
of  Ezekiel's  position  in  the  midst  of  the  Babylo- 
nian world,  and  with  that  his  acquaintance  with 
foreign  nations  and  their  relations,  have  been 
adverted  to.  In  Babylon,  if  anywhere,  there  was 
a  standing-place  for  surveying  the  rolling  waves 
of  the  sea  of  nations.  The  prediction  regarding 
Gog,  peculiar  to  our  prophet,  will  have  to  be  con- 
ceived of  as  to  its  human  side  from  his  peculiar 
abode  on  such  a  watch-tower  in  the  midst  of  the 
heathen.  Philippson  justly  observes  :  "  We  must 
remember  that  Ezekiel  was  placed  in  the  midst  of 
the  inner-Asiatic  world,  and  hence  had  opportu- 
nity of  observing  the  great  movements  therein. 
Here,  in  the  bosom  of  the  nation:d  movements  of 
Asia,  it  must  have  been  clear  to  the  prophet  that 
these  movements  were  far  from  having  reached 
their  end,  that  the  dynasties  would  still  change 
often,  and  that  these  concussions  could  not  fail 
to  allect  also  the  countries  on  the  Mediterranean. " 
At  all  events,  although  our  prophecy  is  not  the 
result  of  the  incidental  observations,  the  far- 
sighted  political  reflections,  etc.,  of  a  gifted  man, 
yet,  as  the  magnificent  architecture  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar might  furnish  Ezekiel  with  views  for  ch. 
xl.  sq.,  so  the  fluctuating  sea  of  nations,  which  he 
saw  and  heard  of  in  Babylonia,  may  perhaps 
have  furnished  him  with  the  colours  in  which  he 
paints  the  figure  of  Gog  and  his  bands. 

7.  Our  prophecy  has  been  explained  from  the 
very  natural  question  after  ch.  xxxvii.  —  will 
this  peace  of  Israel  continue  always  undisturbed? 
will  the  relations  of  tl  .  rest  of  the  world  take 
su'-h  a  shape  that  Israel  can  remain  in  peace  ? 
So  Philippson.  "  The  dogmatic  idea  of  the  pro- 
phecy," says  Hengstenberg,  "is  very  simple  :  the 
community  of  God,  renewed  by  His  grace,  will 
victoriously  resist  all  the  assaults  of  the  world. 
This  idea  the  prophet  has  here  clothed  with  flesh 
and  blood,"  etc.  The  prophecy,  then,  is  more  or 
less  a  parable.     We  come  back  to  this.     "The 


starting-point,"  continues  Hengstenberg,  "  is  the 
fear  which  penetrates  the  sick  heart.  What 
avails  it,  is  the  question  that  met  the  prophet, 
even  if  we  recover,  according  to  thy  announce- 
ment, from  the  present  catastrophe  ?  The  pre- 
dominance of  the  heathen  still  remains.  Sooa 
shall  we  sink  under  another  attack  into  perma- 
nent ruin.  Against  such  desponding  thoughts 
the  prophet  here  otters  comfort.  He  unites  all 
the  battles  which  the  restored  community  has  iu 
future  still  to  endure  into  one  gi'eat  battle,  and 
makes  this  be  decided  by  one  glorious  victory  of 
the  Lord  and  His  people."  The  latter  is  as  arbi- 
trary as  what  has  been  said  regarding  the  idea  o( 
the  prophecy  is  general  and  superficial.  Haver- 
nick,  connecting  with  ch.  xxxvii.,  says:  "How 
powerful  that  protection  is  which  the  Lord  accords 
to  the  new  glorified  theocracy,  is  shown  by  its 
new  relation  to  the  heathen  world  and  its  power. 
The  holy  people  are  truly  an  unassailable,  inviol- 
able possession  of  their  God.  As  such,  Israel  in 
its  glory  is  the  grandest,  the  most  thorough  vic- 
tory over  the  heathen  world.  Hence  the  future 
of  Israel  stands  in  the  most  striking  contrast 
to  its  present.  While  heathendom  is  now  an 
instrument  in  the  hand  of  Jehovah  for  the  chas- 
tisement and  purification  of  Israel,  then  comes 
the  time  when  Israel's  destiny  is  fulfilled,  namely, 
to  execute  the  final  judgment  on  heathendom. 
In  it  is  then  revealed  the  completion  of  the  victory 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  over  the  heathen  world- 
power."  However  much  of  what  has  been  said  is 
right  and  proper,  yet  the  reason  assigned  by 
Havemick  for  "  this  fundamental  idea  "  is  not 
quite  satisfactory  as  he  puts  it,  namely,  that  "  God 
Himself  occasions  the  battle  (the  last  rallying  of 
the  power  of  heathendom  to  annihilate  the  king- 
of  God),  that  His  judgment  may  in  it  be  revealed." 
God,  however,  will  judge  only  that  which,  whether 
in  self- righteousness  (Pharisaism),  or  in  worldii 
ness  (Sadducism),  has,  by  the  rejection  of  His  coun- 
sel of  salvation  in  Christ,  shown  itself  ripe  for 
judgment.  In  connection  with  this  subjective 
ripeness  for  judgment,  we  are  reminded  of  the 
deceiving  by  Satan,  Rev.  xx.  World,  or  heathen- 
dom without  further  qualification,  is  not  the  idea 
of  this  so  individual  prophecy  regarding  Gog. 
Lange  is  entirely  in  the  right  when  he  doubts  (Pos. 
Dogm.  p.  1280)  whether  Gog  and  Magog  represent 
generally  all  the  future  enemies  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  ;  and  he  gives  the  hint  to  the  understand- 
ing of  the  chapters  before  us  when  he  declares  ■ 
"XVe  must,  however,  think  chiefly  of  the  obscui« 
residue  of  nations  which  has  not  come  under  tbf 
full  operation  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  of  bar- 
barous and  haughty  tribes." 

[On  the  whole  of  this  7th  section,  compare  the 
above  Additional  Note  at  the  close  of  tlie  Exege- 
tical  Remarks.— W.  F.] 

8.  For  the  explanation  of  the  prophecy  before 
us  we  have  not  to  search  after  questions  of  this 
or  that  kind  put  by  Israel,  which  the  prophet 
was  bound  to  answer,  as,  indeed,  nothing  like  this 
is  intimated  in  the  text  (comp.  in  opposition  on 
ch.  xxxvii.);  but  Jehovah,  inch,  xxxviii.  and 
xxxix.,  simply  sets  the  end  clearly  and  truly 
before  His  people,  at  that  time  in  Israel,  and  in 
this  sense  we  have  here  ir^ttaXv^i;  belbre  uS-  If 
we  want  an  inscription  on  the  double  picture  in 
Ezekiel,  ch.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.,  there  is  no  more 
appropriate  one  than  the  saying  of  Christ  in  Matt. 
XVi.  18  :  Mai  w\at  iiau   oil   xartry^vffovffii   ftiirns — a 


.U6 


EZEKIEL. 


58Tintt  not  understood  in  its  apocalyptic  signifi- 
cance. If  we  have  to  understand  ch.  xxxvii.  in 
Christ,  how  nuieh  more  free  from  doubt  will  the 
proper  understanding  be  when  the  subject  is  again 
referred  to  in  such  a  manner  at  the  end  of  ch. 
i:sxix.  And  so  Gog,  etc.  cannot  mean  heathen- 
ism, or  heathenism  in  the  last  effects  which  it 
nay  produce,  but  must  mean  the  obdurate  world 
u  opposed  to  Christianity,  the  world  which  has 
remained  farthest  away  from  the  spirit  and  frame 
of  Christianity  as  we  find  it  described  in  Ezekiel ; 
the  most  remote  north  as  opposed  to  the  central 
in  this  world  (ch.  xxxviii.  6,  15  ;  comp.  on  ver. 
121.  That  which  has  been  maintained  regarding 
tile  final  stiffening  down  of  our  planet  into  ice, 
has  its  apocalyptic  truth  rather  in  respect  of 
the  definitive  position  of  the  human  heart  to 
Christianity,  as  possibly  our  Lord  also  intimates 
when  He  says,  Matt.   xxiv.  12  :  S^a  to  Tkn^w^meti 

TKV  uveuiuv  ^vyZfflTui  r,    ayxTn   Tuv  TeXXuv.       To  a 

finally  developed  egoism  and  worldliness,  to  a 
materialism  ripe  for  judgment  which  can  no  longer 
think  of  anything  except  plunder  and  robbery, 
the  fj.tz[j.oiva.i  'rn;  i^Kiac;,  as  opposed  to  the  ideal 
powers  which  go  to  make  up  Christianity  (righteous- 
ness, peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  Rom. 
xiv.  17),  the  community  of  God,  the  Lord's 
people,  appear — and  this  Ezekiel  plainly  pictures 
out  (comp.  ,ch.  xxxviii.  12  with  ver.  11) — in  its 
meaning  and  essence  a  high-flown  ideal,  which 
men,  after  having  at  least  ceased  to  persecute  it, 
partly  because  they  purely  ignore  it,  and  partly 
because  they  expect  with  scientific  certitude  its 
ccUapse,  its  death,  after  the  manner  of  the  old 
heathen  religions  (the  Ti/Aai  i5oi/),  will  have  to 
take  down  from  its  height  and  simply  crush  with 
force.  This,  according  to  ch.  xxxviii.,  is  the 
position  of  the  world  in  the  time  of  Gog.  If  the 
"  millennial  kingdom  "  is  to  approximate  to  the 
picture  with  which  ch.  xxxvii.  closes,  the  concep- 
tion of  it  will  necessarily  be  very  different  from 
what  the  imagination  of  many  apocalypticists,  still 
adhering  to  the  old  Jewish  sensuous  tradition, 
dreams  it  to  be.  But  even  in  the  loacs  dasskus 
of  the  millennium,  Kev.  xx.,  the  putting  of  Satan 
in  chains  is  mentioned  as  the  main  point  for  the 
symbolical  thousand  years.  The  binding  of  him 
is  the  necessary  preliminary  of  the  millennial 
kingdom.  If  he  is  not  to  deceive  the  nations 
during  this  time,  but  after  this  does  so  again,  then 
it  is  clear,  even  from  that  to  which  he  afterwards 
deceives  them,  that  his  confinement  is  above  all 
the  cessation  of  war  with  violence,  of  violent  com- 
bating of  the  community  of  God,  just  as  also  the 
immediately  following  vision  of  the  witnesses  unto 
blood  (Rev.  XX.  4)  seems  particularly  to  point  in 
the  same  direction.  Regarding  the  "fair  reality 
of  the  kingdom  in  its  glorious  manifestation,"  the 
>J>i<r«(v,  certainly  distinct  from  the  iv!^>iy«»  (ver.  5), 
only  tells  us  forcibly  thus  much  in  relation  to  a 
certain  number,  that  they,  given  over,  indeed,  to 
death  by  the  world,  are  in  reality  alive  (comp. 
also  John  xi.  25  sq.  with  Rev.  xx.  6);  the 
"thrones,  "however,  and  the  "judgment,"  already 
exjiress  virtually  the  "  reigning  as  kings,"  which 
is  only  more  exactly  defined  by  the  expression  : 
"  with  Christ,"  and  that  as  a  reigning  in  heaven 
without  any  express  reference  to  earth,  to  which 
the  only  reference  mentioned  is  the  binding  of 
Satan.  But  this  heavenly  vision  (ver.  4  sq.  )is 
assuredly  meant  for  comfort,  as  is  the  certainty  of 
&iuj  victory  'comp.  moreover,  fxiKpcv  xp'^'^t  ver. 


3),  when  Gog  and  Magog  (Rev.  xx.  8)  march  to 
battle  upon  the  centre  of  the  earth  (ver.  9). 

9.  Tht  misconceptions  of  the  traditional  exegesit 
in  respect  of  the  chapters  before  us,  and  the  con'e- 
spending  passages  in  the  Revelation  of  John,  thus 
relate  on  the  one  hand  to  the  appearance  of  Gog, 
and  on  the  other  to  the  position  and  state  of  th? 
true  Israel,  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  the  last  days. 
With  respect  to  the  latter,  we  have  remarked!  ii 
the  idyllic  picture  in  ch.  xxxviii.  ;  comp.  also  tLv 
exposition.  Rev.  xx.  9,  by  means  of  t»  tXuti, 
i-i!  ym  (ch.   xx.xviii.    12)  belonging  here,  points 

with    TttpiftfioXn    raiy   ayiuy  and    <rflXjj    r  nyo^Ttifjtutt 

rather  to  ch.  xl.-xlviii.  (at  least  more  to  them 
than  to  Zech.  xii.  7,  8),  if  these  two  Old  Testament 
theocratic  designations  of  Israel  are  not  meant 
simply  to  denote  the  Church,  the  people  of  God, 
without  any  special  reference.  Yet,  considering 
the  reciprocal  action  between  the  unseen  world 
and  the  seen,  especially  in  the  last  days,  when  the 
transformation  of  the  world  is  at  hand  and  every- 
thing is  prepared  for  it,  any  reflex  whatever  of  the 
Church  triumphant  in  lieaven  will  unquestionably 
aff'ect  its  earthly  compeer,  the  Churcli  on  earth, 
during  the  thousand  years.     If  it  holds  true  fo- 

this  time  also    that  >lf^&/v  yap  to   V0XtTiVfJ.n.    jy    oyoa- 

>oi;  vTicfx'-i.  ii,  oil  sq.,  according  to  Phil.  iii.  2' 
sq.,  then  something  corresponding  in  the  Chnrel 
on  earth  of  the  last  days  must  run  parallel  to  ths 
life,  the  enthronement,  the  reigning  with  Christ 
of  them  who  have  overcome, — a  "time  of  great 
peace  and  festivity,"  as  Lange  expresses  it,  an 
ideality  of  life,  shining  so  much  the  more  brightly 
as  the  rest  of  mankind  are  under  the  sway  of 
materialism,  have  become  the  slaves  of  enjoyment, 
and  serve  Mammon  ;  and  if  the  judgment  on  thu 
world  will  be  realized  in  presence  of  the  latter-day 
community,  yet  on  the  other  hand  a  time  of  final", 
and  perhaps  "  most  successful  activity  "  prenous 
to  that  may  be  reckoned  upon  ;  comp.  in  our 
prophet  eh.  xxxvii.  28,  xxxvi.  36.  As  the  Chal- 
dean world-power  of  Ezekiel's  time,  with  its  "inany 
nations  "  (D'tSJ?),  out  of  which,  in  the  first  place, 

Israel  is  gathered,  ch.  xxxviii.  38  (ver.  12,  D'is) 

is  reproduced  as  Ba^vXav  (Rev.  xir.  8,  xvii.  t 
xviii.  2),  so  also,  as  in  Ezekiel  from  the  passage.' 
cited,  not  only  will  "many  nations"  (Ezek. 
xxxviii.  16,  23)  besides  Gog  and  Magog  have  to 
be  supposed  in  the  Revelation  of  John,  but  the 
binding  also  of  Satan,  "  that  he  should  deceive 
the  nations  no  more  "  (Rev.  xx.  3),  suggests  the 
operation  of  the  community  of  God  upon  them  to 
bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  Him.  Xay, 
since  Gog,  brought  up  by  Jehovah,  like  Balaam 
formerly,  is  in  a  position  to  view  the  people  of 
peace  assembled  and  encamped  upon  their  hills — 
this  view,  which  can  scarcely  entice  a  nation  sup- 
posed to  be  rude  and  barbarous  but  still  simple, 
may  symbolize  to  us  a  virtual  mission,  the  latest 
missionary  activity  which  the  community  of  God 
on  earth,  as  such,  ]>uts  forth  ;  so  that,  alongside  of 
the  temptation  which  leads  to  being  deceived  by 
Satan  through  the  besetting  sin  of  Gog(ch.  xx.xviii. 
10  sq. ),  who  is  perfectly  conscious  of  what  hi.* 
heart  purposes  and  expresses  in  vers.  11,  12,  we 
not  only  hear  the  ironical  incitements  of  ver.  13, 
but  above  all  the  aspect  of  the  community  of  God, 
virtually  giving  testimony  everywhere  of  salvation 
and  peace  upon  this  earth,  as  it  lives  secure-^ 
solely  by  faith  in  its  King,  without  worldly  pro- 
tection or  power,  is  to  be  looked  upon  aa  a  last 


CHAP.  XXXVIII.,  XXXIX. 


377 


dispensation  ami  expression  of  God's  long-sufFer- 
iiig  and  grace  in  relation  to  Gog,  which  he  in  his 
ripeness  Tor  judgment  despises  (conip.  the  exposi- 
tion). That  Gog's  purpo.se  and  expedition  are  to 
he  aimed  directly  against  God  is  a  feature  at  least 
foreign  to  Gog  as  drawn  by  Ezekiel,  and  has  to  be 
inferred  even  in  Rev.  xx.  9  ;  for  the  final  attack  is 
rather  directly  against  the  jieople  of  the  Lord, 
and  only  indirectly  against  Himself,  who,  how- 
ever, manifests  Himself  from  heaven  in  behalf  of 
]Iis  people. 

10.  Although  the  Reformation  regained  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  both  as  respects  the  su- 
preme authority,  the  word  of  God,  and  the  founda- 
tion laid,  namely,  Christ,  yet  church  life  as  church 
life  was  not  reformed,  but  only  the  C'iesar  Pope 
succeeded  to  the  Pope  Pope.  The  episcopal  power 
was  given  over  to  the  hands  of  the  State,  and 
thereby  the  Church  only  sank  into  a  new  servi- 
tude, which  was  a  purely  secular  one.  This  may 
well  he  called  the  "Babylonish  captivity"  of 
the  community  of  God.  Pietism,  however  much 
it  emphasized  life  in  opposition  to  creed,  fur- 
nished the  theoiy  for  this,  since  its  method  is 
solely  to  influence  and  fonn  the  individual.  Thus 
the  Reformation  made  no  breach  with  Byzan- 
tinism — it  may  be  said  that  that  was  not  the  anti- 
thesis of  the  Reformers  ;  but  they  lelt  it  possible 
for  the  State  also  to  become  evangelical.  As  since 
the  Eefonnation — i.e.  the  attempt  of  ecclesiastical 
reconstruction  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
.Tn<l  proj)hets,  in  which  Christ  is  the  corner-stone — 
the  modern  sovereign -powers  have  come  forward 
Iiolitically,  as  Ranke  says,  so  since  then,  under 
the  title  of  the  gospel,  a  State-churchism  has  been 
njore  and  more  developed,  which,  when  compared 
with  the  fimdamental  declaration  of  Christ  re- 
garding His  kingdom  (.John  xviii.  3ti),  is  no  less 
a  caricature  of  the  holy  than  is  the  Church-State. 
If  the  whore  become  wife  (Rev.  xvii.),  who  for- 
merly rode  upon  the  beast,  is  finally  to  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  beast,  perhaps  we  are  near  to  this 
point  of  time.  The  complete  apocalyptic  history  of 
Antichristianism,  however  (Rev.  xiii.),  sets  also  in 
prospect  the  case  that  the  spirit  of  a  fallen  Chris- 
tianity, the  false  prophet,  can  be  active,  in  the 
service  of  the  political  world-power,  to  bring 
about  something  of  the  form  of  a  universal  world- 
church,  with  legally  social  exclusiveness.  The 
judgment  of  Antichristianism,  as  of  pseudo-Chris- 
tianity (Rev.  xix.  17  sq. ),  appears  in  relation  to 
their  adherents  as  a  spiritual,  moral  destruction, 
namely,  bv  the  sword  of  Him  who  sits  upon  the 
white  horse,  and  which  goes  out  from  His  mouth; 
so  that  the  Antichristian  world,  slain  as  with  a 
sword  by  the  word  of  Christ,  which  should  have 
rescued  them  to  life,  now  affords  room  for  the 
enjoyment  of  peace  and  dominion  to  the  quiet 
community  of  the  latter  days.  If  the  description 
of  the  closing  battle  against  Christ  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse of  John,  bon'owed  from  Ezek.  xxxix.  sq., 
consciously  conforms  itself  to  the  description  given 
there,  that  will  intimate  that  it  has  an  affinity 
with  Gog's  final  war  against  the  Christian  Church, 
that  what  begins  with  the  Head  has  to  be  com- 
pleteil  with  the  membei-s,  hut  that  the  victory  of 
the  King  with  His  army  contains  in  it  the  assur- 
ance of  victory  for  His  people  to  the  end.  But 
does  not  the  very  fact  that  rude  force  like  that  of 
Gog  and  his  bands  will  bring  about  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  development  of  Christian  salvation 
for  this  world,  also  imply  the  corresponding  recom- 


pense for  the  being  sunk  in  materialism,  in  the 
common  mock-reality  of  earthly  things "  And 
how,  then,  accordingly  do  the  first  heavens  and 
the  first  earth  pass  away  !  It  may  farther  tje 
worth  observing,  for  the  social  form  of  the  world 
during  the  time  previous  to  Gog's  making  his 
appearance,  that  after  the  judgment  in  Rev.  xix. 
17  sq.  no  "kings  of  the  earth"  figure  any  more, 
that  the  Revelation  of  John  significantly  renews 
"Gog  and  Magog"  solely  as  national  titles.  The 
"social  democracy"  threatened  for  the  future  dis- 
cuss only  materialistic  themes,  just  as  the  science 
destitute  of  philosophy  labours  in  a  similar  sphere. 
But  the  victorj-  of  Christianity,  the  absolutely 
religious  titith,  will  always  be  on  this  earth  only 
a  spiritual  victory.  The  victory  that  overcame 
the  world  is  our  faith,  1  John  v.  4.  Comp.  be- 
sides, John  xviii.  36,  which  is  called,  in  1  Tim. 
vi.  13,  the  Kct^ri  ofioXiyitt  Ttis  TitTTiu;  (ver.  12). 
The  idea  of  a  preliminary  transformation  of  the 
world,  even  when  put  into  a  more  real  shape,  as  a 
mediating  transition-period,  conformable  to  the 
laws  of  life  and  to  the  development  of  life,  re- 
mains, however,  affected  with  a  certain  show,  a 
mere  display,  the  necessity  of  which  is  so  much 
the  more  difficult  to  see,  as  Gog,  notwithstanding, 
again  comes  up  over  it:  and  it  would  be  much 
more  in  accordance  with  the  moralo-theocratie 
law  of  the  ripening  of  mankind  for  final  judg- 
ment, that  this  ripening  for  judgment  should  till 
up  its  measure  on  the  quiet  community  of  God, 
which  presents  in  opposition  to  the  materialistic 
world  and  its  spirit  of  the  times  nothing  but  its 
unique  ideality  in  Christ  and  with  Christ — this 
indeed  in  a  purity  and  sanctity  unsullied  by  any 
secularity  aud  worldliness.  Comp.  ch.  xxxvi.  38, 
xxxvii.  28,  and  the  burying  of  Gog's  dead  re- 
corded afterivards,  ch.  xxxix.,  in  a  way  that  tells 
for  such  a  character.  The  church-idyl  of  Ezekiel 
in  the  chapters  before  us  may  be  compared  with 
the  apostolic  church  of  primitive  Christianity. 
The  first  period  and  the  last,  when  thus  laid  to- 
gether, form  a  circle. 

11.  "  Neither  as  to  letter  or  spirit  was  this  pro- 
phecy fulfilled  under  the  Old  Covenant,  and,  more- 
over, many  single  passages  of  it  are  incapable  of 
being  understood  in  the  literal  sense.  For  ex- 
ample, when  at  the  end  of  ch.  xxxix.  the  Israelites 
are  to  be  brought  back  from  the  lands  of  their 
enemies  without  a  single  one  of  them  remaining 
behind,  and  that  God  poured  out  His  Spirit  on 
the  house  of  Israel.  As  the  kingdom  promised  in 
ch.  xxxvi.  is  in  this  world,  indeed,  but  not  of  this 
world,  so  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  in  ch. 
xxxvii.  places  itself  under  the  saying  of  Christ, 
John  v.  25,"  etc.  (CuccEius). 

12.  "The  enemies  of  the  Old  Covenant  were 
curbed  ;  and  those  of  the  New,  who  will  once  more 
rise  up  against  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  are, 
to  the  terror  of  the  world,  overthrown  on  the  day 
of  judgment,  and  the  New  Covenant  solemnizes 
its  final  victory"  (Umbreit). 

13.  The  appearance  of  Gog  shall  be  liable  to  no 
contingency,  and  its  necessity  for  the  consuninia- 
tion  of  things  is  apparent,  ch.  xxxviii.  4,  8,  ]fi, 
etc.  That  even  evil  intent  only  serves  the  cause 
of  God's  kingdom  is  a  fundamental  view  of  Holy 
Scripture. 

14.  From  the  symbolical  style  and  character 
which  pervades  the  chapters  before  us,  a  geogra- 
phical inquiry  respecting  the  burial-place  of  Gog 
(ch.  xxxix. )  will  be  of  little  use.     AH  the  more 


■i78 


ilZEKIEL. 


however,  may  such  thoughts  suggest  themselves 
as  the  contrast  generally  of  the  low  ground,  where 
Gog's  lofty  purpose  makes  a  grave  for  himself,  with 
his  going  up  on  the  mountains  of  Israel,  and  then 
also  the  contrast  of  these  heights  with  their  secu- 
rity ami  his  grave,  which  secures  against  him, 
eonfiues  him.  Gog's  grave  in  Israel,  lying  east  of 
the  sea,  makes  significant  allusion  to  the  sea,  the 
apocalyptic  term  for  the  birthplace  and  cradle  of 
tlie  heathen  nations ;  who,  moreover,  ought  not  to 
have  found  downfall  and  destruction  in  Israel, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  sunrise,  to  which  they  are 
described  as  coming  virtually  out  of  darkness  and 
the  shadow  of  death,  from  the  farthest  north. 
That  Gog  finds  his  grave  in  Israel  is  so  much  the 
more  striking  as  Israel  himself  comes  out  of  his 
grave  in  ch.  xxxvii. 

15.  But  still  more  significant  is  the  closing 
verse  of  ch.  xxxix.,  which  refers  back  to  ch. 
xxxvii.  and  xxxvi.  What  Israel  is  to  be  or  to 
signil'y  according  to  his  idea,  he  becomes  only 
through  divine  sanctification  in  the  Spirit,  whose 
final  and  i'uU  impartation,  in  contradistinction  to 
all  occasional  and  partial  givings,  is  made  plain, 
as  pouring  out  xipon  the  house  of  Israel.  "As 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  according  to  the 
earlier  announcements  of  the  prophet  himself  and 
his  predecessoi's,  bears  an  essentially  Messianic 
character,  and  is  connected  with  the  coming  of 
the  Good  Shepherd  of  David's  line,  on  whom  (Isa. 
xi.  1)  the  whole  fulness  of  the  Spirit  rests" 
{Hengst. ),  so  the  predi'tions  of  the  chapters  be- 
fore us  point  to  tlie  course  in  the  world  of  the 
Cliristian  Church,  which  was  founded  by  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  may  live  in  the 
certainty  tliat  not  one  soul  destined  to  be  gathered 
in';i)  it  shall  remain  behind  in  the  world,  as  its 
faith,  its  confession,  is  to  rely  with  confidence  on 
a  grace  which  is  eternal. 


HOMILETIC  HINT.S 

On  Ch.  xxxviii. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "The  prophet  evidently  speaks  of 
the  last  times.  A  good  part  of  his  sayings  are 
riddles,  which  the  fulfilment  alone  must  solve  and 
explain"  (Berl.  Bib.).  —  "The  enemies  of  the 
Church  are  great,  strong,  and  many  ;  but  how- 
ever great  their  strength  may  be,  it  can  ert'ect 
nothing  against  the  community  of  the  Lord,  for 
the  Lord  is  its  protection,  2  Chron.  xxxii.  7,  8  " 
(Tl'b.  Bib. ).  — "The  Christian  Church  never 
remains  unmolested,  but  is  always  persecuted  by 
internal  and  external  enemies,  or  otherwise 
plagued  with  cresses,  tribulations,  and  adversi- 
ties of  all  kinds,  2  Tim.  iii.  12;  1  Cor.  xi. 
19"  (W.).  — "The  adversity  which  befalls  the 
Church  of  God  does  not  befall  her  accidentally, 
but  according  to  the  divine  counsel  and  will. 
Rev.  ii.  9,  10"  (Stakke). — "Gog  is  so  briefly 
mentioned  in  Rev.  xx.  according  to  the  economy 
of  Holy  Scripture,  because  here  so  fully  " 
(RirHTEii). — Gog  is  not  the  Antichrist  (the 
lieast),  nor  yet  the  pseudo-Christ  (the  false  pro- 
phet!, but  the  anti-Israel  of  the  latter  days. 
The  last  attack  on  the  community  of  God,  in 
contempt  of  its  mission  of  jieace  and  salvation, 
from  self-confidence  and  worldline-ss.  —  Ver.  3. 
"  He  will,  however,  be  of  kindred  disposition 
with  Anticurist,  a  circumstance  which  is  to  be 
•bserved,  and  whicli  at  the  same  time  explains 
why  the  Lord  is  ao  angry  at  him  "  (Bbrl.  Bib.). 


— Ver.  4.  "  He  means  to  march  against  .lehovah, 
but  in  reality  Jehovah  has  him  in  tow  ;  he  must 
march  whither  He  wills  to  his  own  destruction, 
as  Pharaoh  of  old  did  not  set  aside  the  purposes 
of  the  God  of  Israel  when  he  refused  to  let  His 
people  go,  but  acted  so  because  Jehovah  Himself 
had  hardened  his  heart  in  order  to  hurl  him  to 
destruction"  (Hexcst.). — Ver.  5  sq.  "It  is, 
however,  of  little  moment  to  know  whether  the 
present  nations  and  which  of  them  are  to  be  un 
derstood  under  tliose  designations;  for  those 
ancient  nations  no  longer  exist  separately,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  intended  to  designate  under  this 
name  generally  only  such  j)eoples  and  nations  as 
in  the  latter  days  lie  outside  of  the  sphere  of  the 
civilisation  of  the  Church  of  Christ"  (Heim- 
Hoffmakn). — Ver.  7.  The  equipment  even  of 
His  enemies  is  subject  to  God's  word. — "  The 
ungodly  are  bound  with  and  to  one  another  by 
the  cord  of  malice"  (Starck). — Ver  8.  A  glance 
into  the  latter  days  of  the  Church  ot  God  and  of 
the  world. — "Gog  meant  to  visit  the  people  of 
God.  but  in  reality  he  is  himself  visited.  It  is 
very  consolatory  to  the  Church,  that  God  not 
merely  conquers  her  enemies,  but  that  even  their 
hostile  undertaking  is  under  His  guidance,  tliat 
they  move  neither  hand  nor  foot  except  at  His 
command"  (Hengst.). — "Thus  God  visits  in 
grace  and  also  in  wrath"  (Starck). — "The 
Church  is  thus  described :  from  her  persecu- 
tions, according  to  her  calling,  as  the  fulfilment 
of  Israel,  from  her  devastation  by  Antichrist,  be- 
cause of  her  separation  from  the  world,  according 
to  her  rest  in  God"  (Cocc). — Ver  9.  In  the 
world  we  have  anguish  to  the  end  ;  before  we 
expect  it,  a  tempest  arises,  and  heaven  and  enrth 
appear  to  be  hiil  from  our  eyes.  Our  security  is 
peace  witli  God :  Christians  wish,  indeed,  peace 
with  all  men,  but  the  world  keeps  no  peac-e  with 
them.  Such  is  its  turbulence  that  it  lias  no  rest, 
such  its  darkness  that  it  would  like  to  shut  out 
all  light ;  even  God  is  not  to  be  our  lamp. — "  If 
great  armies  resemble  clouds,  how  soon  can  a 
wind  disperse  them  !  2  Kings  xix.  35  "  (Stauke). 
Ver.  10.  "Thus  God  is  a  heart-searcher.  He 
knows  the  evil  purpose  in  the  man  himself" — 
(Starck). — Ver.  11.  What  a  confession  from  the 
mouth  of  an  enemy  !  for  the  Church  and  against 
himself. — Ver.  12.  How  good  it  is  to  possess  the 
goods  which  cannot  be  stolen, — the  joy,  fo; 
example,  which  no  one  shall  take  from  us  !  — To 
the  end  the  world  seeks  only  the  temporal,  tli« 
earthly. — Ver.  14.  It  is  bad  when  we  observe  only 
when  it  is  too  late. — Ver.  15  sq.  That  is  already 
the  victory  when  God  says.  It  is  My  peo)de  that  yn 
seek  to  injure. — "  Yea,  all  things  revolve  around 
the  community  of  God  on  earth ;  hell  must  assail 
it,  and  yet  suffer  shipwreck  on  the  faith  of  tho 
true  confessors.  Tlierefore  we  ought  simply  tc> 
keep  God's  word  pure,  and  not  to  care  about  the 
great  multitude  "  (Diedrich). — Ver.  17.  Every- 
thing lias  been  told  before  ;  they  who  hold  to  the 
word  have  to  fear  no  surprises. — Ver.  18  sq. 
"Fury  is  the  glow  which  bursts  forth  in  the 
breathing  of  wrath.  The  wrath  of  God  is  the 
holy  jealousy  with  whicli  He,  for  the  protection 
of  His  kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  peace,  dashei 
down  the  wicked  ;  and  this  wrath  of  oternal  pro- 
tecting love  is  fearful  "  (Schmieder). 

Quantus  tremor  est  fulurus, 
Qutim/o  Judex  est  venlurus, 
Cuncta  ttrtcte  dueutsuntt. 


CHAP.  XXXIX. 


379 


"  EvoM  the  saints  will  tremble,  but  with  ailoia- 
tion  and  liope.  Comp.  Ps.  xlvi.  "  (Schmiedek). 
— V\t.  21.  Even  the  sword  is  the  Lord's  servant, 
which  He  needs  only  to  call  for  and  it  conies  at 
His  word. — How  one  may  become  the  sword  of 
another! — "  When  God  determines  to  inflict  His 
judgments,  the  best  friends  must  become  the 
worst  enemies^,  that  one  may  receive  from  the  other 
the  merited  reward,  Judg.  vii.  22 "  (SlARKE). 
— Ver.  23.  The  conclusion  is,  that  the  result  of 
f  verything  is  to  magnify  and  sanctify  God.  We 
.•lUght,  therefore,  to  begin  all  our  aH'airs  with  God. 

On  Ch.  XXX ix. 

Ver.  1  sq.  God  does  not  mislay  the  address  of 
His  enemies.  As  Jerusalem,  so  also  Gog  and  his 
coniiiany  stjind  always  before  Him. — Him  whom 
God  makes  to  go  up,  He  is  also  able  in  due  time 
to  make  come  down. — Ver.  4  sq.  "  By  the  moun- 
tains of  Israel,  where  Gog  is  to  be  slain,  we  must 
not  undei-stand  the  mountains  near  Jerusalem, 
but  the  Christian  cliurches  in  various  lauds  :  he 
shall  fall  under  the  Christians"  (Hki-M-Huff.  ). 
—  Ver.  6.  The  fire  of  God  upon  sympathies  with 
evil. — The  far-reaching  ettect  of  divine  judgment. 
— Ver.  9  sq.  "  We  see  Irom  this  that  outward 
force,  whether  rude  or  refined,  does  not  furnish 
the  measure  for  great  and  little  with  regard  to 
religion  "  (Luthek). — God  prepares  a  way  of 
escape  for  His  own  people  from  even  the  most 
terrible  terroi-s. — All  things  must  serve  the  God 
of  love. — The  fire  of  Christianity  at  last  comes 
over  all  the  weapons  of  this  world.  They  then 
warn  instead  of  injuring.  — "  These  weapons  are 
in  appropriate  figure  of  earthly  things,  of  which 
;he  enemies  of  the  kingdom  of  God  boast  as  of 
their  weapons"  (Stakck). — If  God  is  our  shield, 
theu  it  is  seen  what  becoiiies  of  all  the  shields  of 
men,  long  and  short.  Let  not  yourself  be  covered 
and  screened  by  the  world  !  Happy  is  he  who 
enjoys  and  confides  in  the  protection  of  God. — 
See  there  what  is  the  value  of  human  armour, 
what  trust  is  to  be  put  in  it,  what  fear  we  are  to 
have  or  rather  not  to  have  for  it.  —  The  world 
with  its  pomp  and  power  after  all  exists  only  to 
furnish  fuel  for  the  children  of  God.  —  Thus  the 
goiUy  man  finally  gains  the  upjier  hand,  however 
long  and  strongly  the  ungodly  have  behaved 
proudly. — Ver.  11.  Like  Gog,  many  a  one  finds 
Lis  grave  where  he  lea.st  expected  it. — Gog 
thought  of  obtaining  prey,  but  by  no  means  a 
grave. — The  grave,  a  quiet  answer  to  so  many 
loud  questions,  the  eidio  to  so  many  and  various 
forms  of:  I  will! — Here  the  proudest  and  most 
foaming  waves  will  subside. — Masters  cease  at 
tile  brink  of  the  gi'ave  ;  the  continuation  follows 
^that  is  to  say,  rottenness,  horror,  judgment  of 
.survivors  on  the  dead,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
judgment  of  God,  who  has  from  the  beginning 
had  the  same  decision  regarding  them. 

Ver.  12  sq.  The  burial  of  the  world,  daily  to 
carry  out  denial  of  self  and  the  world. — "  Men 
often  take  great  pains  to  put  away  bodily  un- 
cleanness :  would  that  they  were  equally  careful 
to  purge  themselves  from  all  pollution  of  spirit ! 
2  Cor.  V.  17,  18"  (Stakke). — "Teacher  and 
pt  iacher  are  for  this  puriiose,  that  they  may 


|ioint  out  what  sin  and  uncleanness  is  to  be  found 
in  a  church  and  in  every  individual  member  o{ 
it.  Oh  that  so  many  would  not  so  much  forget 
their  office!  Isa.  Iviii.  1  "  (Stakke). — Ver.  16  sq. 
The  world,  the  city  of  the  dead,  Hamonah. — 
M'hat  a  stillness  of  ileath  after  the  bustle  of  so 
many  departing  things  and  departed  men  !— 
"The  enemies  of  the  Church  leave  after  tht\r 
death  a  shameful  name  behind  them.  Arts  xii. " 

Ver.  17  sq.  "A  communion;  the  commu- 
nicants are  here  the  wild  beasts  and  birds" 
.(Hengst.  ). — The  fearful  irony  of  the  serrice  of 
the  sanctiiary  on  every  worldly  interest,  even  the 
highest. — What  an  end,  after  such  a  beginning! 
The  beginning  was,  Israel  should  fall  a  prey  to 
Gog  ;  now  the  end  is,  that  Gog  lies  there  a  prey 
to  the  very  beasts  of  the  field. — Ver.  21.  "Let 
ns  not  be  blind  and  stupid  spectators  of  the  acts 
of  God,  but  let  us  lift  up  our  hearts,  and  celebrate 
the  goodness  and  power  of  God"  (Stakok). — 
The  punishing  hand  of  God  on  othera  is,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  laid  on  ns  also ;  He  takes  hold  of  us 
wheu  He  crushes  othere. — Ver.  22.  God  for  us 
and  with  us,  God  our  God  !  the  blessed  know- 
ledge in  Israel  henceforth  and  for  ever,  Ps.  cxliv. 
15.  — The  doxology  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. — Ver. 
23  sq.  Our  transgressions,  the  key  to  our  fre- 
quently so  dark  experience  on  earth. — Our  acts  of 
unfaithfulness  bring  us  into  manifold  miseries, 
but  God  is  faithful. — By  the  punishment  of  God's 
people  the  world  shall  know  the  misery  of  sin  as 
well  as  the  righteousness  —  so  much  the  more 
threatening  for  it  —  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. — 
"  The  beginning  is  made  with  the  house  of  God, 
the  end  with  the  world"  (HXv. ). — The  apostasy 
in  Christendom  makes  the  world  apparently  so 
powerfid. — Ver.  25  sq.  "After  chastisement,  be- 
lievers again  find  grace — not,  however,  becau.se  of 
their  goodness,  but  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  Ps.  cvi. 
47"  (W. ). — The  jealousy  of  God  in  His  compassion. 
— "When  sin  is  rightly  acknowledged,  it  brings 
men  to  shame  and  repentance,  Luke  xviii.  13" 
(Stakke). — The  knowledge  of  sin  makes  heavy- 
laden  sinners ;  but  grace  exjjerienccd  humifies 
still  more  than  punishment  can  do. — The  secuiity 
of  the  humbled  ;  the  security  of  those  who  think 
that  they  stand  ;  the  security  of  the  children  of 
this  world. — We  men  are  well  able  to  bring  our- 
selves into  distress  and  sorrow  of  heart,  but  only 
God's  love  is  able  to  bring  us  out  again.  —  "There 
is,  however,  no  sorrow  which  God  could  not  pre- 
vent" (StarckV — The  salvation  of  Israel,  a  ser- 
mon to  the  heathen  of  God's  compassion  and  holi- 
ness alike.  Hallowed  be  Thy  name,  and  Thy 
kingdom  come,  stand  side  by  side  in  the  Lord  s 
Prayer. — Ver.  28.  Not  one  of  the  elect  shall 
remain  behind  in  the  world. — Ver.  29.  Grace  as 
eternal  gi-ace  and  grace  for  me  is  the  seal  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. — Thus  believers  are  kept  by  th-.- 
power  of  God  to  a  salvation  which  is  ready  to  be 
revealed  in  the  last  time,  1  Pet.  i.  5.  —  Israel,  thi; 
true,  the  people  of  the  Spirit. — The  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  is  the  end  of  all  the  ways 
which  He  has  gone  with  Israel  in  anger  and  c  im- 
passion, and  the  consummation  of  Israel  ia  tha 
Christian  Church. 


580  EZEKIEL. 


5.  The  Closing  Vision  :  of  the  Glort  of  Jehovah's  Kingdom  (Ch.  xl.-xlviii.). 
(1.)   The  Temple  and  its  Service  (Ch.  xl.-xlvi.). 

Chap.  XL.  1.  In  the  five  and  twentieth  year  of  our  captivity,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  on  the  tenth  of  the  month,  in  the  fourteenth  year  after  the  city  waa 
smitten,  in  the  selfsame  day,  the  hand  of  Jehovah  was  upon  me  [came  nver  me], 

2  and  He  brought  me  thither  :  In  visions  of  God  brought  He  me  to  the  land 
of  Israel,  and  made  me  rest  [set  me  down]  beside  [on]  a  very  high  mountain,  and 

3  on  [over]  it  [was,  rose  up]  a  city-like  building  to  the  south.  And  He  brought  me 
thither,  and,  behold,  a  man  whose  appearance  was  as  the  appearance  of  brass, 
and  a  line  of  flax  in  his  hand,  and  a  measuring  rod  ;  and  he  stoiid  in  the  gate. 

4  And  the  man  said  to  me.  Son  of  man,  behold  with  thine  eyes,  and  hear  with 
thine  ears,  and  apply  thine  heart  to  all  that  I  show  thee,  for  in  order  to  let 
thee  .see  it  wert  [an]  thou  brought  hither ;  declare  all  that  thou  seest  to  the 

5  house  of  Israel.  And  behold  a  wall  outside  the  house  round  about,  and  in  the 
man's  hand  the  measuring  rod  of  six  cubits  by  [measured  by]  the  cubit  and  an 
handbreadth  ;  and  he  measured  the  breadth  of  the  building  one  rod,  and  the 

6  height  one  rod.  And  he  came  to  the  gate  which  looketh  towards  the  east, 
and  went  up  on  its  steps,  and  measured  the  threshold  of  the  gate — one  rod 

7  broad,  even  one  threshold  one  rod  broad:  And  the  chamber  [iheguaidioom] 
one  rod  long  and  one  rod  broad  ;  and  between  the  chambers  five  cubits  ;  and 

8  the  threshold  of  the  gate  beside  the  porch  of  the  gate  within,  one  rod.     And 

9  he  measured  the  porch  of  the  gate  within,  one  rod.  And  he  measured  the 
porch  of  the  gate,  eight  cubits;  and  its  pillars  [literally,  its  puia',  if.  ore  by  cue],  two 

10  cubits  ;  and  the  porch  of  the  gate  [was,  or,  tims  wastheporchof  the  eaie]  within.  And 
the  chambers  of  the  gate  towards  the  east  [iiteraiiy.  the  way  oftheea-t]  were  three 
on  this  side,  and  three  on  that ;  the  three  of  them  of  one  measure  ;  and  the 

11  pillars  on  this  side  and  on  that  were  of  one  measure.  And  he  measured  tlie 
breadth  of  the  opening  of  the  gate,  ten  cubits  ;  the  length  [height]  of  the  gate, 

12  thirteen  cubits.  And  a  barrier  was  before  the  chambers  [cua.dr.om^],  one  cubit 
[on  this  side],  and  One  cubit  the  barrier  on  that  side  ;  and  the  chamber  six  cubits 

13  on  this  side,  and  six  cubits  on  that.  And  he  measured  the  gate  from  the  roof 
of  the  chamber  to  its  roof,  the  breadth  five  and  twenty  cubits,  opening  against 

14  opening  [dom- aga  nst  door].     And  he  made  the  pillars  (ver.  9)  sixty  cubits,  and  at 

15  the  pillars  [liter-iiy.  atthepiuar]  was  the  court  round  and  round  the  gate.  And 
from  the  front  of  the  entrance-gate  to  the  front  of  the  porch  of  the  inner  gate, 

IG  fifty  cubits.  And  closed  windows  were  in  the  chambers  [guardrooms]  and  in  their 
pillars  within  the  gate  round  and  round,  and  likewise  in  the  wall-projections,  and 
there  were  windows  round  and  round  inward  ;  and  on  the  pillars  [iitevaiiy.  the  piiiav], 

17  palms.  And  he  brought  me  to  the  outer  court,  and  behold  apartments  [ceii-] 
and  a  stone  pavement  [Mosaic],  made  for  the  court  round  about ;  thirty  apait- 

18  ments  by  the  pavement.     And  the  pavement  was  by  the  side  of  the  gates, 

19  exactly  the  length  of  the  gates,  [namely]  the  lower  pavement.  And  he  mea- 
sured the  breadth  from  the  front  of  the  gate  of  the  lower  [pavenem]  to  the  front 
of  the  inner  court  from  without,  a  hundred  cubits  ;  the  east  and  the  north. 

20  And  the  gate  which  was  towards  the  north  on  the  outer  cciurt  he  measured 

21  in  its  length  and  its  breadth.  And  its  chambers  [guaviivooms],  three  on  this 
side  and  three  on  that,  and  its  pillars  and  its  wall-projections  ;  it  was  after  the 
measure  of  the  first  [former]  gate,  fifty  cubits  its  length,  and  the  breadth  five 

£2  and  twenty  cubits.  And  its  windows  and  its  wall-projections  and  its  palms 
were  after  the  measure  of  the  gate  that  is  towards  the  east,  and  they  shall 
ascend  [one  goes  up  on  them]  by  seven  steps,  and  its  wall-projections  are  before  them. 

23  And  [there  was]  a  gate  to  the  inner  court  opposite  that  to  the  north  and  to  the 

24  east ;  and  he  measured  from  gate  to  gate  a  hundred  cubits.  And  he  brought 
me  towards  the  south,  and  behold  a  gate  towards  the  south,  and  he  measured 

25  its  pillars  and  its  wall-projections  by  those  measures.     And  there  were  win- 


CHAP.  XL.  35: 


dow's  to  it  and  to  its  wall-projections  round  about,  like  those  windows  ;  fifty 

26  cubits  the  length,  and  the  breadth  five  and  twenty  cubits.  And  its  ascent 
had  seven  steps,  and  its  wall-projections  before  them  ;  and  there  were  palms 

27  to  it,  one  on  this  side  and  one  on  that  at  its  pillars.  And  there  was  a  gate  to 
the  inner  court  towards  the  south,  and  he  measured  from  that  gate  to  the  gate 

28  towards  the  south,  a  hiindred  cubits.  And  he  brought  me  to  the  inner  court 
into  the  south  gate  [through  me  south  gate],  and  he  measured  the  south  gate  after 

29  those  measures  ;  And  its  chambers  and  its  pillars  and  its  wall-projections 
after  those  measures.  And  its  windows  [were]  to  it  and  to  its  wall-projections 
round  about ;  fifty  cubits  the  length,  and  the  breadth  five  and  twenty  cubits. 

30  And  wall-projections  round  about,  the  length  five  and  twenty  cubits,  and  the 

31  breadth  five  cubits.     And  its  wall-projections  were  towards  the  outer  court ; 

32  and  palms  on  its  pillars,  and  eight  steps  [were]  its  steps.  And  he  brought  me 
to  the  inner  court  towards  the  east,  and  measured  the  gate  after  those  mea- 

33  sures ;  And  its  chambers  and  its  pillars  and  its  wall-projections  after  those 
measures.     And  [there  were]  windows  to  it  and  to  its  wall-projections  roumi 

34  about  :  fifty  cubits  the  length,  and  the  breadth  five  and  twenty  cubits.  And 
its  wall-projections  [were]  towards  the  outer  court,  and  palms  on  its  pillars  on 

35  this  side  and  on  that,  and  its  steps  eight  steps.     And  he  brought  me  to  the 

36  north  gate,  and  measured  after  those  measures  ;  Its  chambers,  its  pillars, 
and  its  wall-jirojections  and  windows  [w.  re]  round  about,  fifty  cubits  the  length, 

37  and  the  breadth  five  and  twenty  cubits.  And  its  pillars  were  towards  the 
outer  court,  and  palms  on  its  pillars  on  this  side  and  on  that,  and  its  steps 

38  eight  steps.     And  a  cell  and  its  opening  was  by  the  pillars  at  the  gates  ;  there 

39  shall  they  wash  the  burnt-ofiering.  And  in  the  porch  of  the  gate  were  two 
tables  on  this  side  and  two  tables  on  that  side,  to  slay  in  relation  to  them 
[or.  on  thfoi]  the  bumt-offering  and  the  sin-oifering  and   the   trespass-offering. 

40  Ajid  at  the  side  without  for  him  that  goeth  up,  at  the  extreme  of  the  gate 
towards  the  north,  were  two  tables  ;  and  at  the  other  side,  which  [wonceth]  to 

41  the  porch  of  the  gate,  two  tables.  Four  tables  on  this  side  and  four  tables 
on  that,  by  the  side  of  the  gate ;  eight  tables,  on  them  will  they  slaughter. 

42  And  four  tables  at  the  ascent  [for  tiie  bnrnt-oiTeiine]  of  hewn  stone,  the  length  a 
cubit  and  a  half,  and  the  breadth  a  cubit  and  a  half,  and  the  height  one  cubit ; 
on  them  will  they  lay  the  instruments  with  which  they  will  slay  the  burnt- 

43  offering  and  the  slain-offering.  And  the  double  staples  of  a  handbreadth  were 
fastened  on  the  house  round  and  round  [on  the  waiis  around  the  temple] ;  and  on  the 

44  tables  is  the  flesh  of  the  oflering.  And  outside  at  the  inner  gate  were  cells  for 
the  singers  in  the  inner  court  which  was  at  the  side  of  the  north  gate,  and  their 

45  front  towards  the  south  ;  a  part  at  the  side  of  the  east  gate,  fronting  towards 
the  north.     And  he  said  to  me,  This  cell,  whose  front  is  towards  the  south,  is 

46  for  the  priests  that  wait  upon  the  charge  [senice]  of  the  house  ;  And  the  cell 
whose  front  is  towards  the  north,  for  the  priests  that  wait  upon  the  charge  of 
the  altars  ;  these  are  the  sons  of  Zadok,  who  of  the  sons  of  Levi  draw  near  to 

47  Jehovah  to  minister  to  Him.  And  he  measured  the  court ;  the  length  a  hun- 
dred cubits  and  the  breadth  a  hundred  cubits,  forming  a  square  ;  and  the  altar 

48  was  before  the  house.  And  he  brought  me  to  the  porch  of  the  house,  and 
measured  the  pillar  of  the  porch,  five  cubits  on  this  side  and  five  cubits  on 
that ;  and  the  breadth  of  the  gate,  three  cubits  on  this  side  and  three  cubits 

49  on  that.  The  length  of  the  porch  was  twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  eleven 
cubits,  and  [that]  at  the  steps  by  which  they  will  go  up  to  it ;  and  there  were 
posts  by  the  pillars,  one  on  this  side  and  one  on  that. 

Vjr.  1.  Sept.  :  K.  i-ymr,  .  .  .  i,  r.  Tfa.™  fir,,,  omitlunt  nSE'  et  v.  2  *3S'3n. 

Ver.  2.  t*  efiani  6.  ,  .  .  iT£*atvTi. 

\er.  3.  .  .  .  x^Xxc-j  ff-TiX^eiTo?  .  .  .  errotpTtov  olxoiofjun  x. —    Sept.,  Vulg. :  hg.  his  tv  tyj  x^*P'  ^^tov. 

Ver.  4.   Sept.  :  intevroguMve  saipetxett  ot/  ;  *'$j  .  .   .   X.  Tit^or  Iff  T.  x^pitetv  ff.  txhtx  .   ,  ,   kxi  htt^tis  jratret— 

Ver.  5.  .  .  .  ^ip,3oKoi  .  .  .  hi^uirprtrtr  to  TpiTt'xurfMt —    Vulg,  :  ...  sex  cubitorum  ct  palmo — 

Ver.  6.  .   .  .   UffvX^tv  I'l;  .  .  .  in  STrx  ava3«^u6if     .  .  httfMrpTffl,  ^fl  i^  it6*r  x.  ij  u$lt  x.  to  oclketfA  r.  TwAtjff  jVw  tk  xetXatf*^ 

V6I.  7.  .   .   .   a:    rs  ol'iXxu.  iiix  uiffov  nu  6ivXttB  xr^x",  t£  *•  TO  tfli  TC  itvruf  ir«i  T.  xecXxfui  ro  irXzTof  K.  iror  r.  KtcXctum 


382 


EZEKIEL. 


/*rM*s  ;  K.  TO  a/Xxtt  rr.yiwv  tttTt  X.  r.  PEI  T.  rfiTov  jvov  t.  sajcXat/iM  r.  fJLViX4i  x.  irei  T.  xxX.  t.  irAarof ,  x  r  cti'^ttr^  r.  ifi4A»»»i 
(8)  SAKrjov  Toy  xh.xu.  T  wKr.;  IffBtHi*  Iffoi  T.  *xAa,u«.     Vulg.:  .  .  .  portse  jnxta  vestibvlum. 

Ver.  S.  VuJg.  :  pi/rtx  intrins&cus  calavw  uno.  (The  verse  is  wanting  in  the  Sept.,  in  the  Vulg.,  in  the  fcyriac  v^T- 
Blon,  and  in  many  manuscripts.) 

Ver.  y.  .  .  .  K.  Ttf  a/'xiw  .  . .  *.  t.  «/>.«<*  t.  -ryX*)?  Eiraiflii',  Vulg.  : .  .  .  et/rontem  ejus  duobus  cubitis,  vestibiilum  antem 
portx  erat  inlriyisccus. 

Ver.  10.  .  .  .  Stt  xtcTtvittiTi  ...  *  fiiTp6¥  if  ev  t.  ixiA*;*  evfliF  *,  tf^EK  Vulg. :  .  .  .  mcnsura  una  frontium  ex  utrt^ 
que  parte. 

Ver.  12.  K.  vxx^f  iTiffuvetytiutvo;  xxTX  irpcri/Tov  r.  Binpi  ^y,^to(  Uoe  ».  inij;.  svof,  ipiex  ifSl*  K.  UBit^ —  Vulg.  :  ...  ft  tnar- 
ginem  ante  .  .  .  ctihiti  unius,  et  cubitus  vnns'finis  utrimque — 

Ver.  14.  X.  TO  xidptov  tou  xlKxfA  T.  T(/X»)r  iletSiv  ^rrjy^tis  tlxeri  tivti  *.  to  Biifj.  t.  jrvXijf  xvxXu.  Vulg. :  .  .  .  fecit  frnntet 
.  et  axl  fronicm  atrium  portae  undique  per  circuituni. 

Ver.  15.  K.  TO  x'ldpiov  T.  !n>.vi;  (|*Cs»  tii  T.  xlBpiov  TOW  otjAosM  T.  w>.v,;  ic-aidtv—  Vulg.  :  et  ante  facrifM  portx  qua  per- 
tingebmt  usque  adfncicm  i^estibuli  portx  interioris  — 

Ver.  16.  Sept.:  K.  Qupt^ts  xpurrxt  in  tx  BtttfA  x.  tTi  tx  xlXxfi  (ra/fl**  rzf  xi/y^it  .  .  .  *.  orxUTVf  Tois  x4>.xfA  Svpi^is — 
fenestras  obliquas  in  thalamis  ei  in  frontibus  eorum,  qux  erant  intra  portam  undique  per  circuitum  .  .  .  et  in  vestibulis — 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  tiffnyxyiv  .  .  .  its  •  ■  ■  vxrrofeptx  x.  TtpuFTvXx —    Vulg. :  .  ,  .  goJiophylacia  . . .  in  circuitu  pavimentL 

Ver.  18.  K.  «/ ff-Toai —    in  fronts  portarum  secundum — 

Ver.  19.  .  .  .  ifftuSiv  ixi  t.  xlSpiov  t.  irwAiif  jSXirovffn;  £$»,  t»;x.  ixttm  r.  /SXuret/rtjf  aMtr'  «v<tTOAotf.  K.  ttffntyxytt  ^i  ir 
$eppxy  (20)  X.  (Stfv  TvX>j  (SAEToyo-a  rrpo;  ISoppxv — 

Ver.  22.  .  .  .  x.  tx  xi^xuijmv  tirvSiv, 

Ver.  24.  ...  K.  To:  8ti  «.  Tot  xi\vj  k.  tx  xiXxf^fjtaiS-^ 

Ver.  25.  .  .  .  xx8m  xi  dvpi^i;  tou  xiKxu-  — 

Ver.  26.  .  .  .  xiKxpLu^B  itrtudtv — 

Ver.  27.  ...  x.  to  tCpc;  trpos  votov  Tr^£(f  itxofft  xi*Tt. 

Ver.  32.  .   .   .  pu  tU  T.  nKr,v   .   .   .  ati/rry — 

Ver.  33.  Vulg. :  thalamum  e}us  et  frontem  ej.  el  restihulum  ejus — 

Ver.  36.   .  .  .  Bi/piht;  xvTu  xi/xXv,  x.  tx  x'lXxpLu^iQ  xirr,!  xvx'Aa/^  tr^yiif^ 

Ver.  37.  Vultr. :  Et  vestibuJum  ejus  re^piiiebat  .  .  .  ei  exta'ura  palmantmin  fronte — 

Ver.  38.  To:  TxffTo^optx  xi/Tyjs  X.  TX  SupaiuXTX  XUTXS  X.  TX  x'ikxfJ.!JUnB xiiTyjS  kfri  T.  mXrit  T.  iiVTtpxi  ixfuff's'  ixli  TAt>»9fctf-(»— 
Vulg. :  Et  per  singula  gazophtjiaeia  ostium  m  frontibus  portarum ;  ibi  — 

Ver.  40.  Sept. :  K.  xxtx  voitou  reu  pvxxo;  t.  oXoxavTuuecTu*  t.  Sttpxs  jSAfToyo^f  Tpos  .  .  .  ^pc;  xvxttXxf  xxtx  vhtou  t 
iiuTtpxs  X.  Toti  x't\xfx,  .  .  .  *.  ixra,  TpxiriXxi  xxt'  itvxToXxs.  Vulg.:  .  .  .  latus  .  .  .  quod  ascendit  .  .  .  portx,  qux  -  .  . 
ante  vesttbulum  portx 

Ver.  41.  .  .  .  IT  xl/Txs  .  .  .  tx  B'ju.xtx,  xxTivxvTi  To-v  oxToi  TpxtTt^on  T*v  dv/LMTtuv.  Vulg. :  .  .  .  per  tfitera  portx  octc 
mensx  erant — 

Ver.  42.    .    .    .    TftJf  CKoXXUTOm-XTav  XlSivXi,  >u}.x^tuu.iwxt — 
^  Ver.  43.  .  .  .  K.  ^xXx^rrr.v  ifot/o-,.  yi,rK  XD.xilv/ii.ev  iira,9t,  xuxXo,,  x.  £»■;...  iTxtnh,  irTlyxt  Toy  xxX-j-ry  rSxi  ir. 
Tou  itTov  X.  xfTO  Ty,i  Iv.px^txi.     Vulg.:  El  labia  earum  .  .  .  reft4-xa  intrinsecus per  circuitum— 

Ver.  44.  K.  I'lirryxyit  /tt  l!l  t.  xlXry  r.  i(niTipxv,  x.  Soy  im  iiihpm  t,  t.  xlx-n  T.  Uairipx,  pux  xxtx  .iUTOy  t.  lyXrir  T. 
fiXncuns  rr/)or  ^cppxti  flpmrx  ipK  »OTe>,  X.  pux  XXTX  >ojTOy  t.  TyAii;  Tr,s  Tpo;  »otov,  /jAlTOyo-rt  Si  Tptt  0appx>.  Vulg.;  .  .  . 
una  er  latere  portx  orientalis — 

Ver.  48.  .  .  .  ti.ti  totJoito;  i.fii  x.  .  .  .  -ri.Ti  i.fc.,  x.  to  tlpi,;  .  .  .  Trxi«»  SlxxTlrrxpny,  x.  Ui,u.,>is  T.  Bitpx;  T«y  ^'iXxit 
Tr,x,w  Tpiin  ivBty —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  in^nsus  est  vmibulnm  quinque — 

Ver.  49.  .  .  .  TO  npcs  <Tr,xus  luiixx,x.y,iixx  ktx^xefuav—  Vulg.:  .  .  .  el  octo  gradibus  asccndebatur  .  .  .erant  <n 
frontibus,  una  hinc — 


EXERETICAL  KEM.\nKS. 

LiTEKATUEE. — III  addition  to  Botti;lier'a  trea- 
tise, already  mentioned  in  the  Introduction,  p. 
30,  we  have  to  mention  :  TiiENirs,  Proben  altt. 
Scliriflerkl.  nnch  wisseiuch.  Spracli/ornchtmg, 
Leipzig  1833;  Kai.meu-Rinck,  lies' Propheleii 
Ezerhiel  Ansicht  vom  Tempfl,  Ludwigsburg  1858. 
0!'  the  (dder  autliors  :  Vituixga,  Annleijdinge 
tot  !'et  rec/ite  Verstant,  etc.,  and  his  defence 
Bgainst  Cocceius,  tlie  son  (Xaeder  Oiidersoeck  ran 
liet  rech'e  Verstant  van  den  Tempel  Ezechiels)  ; 
SiriiM,  Scictgraphia  Tenipli,  etc.,  Leipzig  1694  ; 
and  a.  litiie  earlier  :  Vii.LAi.rAN'DUS  (p.  29)  ;  and, 
in  a  ponderons  monograph,  Matth.  Hafe.v- 
liKFFEi;,  Temi.'..  Ez.,  TiilMng.  1613.— Great  dili- 
gence and  aciite  combination  distinguish  Ki.iE- 
roiii,  whose  second  part  treats  entirely  of  the 
following  chapters  in  300  pages. — Oepf.r,  in  his 
Frcye  Unt;rsuch.  lihfrehiliie  BB.  des  Altm  Tenla- 
mentu,  Halle  1771,  and  L.  VnoEL,  the  editor  of 
this  tre.ati.se,  and  Coitnnni  also  in  the  anonymous 
treatise,  Beleuchtimrj  d.  jiid.  itnd  chr.  Bihel- 
kanoti^,  li.'ive  criticised  awav  tlie  following  nine 
chapters  from  our  prophst.  .^vd  capriciously  attri- 
buted them  to  a  Samiiriti;!,  or  a  very  late  re- 
lumed .lew  ;   for  what  tlity  Li.ro  adduced  upon 


"grounds"  has  been  already  refuted  by  J.  D. 
MioHAELis,  EiCHHORX,  Bertuoldt,  and  Jahx. 

Vers.  1-4.  Exordium — Introductory. 

As  in  ch.  i.,  with  which  the  divine  mission  o( 
our  prophet  opens,  so  also  in  ch.  .\I.  here,  an 
exordium,  stating  the  point  of  time,  the  condition 
of  Ezekiel,  the  locality,  as  well  as  the  first  and 
iinmifdi.ite  view  which  he  got,  introduces  us  to 
what  follows. 

Ver.  1.  By  the  first  date  given  :  in  the  five  and 
twentieth  year  of  our  (Introd.  §  3)  captivity,  tlie 
reference  back  to  ch.  i.  (comp.  ver.  2)  is  still  more 
express.  According  to  Bunsen  and  Duncker,  573 
B.C.  According  to  Schmieder,  574.  According 
to  Hitzig,  575.  As  to  sense  and  meaning,  this 
reference  back  to  ch.  i.  implies  on  the  one  hand, 
that  the  glory  of  Jehovah  xolcmnizef:  its  consum- 
mation in  the  glorii  of  His  kingdom  (Introd.  §  5\ 
and  on  the  other,  tliat  tlie  divine  mutsion  of 
Ezekiel  has  now  come  to  the  close  which  befits  its 
commencement.  Ezekiel's  prophecy,  ch.  xxix.  17 
s<\.,  is  chronologically  Ids  last  (comp.  on  it). 
"  The  jirophct  has  intiodnced  it  as  an  ajipcndijj 
to  an  earlier  prophecy,  in  order  to  conclude  wit! 


CHAP.  XL.  2. 


:WH 


tins  great  vision  of  restoration,  in  contrast  to  the 
great  opening  vision  of  destruction"  (Hengst.). 
According  to  J.  H.  Michaelis,  we  have  to  remem- 
ber in  regard  to  the  twenty-tifth  year  in  Ezekiel 
liere,  that  the  Babylonish  captivity  of  the  Jews 
liegan  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  when 
Daniel  and  his  companions  were  carried  away,  so 
that  there  were  in  all  thirty-two  years  of  exile  to 
take    into    account.  —  Hitzig    interprets    B'N"I3 

nJE'n  in  the  sense  of  "  new  year,"  and  regards 

the  phrase :  on  the  tenth  of  the  month,  as  explana- 
tory, since  he  (as  also  Jewish  tradition)  takes  it  to 
be  a  year  of  jubilee  (Lev.  xxv.  9).  The  previous 
year  must  have  been  a  sabbatic  year  :  such  a  year 
ended  in  the  autunm  of  575,  and  may  have  been 
a  49th  year.  The  significant  element  in  this  co- 
incidence (on  a  day  of  atonement  commencing  a 
year  of  jubilee)  would,  moreover,  still  continue  even 
if  we  should  not  be  able,  like  Kliefoth,  to  speak 
of  an  " absolutely  eschatological  vision."  Kdak 
observes:  "God  let  the  prophet  see  the  temple 
and  the  future  freedom  of  Israel  on  the  day  of 
jubilee,  because  then  servants  become  free,  and 
on  the  day  of  atonement,  because  then  the  sins  of 
Israel  are  forgiven."  If  what  is  intended  is  the 
beginning  of  the  civil  year  aud  the  month  Tisri, 
then,  in  order  to  that,  this  much  later  alteration 
of  the  beginning  of  the  Hebrew  year — the  old 
Mosaic  reckoning  constantly  prevails  still  in  the 
post  -  exile  Old  Testament  writings  —  must  be 
proved  to  have  been  already  in  practice  in  Eze- 
kiel's  time ;  to  say  nothing  of  tlie  fact  that  such  a 
departure  from  the  law  in  our  prophet,  with  his 
specially  priestly  and  other  peculiarities  of  mind 
and  spirit,  is  scarcely  suitable,  at  least  without 
more  definite  indication,  even  to  the  character  of 
our  chapter.  For  this  reason  Havernick,  with 
the  majority  of  expositors,  holds  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  and  thus  to  the 
month  Nisan,  making  the  phrase  :    njE'il  ^'N^, 

not  found  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  look 
back  to  Ex.  xii.  2  as  a  brief  mode  of  expression 
for  the  full  form  there,  and  connecting  the  men- 
tion of  the  tenth  day  directly  with  Ex.  xii.  3 
(on  which  day  the  lambs  for  the  passover  were  set 
apart,  Scumieder).  "  It  is  the  period  when  the 
preparation  begins  for  the  solemnization  of  the 
feast  of  the  passover.  To  the  prophet,  inspired 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  future  shapes  itself  as 
the  consummated  glorification  of  the  past,  of  the 
first  history  of  development  of  the  people  of  God  " 
(Hav.).  "  The  month  did  not  need  to  be  stated 
more  exactly  ;  from  the  words  :  In  the  beginning 
of  the  year,  it  was  self-evident  that  the  first 
niontli  only  could  be  intended.  That  the  day  is 
significant  for  the  thing  is  confirmed  by  the  em- 
jihatic  form  :  On  the  eelfsame  day.  On  the  day 
when  of  old  the  passover  was  instituted  in  Egypt, 
and  the  people  were  brought  as  it  were  into  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  ajiproaching  redemption, 
tlie  day  on  which  the  coming  sealing  afresh  of 
God's  redeeming  grace  had  thus  for  centuries  been 
solemnly  announced,  along  with  the  increased 
paiu  just  on  account  of  the  cessation  of  these 
festivals,  hope  also  must  have  arisen  more 
strongly  than  at  any  other  time,  since  God  had 
given  in  the  redemption  of  the  olden  time  a 
pledge  to  His  people.  The  dav  occurs  elsewhere 
also  as  significant,  e.g.  the  leadiing  across  Jordan, 
Josh.   iv.   19,  etc.     On  the  same   day  was  the 


entrance  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem,  the  inaugura- 
tion of  His  kingdom.     The  day  was  thus  as  signi- 
ficant here  as  the  day  of  His  resurrection  in  Kev. 
i.  10.     How  even  in  later  times  the  popular  hope 
of  deliverance  was  connected  with  the  passover 
appears  from  the  release  at  the  feast  of  a  prisoner, 
who,   in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews,   represented  the 
people   enslaved    by    the    Romans  '   (Heng.si'.  ). 
Next  to   the   captivity,    the   circumstance    tliat 
the  city  was  smitten,  which  points  back  to  ch. 
xxxiii.  21,  forms  the  second  element  in  fixing  tlie 
date.     It  is  a  verbal  reference  to  prepare  us  for 
understanding  how  the  renewed  divine  mission  of 
the  prophet,  in  view  of  that  accomplished  act  of 
judgment,  would  now,  for  the  first  time,  fidly  open 
his  mouth  for  the  prophecy  of  God's  compassions 
on  His  people.     At  all  events,  the  capture  of  Jeru- 
salem tvas  the  connummation  of  the  misery  of  the 
Old  Testament  covenant-people,  but  with  it  u'os 
presented  also   the   exactlt/   corresponding   back- 
(jrourul  for  the  conswninalion  of  Jehovah's  glory 
in  His  kingdom  in  the  world.     And  so,  in  this 
respect  also,  Ezekiel  cannot,  in  conformity  with 
his  continuous  mission  as  projihet  of  Jehovah's 
glory  in  the  exile,  withdraw  more  fully  from  the 
theatre  of  his  activity.      What  the  prophet  had 
been  obliged  to  announce   regai'ding   the  wrath 
and  judgment  of  God  on  Israel  throughout  ch. 
ii.-xxiv.,  has  been  all  fulfilled,- — God  has  made  a 
tabula  rasa ;  but  the  strictly  fulfilled  threaten- 
ing presents  itself  also  as  guarantee  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  promise  already  wrapt  up  in  it,  which, 
in  the  transition  portion  of  our  book  (ch.  xxv. - 
xxxii.,  see  Introd.  §  5),  prepared  for  itself  a  back- 
ground in  the  kingdoms  of  thi.s  world,  in  order 
with  ch.  xxxiii.  to  set  forth  in  prospect  with  in- 
creasing clearness   and   energy  the   purification, 
sanctification,   restoration,    and   final   victory   oi 
the  new  Israel,  the  Israel  after  the  Spirit,   over 
the  world.     What  had  been  there  prophesied  in 
isolated    instances    of    the   future   salvation    be- 
comes now  collected  into  a  united  whole,  so  that 
to  all  appearance,  as  if  a  separate  book  by  itself 
began  with  ch.  xl.,  our  opening  verses  only  con- 
firm more  expressly  that  which  already  results 
from  a  reconsideration  of  the  previous  chapters. 
"  Even  in  the  first  prophecy,  in  the  rainbow  whicli 
surrounds  the  appearance  of  the  offended  Diity," 
says  Hengstenberg,    "lies  the  germ  of  this  last 
prophecy;"   and   Hitzig   says:    "Not   only   ch. 
xxxiii. -xxxix.,   the  previous  .section"  (to  which 
specially   our   prophecy   forms   the    conclusion), 
"but  Ezekiel's  ]irophecy  in  general,  advances  here 
also  to  internal  completion." — In  the  selfsame 
day;  comp.  ch.  xxiv.  2. — Comp.  ch.  i.  3,  xxxiii. 
22,   xxxvii.    1.      "  Not    merely   a  divine   word, 
but  he  shall  experience  something"  (Klief.).— 
Not  directly,  but  certainly  indirectly,  there  is  also 
a  reference  to  ch.  vLii.  sq. ;  for  although  thither 
is  explained  from  what  precedes  as  the  site  of  the 
smitten  city,  yet  Jenisalem  comes  immediately- 
just  as  in  ch.  ■viii.  sq. — into  consideration  princi- 
pally as  regards  the  temple.     [Hrivernick  finds  in 
the  thither  the  direction  of  the  longing  expressed.  ] 
— Ter.  2.  In  visions  of  God;  comp  on  ch.  i.  1. 
The   state   of   Ezekiel.  —  Ch.    xxxvii.    1  —  Now 
comes  the  locality  of  the  vision,  — in  general  :  the 
land  of  Israel,   and  then,  in  what  follows,  the 
first  and  immediate  view  in  particular.     Against 
Kliefoth 's  observation,  correct  in  itself,  that  px 
and  p^  stand  for  each  other  in  Ezekiel,  we  re. 


384 


EZEKIEL. 


marlc  that  here,  however,  occurring  as  they  do 
close  together,  they  can  hardly  be  otherwise  than 
distinct.  Ezekiel  is,  in  the  Spirit,  set  down  at 
all  events  at  the  foot  or  the  side  of  a  mountain, 
which  to  him,  looking  up  in  vision,  appears  very 
high.  Had  Ezekiel  been  "upon"  it,  he  could 
have  spoken  more  titly  of  its  size  or  breadth  than 
of  its  height.  First  of  all,  the  mountain,  since 
it  has  to  be  taken  iu  contrast  with  the  smitten 
city,  refers  neither  to  Moriah  nor  Zion  in  par- 
ticular, but  symbolizes  generally  the  loftily 
situated  Jerusalem  (eomp.  ch.  xvii.  22,  23) ;  but 
that  it  appears  very  high  point.s,  above  all,  to  a 
glorious  restoration,  and  indicates  spiritual  eleva- 
tion, for  which  comp.  Isa.  ii.  2  (where  the  exalta- 
tion is  immediately  explained  from  the  conscious- 
ness, the  religious  movement  of  the  nations,  and 
as  no  merely  outward  one);  Zech.  xiv.  9,  10,  IB; 
Mic.  iv.  1  "(Rev.  xxi.  10).  This  establishes  in 
the  outset  the  ideality  of  the  further  views  vouch- 
safed to  Ezekiel.  Where  the  first  vision  (ch.  i.) 
"exhibits  in  prospect  anger  and  judgment, "  the 
last  exhibits  in  prospect  "  the  heahng  of  the 
wounds."  There  the  prophet  went  against  the 
dream  of  a  God  gracious  to  ^self-righteous)  sinners, 
and  an  immediately  approaching  future  of  salva- 
tion :  here  at  the  end,  after  that  announcement 
has  been  made,  he  deals  a  last  powerful  blow 
against  the  second  dangerous  enemy  of  God's 
people,  that  has  now  come  into  the  foreground, — 
the  despair,  which  as  efl'ectually  as  the  former 
false  security  leads  away  from  treading  the  God- 
ordained  path  of  repentance"  (Hengst. ).  That, 
however,  which  is  made  prominent  for  Jerusalem 
in  general,  and  described  as  a  city-like  building, 
is,  according  to  what  follows,  the  temple.  [Hav- 
ernick  makes  the  prophet  see  from  the  mount  of 
the  temple,  as  the  building  in  the  south,  the  New 
Jerusalem  (Heb.  xii.  22t,  situated  south  of  the 
mountain  where  the  prophet  stood,  and  conse- 
quently makes  sanctuary  and  city  to  be  at  once 
announced  as  the  two  (?)  main  parts  of  the  vision. 
According  to  Abarbanel,  Ezekiel  saw  even  the 
builders  iu  the  south  building  the  city.  Heng- 
stenberg    finds    iu    Ty   the    substitute    for   the 

smitten  city  (ver.  1),  and  the  temple  here,  as 
also  in  Heb.  xii.,  included  in  the  city  in  the 
wider  sense.  The  revei-se  is  the  correct  view,  as 
even  Hengstenberg  himself  goes  on  to  call  the 
temple  "the  jiroper  essence  of  the  city,"  "  the 
spiritual  dwelling  -  place  of  the  whole  jieople." 
His  reference  to  ch.  viii.  concerning  the  central 
position  of  the  temple  is  good.]  Apart  from  the 
fact,  observed  also  by  Kell  against  Kliefoth,  that 
the  city  is  not  thus  described  in  ch.  xlv.  6,  xlviii. 
15  sq.j  30  sq.,  everything  is  made  clear  by  the 

distinction  between  ^S   and  ^y;   to  the  prophet 

set  down  at  the  mountain,  from  Babylon,  and 
hence  coming  from  the  north,  the  building  on 
the  mountain  appears  3J30,  that  is,  looking  from 

the  south  (as  in  ch.  xxi.  2  sq.,  Judea  in  general), 
which  the  axivx>Ti  of  the  Sept.   (1J3D)   renders 

quite  correctly. 

Ver.  3.  And  He  brought,  etc.  Resumption 
from  ver.  1,  after  that  the  parenthesis  ver.  2 
has  treated  of  the  locality  in  general,  and  the 
first  immediate  view  in  particular.  Now  comes 
the  vis  on  proper  :  And  behold.  Tlie  description  : 
(k  BtftD,  the  less  excludes  the  angel  of  the  Iiord, 


the  known  mediator  of  divine  revelations,  whom 
even  Hitzig  accepts  here,  "since  He  is  called 
'Jehovah'  in  ch  xliv.  2,  5,"  as  the  compaiisim 
of  his  appearance  :  as  the  appearance  of  brass 
(see  on  ch.  i.  5),  seems  to  point  to  ch.  i.  (ver.  7), 
and  the  line  of  flax  to  ch.  ix.  2.  Comp.  gene- 
rally what  has  been  said  on  ch.  ix.  2  ;  also  Zech. 
ii.  1  sq.  (Matt.  xvi.  IS  ;  Heb.  xi.  16).  The  brass 
suggests  to  Hengstenberg:  "solidity,  durabiliiy, 
power  of  resistance,"  which  is  so  comforting  to 
the  Clun-ch  of  God,  because  its  earthly  representa- 
tives rather  resemble  soft  wax.  Hitzig,  like  the 
Sept.,  makes  it  denote  a  "  brilliant  appearance  ;" 
Kliefoth  :  "  an  ordinary  aiujelun  interpres  "  (Rev. 
.xxi.  9).  The  brass  not  only  removes  the  appear- 
ance from  the  human  sphere,  but  also  gives  iu 
the  outset  an  idea  of  firmness,  hence  certainty, 
lor  everything  which  it  will  determine.  For  tliut 
the  man  has  to  measure  is  shown  by  his  eqiiii'- 
nient,  as  that  in  its  completeness  denotes,  accord- 
ing to  Hengstenberg :  "  building  activity  in 
general,  in  contrast  to  the  instruments  of  de- 
struction (ch.  ix.  1);"  according  to  Havernick 
(BorTCHEli),  that  it  is  :  "  for  the  greater  and  tht 
lesser  measurements,  —  the  line  of  flax  more  for  tlie 
site  ;  the  measuring  rod  more  for  the  masonry  ;  " 
according  to  Klief.  :  "that  he  lias  much  to 
measure  of  various  descrij>tions. "  Henust.,  re- 
ferring to  Rev.  xxi.  15,  calls  attention  to  the 
measuring  rod  as  distinguished  from  a  line  of 
flax. — He  stood  in  the  (at  the)  gate.  HiTZu;, 
correctly:  "  waiting  for  the  new-comer. "  Which 
gate,  namely,  of  that  which  looked  as  a  city-like 
building  (ver.  2),  therefore  which  temple-gate  it 
was,  is  not  particularized  here.  But  as  Ezekiel 
comes  from  the  north,  the  first  that  met  him  was 
probably  the  north  gate,  from  which  the  man 
escorts  him  to  the  east  gate  (ver.  6). — Ver.  4. 
The  supposition  is  (ver.  2),  that  the  building  is 
already  erected  ;  hence  :  behold  with  thine  eyes. 
That  he  should  "hear  with  his  ears"  gives  pro- 
mise of  oral  exphination  also,  as,  for  example, 
ver.  45  sq.  But  because  the  expression  of  the 
building  as  to  its  proportions  will  be  made  known 
to  the  prophet  specially  by  measuring,  Ezekiel 
has  "to  apply  his  heart  to  all  "  that  he  will  in 
this  way  obtain  a  sight  of  (all  that  I  show  thee\ 
for  through  him  Israel  is  to  obtain  knowledge  of 
it  (comp.  Ex.  XXV.  9). 

Ver.  5.   The  Enclosing  Wall. 

As  noin  ("checking,"    "keeping   ofl'"),   the 

wall  is  a  barrier  against  what  might  come  from 
without    (wnn)-       It     runs    right    round    the 

house,  and  will  thus  in  relation  to  it,  that  is,  to 
the  temjile  generally,  symbolize  the  warding  oH 
of  the  profane,  the  unclean,  the  false ;  and  not 
so  much  protection.  Comp.  ch.  xlii.  20,  ami 
Ps.  XV.  'The  height,  at  least,  to  be  mentioned 
immeiliately,  is  nothing  particular  in  the  way  of 
protection.  [HXv.  :  "In  the  former  sanctuary 
such  an  enclosing  wall  appeared  more  arbitrary, 
a  construction  called  forth  by  external  circum- 
stances. Here  the  wall  is  an  essential  con- 
stituent part.  The  Babylonian  temples,  too,  had 
their  surrounding  walls,  but  here  is  certaiidy  a 
contrast  to  the  colossal  structures  of  the  BaTiy- 
lonians.  The  wall  on  the  east  side  in  the  lati'i 
temple,  begun  by  Solomon,  was  300  cubits  high 
at   the   lowest   parts."]    [The   wall    "bears   the 


CHAP.  XL.  6,  7. 


S8S 


•quare  form,  as  broad  as  it  is  high ;  but  this 
being  only  twelve  feet  at  the  utmost,  it  was 
manifestly  not  designed  to  present,  by  its  alti- 
tude, an  imposing  aspect,  or  by  its  strength  to 
constitute  a  bulwark  of  safety.  In  these  respects 
it  could  not  for  a  moment  be  compared  with 
many  of  the  moral  erections  which  existed  in 
antiijuity.  But  as  the  boundary-line  between 
the  sacred  and  the  profane,  which,  being  di'awn 
by  the  hand  of  God,  must  therefore  remain  free 
from  all  interference  on  the  part  of  man,  it  is 
precisely  such  as  might  have  been  e.xj)ected."  — 
F.^irbairn's  ^zeiie/.— AV.  F.]  But  the  measur- 
ing begins  with  it,  and  so  the  measuring  rod  is 
here  fixed  at  6  cubits — the  cubit,  however,  with 
the  addition  of  a  handbreadth  (ch.  xliii.  13\  hence 
fi  cubits  and  6  handbreadths  =  1  rod.  The  mea- 
sure is  accordingly  greater  than  that  of  the 
usual  rod  of  6  cubits.  Comp.  2  Chron.  iii.  3, 
and  Deut.  iii.  11.  A  cubit  measure  found  in  the 
ruins  of  Memphis  shows  both  measures,  one  of 
6  and  one  of  7  handbreadths.  See  a  lengthened 
disquisition  on  Jewish  measurement  by  J.  D. 
Michaelis  on  our  passage,  p.  112  sq.  [Hengst.  : 
In  the  case  of  Solomon's  temple  the  former  cubit, 
because  then  current,  was  the  meas>ire,  lience 
it  was  the  more  needful  to  give  the  relation  of 
the  one  to  the  other  here.  The  greater  cubit, 
which  meets  us  first  in  Ezekiel,  was  ])robably 
borrowed  in  the  exile  from  the  Chaldeans.  Keil 
assumes  a  shortening  of  the  common  cubit  from 
the  old  Mosaic  sacred  cubit,  which,  he  says,  still 
formed  the  measure  for  Solomon's  temple,  and 
will  do  so  for  the  new  temple  likewise.]  From 
this  statement  of  a  greater  measure,  we  may  pre- 
sume that  what  is  to  be  measured  is  uncommon, 
magnificent,  surpassing  that  which  actually 
exists. — Inasmuch  as  by  measuring  the  dimen- 
sion is  made  known  as  distinguished  from  the 
mere  mass,  we  may  say  with  Biihr  that  law  and 
proportion,  hence  order,  consequently  the  spiri- 
tual, the  divine  ideality,  are  displayed.  This  is 
what  is  expressed  generally  in  the  numbers 
occurring  here.  But  the  very  preponderance  of 
the  number  six,  in  itself  non-significant,  forbids 
us  to  attach  to  them  special  significance.  In 
this  respect,  also,  Hengstenberg's  observation, 
that  in  order  to  get  the  significant  number  seven, 
it  is  neceissary  to  revert  to  the  cubit,  which  after 
the  prophet's  explanation  no  longer  comes  into 
consideration,  tells  against  Kliefoth.  Moreover, 
inj3  comes  from  "extending,"  and  serves  here 

rather  to  elucidate  in  detail  to  the  prophet  that 
which  he  beholds  as  already  completed  work. — 
P32n  is  the  mason-work  of  the  wall,  the  equality 

of  which  in  breadth  and  height  corresponds  strik- 
ingly to  the  pui-pose  assigned  to  it — to  separate. 

Vers.  6-16.   The  East  Gate. 

After  the  wall  now  follows  in  Ver.  6  the  most 
noteworthy  part  of  it,  the  gates,  of  which,  as 
being  "the  chief,"  as  Heugstenberg  supposes 
("because  of  the  rising  sun"),  the  east  gate  is 
described.  It  lay  opposite  the  entrance  into  the 
sanctuary,  and  hence  was  the  one  among  the 
gates  which  could  first  come  into  consideration 
with  reference  to  the  bouse  in  the  narrower  sense, 
in  respect  to  which  it  is  also  several  times  ex- 
pressly defined  in  what  follows.     On  the  signifi- 


cance of  the  gates  of  Ezekiel's  temple,  comp.  tha 
Doctrinal  Reflectious  on  ch.  xl.-xlvi.  The 
steps,  seven  in  number,  according  to  vers.  2'2,  ".^6 
(Sept.),  are  the  first  thing  observed  about  the 
gate.  Since  the  man  arrives  at  it  by  them,  they 
can  hardly  be  conceived  of  otherwise  than  aj 
before,  and  not  running  into  the  gate  ;  thej 
show,  moreover,  that  the  court  to  which  the  east 
gate  leads  lies  higher  by  these  seven  steps. 
Thus  the  ascent,  an  exaltation  (Col.  iii. ),  is  con- 
joined with  the  separating  character  of  the  wall. — 
5]D  is  a  border  or  panel  on  the  ground  at  tin 

entrance,  thus  threshold;  nothing  can  be  made 
of  "projecting  lower  cornice  "  (HiTZic;).  As  the 
threshold  enters  into  the  gate  a  rod-breadth, 
which  is  the  breadth  of  the  wall,  it  fills  \vf 
exactly  the  opening  made  by  the  gate  in  tha 
wall. — inK  ID  nSI  explains  the  threshold  mea- 
sured as  "one"  (Hiiv. :  only  one,  because  so 
broad),  that  is,  for  the  present,  for  a  second  fol- 
lows in  addition,  ver.  7;  hence  iriN,  in  the  sense 

of  "first." 
Ver.  7.  {{nni  placed  here,  at  the  entrance  into 

the  gate,  so  simply  as  to  explain  itself,  is  the 
chamber  which  is  wont  to  be  in  this  place,  the 
guardroom  for  the  gate-watch  (ch.  xliv.  II). 
' '  An  arrangement  dating  from  David  and  Solo- 
mon ;  a  sacred  temple-guard  was  appointed  to 
surround  it "  (Hav.).  [Faikbairn:  "Furnished, 
as  the  gates  were,  so  amply  with  guard-chambers 
for  those  who  should  be  charged  with  maintain- 
ing the  sanctity  of  the  house  (ch.  xliv.  11,  14), 
tliey  were  formed  more  especially  with  a  view  to 
the  holiness,  which  must  be  the  all-pervading 
characteristic  of  the  place.  It  wa.s  imprinting 
on  the  architecture  of  this  portion  of  the  build- 
ings the  solemn  truth,  '  that  there  shall  in  no 
wise  enter  into  it  anything  that  defileth,  neither 
worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie'  (Kev. 
xxi.  27), — a  truth  which,  in  past  times,  partly 
from  defective  arrangements,  partly  from  the 
wilful  disregard  of  such  as  existqd,  had  been 
most  grievously  suff'ered  to  fall  into  abeyance. 
But  henceforth  it  must  be  made  known  to  all 
that  holines-s  becometh  God's  house,  and  that 
they  only  who  possess  this  shall  be  allowed  to 
come  and  minister  before  Him." — W.  F.]  Since 
the  gate  extends  from  the  wall  into  the  court, 
and  Ezekiel  has  first  to  pass  through  to  the  end. 
the  first  thing  determined  is  as  to  the  guard 
room,  of  which,  moreover,  there  were  several 
(D'Snn), — the   "length"  (from  east  to  west), 

and  with  that  also  the  breadth,  and  in  this  way 
the  form,  that  of  a  square. — It  is  to  be  under- 
stood that  the  intervening  spaces  also  (the  dis. 
tances  from  chamber  to  chamber)  were  measured 
as  they  went  onward,  and  thus  made  clear  to 
the  prophet. — The  conclusion  is  formed  by  the 
threshold  of  the  gate,  which,  in  distinction  from 
the  entrance  one  (ver.  6)  of  the  same  dimension,  is 

named  from  the  porch  (D71X  <'•'  D7K  is  vestibule 

or  portico,  often  with  pillars),  into  which  tht 
whole  gate-building  runs  out,  as  the  p'  -ch  and 
thereby  this  threshold  is  fixed  with  rtfi*\-    to 

the  temple,  that  is,  westward.  PVX  indicavei 
that  this  threshold .  lay.  close  to  the  porch,  »>\- 


S8C 


EZEKIEL. 


joined  it. — Ver.  S.  The  porch,  because  it  opens 
the  way  to  the  court,  is  a  principal  part  of  the 
gate,  hence  its  lengthened  description.  The 
Sept.  and  Hitzig  erase  this  verse  on  account  of 
the  dimension  being  different  from  that  given  in 
Ver.  9.  Kliefoth  finds  given  in  ver.  8  the  size  of 
the  porch  in  the  light,  the  width  of  its  inner 
space  from  east  to  west,  namely,  6  cubits  of 
Ezekiel's  measure  (ver.  5).  The  width  was 
naturally  the  same  as  that  of  the  gate.  Conse- 
quently the  measurement  given  in  ver.  9  would 
be  that  of  the  porch  in  the  wider  sense,  including 
the  projecting  side-walls  upon  it  (2  cubits)  and 

the  Qi^'S  fronting  each  other  (ver.  10),  and 
each  2  cubits  thick,  jj^x,  mostly  plural,  signi- 
fies that  which  is  "firm,"  "strong,"  which  can 
be  a  prop,  can  afford  support.     The  signification 

of  the  verb  piiK,  "to  be  in  front,"  accepted  by 
Kliefoth,  is  the  derived  one.  The  "Elim" 
(Dv'x)  undoubtedly  project,  as  observed,  but  in 

reality  they  are  piUar-like  props  attached  to  the 
walls,  to  form  sides  and  supports  for  doors  and 
windows.  And  the  porch,  etc.,  forming  a  con- 
clusion ;  in  connection  with  which  Kliefoth 
directs  attention  to  the  ri'3n0,  repeated  for  the 

third  time,  as  marking  the  difference  from  the 
gates  of  the  inner  court  (vers.  31,  34,  37). 

Ver.  10.  A  return  to  the  "  guardrooms  of  the 
east  gate "  (ver.  7).  They  are  six  in  number, 
three  on  one  side  fronting  three  on  the  other, 
and  all  of  the  same  size.  [Kliefoth  :  2  x  3 
watches  at  each  of  the  three  outer  gates,  and  the 
.same  at  the  three  inner  gates,  in  all  3x12; 
"for  God  Himself  will  be  the  proper  Guardian 
and  Protector  of  this  sanctuary  of  His  people."] 

— The  one  measure  spoken  of  the  Q^p'X  on  this 

occasion  seems  to  refer  to  those  mentioned  in 
ver.  9.  Klief.  :  "the  gate-pillars  of  the 
porch."  [Hengstenberg  supjioses  "pillars "one 
cubit  thick,  as  in  ver.  9  (?),  standing  in  front  of 
the  walls  at  both  sides  of  the  guardrooms ;  others 
otherwisi'.] — Ver.  11.  The  opening  of  the  gate 
is  its  entire  width,  and  along  with  the  statement 
of  its  breadth  there  is  given  at  the  same  time  the 
still  undetermined  length  of  the  two  thresholds 
and  the  steps. — In  distinction  from'  the  width, 
"lyt-'n  (from  IJ?^',    to  make  fast,   to  close,  and 

so  meaning  literally:  "closed  place"  [Schloss] 
— cognate  to  inb)    is    such  signifies  the   ward, 

wherefore  the  gate  too  is  very  suitably  treated  of 
here  in  the  midst  of  the  more  exact  description 
of  the  guardrooms  (vers.  10,  12).  (Comp.  ch. 
xliv.  1  sij.)  Viewed  with  respect  to  its  opening, 
it  opens  the  way  to  the  court ;  as  a  gate  it  is  a 
sUent  but  stedfast  guardian  (comp.  on  ver.  48). 
— As  every  other  interpretation  hitherto  at- 
tempted leads  only  to  quite  uncertain  supposi- 
tions not  contained  in  the  text  (roofed  and  open 
spaces,  courtyards,  and  the  like),  the  length  of 
13  cubits  here  must  mean  the  height.  In  itself, 
"pk  signifies:   what  is  extended  in  time  and 

epace,  hence  :  what  is  long.  \Vhen  the  breadth 
has  been  given  already,  the  extension  of  the 
gate-barricade  proper  (the  door)  can  scarcely  be 


conceived  of  otherwise  than  in  height  (comp.  on 
ver.  15),  and  the  guardrooms  supply  all  tlRit  is 
requisite  to  tLx  the  length  here.  Length,  there- 
fore, does  not  in  general  stand  for  height ;  neither 
does  the  special  application  need  to  be  explained 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  door  was  lying 
when  measured.  ["To  the  last  number  of  perfec- 
tion, ten  (SiKiL,  implying  that  it  takes  into  it  the 
other  numbers),  is  added  the  first  number  of  per- 
fection, three,"  Hengst.] — Ver.  12.  In  unison 
with  the  shutting  character  of  the  gate,  the  idea 
of  the  guardrooms   is  completed  by  the  barrier 

(7133)  of  one   cubit  in  breadth  before  each  of 

them.  As  is  evident  from  what  follows,  a 
nSD  Ills  to  be  supplied  between  nns  ilBX  and 

nnS'ntSSV      [Klief.  :    "  And  the    barrier    on 

this  side  was  a  cubit,  but  the  guardroom  was  6 
cubits  on  this  side  and  6  cubits  on  that,"  that 
is  to  say :  the  guardroom  formed  a  square  of  6 
cubits  each  side ;  but  the  barrier-space  formed 
an  oblong  of  6  cubits  in  length  before  the  guard- 
room, and  1  cubit  in  breadth  ;  and  the  barrier- 
space  was  not  taken  from  the  space  of  the  guard- 
room, which  on  the  contrary  remained  a  square 
of  6  cubits,  but  joined  on  before  the  guardroom.] 
The  statement  that  that  which  was  guardroom 
(Snn,  collective,   generic)  occupied  6  cubits  on 

either  side,  is  here  understood  of  the  length,  and 
hence  is  neither  formally  nor  virtually  (as  Keil) 
a  repetition  of  ver.  7,  but  is  made  expressly  for 
giving  a  clear  notion  of  the  barriers,  namely, 
how  they  ran  along  the  entire  lengtli  of  each 
guardroom.  From  this  it  follows  that  these 
guardrooms  are  niche-like  cells,  opening  into 
the  gate,  and  hence  closed  in  by  the  barriers, 
and  that  when  one  cubit  on  each  side  is  taken 
from  the  10  cubits  (ver.  11),  the  passage  leading 
through  is  limited  to  8  cubits.  The  barrier 
is  hardly  constructed  in  order  that  the  watchman 
"stepping  out  may  look  around  right  and  left, 
and  while  doing  so  be  jirotected  against  the  too 
near  approach  of  the  people,  and  hindrance  by 
them  "  (Hitzig)  ;  it  lessens  the  available  space 
in  the  thoroughfare,  and  thereby  facilitates  the 
control  on  both  sides,  and  it  protects  the  guard- 
room, which  without  it  would  stand  entirely 
open,  from  those  who  wished  to  press  into  the 
court  in  this  way  through  the  doors  to  be  men- 
tioned immediately.  [Hengst.:  "The  arrange- 
ment supposes  that  there  are  impudent  people 
among  the  entrants  who  wished  to  force  an  en- 
trance not  allowed  to  them ;  comp.  Luke  xiii. 
24."] 

Ver.  13.  The  entire  breadth  of  the  gate-build- 
ings :  25  cubits,  measured  from  the  guardroom 
(Knn,  as  ver.  12),  as  this  is  what  has  just  been 

spoken  of,  and  the  guardrooms  represent  the 
greatest  breadth.  Thus  guardroom  opposite 
guardroom,  from  roof  to  roof,  from  north  to 
south,  or  vice  versd,  so  that  the  whole  breadth 
comes  out.      The  explanation  :  nns  "Mi  nns, 

indicates  an  opening  of  the  guardrooms  out 
towards  the  court,  for  the  barriers  close  them  np 
towards  the  interior  of  the  gate.  This  at  the  same 
tjme  explains  to  us  the  measuring ;  for  since 
there  is  only  a  barrier  closing  up  on  either  side, 
there  is  a  free  view  on  both  sides  into  the  respec< 


CHAP.  XL.  14-16. 


387 


tive  guardrooms  to  their  openings  (under  the 
end  of  each  roof)  into  the  court,  so  the  man 
needs  not  go  out  (as  Klief. )  to  determine  the 
measure;  moreover,  And  he  measured  will  im- 
mediately (Ver.  14)  pass  over  into;  And  he  made ! 
Accordingly,  ver.  7  gave  only  the  dimensions  of 
the  interior  of  the  guardrooms  in  the'  light, 
whereas  now  the  space  of  the  outside  walls  (IJ 
cubits  each,  according  to  ver.  42)  is  included. 
fHiTZiG :  J3  is  not  the  cover  of  a  chamber,  but 

its  ridge  =33.]    The  barriers  may  be  imagined 

as  situated  in  the  gateway,  but  also  as  in  the 
guardrooms,  of  course  without  lessening  their 
space.  The  object  of  the  barriers  recommends 
the  first  view. — In  order  to  give  the  entire  exten- 
.sion  of  the  gate-buildings  in  this  direction,  we 
have  in  ver.  14  the  statement  of  the  height  of 

the  Dv'N)  the  two  wall-pillars  (ver.  9)  adjoining 

the  porch.  From  their  height  as  stated,  Kliefoth 
explains  the  change  of  expression.  [Hengst.  : 
"The  usual  height  of  the  gate-building  might  be 
gathered  from  th  height  of  the  gate-door,  ver. 
11."]  That  it  is  the  length  (height)  of  the 
gate-structure  which  is  meant  to  be  determined 
is  shown  by  the  description  of  these  pillars. 
"  They  are  as  it  were  the  head  of  the  whole,  that 
which  the  steeples  are  in  our  churches,  towering 
up  towards  and  pointing  to  heaven"  (Hengst.). 
Kliefoth  excellently  observes:  "They  are  60 
cubits  high.  If  one  had  reflected  that  our  church 
towers  also  have  grown  out  of  gate-pOlars,  that 
one  can  see  not  only  by  Egyptian  obelisks  and 
Turkish  minarets,  but  also  by  our  factory  chim- 
neys, which,  moreover,  are  hollow,  how  pillars 
60  cubits  high  can  be  erected  on  a  base  of  4 
cubits  square,  and  that  finally  the  thing  spoken 
of  is  a  colossal  building  seen  in  vision,  one  would 
have  felt  no  critical  anxieties  at  this  statement  of 
height."  Ou :  he  made,  Hengstenberg  says : 
"The  prophet  goes  back  to  the  time  when  he 
who  here  explains  the  building  to  him  prepared 
it.     In  reality  the  meaning  is  :  he  had  made." — 

7'X"?N1  collectively,  and  this  the  rather  be- 
cause the  pillars  are  the  highest  parts  of  the 
gate-structure.  It  is  quite  clear  from  the  descrip- 
tion in  ver.  9  that  the  court  (isnn)  was  im- 
mediately adjoining ;  an  inner  court  is  out  of  the 
question.  Accordingly,  ^J)B;,^  must  be  accusa- 
tive ;  in  relation  to  the  gate,  as  to  the  gate, — 
■)}{  with  p'x,  ill  which  the  gate  terminates  in 

the  court,  precedes, — hence:  the  outer  court  of 
the  temple  surrounded  the  gate-structure  round 
about,  this  structure  was  built  in  the  court.  When 
the  relation  to  the  court  into  which  the  gate 
extended  has  been  thus  considered,  the  entire 
length  of  the  gate-structure  can  now — Ver.  15 — 
be  noted.  For  this  purpose  the  gate  on  the  side 
from  which  the  measuring  begins,  that  is,  from 
the  ascending  steps  of  ver.  6,  is  designated  as 
|in'{<n,  which  word  is  only  hero  in  the   Qeri 

(Kethibh :  jiDNTl).  Either  adjective  or  substan- 
tive, it  is  derived  from  nns,  "to  come,"  and 

T     T 

designates,  as  the  point  of  departure,   the  en- 


tranee-gate  to  which  one  comes  when  one  wishes 
to  go  to  the  temple.  As  the  opposite  standpoint, 
towards  the  court,  "lyt^irnns.  h'ls  been  men- 
tioned in  ver.  11,  the  special  designation  of  the 
gate  was  so  much  the  more  in  place. — Although 

for  fixing  the  terminus  ad  quern,  -py  will  have  to 

be  taken  as  versus,  "towards,"  yet  when,  as 
here,  it  stands  in  conjunction  with  '3S7,  it  haj 

not  its  full  force.  There  lies  in  it  something 
like:  "upon,"  "above,"  which  seeks  to  assert 
itself ;  for  in  ver.  1 1  the  height  of  the  gate,  and 
in  ver.  13  the  roofing  of  the  gate-chambers,  and 
in  ver.  14  the  summit  of  the  entire  gate-structure, 
came  into  consideration.  ["From"  and  "to"' 
are  omitted,  says  Hengstenberg,  because  the 
relation  is  clear  in  itself.  ]  The  porch  is  known 
from  ver.  7  sq.,  and  thereby,  as  from  the  con- 
trast to  jinN^^,  the  "inner"  gate,  the  gate  lead- 
ing into  the  court,  and  hence  to  the  interior  of 
the  temple ;  especially  when  the  east  gate  is  vis 
d  vis  the  sanctuary  proper. — For  this  the  man 
needs  only  step  forward  on  tlie  seventh  step, 
look  up,  and,  passing  through  the  gate-buildings, 
calculate  his  starting-point :  first  threshold,  6 
cubits  ;  three  guardrooms  with  two  intervening 
spaces,  28  cubits  ;  second  threshold,  6  cuUts 
porch,  6  cubits  ;  projection  of  the  side  and  gate- 
pillars,  4  cubits  =  50  cubits.  This  length  is  the 
double  of  the  breadth.  ["When  the  Psalmist 
calls  upon  the  gates  of  the  temple  or  of  the 
holy  city  to  lift  themselves  up,  to  widen  them- 
selves, at  the  entering  in  of  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant (Ps.  xxiv. ),  the  idea  which  underlies  this 
song  is  here  symbolically  embodied  and  ex- 
pressed."] 

Ver.  16  appropriately  closes  the  description 
with  an  explanation  of  the  way  in  which  the  gate- 
structure  was  lighted  ;  for  it  needs  light  for  tl)e 
inspection  of  the  watchmen  especially.  Hence 
there  were  windows;  first  of  all,  in  the  guard- 
rooms,  namely,  in  their  wall-pillars,  by  which 

they  are  distinguished  from  the  Q'P'K  in  ver.  K 

(DvN,  written  defectively).      Pillars  projecting 

from  the  wall  enclosed  the  windows  of  the  guard- 
rooms. That  these  windows  were  closed  (1  Kings 
vi.  4)  certainly  does  not  mean  that  they  were  not 
to  let  the  light  pass  through,  but  that  they  were 
only  for  light,  and  not  to  be  opened  for  any  other 
purpose  ;  that  they  were  windows  meant  "for  a 
sacred  purpose"  (HXv. ),  and  "not  so  much  for 
looking  through"  (Hitzig).  The  being  closed 
explains  itself  fully  when  we  once  consider  that 
they,  as  also  the  doors  of  these  chambers,  led  into 
the  court,  into  which,  therefore,  no  one  was  to  press 
forward,  either  through  the  doors  or  by  means  of 
these  windows,  and  then  consider  that  their  rela- 
tion to  the  gateway  given  as  within  must  put 
them  on  the  same  line  with  the  other  windows  to 
be  mentioned  immediately,  which  came  directly 
into  the  gateway,  and  had  to  be  made  "  so  "  (p). 

Although  the  windows  of  the  guardrooms  are  for 
the  use  of  the  gate,  yet  the  word  within  shows 
that  the  gate  gets  the  light  first  of  all  from  the 
guardrooms,  which  indeed  are  also  open  inward 
up  to  the  barrier.  But  since  the  guardrooms  on 
both  sides  of  the  gate  come  forward  to  the  court. 


)38 


EZEKIEL. 


it  can  be  saiil  of  their  windows  that  they  were 
round  and  round  the  gate,  as  was  said  of  the 
;ourt  (ver.  14)  in  relation  to  the  gate.  [Klief.  : 
"  In  the  inside  of  the  gate  -  structure  round 
»bout "  (?).]  For  the  purpose,  however,  of  giving 
more  hght  to  the  gate-structure,  there  were  such 
windows  niS^N^-     Since  nothing  is  nearer  to  the 

guardrooms  than  their  partition -walls  (ver.  7), 
we  will  have  to  think,  in  the  first  place,  of  them. 
cVx  is  etymologically  connected  with  Q^p'K  and 
with  D^iX,  hut  is,  however,  as  Klief.  has  satisfac- 
torily shown,  distinct  from  both.  The  significa- 
tion: "projecting  part,"  which  Keil  gives  to  the 
word,  that  is,  what  is  on  a  solid  wall  for  architec- 
tural ornament  or  necessity, — as  for  the  windows 
in  question,  moulding,  frieze,  frame,  and  such 
like, — suits  perfectly  to  the  partition-walls  with 
their  windows,  for  these  walls  are,  according  to 
ver.  30,  to  be  taken  here  too  as  5  cubits  broad, 
and  thus  were  a  projection  on  the  gate-structure. 
[Klief.  translates;  "porch  walls."]  If,  then, 
they  projected  likewise  into  the  court  on  both 
sides,  the  "  round  and  round  "  is  as  apposite  and 
illustrative  in  respect  to  them  as  in  respect  to  the 
guardrooms  formerly.  The  carrying  out  of  the 
p.irallel  thus,  the  windows  round  and  round,  and 
the  concluding  expressly  (inwards)  with  the  light- 
ing of  the  gateway,  shows  that  that  has  been  suffi- 
ciently cared  for.  [What  Hengst.  quotes  from 
B.^LMER  -  RiNCK  about  the  pUlars,  by  which 
"  the  windows  are  as  it  were  latticed,"  would  have 
been  more  suitable  had  it  been  said  that  the  Elim 
were  on  the  windows,  and  not  the  reverse,  as  here.  ] 
— Kliefoth,  however,  understands  by  the  "Elam- 
moth"  or  "  Elaramim  "  not  only  "the  parapets 
and  walls  filling  up  the  spaces  between  the  guard- 
rooms, but  also  the  sides  of  the  porch  and  the 
sides  adjoining  the  second  threshold  "  as  pierced 
through'with  windows.  The  observation  also  is 
perhaps  correct,  as  the  measuring  (ver.  13)  from 
roof  to  roof  of  the  guardrooms  possibly  shows 
already,  that  when  the  gate-structure  thus  has 
windows   all   over,    it   was  roofed   and   covered. 

Since  ^'}{  in  a  collective  sense  may  possibly  in- 
clude the  just  now  mentioned  "Elim"  of  the 
guardrooms,  while  in  vers.  9  and  14,  on  the  other 
hand,  mention  is  specially  made  of  the  two  high 
pillars  at  the  porch,  it  will  be  a  question  whether 
we  have,  \vith  Kliefoth,  to  imagine  the  whole 
of  the  "Elim"  decorated  with  palm-leaf  work. 
Hengst.  (who  insists  on  its  "  inseparable  connec- 
tion with  the  cherubim,"  of  which  we  may  remark 
there  is  here  no  mention)  makes  the  palms  "  indi- 
cate that  the  gate  leads  to  a  building  consecrated  to 
the  Lord  of  creation  ;  it  corresponds  to  the  merely 
introductoi-y  character  of  the  gate  that  the  crea- 
tion is  here  represented  not  by  the  animal  king- 
dom, but  by  the  lower  region  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  of  which  the  palm  is  king."  Hay.: 
"  By  this  symbol  nothing  else  is  meant  to  be 
impressed  upon  the  temple  than  the  stamp  of  the 
noblest  and  grandest  prosperity."  More  fully 
B'i.HR  (seeder  Salam.  T»mpel,Tp.  120  sq.):  "Since 
all  fulness,  riches,  and  glory  of  vegetable  life  is 
comprehenJed  in  the  palm,  it  above  all  is  adapted 
for  the  habitation  of  Jehovah,  which  is  called  a 
habitation  of  glory  ;  it  stands,  therefore,  parallel 
to  the  cherub,  nothing  vegetable  can  so  announce 


the  glory  of  the  Creator.  By  it  the  habitation  oi 
Jehovah  is  indicated  as  a  perpetually  flourishing 
habitation,  abiding  in  vigorous  strength,  conceal- 
ing in  itself  the  fulness  of  life  ;  it  becomes  tho 
place  of  salvation,  life,  peace,  and  joy,  a  paradise 
of  God.  But  since  the  sanctificatiiin  of  Israel  is 
the  end  and  aim  of  Jehovah's  dwelling  among 
them,  these  ideas  are  of  an  ethical  character  (Ps. 
i.  3,  lii.  10  [8] ;  Jer.  xvii.  8  ;  Prov.  xi.  28,  30  ; 
Ezek.  xlvii.  12  ;  Eev.  xxii.  2  ;  particularly  Ps. 
xcii.  13  [12]  sq.).  The  fact  that  the  temple  was 
adorned  with  these  figures,  while  the  fcibernacle 
was  destitute  of  them,  has  its  ground  in  the  Pro- 
mised Land.  Palestine  is  the  native  land  of  the 
palm,  hence  these  armorial  bearings  and  badges 
of  the  land  and  people  of  Israel  on  the  coins  of 
the  age  of  the  Maccabees,  and  on  Phoenician 
coins,  while  on  those  of  Titus  we  have  a  palm 
tree  with  Judcea  capta.  In  Solomon's  temple,  on 
the  other  hand,  Judaa  victrix  had  been  rei)re- 
sented,  for  the  temple  was  at  once  the  monument  of 
Israel's  victory  over  its  enemies  and  of  Jehovah's 
covenant  faithfulness,  and  a  pledge  of  the  firm 
possession  of  the  land  (comp.  ch.  xxx™. ).  The 
palm,  already  pointing  in  this  way  to  salvation, 
peace,  joy,  and  rest,  was  very  specially  a  symbol 
of  that  which  had  dawned  for  Israel  with  the 
period  of  the  '  house '  and  its  builder,  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  Thus  there  is  a  relation  of  Jehovah's 
habitation  to  the  land,  and  of  the  land  to  the 
sanctuary  ;  both  relations  are  bound  up  with  each 
other  in  the  palm.  The  place  of  Jehovah's  resi- 
dence and  revelation  is  a  place  of  pabns,  thus  the 
land  of  palms  is  a  land  of  Jehovah's  residence  and 
revelation,  a  heavenly  land. "  [Klief.:  "The  palm 
branches  stand  in  close  relation  to  the  fea.st  of 
tabernacles,  and  it  is  the  eschatological  significa- 
tion of  that  feast  which  is  designed  to  be  stamped 
by  this  adorning  with  palms  upon  the  edifice  of 
the  sanctuary"  (?).]  Comp.  however,  here,  for 
the  entrance  into  the  temple  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
the  entry  of  the  Messiah  through  the  midst  of 
palms.  Matt.  xxi.  8  ;  Mark  xi.  8. 

[Faikbairn:  "Here  also  nothing  was  left  to 
men's  caprice  or  coiTupt  fancies,  as  had  been  the 
case  of  old  "  in  the  outer  court  of  Solomon's  temple. 
"A  more  perfect  state  of  things  was  to  be  brought 
in ;  and  even  all  in  the  outer  court  was  to  be 
regulated  by  God's  hand,  and  bear  the  impress 
of  His  holiness.  This,  too,  must  be  hallowed 
ground,  fashioned  and  ruled  in  all  its  parts  after 
the  perfect  measure  of  the  divine  mind  and  the 
just  requirements  of  His  service  ;  therefore  such 
was  evidently  the  practical  result  aimed  at, — let 
not  the  ungodly  and  profane  any  longer  presume 
to  tread  such  courts  (Isa.  i.  12),  or  desecrate  them 
by  the  introduction  of  their  own  unwarranted 
inventions.  Let  all  feel  that  in  coming  here  they 
have  to  do  with  a  God  of  purer  eyes  than  to  be- 
hold iniquity." — W.  F.] 

Vers.  17-19.   The  Outer  Court. 

It  is  necessary  to  pass  over  it  to  come  to  the 

other  gates.     Comp.  ch.  x.  5.--n2B6  is  properly: 

"  appendage, "  and  so :  annexed  building  or  side- 
room  ;  specially  used  for  small  chambers  at  the 
sides,  which  served  for  keeping  utensils  and  provi- 
sions, for  the  residence  of  the  priests,  and  also  fo ! 
sacrificial  feasts  (1  Sam.  ix.  22).    Comp.  Jer.  xxxv 


CHAP.  XL.  18-28. 


389 


2.  Hengst.  describes  well  the  use  of  the  "  Lesha- 
clwlh:  "  a  refuge  from  storm  and  rain,  as  the  pave- 
ment preserved  the  feet  from  mud,  but  principally 
for  rejoicing  before  the  Lord,  for  the  eating  and 
drinking  before  Him  (Deut.  xii. ;  Luke  xiii.  26), 
in  which  the  necessitous  also  participated,  the 
agapce  of  the  Old  Covenant.  —  riBIPi  *  stone- 
covered  floor,  literally:  what  is  "made  firm," 
pavement,  stone-cover,  like  pavimenlum,  from 
pavire  (xitiar),   to  ram  tight. — St!f]l  is  particip. 

mase.  sing.,  referring,  according  to  Hengst.,  to 
the  chambers  and  the  stone  pavement  as  a  whole 
in  a  neuter  sense ;  according  to  Kliefoth,  only  to 
the  stone  pavement,  which  is  feminine ;  but,  as 
Keil  justly  observes,  his  giounds  for  this  are  not 
cogent.  That  both  the  chambers  and  the  pave- 
ment were  made  for  the  court  round  about,  brings 
them  near  to  the  wall,  and  makes  them  run  along 
it  round  about  the  court,  except  its  west  side. 
Thirty  such  chambers  are  easily  divided  into  ten 
in  each  of  the  three  possible  directions,  although 
in  ver.  18  only  the  stone  pavement  is  expressly 
placed  in  relation  to  the  three  gates ;  for  the 
"Leshachoth"  are  described  as  "beside"  (not 
"upon")  the  stone  pavement;  according  to 
Hengst. :  opening  on  it,  meaning  probably  that 
they  bounded  the  pavement.  Since  these  cham- 
bers may  be  supposed  spacious,  each  like  an 
annexe  by  itself,  — whence  also  it  may  be  seen  how 
they  presented  themselves  singly  to  the  eye  for 
numbering, — they  might,  reaching,  as  they  did, 
nearly  from  gate  to  gate,  have  been  like  a  con- 
nection between  these. — Ver.  18.  As  the  cham- 
bers were  nsyifTpN,  so  the  stone  pavement  was 
C|n3"7X,  t>y  the  "shoulder,"  that  is,  side  of  the 
gates,  for  the  gates  of  the  outer  court  are  already 
looked  on  collectively ;  and  this  t|n3vX  is  more 

exactly  explained  by  D'lVtS'H  TTIK  nsui'i  ™ean- 

ing  that  the  length  of  the  gates  fixed  the  breadth 
of  the  stone  pavement.  As  the  lower,  it  is  to  be 
distinguished  from  that  situated  higher,  that  is, 
the  upper,  inner  court.  — Ver.  19  measures  the 
breadth  of  the  outer  court,  starting  from  the  east 
gate,  the  gate  hitherto  spoken  of,  and  that,  doubt- 
less, from  the  front  of  its  porch. — njinnnn  refers 

neither  to  '\)jlff    nor  to  an  omitted  nvnrti  ^"t 

simply  to  the  stone  pavement  of  the  outer  court, 
called  in  ver.  18  nj^nnnn- — To  the  front,  etc., 

this  termimia  ad  quern,  is  indicated  by  priD  in 

respect  to  the  gates  of  the  inner  court,  as  they 
advance  50  cubits  into  the  outer  court ;  and  here, 
in  respect  to  the  east  gate  of  the  inner  court,  to 
the  front  of  the  porch  of  this  gate,  where,  accord- 
ingly, one  stepped  from  without  on  to  the  inner 
court  (vers.  23,  27).  The  man  neither  measured 
into  the  inner  court  nor  yet  up  to  its  wall.  The 
pnO  also,  doubtless,  belongs  to  the  starting-point 

of  the  measuring, — 100  cubits  +  2  gate  lengths  of 
60  =  200  cubits.  The  breviloquent  expression 
"the  east  and  the  north,"  which  latter  points  to 
what  follows,  would,  when  resolved,  run  as  fol- 
lows :  Thus  with  respect  to  the  east  side,  and  the 
lame  with  respect  to  the  north  side. 


Vers.  20-23.   The  North  Gate. 

The  length  and  breadth,  only  mentioned  as 
measured  in  Ver.  20,  are  in  Ver.  21  determined 
after  the  measure  of  the  gate.    t\>t\  refers,  accord 

ing  to  KeU,  to  the  north  gate  (ver.  20),  but  raaj 

o 

be  referred  more  exactly  to  the  collectives  itjn, 

o.  o    . 

li)<S,  and  1D?K :    all  that  was,   etc.      In   citing 

particulars,  the  porch  and  thresholds  are  omitted. 
The  number  of  the  guardrooms  is  again  given 
with  more  exactitude.  —  710X3,  strictly  :  mea- 
sured "by  the  cubit." — While  brevity  thus  cha- 
racterizes the  repetition,  with  which  the  use  of 
collectives  harmonizes,  Ver.  22  subjoins  the  num- 
ber of  the  steps,  applicable  to  the  east  gate  also. 
In  addition  to  the  windows,  the  "  Elammim"  and 
the   palms  are  again   expressly  mentioned,   and 

what  the  D't37"K  are   is  made   plainer  by  their 

being    indicated    as    before   those  who    go  up. 

Dn':D^  refers,  not  to  nii'ya,   hut  to  ^|jjp.     The 

mention  of  the  "Elammim"  here,  for  the  third 
time,  is  in  order  to  supplement  the  description  of 
the  east  gate,  in  which  only  those  between  the 
guardrooms  had  been  thought  of.  Thus  the 
entrance  threshold,  too,  had  "  Elammim"  ;  these, 
of  course,  being  without  windows,  because  filling 
the  breadth  of  the  wall  (ver.  6),  but  furnished 
with  projecting  cornices.  It  lay  vis  d  vis  level 
with  the  last  step. — Ver.  23.  Kow  that  the  parts 
opposite  have  been  spoken  of,  the  not  hitherto 
observed  relation  of  the  gate  (of  the  inner  court) 
to  the  gate  (of  the  outer  court)  is  given  with 
reference  to  the  two  gates  described  northward 
and  eastward. 

Vers.  24-27.   The  South  Gate. 

Ver.   24.    n^KH  ni'nSS,   by   those    measures 

which  were  observed  on  the  east  and  north  gates  ; 
and  also  of  which  the  dimension  had  not  been 
stated  in  definite  numbers,  but  yet  had  its  mea- 
sured definite  magnitude.  —  The  guardrooms  are 
not  mentioned  here. — Ver.  25.  That  the  windows 
here  are- described  as:  like  those  windows,  shows 
how  the  rnD3  regarding  them  in  ver.  22  is  to  be 

understood. — ^^i,  referring  to  the  gate-structure, 
is  prefixed  in  order  to  be  able  to  give  as  briefly  as 
is  done  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  gate.  — Ver. 

26.  Dn'JD^,  to  be  understood  from  ver.  22. — 
1^'K'^N  refers  to  the  two  pillars  at  the  porch. 

T     ■  • 

Comp.  on  ver.  16.  Hengst.  supposes  that  by 
every  piUar  stood  two  artificial  palms,  which  put 
it  between  them  (?). — Ver.  27  to  be  understood 
fi-om  ver.  23. — Kliefoth  calculates  the  entire  ex- 
tent of  the  temple  buUding  as  a  square  of  500 
cubits. 

Vers.  28-37.   The  Gates  of  the  Inner  Court. 

We  already  know  that  the  inner  court  has, 
opposite  the  three  gates  of  the  outer  court,  like- 
wise three  gates.  The  measuring  reached  in  ver. 
27  to  the  south  gate,  which  is  therefore  spoken  at 


390 


EZEKIEL. 


first  in  Ver.  28.   nj)B'3:  so  that  I  fonnd  myself  in 

the  south  gate ;  others  translate :  through,  etc. 
The  general  statement  retains  the  same  dimen- 
sions as  in  the  outer  gates.— Ver.  29,  befitting  the 
brevity,  almost  entirely  collectives. ^Ver.  30  tells 
how  many  cubits  the  "Elammoth"  claimed  from 
the  gates  in  length  and,  because  lonnd  about,  in 
breadth,  thus  advancing  into  the  court.  Twenty- 
live  cubits'  length  makes  the  half  of  the  whole 
length  of  the  gate.  Keil  accordingly  includes  in 
this  latter  :  10  cubits  of  the  two  partition-walls  of 
the  guardrooms,  12  for  tivo  threshold  walls,  and 
2  cubits  for  the  porch  walls  ;  the  missing  cubit 
forms  mouldings.  Hengst.  does  not  allow  the 
side  walls  of  the  porch  to  extend  to  the  space  be- 
fore the  terminating  pillars,  and  deducts  from  the 
10-)-12-H6  =  28  cubits,  the  special  side  walls  of 
the  guardrooms,  3  cubits  thick  on  the  whole, 
which,  however,  are  to  be  reckoned  into  the  5 
cubits  of  the  space  between  the  guardrooms,  and 
into  the  6  cubits  of  the  threshold.  So  Kliefoth 
previously.  —  The  5  cubits'  breadth,  which  is 
likewise  included  in  the  entire  breadth  of  25 
cubits,  gives  Hengst.  occasion  to  remark  that, 
since  a  bulwark  of  5  cubits  would  have  been 
useless,  we  may  suppose  two  walls  with  a  dark 
space  within,  the  breadth  of  the  guardrooms 
projecting  1^  or  2J  cubits  before  the  side 
parapets.  The  statement  in  Ver.  31  that 
the  side  walls  in  the  length  and  breadth  men- 
tioned, collectively  1)3y}{1,  were  directed  towards 

the  outer  court,  makes  this  inner  gate,  like  the 
outer  gates,  seem  buUt  in  the  outer  court,  and,  as 
its  ^{4  (ver.  9)  is  spoken  of  immediately,  with 

the  two  gate  pillars  (ver.  37),  hence  towards  the 
side  of  the  porch,  and  thus  in  reverse  relation  to 
the  outer  gates,  and  consequently  so  that  the  one 
porch  faced  the  other.  So  Kliefoth,  who  then 
places  the  steps  here  before  the  porch.  But  how 
can  he  (and  Keil  after  him)  say  of  the  inner  gates, 
that  the  "second  threshold  lay  between  the  sur- 
rounding walls  of  the  inner  court,  and  the  gate- 
structure  extended  thence  into  the  outer  court," 
and  yet  maintain  that  the  gate  of  the  inner  court 
lay  "with  its  whole  length"  within  the  outer 
court?  Keckoned  from  the  "second  threshold" 
that  cannot  be  said ;  the  porch  only  with. the  gate 
piUars  was  tliere.  Hengst.,  on  the  other  hand, 
makes  the  terminating  point  towards  the  inner 
court  be  the  pillars  with  their  palms,  between 
which  one  went  forth  into  the  inner  court ;  and 
the  commencement  of  the  gateway  which  reached 
farthest  into  the  outer  court  he  makes  to  be  the 

Btair. — 1^113  (Hitzig:  sinfpilar;  Keil  :  plural  of 

rhvo,   "ascent")  instead  of  ni^V  i°  ver.  26,  the 

"ascending  steps  which  form  the  stair"  (Hitzig). 
On  the  steps  being  eight,  a  number  elsewhere 
/without  import,  Hengst.  says:  "It  is  here  to  be 
Tegarded  merely  as  an  advance  on  the  number  at 
the  outer  court,  a  hint  at  the  superior  dignity  of 
the  inner  court,  which,  with  its  altar  of  burnt- 
offering,  rises  still  higher  above  the  outer  court 
than  this  does  above  the  profaneexterior."[KLlEF. : 
"Eight  is  the  number  of  the  new  beginning,  and 
so  the  signature  of  the  New  Covenant,  and  of  the 
res  7iovi^MnuB  in  general ;  those  who  ascend  to 
this  priests'  court  will  be  a  new  priestly  race, 


when  God  has  established  a  new  beginning.  The 
number  eight  does  not  occur  in  John's  vision  o! 
the  New  Jerusalem,  because  the  new  beginuing  ii 
already  given."] 

Ver.  32.  The  inner  east  gate. — Ver.  33  as  vet. 
29. —  Ver.  34.  Comp.  ver.  31.  —  Ver.  35.  The 
inner   north   gate. — Ver.    36.    More   abbreviated 

o.  o  • 

than  ver.  33. — Ver.  37.    I^'SI  instead    of  IBPMI 

in  ver.  34.  "To  this"  (the  north  gate),  saya 
Hengst.,  "the  prophet  is  brought  last,  because  to 
it  alone  (?)  belonged  the  noteworthy  tilings  of  the 
inner  court,  to  be  described  in  the  following  sec- 
tion,— the  arrangements  for  the  slaughter  of  the 
victims,  and  the  preparation  of  their  tlesh. " 

Vers.  33-47.  The  Inner  Court  in  respect  of  certain 
Arrangements  for  the  Temple  iService. 

The  temple  and  its  service  is  the  theme  of 
these  closing  chapters  of  our  prophet.  Hence 
it  is  easy  to  understand  that  what  follows  of 
the  description  of  the  inner  court,  which  has 
hitherto  been  occupied  with  the  consideration  of 
the  three  gates,  merely  can  be  given  in  orderly 
connection.  [Faiebaikn:  "  Every  thing  connected 
even  with  the  killing  and  preparing  of  victims 
must  now  be  regulated  by  the  word  of  God. 
Even  tliere,  all  is  to  have  an  impress  of  sacred- 
ness,  such  as  has  not  hitherto  been  found,  in 
consequence  of  the  higher  elevation  to  which 
the  divine  kingdom  was  to  attain. "  —  W.  F.  ] 
— The  opening  of  the  annexe,  the  side-chamber 

(ver.   17),   is   D'is'sa,   that  is,   beside  the  two 

pillars  of  the  court.  Hengstenberg  limits  the 
plural  DnyB'n  (=  "at  the  gates"),  as  a  generic 

designation  in  distinction  from  the  pQlars  in  the 
interior,  to  the  north  gate.  Bbttcher  likewise 
supposes  two  of  such  cells  at  the  entrance  to 
and  two  at  the  exit  from  this  gate-structure,  all 
of  them  on  the  side  walls  close  by  the  thresholds. 
Keil  finds  with  reason  that  D'■^J?l^'i^  indicates  a 

ceU  with  a  door  to  each  of  the  three  interior 
gates,  a  view  supported  by  the  intended  use  : 
there  shall  they  wash  the  burnt-offering  (a  thing 
belonging  to  the  priests'  comt).     ^TVn'',  Hiphu 

from  f\<n,  to  "thrust  out,"  to  "cast  away,"  the 

filth,  hence :  to  wash.  "  The  Old  Testament  and 
the  Talmud  recognise  only  the  washing  of  the 
entrails  and  the  legs  of  the  victims  for  the  burnt- 
offering  (Lev.  i.  9;  2  Chron.  iv.  6)"  (Keil). 
This,  however,  does  not  hinder  us  from  taking 
nyjfn   here  in  its  character  of  fulness,   which 

makes  it  the  first  in  the  list  of  offerings  in  ver. 
39,  not  so  much  per  synecdoche  for  the  bloody 
offerings  in  general,  as  (like  ver.  43,  pnpn  more 

externally)  bringing  to  view  the  idea  of  offering 
from  its  inmost  and  most  fundamental  concep- 
tion. One  cell  at  each  gate  is  sufficient  for  the 
purpose  (it  is  the  last  stage  for  the  victim's  flesh 
before  it  is  laid  on  the  altar) ;  but  that  there  is 
such  a  cell  at  each  gate  is  evident  from  the  idea 
itself,  which  Klief.  (who  places  the  washing- 
cells  in  pairs,  one  on  each  side  of  each  gate  porch) 
thus  expresses:  "The  slaying  took  place  at  th» 
gate  beside  the  porch,  and  no  longer  at  the  adf 


CHAP.  XL.  39-43. 


391 


of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  as  laid  down  in  the 
Uw  (Lev.  i.  11);  in  the  nijw  temple  the  service 
will  be  so  much  more  regular,  zealous,  and  fre- 
quent ;  thither  shall  prinfe  and  people  flow  to 
bring  their  oflTerings  ;  they  will  slay  and  (as 
there  shall  then  be  clean  oflerings)  still  more 
wash  before  all  the  gates."  Hengstenberg,  on  the 
other  hand,  insists  upon  the  direction  in  Lev.  i. 
11  ;  "northward." — Passing  over  to  the  slaying, 
Ver.  39  speaks,  according  to  Hengst.,  of  the 
north  gate  (vers.   35,  40,  44)  alone  ;  but  nytj^n 

may    comprehend    collectively    D'^3)t^'^    of   tlie 

former  verse,  or  (corap.  on  ver.  40)  may  mean  a 
definite  gate  at  which  what  holds  good  of  all  the 
gates  is  to  be  exemplified. — The  four  tables,  two 
and  two  opposite  on  opposite  sides,  are  in  the 
porch,  as  the  cells  for  washing  beside  the  gate 
pillars  are  there  also.     tSflB',  "to  slay,"  is  either 

to  be  taken  in  a  wider  sense,  comprehending  the 
whole  preparation  of  the  flesh  for  the  .sacrifice, 
particularly  the  laying  (comp.  ver.  43)  of  the 
pieces  of  flesh  on  the  tables,  which,  however, 

would    be    strangely    e.vpressed    by    Uhrvi    or 

DiTpX  only  simply  indicates  that  the  slaying  of 

tte  victim  took  place  without,  in  the  direction 
towards  these  tables,  in  relation  to  them. — In 
the  enumeration  of  the  offerings  the  expiatory 
sacrifices  are  fully  represented,  namely,  by  the 
sin-ofi'ering  and  the  trespass-offering, — a  hint  for 
the  undei'standing  of  Ezekiel's  temple,  for  the 
idea  of  the  expiatory  sacrifice  has  in  view  the 
restoration  of  the  state  of  grace,  or  reception  into 
that  state.  Although  the  burnt-offering  stands 
first,  as  hitherto  it  has  been  treated  of  as  in^tar 
omnium,  and  hence  the  relation  in  the  state  of 
grace  must  come  principally  into  consideration, 
yet  we  are  not  to  imagine  an  absolute  purity  of 
the  people  from  sin  in  the  time  of  this  temple.  — 
Ver.  40  adds  two  pairs  of  tables  to  these  inner 
tables.  The  first  pair,  as  they  are  said  to  be 
placed  at  the  side,  in  contrast  to  the  porch,  so  in 
contrast  to  the  interior  of  the  gate -structure  they 
are  described  as  without ;  and  this  is  so  much 
the  more  expressive,  as  reference  is  to  be  made 

immediately   to    him    that    goeth    up   (npiy?, 

particip.).     The  figurative  expression :  SjnSiTPS, 

which  Kliefoth  here  and  in  ver.  18  presses  far 
too  much  and  unnecessarily,  demands  even  as 
such  a  closer  and  proper  definition,  as  here 
nsino   (Keil:   "outside").     But  the  phrase: 

"  him  that  goeth  up,"  clearly  shows  that  the  steps 
(ni?VO)>  snd,  since  they  lie  before,  with  them 
'\V\Pn  nnS^  (comp.  ver.  11),  are  to  be  under- 
stood as  belonging  to  the  porch;  and  njiDSn 
(thus  correctly  Keil)  clearly  explains  the  ting  to 

be  the  north  side  of  the  gate  ;  whence  Kliefoth 
infers  that  lyt'il  in  question  is,  just  as  in  the 

ease  of  the  outer  gates,  the  east  gate.  [Kliefoth, 
as  others  also,  translates :  "  for  him  that  goeth 
np  to  the  gate-opening  towards  the  north." 
Hengst.  :    "to  the  door  of  the  north  gate." 


Hitzig:  northward,  that  is,  to  the  right  hand. 

Bbttcher  takes  rh\]h  to  mean:  "  at  the  stair. "] — 

The   two   other  tables   (in   confirmation   of  the 
exposition    given)    were    at    the    "  following 
("other") side,  rnnsn,  which  designation  forms 

a  brief  contrast  to  the  njIBSH,  as  in  like  manner 

'D?X?  "IB'X  comprises  in  brief  the  rest  that  has 

been  said. — Ver.  41.  A  summing  up  to  the  num- 
ber eight  of  the  tables  designated  as  within  and 
without  in  vers.  39  and  40 :  because  the  latter 

four  are  tables  set  apart  for  slaying,  onvS  ™*y 

be  rendered:  "on,"  or:  "  at  them. "  A'er.  42 
shows  that  the  summing  up  with  such  indication 
of  what  is  distinctive  in  the  two  latter  pairs  is 
made  because  there  is  still  a  third  set  of  four 
tables  to  be  mentioned.  In  accordance  with  the 
foregoing,  one  would  expect  here  too  a  fixing  of 

where  they  stood  ;  hence  nTIV  oan  hardly  mean  : 

"  bumt-offering, "  which  is  spoken  of  at  the  close, 
and  much  more  completely. — They  are  stone 
tables    (n'H,    fie    "  cutting "   of    the  stones), 

formed  of  square  blocks,  as  are  also  the  stair 
steps.  Hence  those  previously  mentioned  were 
doubtless  of  wood,  particularly  the  second  set, 
named  as  specially  appointed  for  slaying,  while 
this  third  set  had  to  support  heavy  instruments. 
Finally,  in  addition  and  parallel  to  the  bumt- 
offering,  comes  the  slain-ofifering,  which  in- 
cludes the  sin  -  offering,  trespass  -  offering,  and 
thank-offering.  [Hengst.:  "There  are  twelve 
tables  in  all,  according  to  the  number  of  th* 
tribes  of  Israel,  Ezra  vi.  17,  viii.  35."] — Ver.  43. 
D^nDB'n  must  be  something  definite,  something 

well  known,  and  at  the  same  time  (from  the  dual) 
double  or  biform.  Gesen.  has  given  up  the  mean- 
ing :  stabula,  "cattle-stalls,"  held  by  Hupf.  on  Ps. 
Ixviii.  14  [13],  for  that  of  "  stakes  "  or  "  staples  " 
standing  out  on  the  wall  and  bifurcated,  to  which 
they  bound  the  beasts  about  to  be  slain.  Meier, 
again,  who  rejects  the  idea  of  a  fundamental 
signification:  "to  place,"  accepts  the  meaning: 
"to  draw  together,"  to  separate,  to  make  fast  as 
such,  and  imagines:  " enclosures  of  wicker-work 
for  the  cattle,  of  two  rows,  between  which  the 
herdsman  used  to  rest."  But  what  purpose  do 
these  serve  here?  Keil  therefore;  "double 
staples,"  on  which  the  slaughtered  animals  were 
hung  for  skinning.  The  article  may  denote  the 
kind  (of  staple).  (Others:  "drinking  troughs," 
or:  conduits  for  conveying  away  the  fluids.) 
But  how  does  n*33  harmonize  ?     It  only  remains 

to  make  it  a  slip  of  the  pen  for  Yi2,  bs  the  wall 

t;   • 

is  called  in  ver.  5,  or  an  abbreviation,  or,  like 
Keil,  to  think  of  n'i3  ("house"  =  building). 

t:  • 

D'331D  is  particip.  Hoph.  from  pg.  The  descrip- 
tion :  round  and  ronnd,  would,  moreover,  answer 
well  for  the  wall  of  the  inner  court,  which  sur- 
rounded the  temple  edifice  on  three  sides;  and 
the  sacrificial  victims  may  well  be  conceived  of 
as  bound  to  this  wall.  [Keil:  "On  the  three 
outsides  of  the  porch  building. "]  Kliefoth  (and 
80    Hengstenberg)    understands    raised    ledges 


S92 


EZLKIEL. 


(border  enclosures),  with  which  the  tables  for 
laying  the  sacrificial  flesh  on  were  surrounded  at 
the  edge  round  about,  so  that  the  flesh  lay 
securely  between  the  ledges  as  between  hurdles, 
and  did  not  fall  off;  the  ledges  were  opposite  one 
another  in  pairs,  hence  the  dual,  a  handbreadth 
high.  But  even  with  such  an  interpretation, 
JV22  still  causes  a  difiiculty,  for  according  to 

this,  "  in  the  house  "  must  be  taken  as  =^  in  the 

interior  of  the  porch  (D^K3,  ^er.  39),  and  that 

in  distinction  from  the  tables  in  vers.  40  and  42, 
or,  as  already  3<3D  3''3D  of  the  tables  ("round 

about  the  table-tops,"  Klief.),  be  taken  as  a 
figurative  expression  for  "within"  the  tables 
(how  does  round  and  round  harmonize  with 
this  ?),  and  thus  either  the  porch  or  a  table  must 
be  taken  as  a  house  !  Only  the  transition  to  the 
last  clause  would  be  easy,  and  this  doubtless  has 
given  occasion  to  this  interpretation  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  new  element  would  be  wanting 
which  the  double  staples  give  in  this  so  exact 
representation.  The  ellipsis  :  And  on  the  tables, 
etc.,  states  the  purpose  for  which  the  tables  in 
ver.  39  was  intended,  in  distinction  from  that  of 
the  tables  in  vers.  40  and  42.  KeU  makes  the  state- 
ment refer  to  all  the  tables  in  vers.  39-42. — pijjn 

("approaching,"  "  presenting"),  like  "  offering," 
from  offerre,  is  the  most  general  and  comprehen- 
sive name  for  oS'erings.  Mark  vii.  11 :  Ko^jSa*  i 
Uti  iupay.  Hengstenberg  observes  in  addition  : 
"Ihe  very  going  into  details  apparently  so 
minute  showed  how  clearly  and  sharply  the  pro- 
phet in  faith  beheld  the  non-existent  as  existent, 
and  was  well  fitted  to  draw  away  the  minds  of 
the  people  from  the  fixed  look  at  the  smitten 
city.  We  must  indeed  always  keep  in  view  the 
object  of  the  prophet,  to  set  up  an  interim 
temple  for  the  imagination  (!),  in  which  it 
might  expatiate  as  long  as  the  real  temple,  and 
with  it  the  kingdom  of  God,  actually  lay  in 
ruins." 

Hitherto  we  have  had  arrangements  for  slaying 
and  preparing  the  sacrificial  victims  (vers.  38-43) 
in  reference  to  the  inner  court.  With  Ver.  44  we 
come  to  ihe  personelle  of  the  service. — Since  we 
have  been  in  the  foregoing  at  the  side  of  the  porch 
of  the  inner  gate,  hence  properly  in  the  outer 
court,  and  only  in  relation  to  the  inner  court,  the 
more  exact  description  of ;  outside  at  the  inner 
gate,  by:  in  the  inner  court,  is  only  correct.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  cells  for  the  singers  at  once 
present  an  insuperable  difficulty  for  those  who,  like 
Keil,  still  draw  sharply,  and  apply  here,  theOld  Tes- 
tament distinction  "  between  the  Le vitical  singers 
and  the  Aaronites  who  administer  the  priesthood" 
(against  this  sharp  distinction  conip.  ver.  46). 
That  Ezekiel  selected  certain  descendants  of  Aaron 
— who,  by  the  way,  is  not  named  in  ver.  46,  al- 
though Levi  is — for  the  service  of  this  sanctuary, 
is  no  reason  why  these  should  not  come  into  con- 
sideration here  primarily  as  singers,  especially 
when  we  consider  the  idea  thereby  expressed,  and 
so  made  impressive.  Hengstenberg  says  excel- 
lently :  "  That  the  singers  are  here  so  prominent 
is  explained  by  this,  that  in  the  state  of  exalta- 
tion of  the  community  of  God,  more  ample  mate- 
rial will  be  given  to  them  for  new  songs,  so  that 
in  the  worship  of  the  new  temple  the  sinmng 
must  play  a  chief  part,  as,  indeed,  the  mnltiplica- 


tion  of  the  singers  and  musicians  under  David 
stood  in  connection  with  the  advance  wliich, 
under  him,  the  people  of  God  had  made.  Accord- 
ing to  Ps.  Ixxxvii.,  when  the  future  of  salvation 
has  come,  the  singers  with  the  dancers  say  :  All 
my  springs  are  in  Thee.  The  second  part  of  isaiah, 
and  its  lyric  echo,  Ps.  xci.-c. ,  are  full  of  the 
thought,  that  in  the  time  of  salvation  all  things 
shall  sing  and  play.  Even  in  the  times  soon  after 
the  return  from  the  exile,  singing  revived  in  a 
degree  that  had  not  been  since  David.  In  a  long 
series  of  psalms,  from  Ps.  cvii.  onward,  the  people 
thank  God  for  the  blessing  of  restoration.  Halle- 
lujah was  the  watchword."  The  difficulties  con- 
nected with  the  locality  of  these  cells  for  the 
singer-priests,  which  have  induced  even  Keil  to 
enter  on  the  slippery  path  of  text-revision,  guided 
by  the  Septuagint, — of  which,  however,  we  must 
first  have  .some  authentic  text,  if,  on  its  authority, 
anything  is  to  be  altered  in  the  Masoretic  text, — 
are  sutiiciently  solved  by  Kliefoth.  He  observes 
on  'nVinD,  that,  consequently,  they  "were  not 

constructed  in  or  on  the  gate  building  itself,  like 
the  cells  in  ver.  38.".   He  rightly  makes  'iB'X 

refer  to  that  part  and  space  of  the  inner  court 
which  is  contiguous  to  the  side  of  the  north  gate, 
and  hence  not  contiguous  to  the  east  gate.  Tiie 
description  of  the  locality  of  the  cells  becomes 
perfect  by  this,  that  their  front  is  stated  to  be 
towards  the  south,  that  is,  nearer  to  the  temple 
edifice  than  to  the  altar  of  burnt-offeriug,  while 
the  definition;  "toward  the  north,"  approaches 
nearer  to  the  altar  of  burnt-offering.  Kliefoth: 
"The  entrance  of  the  temple  lay  to  the  south- 
west from  the  north  gate  ;  from  it  the  priests  had 
the  temple  in  their  view."  Hexc.st.  :  "The 
chambers  of  the  singers  generally  faced  the  south, 
where  they  (1  Chron.  xvi.  37)  chiefly  had  to  per- 
form."— As  the  number  is  indefinite  at  the  begin- 
ning, and  it  is  simply  said  in  the  plural,  just  as 
the  priests,  afterwards  distinguished,  are  here 
comprehended  in  the  singers,  so  the  limitation 
in  the  second  part  of  the  verse,  before  the  pendant 
in  question  fronting  the  north,  is  applicable  also 
to  that  fronting  the  south,  so  that  we  really  have 
to  suppose  likewise,  in  the  first  part  of  the  verse, 
if  not  only  one  cell,  yet  only  one  range  of  cells 
(with   several   chambers).      The   masculine  nnx 

can  be  understood  of  a  part  of  the  cells,  and  so 
the  better  corresponds  to  the  previous  plural,  and 
especially  to  the  Dn'JBV     That  it  cannot  mean 

"  another "  range  of  cells  is  self-evident,  against 
Kliefoth.  Situated  at  the  side  of  the  east  gate 
signifies  :  if  one  steps  out  of  the  east  gate  into  the 
inner  court,  as  the  following  shows,  with  the  front 
towards  the  north.  Hengst.  :  "There,  in  the 
court,  stood  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  where  tlie 
singers  had  to  perform  at  the  offering  of  the  great 
national  sacrifices,  1  Chron.  xvi.  41."  [Klief  :  On 
account  of  the  "superintendence  over  the  altar" 
(ver.  46),  and  the  "  overseeing  of  the  east  gate."] 
Keil  translates  ver.  44  :  "  And  outside  of  the 
inner  gate  were  two  cells  in  the  inner  court,  one 
at  the  shoulder  of  the  north  gate,  with  its  front  to 
the  south,  and  one  at  the  shoulder  of  the  south 
gate,  with  the  front  to  the  north." 

Vers.  45,  46.  Explanation  of  the  purpose  fof 
which  the  two  ranges  of  cells  were  intended  with 
respect  to  the  persons  performing  service. — Ver. 


CHAP.  XL.  45-49. 


8M 


it.    Therefore  >^x  13T1. — mOtS'D  ID"'  means: 

the  waiting  upon  a  business,  to  take  care  of  an 
office,  to  attend  to  it.  To  make  prominent  the 
significance  of  temple  and  altar,  the  priestly  ser- 
vice in  respect  to  the  house  is  kept  separate  from 
that  with  respect  to  the  altar  in  ver.  46,  yet  so 
that  the  significant  general  character  of  those 
ministering  according  to  ver.  44  is  not  th.ereby 
abolished. — The  sons  of  Zadok  are  selected  not  as 
Aaronites  in  particular,  but  from  among  the  sons 
of  Levi  (see  the  fuller  treatment  of  this  point  on 
ch.  xliv.  15). — 'caipn  is  the  general  expression 

for  the  priestly  function  in  general,  as  is  also 
mC'  (Keb.  vii.'  19  :  James  iv.  8). 

Tcr.  47.  A  finishing  off  with  the  'nner  court 
by  stating  its  length  and  breadth  as  100  cubits 
each,  forming  a  square,  at  the  same  tjme  already 
making  mention  of  its  proper  furniture,  namelj', 
the  altar  before  the  house,  the  altar  of  burut- 
offeriug.     On  this  comp.  on  ch.  xliii.  13  sq. 

Vers.  48,  43.    The  Porch  of  the  Temple. 

The  description  is  surprisingly  short  in  com- 
parison with  that  of  the  parts  previously  deli- 
neated, and  likewise  when  we  compare  it  with 
the  descri|ition  of  Solomon's  temple,  in  which 
reversely  the  courts  are  briefly  treated  of  Hengst. 
explains  this  latter  circumstance  from  the  fami- 
liarity of  the  people  with  the  courts,  while  this 
had  to  he  compensated  for  by  a  copious  descrip- 
tion of  the  parr  of  the  sanctuary  inaccessible  to 
them  ;  and  makes  Ezekiel  refer  back  to  this  de- 
scription, and  only  in  the  case  of  the  courts  to 
enter  more  into  detail  in  consideration  of  the 
people,  and  especially  those  of  them  to  whom  the 
courts  might  be  wholly  unknown. — Ver.  48  de- 
scribes the  porch  before  the  holy  place  (1  Kings 
vi.  3),  by  giving  the  measurement  of  its  two 
pillars,  and  the  breadth  of  the  gate.  The  expres- 
sions; on  this  side,  and:  on  that,  easily  explain 
themselves  as  regards  the  corner  pillar  on  each 
side,  but  not  sufficiently  in  respect  to  the  breadth 
of  the  gate.     What  is  meant  there  by  ijjjj  iSD? 

This  staliment  cannot  be  occasioned  merely  by 
the  pillar  on  this  side  and  on  that,  but  must  have 
its  cause  in  the  construction  of  the  gate,  which 
then  (comp.  on  ch.  xl.  11)  would  be  represented 
as  a  barricade  witli  two  halves,  which  had  their 
hinges  on  the  respectively  contiguous  corner 
pillars,  so  that  from  this  construction  the  measure 
of  each  half  of  the  gate  is  given  by  itself ;  so  here 
and  so  there.  The  measurement  of  the  gate  given 
in  the  text  comes  out  still  more  plainly  if  each 
half  of  the  gate  (probably  lattice-work)  shut  up 
only  a  part,  its  own  part,  of  the  breadth  of  the 
porch-  and  since  this  made  up  only  three  cubits 
on  either  side,  a  breadth  of  five  cubits  remained 
open  in  the  middle  for  looking  in  and  walking  in. 
This  view  of  Kliefoth's  (also  Hengstenberg's)  har- 
monizes exactly  with  the  measurements  which 
immediately  follow;  whereas  Keil,  with  an  entire 
breadth  of  sixteen  cubits,  1  u  only  six  cubits  left 
for  the  breadth  o"  the  gate.     For  Ver.  49,  which 


measures  twenty  cubits  for  the  length  of  the  porch 
of  the  temple,  that  is,  from  east  to  west  (com]). 
1  Kings  vi.  3),  gives  its  breadth,  heLce  from 
north  to  south,  or  r/ce  vernlt  at  eleven  cubits, 
both  measurements  being  taken  in  the  light,  and 
hence  excluding  the  thickness  of  the  walls.  Thi.s 
interior  breadth  of  the  porch  is  shown  to  lielong 
also  to  the  outside  by  the  statement:  and  that 
(also)  at  the  steps,  sq.  ;  namely,  the  breadth  was 
eleven  cubits.  The  stair  extended  in  equal  breadth 
before  the  porch.  In  this  way,  as  Kliefoth  ob- 
serves, the  porch  was  wider  by  half  a  cubit 
on  eitlier  side  than  the  door  leading  from  the 
porch  into  the  holy  place  (ch.  xli.  2),  which  doo- 
was  thereby  rendeied  as  visible  as  its  charactei 
of  fixing  the  length  of  the  jiorch  demanded. 
[Hengst.,  referring  to  the  ten  cubits'  breadth  of 
the  porch  in  Solomon's  temple,  supposes  the 
eleventh  cubit  here  to  be  occupied  by  the  posts  of 
the  door  on  both  sides.]  From  the  height  (six 
cubits),  ch.  xli.  8,  Hengst.  estimates  the  number 
of  the  steps,  which  is  not  given,  to  be  "probably 
fourteen."  Kliefoth  and  Hengstenberg  compute 
the  entire  breadth  of  the  portal,  inclusive  of  the 
two  corner  pillars  (5  +  5),  to  be  twenty-one  cubits. 
For  enclosing  the  ]>orch  from  the  pillars  to  the 
east  wall  of  the  temple,  we  have  to  suppose,  as 
with  the  gates  of  the  court,  side-walls  ("Elam- 
moth  "),  which  Keil  puts  down  at  two  and  a  half 
cubits  each,  so  that  the  five  cubits  broad  pillars 
would  have  only  half  their  breadth  on  the  inside  of 
the  porch.  [Hengst.,  in  opposition  to  mo.st  expo- 
sitions of  Solomon's  temple,  holds  that  the  length 
of  the  porch  of  the  temple  given  here  **  corre- 
sponds to  that  of  the  porch  in  Solomon's  temple 
in  1  Kings  vi.  3. "]  The  height  of  the  two  corner 
pillars  of  the  porch,  which  also  is  wanting  in 
Ezekiel's  vision,  is  supplied  by  Hengst.,  from  2 
Chron.  iii.  4  (JosEPHt/e.  Arch.  viii.  3.  2),  as  5 
cubits  thick  and  120  cubits  high.     The  D'nQV, 

two  in  number,  are  set  down  as  "  at"  or  "  beside" 
the  corner  pillars  (the  "  Elim  "),  which  remind 
us  of  "Jachin"  and  "Boaz"  in  Solomon's  temple 
(1  Kings  vii.  15  sq.),  and,  doubtless,  for  that  very 
reason  their  position  is  not  given  more  exactly. 
Kliefoth  and  Hitzig  place  them  one  at  each  side 
of  the  steps  ;  and  the  same  is  done  by  Hengst., 
who  says,  regarding  their  import ;  taken  away  liy 
the  Chaldeans,  Jer.  Hi.  20  sq.,  they  were  "as  it 
were  the  programme  of  the  temple  and  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  represented  by  it :  they  repre- 
sented what  the  peojile  of  God  have  la  their  God  : 
.Jachin  ('He  establishes  me')  and  Boaz  ('in 
Him  strong');  made  of  brass,  very  thick,  uniform 
to  the  top,  they  are  a  figure  of  the  unchangeable 
stability  and  strength  which  was  only  in  appear- 
ance practically  disproved  by  the  Chaldeans,"  etc. 
— The  Septuagint  is  all  confused  in  these  verses  ; 
for  example,  its  statement  that  the  steps  were  ten 
rests  on  this,  that  it  has  transformed  T^'K  into 

the  similar  itJ'y.      Bottcher,  Hitzig,  and  Maurer 

ground  thereon  their  treatment  of  the  text,  and 
Havernick  is  simply  at  a  loss  what  to  makt 
of  it. 


S9t  EZEKIEL. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

1  And  he  brought  me  to  the  temple,  and  measured  the  wall-pillars,  six  cubits 
bri^d  on  this  side,  and  six  cubits  broad  on  that,  the  breadth  of  the  tent  [»ai 

2  thatj.  And  the  breadth  of  the  entrance  [tiiednor]  was  ten  cubits,  and  the  sides 
of  the  entrance  five  cubits  on  this  side  and  five  cubits  on  that ;  and  he  mea- 

3  sured  iw  [the  temple's]  length,  forty  cubits,  and  the  breadth,  twenty  cubits.  And 
he  went  inward,  and  measured  the  wall-pdlar  of  the  entrance,  two  culiits ; 
and  the  entrance,  six  cubits ;  and  the  breadth  of  the  entrance,  seven  cubits. 

4  And  he  measured  its  [the  interim's]  length,  twenty  cubits  ;  and  the  breadth,  twenty 
cubits,  before  the  temple  :  and  he  said  unto  me,  This  is  the  most  holy  place. 

5  And  he  measured  the  wall  of  the  house,  six  cubits ;  and  the  breadth  of  the 

6  side  building,  four  cubits  round  and  round  about  the  house  [aii  around].  ,  And 
of  the  side  chambers  [there  were],  chamber  on  chamber,  three,  and  that  thirty 
times  ;  and  they  came  into  [on]  the  wall,  which  was  to  the  house  at  the  side 
chambers  round  and  round,  so  that  they  are  held  fast,  and  I  yet]  they  are  not 

7  held  fast  in  the  wall  of  the  house.  And  it  became  broader,  and  changed 
[and  in  so  far  it  changed]  Still  upwards  in  the  case  of  the  side  chambers;  for  all  tlie 
changing  in  the  house  [went  on]  still  upwards  round  and  round  on  the  liouse  ; 
therefore  was  the  breadth  to  the  house  upwards,  and  so  the  lower  [atorj]  will 

8  ascend  to  the  upper  by  the  middle.  And  I  saw  on  the  house  a  height  round 
and  round  ;  the  foundations  of  the  side  chambers  were  the  full  rod,  six  cubits 

9  according  to  that  to  the  wrist.  The  breadth  of  the  wall,  which  was  for  the 
side  building  without,  was  five  cubits,  and  [five  cubits]  the  place  that  was  left 
free  [with  respect  to]  the  house  of  the  side  chambers,  which  was  annexed  to  the 

10  house.     And  between  the  chambers  was  a  breadth  of  twenty  cubits  round 

11  about  the  house.  And  the  opening  of  the  side  building  was  towards  the  free 
place,  one  opening  towards  the  north,  and  one  opening  towards  the  south ; 
and  the  breadth  of  the  place  [the  space]  left  free  was  five  cubits  round  and  round. 

12  And  the  building  which  was  before  the  gizrah  [nttpiace]  on  the  side  towards 
the  west  [literally:  towards  the  sea]  had  a  breadth  of  seventy  cubits  ;  and  the  wall  of 
the  building  was  five  cubits  broad  round  and  round,  and  its  length  was  ninety 

13  cubits.     And  he  measured  the  house,  a  hundred  cubits  long ;  and  the  gizrah, 

14  and  the  building,  and  its  walls,  a  hundred  cubits  long.  And  the  breadth  of 
the  front  of  the  house,  and  of  the  gizrah  towards  the  east,  a  hundred  cubits. 

15  And  he  measured  [so  measured  he]  the  length  of  the  building  which  was  in  front 
of  the  gizrah  [namely]  on  its  back  part,  and  [that  was]  its  galleries  on  this  side 
and  on  that,  a  hundred  cubits,  and  the  inner  temple  and  the  porches  of  the 

16  court;  The  thresholds,  and  the  closed  windows,  and  the  galleries  round 
about  on  all  three, — over   against  the   threshold  [was]   a  boarding  of  wood 

round  and  round, — and  the  ground  up  to  the  windows  [measured he, on  had  measures], 

17  and  the  windows  [were]  covered;  Up  above  the  opening  and  [that]  to  the 
inner  house  and  outside,  and  on  the  whole  wall  round  and  round  within  and 

IS  without  [weie]  measures.     And  [there were]  made  cherubim  and  palms,  [so that]  a 

19  palm  was  between  a  cherub  and  a  cherub,  and  on  the  chenib  two  faces.  And 
the  fiice  of  a  man  was  towards  the  palm  on  this  side,  and  the  face  of  a  lion 
towards  the  palm  on  that  side  ;  it  was  made  on  the  whole  house  round  and 

20  round.  From  the  ground  to  above  the  opening  were  the  cherubim  and  the 
palms  made,  and  [this  on  the-,  on  so  much  of  the.  etc. :  or:  this  is]  the  wall  of  the  temple. 

21  The  post  of  the  temple  was  square,  and  the  front  of  the  sanctuary  ;  the  view 

22  [was]  as  the  view  [had  the  same  new].  The  altar  of  wood  was  three  cubits  high, 
and  its  length  two  cubits  ;  and  it  had  its  corners  ;  and  its  length  and  its  walla 
were  of  wood  :  and  he  said  unto  me.  This  is  the  table  that  is  before  Jehovah. 

13,  24  And  two  doors  were  to  the  temple  and  to  the  sanctuary.     And  there  were 

two  leaves  to  the  doors,  two  turning  leaves,  two  to  the  one  door,  and  two 

25  leaves  to  the  other.     And  on  them,  on  tlie  doors  of  the  temple,  were  made 


CHAP.  XLI.  1-6. 


39e 


cherubim  and  palms,  as  they  were  made  on  the  walls ;  and  a  wooden  pedi- 
26  meut  was  on  the  front  of  the  porch  without.     And  closed  windows  and  jialnu 
were  on  this  side  and  on  that,  on  the  sides  of  the  porch  ;  thus  [as  respects]  the 
side  chambers  of  the  house,  thus  [as  regards]  the  pediments. 


TO  ^'tXaift  .  .  .  rff  tAsto;  tiQtt  x. 


.  TO  tifiti  TOv  oci'AoEU  'ii9lf-      Vulg. ;  .   . 


Ver.    1.  Sepf. :  .  .  .  I'rry^yty  f^i  tU 
ti  ux  riibitoK  inde,  latitudiuem — 

Ver.    2.   .  .   .   Tof  ryAaivo;  .   .   .  «.  irai/^uhls  r.  frukanof — 

Ver,    3.  .  .  .  (.V  T.  etiiXxf  Tti»  iffvTfpttf  .   .  .  x.  Tot;  ixatu4iaf  rev  dv^vuATO;  fr.j^iti  frrat  iyStir  x.  Tinx-  STTot  E>0(». 

Ver.    4.  ...   TO  uiYKo;  Taur  6t/fivfi^Ttn  tmx-  rirvapaxmret  x.  lipat — 

Ver.  6.  .  .  .  K.  tx  ^i.vjpx  .  .  .  T^iotaEO^roe  X.  Tpti  in-  X,  itctffrr,fj,tt  it  T.  T0(5;»  Tou  oixcv  \r  T.  iryivpoi;  T.  oixov  x'JxXat  tm 
Unxt  Tois  imi.xu~:x*9ui*aii  opxi,  i-zn;  ro  •Tatpot:rxit  jur  i.TTa'yTa*  Tftiv  Tof^an, —  VuIk- :  .  .  .  bis  triginta  tria,  et  er-ant  fminentlii 
qux  ingrtderenttir  /€'•  panetem  doniuf  in  latentnts pe/"  circuitum,  ut  continerevt  et  non  attingerct parielem  templi. 

\'er-  7.  K  to  vl:o;  7r.;  ina/npx!  rur  ^Mvpatr  xeLTX  to  irpordtica  tx  -rev  oixeu,  rrpei  -rr,*  iiiaiTipct*  X'jxXu  tou  Oixou,  OT*, 
StxT>.aTVftTau  (KkOrdiv,  x.  ix  Ttiv  xttratSm   ifct^txitairt  i-ri  ret  ifttpaiv.  x.  ix  rait  fAlffan  in  toe  rpia/po^x.      \  ulu  :    Et  platet  erat  in 

fotundum  iisceniit-ns  surnuin  per  cochleam.  tt  in  ccenncutum  templi  de/erebat  per  gyrum,  idcirro  tatius  erat  lemplum  in  supe- 
noribus.     Et  fie  de  inferioribwt  asrendtbotur  ad  •vperiora  in  medium. 

Ver.  8.  Sepr.;  K  to  Opctii.  r  olxou  ii-^o;  xvx'tM  hixiTTKUx  -ratt  xXtuptn  iVov  Tai  xoeXosjUW  Ttx^tn  ^1-  ^locrT^^^oucToc  (9  )  x 
tCptr  T.  TOi;^«t/  .  .  ,  X.  TX  iToP.o/Tflo  ivot  ttitf-ov  T.  <r\t:jp*ni  T.  eixau  (10.)  as.  i.»x  filtroy  Tw  i^lipaiv.  VuljJ. :  .  .  .  fxindata  tatera 
t~(9.)  et  tfttitudine'i-  per  p'ifietem  t'tterit.  .  .  .  Et  erat  interior  doniiu  in  lateribiu  domui. 

Ver.  11.  .  .  .  tri  TO  izrroXo/TO*  Trf  Qi/pat  r.  fiixf  Tr,f  xpci  ^oppxt,  x.  r,  Bvpet  ...  x.  to  li/pos  tov  parrot  .  .  .  Tf,XTOs  xuKj^mSl 
Vulc.  :  ad  orationeni. 

Ver.  12.  ...  TO  iiooiXev  xotTx  xpt^atieof  rav  atroXatireu  an  *ptf  .  .  .  tAoeto;  .  .  .  T«u  iiopf^otrot  .  .  .  litpo;  xt>xX«i9ii  > 
f^,xef  xiiTou—     Vu!ir. :  Xflificiam  qvod  erat  separatum — 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  asxTivoEvTj  Toy  e'ixou  .  .  .  x.  t/z  cktoAoitoc  x.  tx  itopi^etrx — 

Ver.  14.  .  .  .  xxTitxvTi — 

Ver.  16.  .  .  .  X.  Tot  ixToAojtroe  i»6i»  .  .  .  K.  o  txe;  x.  at  yaiiiixi  x,  to  x'kapL  to  l^airtpet  Tn^xTyvfjtua.  Vulg  :  .  .  .  contra 
facient  .  .  .  ethecns  ex  utraque — 

Ver.  16.  K.  ixi  Hvptht!  atXTVurtti,  v-roQxt/fflit  Xijx>.ai  .  .  io-TI  ^ioczuttEj*.  K.  0  o'atof  at.  Tot  ir>.»!0''o*  i^vXAiulfa  X'jx>.«t,  «. 
TO  i^BtOOS  X.  ix  To-j  ihxyOi/;  iai;  T.  thpihain,  X.  etl  Ui/fthf;  OLvxTTXurffcptlnati  rpiem/i  ti;  to  iixxt/VTtit, 

Ver.  17.  K.  {'oj;  TAro-(ov  tt;  i^afTipxs  x.  iai;  Tr;  ila/rtpxt —     Vulg. :  et  usque  ad  domum — 

Ver.  IS.  .  .  .  yly>.-j'xMvcc. 

Ver.  19.  .  .  .  ivUtv  X.  iv6e¥  .  .  .  iv8lv  x.  tvBtt.  ^ixyty>.iiu.ixniei  c^et  o  e'lxoe  .  .  .  (20.  )ix  Tot'  iix^eus  iai!  tou  jaT»»^xrai 
,  .  .  i'xytyXuuuao'.     Vul».:  .  .  .  in parir,te  tejiip'i. 

K  TO  i>-.e»  (.'I.)  a:.  0  »«o,-  a.oxTTVtrirotJ.lt'x  Ttrpxymx,  .  .  .  epairif  ai(  0^  t  (22.)  Sue-iito-Ttjpiot/  .  .  .  X.  TO  tupot  ir*ix'*^  ^^^'  « 
*i^oEToe  ux'^^  *■  ^  hxiti;  xLtov —     Vulg.;   .  .  .  aspeclus  eontra  aspeclum. 

Ver.  2.5.  Sep'.:  K.  y>.UJaj  .  .  .  X.  irt  .  .  .  xxTtx  T.  yXu(fr,r  ran  xyian^  x  rxoviattx  ^t/ket  xxret  9poffarTt.t  —  VuIg. :  ,  .  . 
gtiam  ob  rem  et  grofsiora  emnt  ligna  t'n  restibuli  /ronte — 

Ver.  26.  *.  Svpihif  xpuTTtti  K.  iauiTpr.rit  intitt  X.  i*5l»,  lis  tx  opo^am^xTx  rav  aiXxfA^  x  7a.  xXtupa.  t.  oixou  ^uyaiustx. 
Vulg.:  Super  qux  fenestra  .  .  .  secundum  lalera  domus  latitudiiienique  parittum. 


EXEGETICAL  KEMAKKS. 

Vers.  1-4.   Tlie  Temple. 

The  edifice  of  the  temple  proper  is  now  described 
in  continuation  of  cli.  xl.  48,  49.  We  proceed 
from  the  temple  porch  to  the  "house,"  as  it  is 

called  there  ;  to  73'nn,  as  it  is  named  in  Ver.  1. 

The  idea  of  greatness,  height,  like  pj',  "  to  be 

able,"  "  to  have  the  power  of  "  (HupF.:  "to  seize," 
be  capable),  lying  at  the  root  of  tliis  word,  suggests 
a  large  and  spacious  edifice,  in  short,  a  palace, 
such  as,  doubtless,  David  had  in  his  mind  (2  Sam. 
vii.  2 1,  and  in  agreement  also  with  the  character 
of  Solomon's  temple,  as  a  palace  of  Jehovah  {e.g. 

1  Kings  vii.  12).  ^3'nn  does  not  need  to  be 
understood  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  holy 
place,  any  more  than  does  pnxn,  which  designa- 
tion, embracing  hoth  the  holy  and  the  most  holy 
place  (without  the  porch),  simply  subjoins  the 
Mosaic  element  to  the  Solomonic. — The  "  Elim  " 
(see  ch.  xl.  9 )  are  two  wall-pillars,  one  on  each  side, 
six  cubits  broad,  so  that  by  this  statement  of  the 
breadth  of  the  pillars,  the  breadth  of  the  whole 
fcaiictuary  is  given  as  to  its  bounding  points,  ex- 
tending from  the  extremity  of  the  one  to  the 
extremity  of  the  other.     For-  -Ver.  2 — there  was 


still  between  them  a  door  ten  cubits  broad,  and 
on  each  side,  literally:  "  shoulders, "  five  cubits 
broad,  making  thus  the  inside  breadth  twenty 
cubits,  the  half  of  the  length. — In  Ver.  3  it  is  said 
that  he  went ;  not :  he  brought  me,  etc.  For,  a.i 
ver.  4  shows,  the  place  in  question  was  the  most 
holy  place,  which  the  mere  priest  was  not  per- 
mitted to  enter.  Of  the  collective  door-pillars, 
one  is  on  the  right  and  one  on  the  left,  on  the 
wall  between  the  two  dinsions  of  the  sanctuary. 
On  account  of  the  following  breadth  of  seven 
cubits,  the  six  cubits  have  been  taken  to  be  the 
height  of  the  door,  or  an  additional  cubit  has 
been  understood  as  the  breadth  of  the  door-posts. 
— Ver.  4.  The  measuring  of  the  length  leads  into 
the  interior,  to  its  extreme  point;  hence  the 
breadth  is  again  in  front,  where  the  temple  ap- 
pears as  a  whole,  as  the  palace  of  holiness. 


Vers.  5-11.   The  Side  building. 

In  Ver.  5  the  measuring  turns  to  the  outside. 
As  the  wall  and  the  side  building  aie  spoken  of, 
it  is  now  said  the  house.  The  wall  is  the  wall 
that  begins  with  the  pillars  (ver.  1). — The  thrice- 
repeated   2'3D   undoubtedly  refers  to  the  three 

sides,  which  come  into  consideration,  the  two 
lengthwise  and  the  one»at  the  back. — According 
to  Ver.   6,  the  side  building  was  a  complex  ot 


396 


EZEKIEL. 


nintty  cliarabers  or  rooms  in  tliree  stories, 
Bacristies  lor  the  jiriests,  and  for  the  custody  of 
the   m:iiiifold   sucred   objects,    clothes,    utensils, 

etc.  (J?Ssn,  in  Ter.  5  collective,  like  yix'  in  1 
Kings  vi.  From  jj^Vi  "to  turn,"'  "to  bend,"  it 
signifies :  turning,  bending,  and  thence  :  side,  rib, 
etc.  The  n^y^SH  in  ver.  6  are  single  chambers 
which  compose  the  ypv  *s  *  whole. )  Chamber 
"on"  chamber;  j).^   here  =  py,    as   is   evident 

from  what  follows,  and  still  more  so  from  Solo- 
mon's temple,  through  which  that  becomes  clear 
which  otherwise  might  remain  dark.  The  eye 
first  looks  upward,  and  in  this  direction  there 
was  cliamber  rising  on  chamber.  (Keil:  on  the 
north  and  south  walls,  twelve  each  ;  on  the  shorter 
west  wall,  six.) — .\s  to  the  fastening  of  their 
tloor-bcain.s,  these  side  chambers  came  "into  the 
wall  (the  proper  temple  wall  which  ran  around 
them  inside) ; "  the  immediately  following  ex- 
planation shows  that  the  3  implies  such  a  con- 
nection with  the  wall  in  question  that  "into" 
rather  implies;  "on,"  or:  "upon";  they  were 
indeed  caught  and  held  fast  (fns?)  there,  but  not 

in  the  temple  wall  itself,  for  ledges  ran  round 
about  the  temple,  vpon  but  not  into  which  the 
(nds  of  the  beams  were  put.  (Comp.  1  Kings 
Ti.  6,  10.) — Ver.  7  speaks  impersonally  (it), 
elthough,  according  to  what  precedes  and  what 
immediately  follows,  it  is  the  house  that  will  be 
thought  of  under  reference  to  the  side  building. 

The    widening    as    it    went    upwards    (npyo? 

n^l'D^)  related  to  the  side  chambers  (niy^sb). 

Its  explanation  is  already  given  in  ver.  6,  namely, 
where  the  ledges  let  us  suppose  a  gradual  narrow- 
ing of  the  temple  wall  adapted  to  the  three 
stories.  .\s  now  said  in  ver.  7,  it  was  still 
upwards  and  round  about  the  house,  tlius  not 
on  tlie  outer  wall  of  the  side  laiilding,  .so  that 
this  wall  rose  perpendicular  without  any  ledges. 
Accordingly,  the  width  of  the  side  building  and 
■lelatively  of  the  side  chambers  necessarily  in- 
creased as  the  temple  wall  grew  narrower  from 
story  to  story.      This  is  the  'ri'3n"3B1'3  (from 

33D.    Niph.  :    n3D3l) ;    this  widening    w;vs   the 

changing,  which  could  be  said  of  the  temple 
house  (Hexgst.  :  "and  altered  itself,"  "the 
alteration    of    the    house "),    13    expressing   the 

n3D31   with   so  much   the  better  reason  as  the 

2DTO  ^'^^  round  and  round  on  the  house,  and 

therefore     (p'Sy)     n'3^"3ni,     that     is,    this 

"width"  increasing  "with  the  ascent,"  this 
"changing"  pertained  in  fact  only  to  the  house, 
with  which  the  side  building  of  three  stories 
was  connected  on  evei-y  pos.sible  side.  [Keil 
translates;  "and  was  surrounded,"  "the  sur- 
rounding of  tlie  house,"  anil  understands  by  that 
very  simply  the  side  building  ;  while  Kliefoth 
iindcrstandi  •-  gallery-like  "corridor"  running 
round  tlie  liouse,  by  which  one  could  get  to  the 
chambers  of   the  upjier  story,   and  derives  the 


widening  above  not  from  tile  temple  wall,  but 
from  the  comdors  of  the  second  and  third, 
stories  ;  comp.  the  convincing  refutation  lu  Keil  | 
— If  the  most  generally  accepted  transl.aiou  , 
"  and  so  one  ascends  from  the  lower  story  to  tb* 
upper  by  the  middle,"  is  held  to  sav  something 
not  quite  clear  in  itself,  one  must  with  Hengsten 
berg  supply  from  1  King.s  vi.  S  the  winding  stair, 
for  which  room  was  got  by  the  breadth  increasing 
upwards  ;  we  do  not  need  with  Keil  to  suppose 
the  stair  on  the  outside,  and  to  contend  against 
its  leading  from  the  lower  into  the  upper,  and 
thence  (!)  into  the  middle  story;  it  was  self- 
evidently  in  the  interior  of  the  side  building  ; — 
or  by  this  translation  of  the  close  of  the  verse 
one  can  find  the  thought  e.xpressed  that  the 
priests  did  not  step  from  the  temple  into  the 
side  chambers,  but  within  the  widening  upwards 
which  the  house  had  through  the  side  buildings. 
Keil:  "proportionately  to  the  miildle  story  "  ; 
the  difference  of  gender  decides  nothing  against' 

njinnnn  as   subject  to  n?V''    ''"'^  pi  indicates 

that  the  ascent  took  place  in  the  way  st  iteil  of 
the  widening. 

What  Ezekiel  sees — Ver.  8 — was  on  the  house, 
and  hence  still  relates  to  the  side  building,  with- 
out its  being  taken  as  =  "house."  [Hengst.  ; 
"the  height  round  about,"  namely,  of  the  side 
building,  may  be  given.]  What  we  may  take  as 
meant  by  the  height  (Keii,  :  =  elevation >  is  pro- 
bably told  by  nilD'O  (Qeri ;  nilDID).  Accord- 
ing to  Keil,  particip.  dual  of  T3';  according  to 

Gesenius,  a  substantive,  signifying :  the  founda- 
tions of  the  side  chambers,  the  basement  of 
which,  accordingly,  a  full  rod  high,  reached  to 
the  liouse  ;  and  this  harmonizes  with  the  steps 
leading   to   the    porch    of   the    temple    (ch.    xl. 

49) ;    and    so    njpn  it)D    (only   here,   elsewhere 

KPD,  XiPO)  will  hardly  be  added,  "because  the 

elevation  above  the  ground  might  easily  be  sup- 
posed less"  (Hengst.).     On  the  contrary,  the  .sii 

cubits  n?'SS  lii^  quite  the  appearance  of  a  closer 

definition  of  that  which  Ezekiel  calls  the  full 
rod,  although  whether  from  the  elbow  to  the 
wrist,  where  hand  and  arm  meet,  or  how,  cannot 
he  determined.  J.  D.  Michaelis  su]>poses  short 
cubits.  Such  a  more  exact  definition  of  the  mea- 
sure would  he  the  more  in  place  were  it  different 
from   that   of    ch.    xl.    5.      [Hengstenberg    and 

Kliefoth  understand  p'SK  of   each  of  the  three 

stories:  "the  foundations  one  full  rod,  six  cubits 

its   story."      Irrespective   of  whether  P'SX    can 

mean  that,    1  is  wanting.] — In  Ver.  9,  besides 

the  five  cubits'  breadth  of  the  outer  wall  of  the 
side  building,   the  same  extent    (it'Sl)    is  set 

apart    for    nSQ    (particip.    Hoph.    of    ni3,    l<'ft 

"over,"  "free,"  "empty"),  that  is,  for  lli« 
space  not  built  upon  (ver.  11).  Kliek.  .  //(•? 
hrre  round  about  the  first  story  of  the  side  build- 
ing, still  to  be  distinguished  from  the  wider 
unbuilt-on  space  which  surrounded  the  temple 
in  a  width  c*'  twenty  cubits. — 'n'3  regards  th* 


CHAP.  XI.I    10-;6 


,•597 


«ide  buililiiig  connected  with  tlie  temple  in  this 
relation  separately  as  a  "  house,"  while  the  clause  : 

ira^  "IL"S.  still  retains  the  I'act  that  the  house 

after  all  is  the  temple. — Ver.  10.  "The  cells" 
are  described  in  ch.  xlii.  The  breadth  of  twenty 
cubits  bounds  the  three  sides  of  the  temple, 
north,  south,  and  west.  The  breviloquent  ex- 
pression :  between,  etc.,  Hengstenberg  takes  to 
mean  :  between  the  outer  wall  of  the  side  build- 
ing aud  the  cells.  Keil:  between  the  free  space 
and  the  cells.  —Ver.  1 1  shows  that  the  side  build- 
ing opened  with  two  doors  towards  the  free  space 
;Hexgst.  :  "between  the  wall  of  the  side  buihl- 
ing  and  the  surrounding  wall  ">.  The  five  cubits 
round  and  round  (in  distinction  from  the  two 
duur-sides)  are  those  already  indicated  in  ver.  9. 

Vers.  12-14.    The  Off-place. 

Ver.  12.  Now  the  side  building  which  stands 
in  connection  with  the  house  has  Vieen  treated  of, 
and  its  relation  to  the  outside  too  shown,  a 
building  (as  the  wall  was  called  in  ch.  xh  5 1 
conies  to  be  spoken  of  which  is  said  to  be  before 
the  gizrah,  from  which  appellation  accordingly 
we  have  to  find  its  situation  and  explanation. 
Since  it  is  not  spoken  of  so  incidentally  and 
epenthetically,  as  Kliefoth  supposes,  but  next  to 
the  side  building  which  belongs  to  the  house  its 
measurements  also  being  given,  it  must  be  sup- 
posed to  stand  in  some  relation  or  another  to  the 
temple.     And  so  it  is  called  mfjn,   by  which  is 

indicated  something  known,  self- intelligible. 
1J3  means:  " to  separate, "  "to  cut,"  aud  is  here 

iaid  of  a  space  ;  and  thus  the  gizrah  is  an  off- place. 
Vhe  goat  bears  (Lev.    xvi.    22)   "upon   him   all 

their  iniquities,"  rntJ   ('^N'i'X.    Hengst.  :  "The 

place  and  the  building  thereon  serve  negatively 
the  same  purpose  which  the  temple  serves  posi- 
tively. If  tills  is  to  retain  its  dignity  and 
sanctity,  a  place  must  be  as.=igned  to  which  all 
nnchanness  is  removed.  Already  in  Deut.  xxiii. 
13  S(j.  we  find  the  order  for  setting  apart  such  a 
place  outside  the  camp,  which  corresponded  to 
the  temple  (?)  with  its  courts;  and  also  the  in- 
junction that  this  place  is  to  be  kept  clean,  which 
is  laid  Jown  as  a  religious  duty."  With  this  lias 
been  compared  in  Solomon's  temple  2  Kings 
xxiii.  11;  1  Chron.  xxvi.  16,  18  (the  "refu.se- 
gate'i.  See  Lange  on  Kings,  p.  262  sq.  Nothing 
whatever  is  told  us  ex]tressly  regarding  the  pur- 
pose for  which  this  place,  situated  behind  the 
temple  at  the  west,  was  intended,  perhaps  just 
because  the  name  itself  was  quite  enough.  Where 
bloody  sacrifices  were  brought,  sacrihcial  feasts 
held,  places  for  preparing  them  stood,  and  a 
numerous  body  of  persons  kept  moving  about,  an 
off-place  for  the  great  quantity  of  all  kinds  of 
refuse  was  a  self-evident  necessity.  — 'dNS  means 

the  same  thing,  whether  it  be  taken  as  defining 
more  closely  'lE'K  or  mtan,  for  since  the  build- 
ing stood  with  its  east  front  towards  the  temple, 
the  side  towards  the  west  can  only  denote  its 
position  in  some  other  respect;  that  is,  the 
position  of  the  place  generally.  Keil's  transla- 
tion is  not  clear:  "And  the  building  in  front  of 
the  sfrarate  place  was  on  the  side  towards  the 


west  seventy  cubits  broad." — By  the  wall  .  .  . 
round  and  round,  the  breadth  of  whiih  is  par- 
ticularly noticed,  is  to  be  understood  with  Klie- 
foth the  wall  of  the  building.  Thus  "it  ex- 
tended westward  to  the  outer  enclosing  wall  of 
the  court,  and  had  (Hengst.)  by  a  gate  built  iu 
this  its  egress  into  the  city."  In  Ver.  13  thi 
length  of  the  gizrah  (inclusive  of  all)  is  placed 
parallel  to  the  length  of  the  temjde,  as  in  Ver.  14 
the  breadth  by  which  the  relatiim,  although  an 
tithetical,  of  the  gizrah  to  the  temple  becomes 
very  clear.  Deducting  accordingly  the  70  4-2x5 
=  80  cubits  (ver.  12),  there  remains  of  the  100 
cubits  a  free  space  20  cubits  broad,  doubtless  10 
on  the  north  and  10  on  the  south,  for  approaches 
to  the  gizrah  building,  whose  length  ran  along 
the  whole  extent. 

Vers.  15-26.   Suppleihentary. 

Ver.  15,  summing  up  in  accordance  with  ver. 
12:  90  4-  2  X  5  =  100,  just  like  ver.  13,  thus  being 
a  recapitulation,  intimates  by  tliis  the  character 
of  the  notices  that  still  follow,  as  supplementai-y 
additions  to  the  preceding. — The  measuring  of 
this  length  proceeds  in  such  a  way  that  the  mea- 
surer measured  the  building  situated  before  the 
gizrah  (according  to  ver.  12)  in  the  direction  to- 
wards the  back  part  of  the  plnce.  This  is  the 
meaning  of  the  definition :    n'"in8<"7>'    "IC'S,   tlie 

feminine  suffix  referring  to  rntUH,  the  back  part 

being  the  natural  antithesis  to'jg-yjj;  so  that 

-\1^^  may  either  signify  "  which,"  or  it  may  alse 

be  referred  to  the  length,  which  extended  iu  front 
over  the  back  part  of  the  gizrah,  if  it  is  not  with 
Keil  to  be  referred  to  j'jan.     This  dehnitiou  is 

intended,  namely,  to  form  the  transition  to  sup- 
plementary statements  as  to  the  not  yet  men- 
tioned   sn-piDN     (Qeri:     sn'pTlS)-    "Meieu: 

pns,  from  nX.  allied  to  nriN-  "  to  go  through" 
=  mi",  whence  p'ns,  "  walk, "  as  gallery  is  pro- 
perly derived  from  the  German  walkn  ^  qnelkn 
(to  issue  forth).  Gesen.  :  properly:  "landing 
place,"  then  a  short  piazza,  from  pru.   "  to  break 

off."  The  signification  :  walks,  galleries,  tor  the 
word — occurring  only  here  ami  in  ch.  xlii. — is 
certainly  demanded  by  the  latter  passage.  The 
analogy  to  the  temple  retidncd  throughout  speaks 
in  favour  of  this,  as  does  also  the  fact  that  the 
free  space  of  ten  cubits  on  each  side  (ver.  14,  see 
exposition)  is  in  this  way  satisfactorily  disposed 
of.     Keil  makes  the  suffix  look  back  to  n'J3n  in 

ver.  13.  The  repeated  statement  of  the  hundred 
cubits'  length  is  intended  to  show  that  the  gallerien 
were  as  long  as  the  building. — Since  now  the 
inner  temple,  i.e.  that  which  stood  in  the  inner 
court  (Keil),  or  because  it  is  so  called  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  gizrah  building  ami  the  courts 
(Hengst.),  and  finally  the  porches  of  the  court, 
that  is,  the  projections  of  the  gates  into  the  court 
generally  or  into  the  court  in  question,  are 
mentioned,  all  that  was  hitherto  measured  i< 
summarily  repeated  ;  in  which  manner  Ver.  18 
continues,  to  which  Hengst.  .supplies:  "and  h* 
measiu'ed  "  (ver.   15),   while  Keil  takes  them  ai 


H98 


EZEKIEL. 


uominativrs  absolute,  and  finds  the  predicate  in 
nilD,  fer-  17.  — D'SSn,  mentioned  in  ch.  xl.  6,  7, 

according  to  Kliefoth  :  window  sills  (?).  — The 
closed  windows,  see  ch.  xl.  16. — The  galleries, 
see  Tor.  15.  The  definition:  round  about  on  all 
three  (the  gizrah,  the  temple,  and  the  porches  of 
the  court,  ver.  15),  is  either  to  be  understood  with 
respect  to  the  ilescription  given  in  the  foregoing 
of  the  parts  designated  by  the  article  as  known, 
and  hence  to  be  understood  under  limitation,  or 
we  must,  for  example,  suppose  galleries  to  the 
temple  also,  and  likewise  to  the  porches  of  tlie 
court ;  for  which  Hengst.  cites  John  x.  23,  and 
Jostphus,  Arch.  xx.  9.  7.  The  recapitulatory 
character  of  these  verses — meant,  as  they  are,  for 
a  supplement  —speaks  in  favour  of  the  first  view, 
that  of  Keil.  But  that  which  is  to  be  supjdied  is 
in  respect  of  the  thresholds  or  sills  (t|Bn  collec- 
tively) over  against  them  ;  and,  taken  strictly,  it 
denotes  the  upper  moulding  o''  the  door,  or  the 
door-case  generally,  on  both  sides  (^'^D  3"3D)- 

[Hengst.  :  the  ground  floor  when  one  looked  over 
the  threshold  ;  Keil  ;  the  wooden  case  of  the 
window   openings.]     5)nE'  is:  "to  make  thin," 

whence  ejTlw',  "thin,  fine"  wood.  Hengst.  dis- 
covers sucli  wooden  boarding  also  in  the  words: 
"and  also  from  the  ground  to  the  windows,"  and 
places  the  windows  up  in  the  roof,  as  in  the  ark 
(Gen.  vi.  161,  for  one  rea.son,  because  of  the  ad- 
joining house,  which  was  probably  ai^  high  as  the 
temple.  Kliefotli,  on  the  other  hand,  places  the 
windows  immediately  on  the  ground  floor,  and 
makes  the  earth  of  the  foundation  rise  up  to  the 
windows  (!l.  As  what  has  been  just  said  had 
respect  to  the  thresholds,  so  what  follows  with 
'j^Nm    is   supplementary   to   the   second   thing 

mentioned,  the  windows  ;  beginning  with  this, 
that  even  the  ground  up  to  them,  this  distance, 
was  a  measured  distance  (ver.  17),  which  had  not 
yet  been  said,  after  which  the  more  intelligible 
expression:  niDJD  (particip.  Pual  of  riDS).  illus- 
trates the  above-mentioned  niDIOSH.       Finally, 

with  respect  to  the  walks  which  ran  along  the 
doors,  and  the  wall  rounding  off  the  whole,  Ver. 
17  accordingly  adds,  that  each  and  all  was  accord- 
ing to  measure  ;  the  space  above  the  door  (collec- 
tive), even  into  the  inner  house, — the  temple  in 
its  entirety  is  spoken  of  as  to  its  principal  jiartii, 
— and  outside,  and  the  whole  wall  round  about 
OTthin  and  without  were  so.  [Hengst.  :  "a 
house  worthy  of  the  God  who  has  wisely  arranged 
all  things  in  His  creation  (Ps.  civ.  24),  and  left 
nothing  to  cajirice  and  chance."] 

The  expression:  made,  in  Ver.  IS,  which  is  re- 
sumed in  ver.  19,  refers  to  sculpture  or  carved 
work;  but  comp.  Lange  on  Kings,  ]i.  C7.  On  the 
cherul)im,  see  the  .same  work,  p.  66,  and  in 
this  Cc2:>mentary  on  eh.  i.  4-14,  and  Doct.  Reflec. 
10  on  ch.  ix.  ;  on  the  palms,  see  on  ch.  xl.  16. 
jIengst.  :  "There  are  the  carved  works  in  the 
tenple,  the  destruction  of  which  by  the  Chaldeans 
is  lamented  in  I's.  Ixxiv.  6  ;  and  now  they  are 
there  again."  Comp.  a.s  to  the  significance  of  the 
grouping,  Lange  on  Kings,  p.  74  sq.  Hengst. 
lirings  out  the  reference  that  the  house  is  dedi- 


cated to  the  Lord  of  the  whole  terrestrial  creation, 
— The  arrangement  was  that  a  cherub  and  a  palm, 
and  again  a  cherub,  always  followed  in  order. — It 
is  further  observed,  in  distinction  from  chap.  i. , 
that  the  cherub  had  two  faces,  as  expositor! 
generally  say,  because  only  two  could  be  visible, 
inasmuch  as  figures  were  treated  of  which  could 
present  only  one  side.  On  this  Bahr  observes  ; 
"But  certainly  the  wings  of  the  eagle  and  the 
feet  of  the  bullock  were  not  wanting."  Two, 
however,  is  specially  the  number  of  creation 
(heaven  and  earth),  of  the  creaturely  contrast, 
which  therefore  everything  made  will  have  in 
itself,  harmonized  here  by  the  palm  as  the  third 
between  cherub  and  cherub  into  the  number  of 
the  divine  life. — Ver.  19.  The  two  faces  were  that 
of  man  and  of  the  lion,  which  most  aptly  repre- 
sents the  wild  animal  named  by  way  of  eminence 
rrn  (?"»*)•     The  cherub  turned  the  one  face  to 

the  palm  on  this  side,  and  the  other  to  the  palm 
on  that,  whereby  the  union  of  the  two  with  the 
palm  to  form  three  was  made  very  manifest. — 
Ver.  20  illustrates  what  ver.  1 9  intends  by :  on 
the  whole  hotue  round  and  round ;  that  it  was 
from  the  ground  or  floor  to  the  wall-work  above 
the  door,  that  is,  to  the  roof,  and  this  on  the 
temple  within  to  which  the  door  led,  of  which, 
therefore,  mention  is  made. — 'I'pl,  local  accusa- 
tive or  concluding  formula. 

But  with  Ver.  21  comes  an  additional  supple- 
ment in  relation  to  the  door-post  work  on  the 
temple,  namely,  that  each  pair  of  door-posts  had 
the  significant  square  form  already  met  with  in 
Solomon's  temple,  and  first  fully  carried  out  in 
Ezekiel  (see  Lange  on  Kings,  p.  73).  In  this  way 
the  revelation  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  the  world, 
in  th»  world,  in  its  cosmic  relations,  comes  into 
prominence;  Klief.  :  the  number  four  is  "the 
signature  of  the  coming  universality  ; "  it  will 
extend  itself  into  all  the  world,  and  to  it  they  shall 
enter  in  from  all  the  world.  (According  to  Klief. 
ntif D  is  not  slat,  conelr. ,  but  an  unusual  form  for 

ntilD      ny3T,  an  adjective,  literally:  "post  of 

the  square. "  Keil  remarks  on  the  breviloquence. ) — 
The  sanctuary  (^hpn)  is  the  most  holy  place  (ver. 

23).  The  front,  which  it  presented  to  the  priest- 
prophet  treading  the  holy  jilace,  hail  the  view  as  the 
view  just  described,  that  is,  the  quadriform  view 
of  the  dooi-]iosts.  [HENGsr.:  "  at  the  front  wa.s, " 
etc.,  since  the  new  view  is  cou.p.ired  with  a  fonner 
one  which  the  prophet  himself  had  had  (ch.  xliii. 
3).  Klief.  :  "  And  the  superficies  of  the  whole 
sanctuary  was  likewise  square."  The  Targum 
and  Kashi  suppose  a  reference  to  the  vision  by  the 
Chebar.  ] 

Ver.  22  describes  with  similar  brevity  of  diction 
the  wooden  altar  of  incense,  in  distinction  from 
the  brazen  altar  of  burnt-otferiugs.  The  abrupt 
yy  forms  also  a  contrast  to  the  coating  of  gold  in 

Solomon's  temple  ("just  as  there  is  a  deep  .silence 
throughout  in  Ezekiel  concerning  gold,  which 
plays  so  great  a  part  in  Solomon's  temple," 
Hengst.).  While  observing  that,  "  in  the  cj.se  o! 
the  floor  also  and  the  walls  mention  is  made  onlr 
of  the  wooden  boarding,"  Hengst.  refers  to  th« 
"  troublous  times  in  which  tenqiie  and  city  should 
be  built  again,"  and  compares  Dan.  ix.  25  ;  Zech. 
IV.  10  (comp.   Doct.  Keflec.  8). — The  height  and 


CHAP.  XLII. 


399 


length  (whicli,  consiilcring  its  square  form,  gives 
at  the  same  time  its  bi-eadthl — not  given  in  the 
case  of  Solomon's  altar— may,  however,  be  here 
bori'owed  from  it  ( H  engst.  ).  Keil  includes  in  its 
comers  the  four  horns  fouml  on  Solomon's  altiir. 
But  in  what  follows  ;  and  its  length,  etc. ,  he  sees  in 
i^ljjl  a  mistake  for  iJTX,   "  its  pedestal ;"  while 

Hengst.  can  find  in  it  only  the  top  of  the  altar 
But  why  should  we  not  suppose  it  to  say  plainly, 
because  it  came  in  the  way  here,  that  the  altar  in 
all  its  length  and  round  and  round  was  wood  ? 
Ezekiel  says  nothing  o*'  the  candlestick,  and  the 
table  for  the  shew-bread,  and  indeed  nothing  of 
a  furnishing  of  the  most  holy  place.  Keil  there- 
fore interprets  the  explanation  :  thia  is  the  table, 
etc.,  from  the  Pentateuch  designation  of  the  offer- 
ings "as  the  bread  of  God. "  Hesgst. :  " because 
that  which  is  set  upon  this  altar — the  incense 
denoting  the  prayers  of  the  saints  (Ps.  cxli.  2; 
Rev.  V.  8,  viii.  3) — is  regarded  as  a  spiritual  food 
which  the  people  present  to  their  Heavenly  King. 
The  alfcir  appears  as  the  table  of  the  Lord  also  in 
ch.  xliv.  16  ;  the  offering  as  food  of  Goil  in  Mai. 
i.  7.  The  loaves  laid  on  the  table  of  shew-bread 
denoted  good  works ;"  to  which  Hengst.  compares 
JIatt.  xxi.  18  sq. ,  the  fruit  of  the  fig-tree,  th.it  is, 
of  the  Jewish  people,  after  which  Jesus  hungered. 
Compare  also  Bahr's  (dei-  Satom.  Tempel,  p.  185 
sq. )  objections  to  the  view  of  Hengstenberg  and 
Keil.  -ifterall,  theexpressdeclaration  :  This  is  the 
table  that,  etc.,  has  in  it  something  surprising, 
which  is  rather  strengthened  th.au  explained  by  ch. 
xliv.  16.  Hottcher  thinks  that  "  the  alUir-table 
was  meant  to  combine  in  one  the  old  table  of 
shew-bread  and  the  altar  of  incense  "  (.see  Doct. 
Reflec.  8).  For  the  rest,  the  expression  :  before 
Jehovah,  is  explained  from  the  place  where  the 
altar  of  incense  stood,  immediately  before  the  ark 
of  the  covenant,  whicb  was  separated  from  it  by 
the  veil  of  the  most  holy  place, 
in  Ver.  23  supplementary  mention  is  made  of 


two  doors  (1  Kings  vi.  32,  33),  to  be  explained, 
without  doul>t,  by  the  altar  of  incense  standing 
at  the  separating  point  of  the  two  divisions  of  the 
temple,  that  is,  one  door  belonging  to  the  holy 
place,  and  one  to  the  most  holy  place,  both  which 

I  — Ver.  24 — had  two  leaves  each.   These  two-leaved 

1  doors  are,  howe\-!r,  still  more  closely  described 
by  the  following  phrase  :  two  turning  leaves,  so 
th.at  each  leaf  nad  two  paits  which  could  be 
opened  and  shut, — a  very  suitable  arrangement, 

'considering  the  breadth  of  these  doors.  Accord- 
ing to  Ver.  2.i,  the  ornaments  on  these  temple  doori 
are  tile  same  as  those  mentioned  in  ver.  IS  sq. — • 

j  On  the  front  of  the  porch  (of  the  temple)  without 
there   was  a   wooden  3j;.     Gesen.  ;  probably  a 

threshold  which  formed  a  kind  of  pediment  as 
stepping-place  to  a  colonnade  or  temple.  How  is 
that  to  be  conceived  of?  It  was  evidently  made 
of  wood.  A  threshold-like  approach,  a  perron  ' — 
As  the  beholder's  look  returns  again  and  again  to 
the  ample  materials  presented  to  it,  somethini! 
additional  is  always  to  be  observed.  Thus  Ver.  26 : 
cloBed  windows  and  simple  paints  on  the  two 
shoulders,  that  is,  side-walls,  right  and  left. 
Either  not  mentioned  hitherto,  or  at  least  imw 

moreexactly. — The  brief  concluding  clause ;  nij,'7V1 
D'ayni  iran,  probably  simply  intimates,  that  as 

there  were  closed  windows  and  palms  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  porch,  so  there  were  windows  of  the 
kind  on  the  side  chambers,  and  jialms  on  the 
wooden  jjediments.  KuEF. :  On  the  side  build- 
ings (?)  of  the  porch  and  of  the  side  stories 
were  windows  and  palms,  and  so  also  the  WZ'J- 

Hengst.  thinks  that  the  words  :  "  and  the  steps  " 
[p?diments]  (=:  "  and  besides,  the  steps  also  are 
to  be  noticed  in  the  porch,"  ver.  25),  "place  the 
extreme  end  to  the  east  over  against  the  extreme 
end  to  the  west  of  the  gizrah,  with  which  the 
section  began  in  ver.  15." 


CHAPTER  XLII. 


1  And  he  led  me  forth  to  the  outer  court,  the  way  northwards,  and  brought 
me  to  tlie  chamber  [timt  is.  wimt  there  was  of  c.iamber»]  wliich  is  over  against  the 
gizrah,  and  [in  fact]  which  i.s  over  against  the  buikling,    toward  the  north. 

2  Before  the  length  [m  front  of  the  length]  of  a  hundred  cubits,  the  opening  toward 

3  the  north,  and  the  breadth  fifty  cubits.  Over  against  the  twenty  of  the  inner 
court,  and  over  against  the  pavement  of  tlie  outer  court ;  gallery  [»:isl  before 

4  gallery  in  the  third  (that  is,  galleries).  And  before  the  chambers  was  a  walk 
ten  cubits  broad,  to  the  inner  [court]  way  of  one  cubit,  and  their  openings  to 

5  the  north.  And  the  upper  chambers  were  shortened,  for  the  galleries  con- 
sume [take  away]  from  them,  from  the  [the  spare  of  th.]  lower  and  also  from  the 

6  [the  space  of  the]  middle  as  respects  the  building.  For  they  were  three-storied 
and  hatl  no  pillars  as  the  pillars  of  the  courts  :  therefore  [>pace  »a!.]  taken 

7  away  from  the  lowest  and  the  middle,  from  the  ground.  And  a  dividing- 
wall  which  is  outside,  close  by  the  chambers,  toward  the  outer  court,  in  front 

8  of  the  chambers,  its  length  was  fifty  cubits.  For  the  length  of  the  chambers 
which  are  to  the  outer  court  was  fifty  cubits ;  and  [yet]  lo,  before  the  temple 

9  a  hundred  cubits.     And  from  under  it  [the dividinR-wiu ]  were  these  chambers: 

10  the  entrance  was  on  the  east  in  coming  to  them  from  the  outer  court.     In  the 
breadth  of  the  dividing-wall  of  the  court,  toward  the  east,  fronting  the  gizrah, 

1 1  and  fronting  the  building,  were  chambers.    And  a  way  before  them ;  as  the  look 


too  EZEKIEL. 


of  the  chambers  which  were  towards  the  north,  as  their  length  so  their  breadth 

J  2  and  all  their  outgoings,  and  as  their  arrangements,  and  as  their  openings,     So 

also  the  openings  of  the  chambers  which  were  toward  the  south,  an  opeiiiug 

was  at  the  head  of  the  way,  the  way  in  face  of  the  dividing-wall  turned  to  it, 

toward    the    east    in    coming  [thence]    to    them    [or:  euitwards  »lieii  one  came  to  thera  (tha 

13  ciiambeis)].  And  he  said  to  me,  The  chambers  of  the  north,  the  chambers  o^ 
the  south,  which  are  in  front  of  the  gizrah,  these  are  chambers  of  holi- 
ness, where  the  priests  who  approach  Jehovah  shall  eat  the  most  holy  things  ,■ 
there  shall  they  set  down  the  most  holy  things,  and  [timt]  the  meat-offer- 

14  ing,  and  the  sin-offering,  and  the  guilt-offering,  for  the  place  is  holy.  The 
priests  when  entering  shall  not  go  out  of  the  holy  place  to  the  outer  court, 
and  [but]  there  they  shall  lay  down  their  garments  wherein  they  shall  minister ; 
for  they  are  holiness  ;  they  shall  put  on  other  garments,  and  [-o]  approach  to 

15  that  which  [beiones]  to  the  people.  And  he  finished  the  measures  of  the  inner 
house,  and  led  me  out  the  way  of  the  gate  whose  face  is  toward  the  east,  and 

16  measured  it  [the  house]  round  and  round.  He  measured  the  east  side  on  [with] 
the  measuring-rod  five  hundred  [cubits?]  rods  [measured  by  rods]  on  the  nieasuring- 

17  rod  around.     He  measured  the  north  side,  "five  hundred"  in  rods  with  the 

18  measuring-rod.     He  measured  the  south  side,  "  five  hundred"  in  rods  with  the 

19  measuring-rod.     He  turned  to  the  west  side  ;  he  measured  "five  hundred"  in 

20  rods  with  the  measuring-rod.  Toward  the  four  winds  measured  he  it ;  a  wall 
was  to  it  round  and  round,  the  length  "  five  hundred,"  ami  the  breadth  "  five 
hundred,"  to  separate  between  the  holy  and  the  profane. 

Ver.     1.   Sept.  :    .   .   .  XXTOt  etvctToXet!  xeCTItxtTi  T.  TyX»if  T.  irpt  0t)pp{t»  X.  llirxyxyli,  U.V  x.  tlo-j  i^iSpxi  itxxTt»TS,  l;t;oul*ai 

nv  x.iTo?~oiirotj  X.  ixof^t'xi  Tou  itofii^tre;  vptt!  liopiixv.     Vulg. :  .  .  .  et  contra  xd^in  vergentem  ad  oqtiihnfm. 

Ver.    2.  .  .  .  txxT6*  fin^o;  irpe;  ^oppx-t —    Vulg.:  .  .  .  in  facie  .  .  .  oslii  aquVonis  et  latitudinis. 

Ver.  3,  iixylypxf/.fj.ivat  o»  rpo^ot  x'l  irv}.xt  r.  auXxS  t.  irampx;,  x.  iv  TpoX6v  rat  ^iptTTjXa  r.  xuky.i  T.  -^atTipxi 
irTixtir,u.!'xi,  itTi^perarru  a-Ttxi  rurirxi.     Vulg.:  .  .  .  ubi  erat porticm  jmcta porticui  tripHci. 

Ver.  4.  .  .  .  \ti  ^tix^'i  ixxToy  TO  f^v.xos,  X.  Tx —  Vulg.:  .  .  .  ad  intenora  respiciejis  fix  cubiti  tinius.  Et  .  .  .  (-5.) 
ubi  franc  ,  , .  humiliora,  guta  sup^'orCobant  porticu3,  quae  ex  illis  eminebant  de  in/erioriljus  et  de  mediii  xdijkii.    (Another 

reading:  inTIDBV  fem.) 

Ver.  5.  X.  61  rtpiTXTti  o!  umpuot  w/rxLTu;-  0T*i5ii;^lT»  «  ^tpurivi-o*  65  xiraif,  ixrou  iiToxxT^^i¥  TipiCTuXw,  x.  rolixa-rr.uA- 
tiira;  TipivnXoK  x,  itxvrtjtjLx,  x.  nran  rraxi. 

Ver.  6.  A»Ti  .  .  .  r-rvXai  Tan  llnTipuv  iix  tovto  iluxf^Tt  T*»  .  .  .  iro  T.  yr^i.  Vulg. :  .  .  .  Tfiiitega  .  .  .  proptertQ 
tmijiebant  de  .  ,  .  a  U-rra  cutitis  quinqvaginta. 

Ver.  7.  K.  $»>;  ela-flfv.  0»  Tpo^ov  x.  xt  iltipxi  .  .  .  rri  ii^Ttpxi  xl  ^Xt-rovrxt  xtttxyn  T.  iiiipui  Tan  TPOt  ^o'pjix* —  Vulg. 
Et  peribolus  exterior  secundum — 

Ver.    8.  .  .   .   Tar»  ^Xtrovran  iU  T.  auy,zi  .  .  .  x.  xCtxi  eltrn  x^TtTpoff-Ofroi  TxitTxii,  to  tx*^ 

Ver.  9.  Sept.:  *.  xl  Bupou  t.  iitSpw  TovTtn  tt;  liroZou  r.  irpoi  xhxto^x;  .  .  .  Si'  xi/Tuv —  Vu'ff. :  £t  eral  iubter  gany 
phi/ltxcia  haec  introitus  ab  oriente  ingredientium  in  ea —     (Qeri  :  nl3CJ*?n  nnriO^  and  K^STSH). 

Ver.  10.  xxrx  to  ^i  Tov  Ey  xpx*.  Ttfy  mpi^xTov  x.  tx  xpos  fOTO»  XXTX  Tpotraiirov  to-j  iiOp'^ovTor  X.  xl  i^ihpxt — 

Ver.  11.  X.  0  TipiTXTO;  XXTX  xpotTorTov  xitTWVy  xxTx  TX  fj.tTpx  T.  ii^ipm*  ...  a:.  XXTX  Txffxi  Tx;  irto-Tpofxi  xCrm  x 
xxTx  TX  icuTx  avT*»  K.  XXTX  TX  BvpvuMTx  xuTo/v.     Vulg. :  .  .  .  ct  ojuvis  vitvoitu^  eofum  ft  simflittidines  et  ostia  eorum. 

Ver.  12-  Ton  iiihpon  ...  x.  xxTx  tx  BvpoiuxTX  xx'  xpx^i  '"«"  rriPtTXTOit  af  iTi  faif  S.xtrTXLMTO;  Kx>.xuo'j.  x.  xxt 
x*xTo>.x;  TO'j  uffrropfjtffBxi^i'  xvTon-  Vulg.;  Secundum  .  .  .  quxviaerat  ante  vestibu'um  separatum  per  viam  orimlaleir 
ingredientibus. 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  XXTX  xpttr^roy  Tan  htxrTXfx^Toir,  .  .  .  xliliipxt  TKi  kyiov  .  .  .  oiuloi^xiiovx —  \'ulg. ;  .  .  .  ante  xdijl' 
eium  separatum  .  .  .  gazophylacia  sancta  .  .  .  ad  dominum  in  sancta  sanctorum. 

Ver.  14.  Oux  ilflXlurevTxi  txli  xxfi^  Tan  lipian,  x.  oCx  sifXtvrovTxi  .  .  .  OTai;  iixTxvTOi  xytot  aiffiv  ot  rpoffxyovrt;-  x.  um 
atXTmrxt  Tov  rToKHTfjjui  xItoh  .  .   .  i»  avTOi?,  TiiOTi  xyix  ie-Tir-  .  .  .  fiT«*   xTTa/vTxi  tou  Xxou.     (.\notl.er  reading :   Dn^i  masc 

Qeri:  Ifb^l). 

Ver.  15.   .  .   .   ffvnrtXiffBr,  r.iiei^(Tfi>iric   .   .    .   le-mBt*   .  .    .  Znutrprtrt*  to  iiToZsiyij.a,  t.  o'ixou  .    .    .  e»  hxrat^u. 

Ver.  16.   K.  ivm  xxra,  yonou  T.  cruX'Ki  T-  {iXtrouffr.i  xxt'   «»(xr«A.otf   x.   inf^iTpy.cri*   irtvTetxoo-ious   l»   t.  XtthetfiM  r.  uivflifj. 

Vulg.:  .  .  .  contra  ventum  .  .  .  calamot  in  calamo  mCT^wra— (many  codd.  and  all  translations  lead  niND  intea*;  o! 

Ver.  17,  K.  irtfi-Tpc^tit  -rpos  ...  as.  ^UfAiTpr.ffit  rt  xetra  TpvffOfVOf  rtv  ^appa,  ^r.xtn  TtvTctxoriwi  \>  t.  xecXot^ut — 

Ver.  IS.  K.  xTiffrpi'^t*  -xp^i  BatXafvat*  *.  htiAtrp.  t»  x»t.  trpotrmr.  t.  BetXttrrtii,  irttTetxoffiov;.  Vuig  ....  qvingentot 
eatamos  .  .     pet-  ciraiitum. 

Ver.  19,   K.  i^tg-rp.  xp.  »otov  x.  infA  xotr*  rpoff^r.  T.  voTov,  TttTotxaff.  i* —     Vulc. :   Et  ad  ventum  Occident aJem. 

Ver.  20.  Hi  rat  TWffatpoi  fA,(p^  to'j  xC/tov  /xirpov.  K.  ii$TeL^lt  et'jTot  x.  mpt^aXo*  ett/Tti  xvxt.^,  tiv rce^tdiriAiv  itcoi  avxrsAatr  » 
mttraxtntt*  -ry.xtMi   lupo;,  Ttu  hia.tr7tX>-H9  itvtt   uttrot   Ttjn   ii^Utt   x,   aita.  fAf<ro»    tou  TpoTiixio'u,a.T9i   '.6'j  -y   htetra^u   tw  b^'sm.-^ 

VuJg.:  .  .  .  mtnsu$ett  tnurum  ejus  undique  ,  .  .  cubilorum  •  .  .  cubitorum^  dividtntem  inter— 


CHAP.  XLII.  1-6. 


401 


EXEOETICAL  KEM.4.RKS. 

Vers.  1-14.    The  Chambers  of  Holiness. 

The  leading  forth  of  Ver.  1  is  easy  to  be  under- 
Btood,  both  from  ch.  xli.  and  from  the  outer 
court,  where  the  structure  of  cells  for  the  priests 

about  to  be  described  is  situated,  for  n3t5'^n  sug- 

T  :  -  - 

gests  to  us  such  a  structure.  Comp.  moreoTer, 
ch.  xl.  17  sq.  and  xl.  44  sq.  The  outer  court  here 
harmonizes  with  the  first  passage,  while  its  pur- 
pose does  not ;  the  one  there  was  designed  for  the 
people.  It  would  harmonize  with  the  second 
passage  that  there  too  the  purpose  was  for  the 
priests  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  inner  court  does 
not  harmonize. — That  it  is  added  ;  and  brought 
me,  etc.,  is  quite  in  the  copious  style  of  Ezekiel, 
as  the  immediately  following  will  likewise  show. 
The  general  statement :  the  way  northwards,  is 
made  more  precise  by  the  closer  fixing  of  the 
locality,  in  which  the  expression  :  over  against  the 
gizrah,  repeats  itself  in  :  over  against  the  build- 
ing (situated  there,  eh.  xli.  12  sq. ),  just  as  the 
northern  direction  mentioned  in  the  outset  does 
by  :  towards  the  north.  Hengst.  expresses  the 
opinion  that,  considering  the  object  of  the  gizrah- 
building,  an  adjacent  biiilding  on  either  side 
withdrawing  it  from  view  was  very  appropriate, 
and  that  the  description  is  designed  to  point  to 

that. — In  Ver.  2,  ''JS'^X  can  hardly  (as  Hengst.) 

■lean:  "before  the  length"  (determined  for  the 

gizrah  from  east  to  west),  for  the  repeated  5){{  is 

merely  a  continuation.  It  was  the  front-length 
of  the  cell  building  to  which  Ezekiel  sees  himself 
brought,  as  also  the  opening  toward  the  north 
•hows  that  the  doors  of  the  building  opened  north- 
wards. —  The  hundred  cubits  of  length  agree 
with  ch.  xli.  13,  so  that  both  buildings  simply 
cover  each  other  as  to  length ;  whereas  the  sacri- 
6cial  kitchens  (ch.  xlvi.  19)  embarrass  Keil,  who 
needs  for  them  still  forty  cubits  of  length  west- 
wards behind  the  cell  building  ;  while  Hengsten- 
berg  claims  for  them  no  separate  building,  but, 
as  is  usually  the  case  with  kitchens,  places  them 
below  in  the  cell  building.  According  to  Keil, 
the  cell  building  would  stretch  along  still  before 
the  temple.— By  the  description  in  Ver.  3  :  over 
against  the  twenty,  etc.,  the  breadth  of  fifty 
cubits  is  put  in  relation  to  the  twenty  cubits' 
breadth  of  free  space  belonging  to  the  inner  court 
(ch.  xli.  10),  and  at  the  same  time  more  closely 
stated  to  be  in  a  southern  direction  towards  the 
temple  (Hengst.  :  eastward),  as  the  following  : 
over  against  the  pavement  (ch.  xl.  17),  on  its 
part  points  out  clearly  the  northern  direction  ; 
or  a  reference  to  what  is  farthest  out,  the  outer 
court,  is  added  to  the  reference  made  by  the  first 
"133  to  what  is  inmost. — By  the  statement  that 

gallery  ran  before  gallery  in  the  third,  Hengst. 
understands :  that  one  looked  down  from  the  walk 
before  the  chambers  of  the  third  story  to  another 
walk  that  was  before  the  chambers  of  the  second 
story  (?).     Ke[L  :  one  gallerj'  in  front  of  the  other 

or  towards  it  (?V     Kliefoth  takes  ^j{  =  ^y  ("  on," 

"  over"),  but  what  would  'SS-jij;  mean  ?      Also, 

B'B7B'3  does  not  mean,   as  he  supposes  with 


Bijttcher:  "into  the  threefold."  As  ch.  xli.  IC 
can  refer  only  to  our  verse,  we  shall  in  the  case  oi 

p'nK"'3a"^K  have  to  tliink  of  the  first-mentioned 

galleries  of  the  gizrah  house,  ch.  xli.  15  sq.;  and 
this  so  much  the  more  as  the  description  of  the 
cell  structure  was  determined  immediately  (ver. 
1)  after  this  building.  Thus  the  galleries  of  thj 
two  buildings  ran  front  to  front  ;  and  this  is  said 
only  of  the  third,  namely,  the  two  third  galleries, 
for  the  first  mention  of  the  middle  ones  is  in 
ver.  5  ;  the  highest  also  caught  the  eye  first,  and 
with  them  at  the  same  time  the  height  of  the 
building  could  be  given  as  of  three  stories. 

The  walk — Ver.  4 — before  the  chambers,  which 
was  ten  cubits  broad,  can  only  be  supposed  as 
extending  from  west  to  east  before  the  northern 
long  side  of  the  buOding.  To  the  inner  court 
(ch.  vm.  3,  16,  X.  3)  was  away  of  one  cubit  in 
breadth;  this  denotes  the  narrow  approach  to 
the  inner  court,  on  which  the  wider  passage  round 
the  east  wall  of  the  building  abutted  ;  and  accord- 
ing to  this  account,  returning  to  the  walk,  it  is 
said  of  the  doors  of  the  chambers  or  of  the  gal- 
leries, that  they  opened  on  the  passage  to  the 
north.  Hengstenberg  makes  the  walk  to  be  the 
"approach  to  the  chambers,"  from  which  one 
had  access  to  the  interior  of  the  chambers,  and 
this  interior  to  be  "one  cubit  from  the  street, 
which  was  the  thickness  of  the  walls  "  (!).  KeU, 
who  can  extract  no  suitable  sense  from  the  text, 
reads  with  the  Sept. :  TVSSm  flND,  thus  making  a 

way  of  a  hundred  cubits  long  lead  through  the 
north  gate.; into  the  inner  court  (!). — Ver.  5 
harmonizes  the  galleries  with  the  chambers,  speak- 
ing first  of  the  npper  as  ver.  3  had  spoken  of  the 
third  galleries.  These  chambers  are  said  to  be 
shortened,  and  indeed  they  were  the  narrowest ; 
and  therefore  it  is  remarked  of  them  alone  in  the 
first  place,  for  (the  detaOs  will  become  clear  in 
ver.    6)    the   galleries    took    away    from    their 

breadth   (!i73i<    only  here,   instead    of   173{<^). 

They  were  shorter,  it  is  said,  than  the  lower 
above  all,  but  also  than  the  middle.  So  Keil 
understands  the  second  and  third  jo  in  a  com- 
parative sense.  If  it  is  to  be  taken  as  the  first, 
that  in  njilD,  then  that  one  must  be  understood 

of  the  chambers  in  general,  and  the  more  exact 
definition  must  be  given  with  the  two  following 
O,  as  Hengstenberg  says:   "in  the  case  of  the 

middle  ones,  the  half  of  the  space  which  in 
relation  to  the  lower  was  cut  off  by  the  galleries 
from  the  upper."  He  makes  p33  to  be  "build- 
ing space — space  which  otherwise  might  have 
been  built  upon."  The  mode  of  expression  indi- 
cates that  the  prophet  means  to  say ;  the  struc- 
ture, which  had  lower,  middle,  and  upper 
chambers  (for  they  were  three-storied,  ver.  6), 
was  shortened  in  the  upper  chambers,  since  the 
galleries  there  in  particular  occupied  part  of  the 
breadth  which  the  undei  chambers  had  entire, 
and  which  even  the  middle  chambers  had ;  the 
reason  is,  they  had  no  pillaiB  to  support  the  upper 
galleries  to  the  three  stories  of  chambers,  and  so 
the  upper  chambers  were  necessarily  contracted, 
and  consequently  had  to  lose  in  breadth,  since 
the  galleries  which  ran  along  the  outer  walls  had 


(02 


EZEKIEL. 


to  seek  support  in  rests  which  were  taken  from 
the  chambers.  The  explanatory  expression :  from 
the  ground,  throws  light  upon   the  ]<33  of  the 

previous  verse  ;  hence  the  building  there  comes 
into  consideratifm  as  to  the  ground-space  which 
it  could  afford  on  its  lower  floor  for  the  under 
and  the  middle  chambers,  which  thus,  especially 
the  first,  were  broader  than  the  upper,  although 
self-evideutly  the  middle  chambers  too  must  have 
Deen  shortened  by  their  galleiy  in  comparison 
with  the  under.  As  the  building  became  higher, 
the  chambers  became  shorter.^ We  have  to  notice 
the  reference  to  the  pillaiB  of  the  cotirts,  of  which 
nothing  ha.<i  been  said  hitherto,  and  we  shall  have 
to  suppose  them  where  they  are  wanting  here, 
namely,  in  ch.  xl.  17  sq.  and  44  sq.  The  chambers 
there,  too,  may  have  had  stories. — The  whole 
description  of  the  galleries,  and  the  way  in  which 
this  description  is  kept  in  connection  with  the 
building  on  the  gizrah,  is  hardly  intended  merely 
to  make  plain  the  possibility  of  access  to  the 
chambers  of  the  second  and  third  stories,  but  is 
designed  to  give  us  the  impression,  that  from  the 
galleries,  so  easily  accessible  from  the  chambers, 
on  equally  prompt  supervision  over  this  hinder 
and  interior  part  of  the  environs  of  the  sanctuary 
was  made  possible,  as  by  the  guardrooms  in  the 
case  of  the  gates ;  if  the  chambers  here  corre- 
spond to  these  guardrooms,  then  the  galleries  here 
correspond  to  the  barriers  there. 

Ver.   7.    -Hi,   that  which   "fences  off,"  is  a 

dividing-wall,  a  boundary-fence,  which  is  mea- 
sured fifty  cubits  long,  and  consequently  is  to  be 
sought  for  opposite  the  breadth  of  the  building 
and  on  the  east  side,  where  the  narrow  way  (ver. 
4)  led  to  the  inner  court,  in  distinction  from 
which  the  further  description  wUl  have  respect 
to  the  outer  court.  In  the  first  place  however, 
it  is  said  to  be  outside,  for  if  this  wall  ran  along 
the  chambers,  its  position  is  made  plainer  by  the 
phrase :  towards  the  outer  court  (where  'nrn  may 

remind  us  of  7]Tn,  ver.  4) ;  as  also :  in  front  of  the 

chambers,  illustrates  still  better  the  phrase :  close 
by  (running  equally  with)  the  chAmbers.  If 
this  wall  concealed  the  narrow  access  to  the  inner 
pourt,  still  more  so  did  it  the  under  chambers  on 
the  east  towards  the  outer  court,  and  what  had 
to  be  performed  in  these  chambers,  for — Ver.  8 — 
the  length  of  the  wall  corresponded  to  the  length 
of  the  chambers  which  are  to  the  outer  court, 
that  is,  which  here  come  into  consideration  for 
this  court,  as  the  eye  fell  on  them  in  looking  from 
the  cast.  The  proper  length  of  a  hundred  cubits 
on  the  north  side — before  the  temple,  because 
the  temple  rose  behind  in  its  length  as  point  of 
view  and  boundary — is  very  perceptibly  distin- 
guished by  nsni  from  the  above-mentioned  so- 
called  length  (the  breadth  of  fifty  cubits).  The 
reason  why  there  is  no  mention  of  a  dividing-wall 
in  the  case  of  the  chambers  of  this  northern  long 
side  perhaps  is,  that  their  windows  and  galleries 
(comp.  on  ver.  3)  lay  towards  the  gizrah,  and 
cnly  the  doors  opened  towards  the  north  (ver.  4). 
Ver.  9.  So  the  east  side  chambers  rose  up  from 
under  the  dividing-wall,  which  concealed  them 
only  below,  but  did  not  cover  them  go  as  to  cut 
off  the  light  from  them. — The  observation  regard- 
ing the  entrance,  that  it  was  on  the  east,  which 


is  still  further  described  by  :  in  coming  to  them 
from  the  outer  court,  may  indeed  be  understood 
in  distinction  from  the  narrow  way  which  led 
along  there  to  the  inner  court  (vers.  7,  4),  but  is 
rather  to  be  taken  as  a  corroboration,  that  whereas 
people  for  the  most  part  got  at  these  chambers 
from  the  east,  a  fence  was  requisite  on  this  side 

also  of  the  outer  court.   Hengstenbeig  converts  the 

o 
Nlltsn,  sufficiently  intelligible  by  the  clause  :  in 

coming,  etc.,  into  a  door  which  the  "fence-wall " 
must  have  had. 

Ver.  10  makes  the  transition  to  a  parallel 
building  on  the  other  side,  by  first  repeating  the 
last  described,  in  such  a  manner,  however,  that 
no  misunderstanding  is  possible ;  hence  breadth 
is  said,  and  not  "length,"  as  in  ver.  7.  The 
chambers  were  in  the  breadth  of  the  dividing- 
wall,  for  they  were  situated  in  this  breadth.  The 
court  to  this  wall  is  the  just  now  mentioned  (ver. 
9)  outer  court,  and  the  expression :  toward  the 
east,  likewise  borrowed  from  ver.  9,  is  a  closer 
description  of  the  position  of  the  dividing-wall 
and  consequently  of  the  chambers,  so  that  mpn 

is  not  to  be  changed  into  Q^THH,  which  defini- 
tion comes  afterward  in  ver.  12.  The  description: 
fronting  the  gizrah,  and  (as  ver.  1) :  fronting  the 
building  (upon  it),  which  occupied  the  whole 
length,  signifies  exactly  the  same  as :  "in  front  of 
the  length  of  a  hundred  cubits,"  in  ver.  2 ;  hence 
the  chambers  were  concealed  on  this  side  also  by 
the  gizrah  building.  That  which  in  ver.  4  is 
called  :]^nD,  is  in  ver.  11  by  way  of  variety 
called  -1-111,  but  any  misunderstanding  is  guarded 

against  by  the  observation:  as  the  look,  etc. 
(that  the  chambers  had  the  same  look  as  those 
toward  the  north).  The  comprehensive :  a«  the 
look,  etc.,  said  on  the  occasion  of  mentioning 
the  way,  is  specialized  by  what  follows.  We  would 
express  it  thus :  As  in  relation  to  their  length,  so 
in  relation  to  their  breadth  and  in  relation  to  all 
their,  etc.  The  arrangements  are  what  concerns 
the  way  and  manner  of  the  whole,  and  the  parti- 
culars. Finally,  the  openings,  although  already 
comprehended  in  the  outgoings,  are,  on  account 
of  an  appendage  to  be  immediately  given  to  the 
north  chambers,  once  more  specially  mentioned. 
— Ver.  12,  in  the  first  place,  shows  that  the 
chambers  spoken  of  are  to  be  conceived  of  as 
toward  the  south,  in  the  same  way  as  their 
patterns  were  "  toward  the  north  "  (ver.  11) ;  it 
then  proceeds  to  mention  "a  door-opening," 
which,  while  only  supposed  in  vers.  4,  7,  is  now 
described  in  detail.  Leading  into  the  inner  court, 
it  was  situated  where  the  way  began,  or  had  its 
head,at  the  wall  of  the  court ;  hence  it  was  con- 
structed in  this  wall,  wherefore  it  is  added  that 
the  way  proceeded  ':B3,  in  face  of  the  dividing- 
wall,  that  is,  so  that  this  wau  had  it  as  it  were 
before  its  eyes,     rry^  is  perhaps  so  often  repeated 

because  the  narrower  walk  in  question  (ver.  4)  is 
distinguished  as  •nil  from  the  longer  and  broader 

"walks."    rmjn  is  collective,  because  said  at 

the  same  time  for  the  north  side.     n3''jn  occurs 

only  here  ;  it  is  derived  from  [jn,  which  Meiar 


UHAP.  XLIl.  13-10. 


403 


interprets  by:  "to  beud  off,"  "to  bend,"  "to 
incliae,"  translating  the  adjective  here:  "bend- 
ing," "turning,  "or  "  stretching  "  towards,  which 
would  be  quite  suitable  to  ''333,  but  would  still 

more  vividly  express  the  thought :  the  dividing- 
wall  inclined  itself  to  the  way  passing  before  its 
eyes.  Gesenius,  taking  for  guide  the  rabbinical 
pjn,  whichmeans:  "noble,"  "graceful,"  butalso: 

'insignificant,"  renders  pjri  by:  "convenient," 

"suitable,"  which  Keil  transforms  into  this, 
that  it  denotes  the  wall  corresponding  to  the 
cells,  and  running  the  same  distance  with  them 
before  the  east  narrow  side  of  the  building.  In 
the  remainder,  similar  to  ver.  9. — The  interpreta- 
tion given  of  ver.  10  sq.,  almost  the  same  as  that 
of  KeU,  supposes  only  two  cell  buildings,  whereas 
Kliefoth  and  Hengstenberg  reckon  three,  adding 
an  eastern  "  priests'  court."  Keil  places  the 
building  here  "at  or  on  the  broad -side  (?)  of  the 
court-wall  over  against  the  separate  place. " 

In  Ver.  13  (as  ch.  xl.  45  sq.)  his  guide  tells  the 
prophet  the  purpose  for  which  the  north  and 
south  chambers  were  intended  (only  these  two 
kinds  of  chambers  are  mentioned,  completely  re- 
futing the  idea  of  more  than  two  buildings  of  the 
kind)*— Which  are  in  front,  etc.,  since  they  ran 
along  in  front  of  the  long  side  (hence  also  simply 
gizrah)  of  the  off-place. — gnpn,  not  abstr.  pro 

concT.,  but  as  throughout,  holiness,  corresponding 
to  the  holiness  of  Jehovah,  which  is  no  single 
divine  attribute  (comp.  ch.  ix.  39  sq.,  and  on 
ch.  xxxvi.  p.  343,  etc.),  but  the  expression  of  the 
entire  relation  of  God  to  Israel  (Bahr,  der  Salom. 
Tempel,  p.  56  sq.).  This  relation  is  once  more 
strongly  pronounced  in  Q^Bnisn  'BHp,  by  which 

are  designated  the  priests'  portions  of  the  offer- 
ings, that  is,  of  the  offerings  named  (meat-offer- 
ing, sin-offering,  and  guilt-offering),  which  had 
to  be  eaten  by  the  priests  alone,  to  the  exclusion 
of  their  families  (Lev.  ii.  3,  10,  vi.  9  sq.,  19  sq., 
vii.  6,  X.  12) ;  hence  the  detailed  account  of  their 
status  (Hengst.  :  "  who  are  near  the  Lord")  and 
official  character.  In  the  case  of  the  heave-offer- 
ing or  wave-offering,  the  priests'  portion  was  par- 
taken of  even  by  the  female  members  of  the 
priests'  families  (Lev.  x.  14).  Comp.  Bahk, 
Symb.  den  Mos.  Kultus;  Kurtz,  Ber  AUtesta- 
mentlJche  OpferkuUm.  On  the  distinction  be- 
tween "eating"  and  "setting  down"  Keil  says  ; 
"Because  neither  the  meal  mingled  with  oil  of  the 
meat-offering,  nor  the  flesh  of  the  sin  and  guilt- 
offerings,  could  be  eaten  by  the  pnests  imme- 
diately -after  the  presentation  of  the  offering,  but 
first  the  one  had  to  be  baked  and  the  other 
cooked,  they  were,  until  this  preparation,  allowed 
to  be  set  aside,  but  not  in  any  place  one  pleased." 
—  The  different  designation:  {jrjp  QipQn  '3, 
shows  the  distinction  from  the  previous  ciljjn. — 

Ver.  14  stiU  adds,  with  similar  emphasizing  of 
the  priests,  that  after  performing  their  functions 
(DSb3,  as  the  context  shows,  is  not:  when  they 

come  to  the  service)  in  the  holy  place,  that  is,  the 
inner  room,  they  are  not  to  repair  without  cere- 
mony to  the  outer  court  (as  Keil  supposes,  had 
they  "been  obliged  to  pass  out  through  the  inner 
gate  in  order  to  get  to  the  sacred  cells''),  but—and 


for  this  the  door,  ver.  12,  is  excellently  adapted — 
the  official  garments  in  which  they  (mtJ',   "to 

order  well,"  "to  administer,"  in  the  Piel  of  re- 
spectful services  before  kings  and  princes,  espe- 
cially of  service  before  Jehovah)  performed  the 
sacred  service  are  to  be  put  aside,  laid  down  in 
the  chambers  mentioned,  and  exchanged  for  com- 
mon garments. — TMT\,  namely:  the  priestly  gar- 
ments.— In  I3ipi  we  are  instinctively  reminded 
of  D'3inp  in  ver.  13.— Dy^J  "IC'S'^S  explains 
more   closely  the    njiSTIH  nvnn'^S,    that  the 

people  come  into  consideration  there.  Not  until 
the  service  of  God  is  completed  are  the  priests 
allowed  to  come  into  converse  with  them. 


Vers.  15-20. — The  Circumference  of  the  whole. 

Ver.  15.  What  was  begun  in  ch.  xl.  3  sq.  was 
now  finished.  The  antithesis  of  the  measures  of 
the  inner  house  is :  and  he  measured  it  round 
and  round.  The  prophet  therefore  is  led  out, — 
"IJ/B'n  11TI,  which  may  mean  the  way  to  the 

gate,  but  also  the  way,  through  it.  The  return  to 
the  east  gate  (comp.  ch.  xl.  6)  depicts  to  us  Eze- 
kiel's  re-entrance  into  the  outer  court;  andfthua 
the  expression  :  round  and  round,  will  the  more 
readily  point  to  the  wall  (ch.  xl.  5)  from  which 
he  then  (hence  now  from  the  opposite  direction) 
came  to  the  east  gate.  The  inner  house  compre- 
hends the  whole  interior  up  to  the  wall,  of  which 

it  is  said,  ch.  xl.  5,  that  it  was  3'3D  n'3^  YVTO 
3<3D.  KeU  disputes,  without  due  grounds,  the 
reference  ofthe  suffix  in  illDI  to  'r)*3n,  although 

we  must  concede  to  him  that  some  indefiniteness 
may  adhere  to  the  suffix ;  at  all  events,  round 
and  round  is  not  the  wall  as  wall,  which  would 
have  also  its  inner  side,  but  as  that  which  sur- 
rounded the  house  from  without,  and  denoted  the 
outside  in  reference  to  the  house,  so  that  we  are 
pointed  to  the  outside  of  the  wall-girt  sanctuary. 
Meanwhile,  however,  if  nothing  more  definite  fol- 
lows, this  only  says  that,  after  finishing  all  the 
measurings  in  the  interior,  a  total  measurement 
of  the  whole  was  taken  outside  on  the  circum- 
ference of  the  sanctuary. 

Ver.  16.  The  measuring  begins  with  the  east 
gate ;  and  hence  on  the  east,  nO,  in  the  signifi- 
cation it  has  in  the  common  expression:  to  the 
four  winds,  meaning  the  four  directions  whence 
the  wind  principally  comes,  is  here  said  of  the 
east  side,  as  in  the  following  of  the  north,  south, 
and  west  sides. — Hengst.  takes  niiOS  *s  a  blend- 
ing of   nitsx  *i"l  niXD,  and  translates :   "  five 

hundred  cubits,  measured  in  rods  with  the  mea- 
suring-rod." That  niDN"B'Dn  cannot  mean  "five 

hundred"  is  clear,  but  what  is  the  meaning  of 
"five  cubits"?    Hence  the  Qeri :  nixD-     Then, 

however,  we  get  by  what  follows  :  "five  hundred 
rods,"  or  we  must  say  with  Hengst.  that  by  . 
rods  on  the  measuring  -  rod  around,  is  in- 
tended to  be  observed  that  the  measure  would  Isf 


tt)4 


EZEKIEL. 


nuiaiui-d  by  measuring  not  in  cubits,  but  in  rods, 
with  the  measuring-rod  described  at  the  com- 
mencement. At  all  events,  oh.  xl.  5  favours  tliis 
view,  as  also  the  square  of  five  hundred  cubits  for 
the  whole  of  the  sahctuary,  already,  on  ch.  xl.  27, 
observed  to  be  correct,  has  to  be  harmonized  with 
the  detailed  statements.  The  blending,  too,  of 
"a  hundred"  and  "cubits"  would  agree  well 
with  the  brevity  of  similar  statements  ;  only,  such 
brevity  and  ibscurity  in  the  case  of  a  summing 
up,  a  general  survey  of  the  spatial  relations  of  the 
sanctuary,  as  Hengst.  supposes,  is  difficult  to 
conceive  and  hard  to  accept.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  abbreviation:  five  hundred  (thus  read  with 
the  Qeri),  measured  by  rods,  is  easy  of  acceptation, 
when  it  is  so  very  clear,  not  only  from  the  defini- 
tion of  the  "  rod  "  given  in  ch.  xl.  5,  but  from  a 
presupposed  after-reckoning  of  all  the  statements 
of  measuring  hitherto  coming  into  consideration, 
that  only  cubits  can  be  meant;  even  in  ver.  20, 
where  otherwise  it  might  be  expected,  all  mention 
of  rods  is  omitted.  Ewald,  too,  and  Biittcher 
and  Hitzig  have  decided  in  favour  of  cubits.  That 
Ezekiel  ' '  gives  elsewhere  all  the  greater  measures 
in  cubits  and  not  in  rods,"  as  Hengst.  insists  on, 
has,  however,  no  significance  when  the  prophet 
had  to  refer  to  a  wider  space,  a  space  separating 
the  sanctuary  from  the  rest  of  the  land,  a  space 
independent  of  all  that  had  gone  before,  and 
which  therefore  might  have  been  measured  by 
rods,  as  Klief.  and  Keil  hold.  Comp.  however, 
ch.  xlv.  2.  — Ver.  17.  Five  hundred,  and  the 
same  in  Ver.  18  and  Ver.  19,  merely  the  number; 
and  this  Hengst.  explains  by  sajring  that,  in  the 
case  of  the  other  sides,  the  mere  number  suffices, 
so  that  the  number  given  is  self- evidently  of 
cubits,  according  to  ver.  16. — Is  the  question 
decided  in  Ver.  20  ?  But  toward  the  four  winds, 
that  is,  in  the  direction  of  the  four  cardinal  points 
(it  is  said  33D  ^^  '''er.  19,  by  which,  however,  at 

the  same  time,  may  be  indicated  the  going  round 
and  round),  is  a  mere  r4sum4  of  what  has  been 
described  singly  in  vers.  16-19.  Accordingly,  the 
suffix  also  in  niD  is  to  be  understood  exactly  as 

in  ver.  15,  that  is,  as  referring  to  the  house. — 
What  now  is  to  be  understood  by  the  wall  which 

was  to  the  house  (i?)  ?    It  is  called  noin,  as  in 

ch.  xl.  5,  and,  exactly  as  there,  it  is  said  that  it 
was  3'3D  T3D-      It    is  not,    indeed,   said,   as 

Hengst.  expresses  himself:  "he  measured  it, 
namely,  the  wall,  round  about ;"  but  the  observa- 
tion here,  that  the  house  had  a  wall,  gives  no  fur- 
ther information  than  that  the  measuring  will 
have  had  respect  to  this  compass  of  the  house ! 
Keil,  indeed,  refuses  to  understand  the  a>3D   in 

vers.  16  and  17  of  a  square  five  hundred  rods  in 
length  and  breadth  on  these  two  sides,  yet  he 
gets  in  ver.  20  a  space  which  measured  five  hun- 
dred rods  towards  each  of  the  cardinal  points, 
that  is,  a  surrounding  wall  five  hundred  rods  in 
length  on  each  side;  in  whole,  an  area  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  square  rods,  while  the 
temple,  with  its  courts,  claims  only  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  square  cubits.  Hengstenberg, 
at  the  mention  of  this  in  fact  so  much  more  con- 
gidcrablc  space  than  that  of  the  sanctuary,  but 
aeither  further  defined  nor  filled  up,  is  reminded 


of  the  Hungarian  who,  looking  at  a  bare  expanse, 
said:  "Nothing  but  space,"  and  finds  a  mere 
vacuum  on  each  of  the  four  sides  "intolerable." 
But  when  he  finds  nothing  corresponding  in  Solo- 
mon's temple,  the  form  of  which,  however,  is 
perpetually  before  the  prophet's  eyes,  and  in  replj 
to  what  he  otherwise  expresses  regarding  the 
"enormous  extent"  of  "ujeless  spacS,"  Kliefoth, 
in  giving  the  purpose  intended :  to  separate,  etc. , 
says :  "In  tHe  case  of  the  tabernacle  and  Solo- 
mon's temple  the  outer  court  served  for  this  pur- 
pose, whereas,  in  the  case  of  Ezekiel's  temple,  the 
outer  court  also  still  belongs  to  the  sanctuary,  and 
is  itself  holy ;  and  the  purpose  of  separating  the 
sanctuary  from  the  common  ground  must  be  effected 
by  this  surrounding  space,  which,  in  this  respect, 
takes  the  place  in  regaTd  to  Ezekiel's  temple  which 
the  outer  court  took  in  the  case  of  that  of  Solo- 
mon."  Keil  disputes  the  latter  statement,  and 
says  that  ' '  the  tabernacle  had  no  outer  court,  and 
in  Solomon's  temple  the  outer  court  already  formed 
a  part  of  the  sanctuary. "  He  continues  :  "Only 
in  the  case  of  the  latter  temple,  the  outer  court 
bordered  immediately  on  the  common  soil  of  the 
city  and  of  the  land,  so  that  the  pollution  of  the 
land  produced  by  the  sin  of  the  people  could  press 
without  obstacle  even  into  the  sacred  space  of  the 
courts.  To  this  a  limit  shall  be  set  in  the  sanc- 
tuary of  the  future,  by  this  environing  space  set 
apart  for  separating  the  holy  from  the  profane. " 
That  the  extent  of  the  temple,  with  its  courts,  is 
not  rendered  insignificant  by  the  twenty-five  times' 
greater  size  of  the  space  in  question,  KeU  proves 
from  the  circumstance  that  it  "  is  not  covered 
with  buildings,"  and  hence  comes  into  considera- 
tion merely  as  so  significant  a  separation  from  the 
profane,  by  which  "strongly  marked  separation 
peculiar  to  Ezekiel's  temple, "  the  "  inviolable  holi- 
ness of  this  sanctuary"  is,  on  the  contrary,  illus- 
trated in  an  enhanced  measure.  That  the  surface 
of  Mount  Moriah  affords  no  room  for  this  is  cer- 
tainly no  proof  against  the  above-mentioned  view 
of  Keil  and  Kliefoth,  for  ch.  xl.  2  speaks  only  of 
a  very  high  mountain. 

[Throughout  vers.  16-20  Dr.  FaLrbaim  abides 
by  the  rendering  of  the  English  version  :  "reeds  " 
or  "rods,"  not  "cubits,"  and  adds:  "We  re- 
gard the  immense  extent  of  the  sacred  area  as  a 
symbol  of  the  vast  enlargement  that  was  to  be 
given  to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  times  of  Mes- 
siah. It  was  immeasurably  to  surpass  the  old  in 
the  extent  of  its  territory,  and  in  the  number  of 
its  adherents,  as  well  as  in  the  purity  of  its  viOT- 
ship.  The  wall  that  surrounded  the  sacred  build- 
ings is  expres.sly  said,  in  ver.  20,  to  have  been  for 
separating  between  the  holy  and  profane  ;  not, 
therefore,  as  in  Rev.  xxi.  12,  and  very  common 
elsewhere,  for  defence  and  safety  ;  as,  indeed,  its 
comparative  want  of  elevation  might  seem  to 
render  it  unfit  for  such  a  purpose.  But  its  square 
form,  and  the  square  appearance  of  the  entire 
buildings  (as  in  John's  city.  Rev.  xxi.  16),  be- 
tokened the  strength  and  solidity  of  the  whole, 
along  with  a  vast  increase  in  extent  and  number. 
A  perfect  cube,  it  was  the  emblem  of  a  kingdom 
that  could  not  be  shaken  or  removed.  And  thus 
every  way  it  exhibited,  to  the  eye  of  faith,  the 
true  ideal  of  that  pure  and  glorious  temple,  which, 
resting  on  the  foundation  of  the  Eternal  Son,  and 
girt  round  by  all  the  perfections  of  Godhead,  shall 
shine  forth  the  best  and  noblest  workmanship  of 
Heaven."— FAiEBArBN's  Ezekiel,  p.  470.— W.  F.] 


CHAP.  XLIII.  405 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 

1,  2  And  he  led  me  to  the  gate,  the  gate  that  looks  toward  the  east :     And, 

behold,  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  came  from  the  east,  and  its  [hm]  voice 

3  was  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  the  earth  shone  with  His  glory.  And 
as  the  appearance  [was]  the  appearance  which  I  saw,  as  the  appearance  which 
I  saw  wlien  I  came  to  destroy  the  city,  and  [there  were]  sights  like  the  appear- 

4  ance  which  I  saw  by  the  river  Chebar  ;  and  I  fell  upon  my  face.  And  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  came  to  the  house  by  the  way  of  the  gate  whose  face  [front] 

5  is  toward  the  east.     And  the  Spirit  lifted  me  up,  and  brought  me  to  the 

6  inner  court,  and,  behold,  the  glory  of  Jehovah  filled  the  house.  And  I  heard 
one  speaking  to  me  from  the  house,  and  a  man  was  standing  beside  me. 

7  And  He  said  to  me  :  Son  of  man,  [behold]  the  place  of  My  throne  and  the  place 
of  the  soles  of  My  feet,  where  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the  sons  [chuaren] 
of  Israel  for  ever,  and  the  house  of  Israel  shall  no  more  defile  the  name  of 
My  holiness,  they  and  their  kings,  by  their  whoredom  and  by  the  corpses  of 

8  their  kings,  their  high  places ;  When  they  gave  their  threshold  beside  My 
threshold  and  their  post  beside  My  post,  and  [only]  the  wall  [was]  between  Me 
and  them,  and  they  defiled  [«o  deiied  they]  the  name  .of  My  holiness  by  their 
abominations  which  they  did,  and  I  consumed  them  in  My  anger  [breath  of 

9  anger].     Now  shall  they  put  away  their  whoredom,  and  the  corpses  of  their 

10  kings  from  Me,  and  I  dwell  in  their  midst  for  ever.  Thou,  son  of  man,  show 
to  the  house  of  Israel  the  [this]  house,  that  they  may  be  ashamed  because  of 
their  iniquities,  and  they  measure  [so  they  measure]  the  harmony  of  proportion. 

11  And  if  they  be  ashamed  because  of  all  that  they  did,  make  them  know  the 
conformation  of  the  house,  and  its  arrangement,  and  its  out-goings,  and  its  in- 
comings, and  all  its  forms,  and  what  relates  to  all  its  ordinances,  and  all  its 
forms,  and  all  its  precepts  [laws] ;  and  write  before  their  eyes,  that  they  may 

12  keep  its  whole  conformation  and  all  its  ordinances,  and  they  do  them.  This  is 
the  law  [the  Thorah]  of  the  house ;  on  the  head  [top]  of  the  mountain  all  its 
border  round  and  round  is  most  holy  !    Behold,  this  is  the  law  of  the  house. 

13  And  these  are  the  measures  of  the  altar  [altar  of  bnm^offe^lng]  in  cubits  ;  the  cubit 
a  cubit  and  a  hand- breadth,  and  [indeed]  the  [a]  bosom  (the  girth)  had  the 
cubit,  and  [i.e.]  one  cubit  broad  [thick],  and  its  border  at  its  lip  [its  edge]  round 

14  about  was  a  span,  and  this  is  the  elevation  of  the  altar ;  Ana  [namely]  from 
the  bosom  [at]  the  ground  to  the  lower  rest  were  two  cubits,  and  a  breadth 
of  one  cubit ;  and  from  the  lesser  rest  to  the  greater  rest,  four  cubits  and  a 

15  breadth  of  one  cubit.     And  the  mountain  of  God  four  cubits ;  and  from  the 

16  hearth  of  God  and  upwards  were  the  four  horns.     And  the  hearth  of  God 

1 7  twelve  in  length  by  twelve  in  breadth,  square  in  all  its  four  sides.  And  the 
rest  fourteen  in  length  by  fourteen  in  breadth  in  its  four  sides,  and  the  border 
round  about  it  was  half  a  cubit,  and  its  bosom  [girth  was]  a  cubit  round  about, 

18  and  its  [the  altar's]  steps  toward  the  east.  And  He  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah :  These  are  the  ordinances  of  the  altar  on  the 
cky  when  it  is  made,  to  cause  burnt-offerings  to  ascend  upon  it,  and  to  sprinkle 

19  blood  upon  it.  And  thou  givest  to  the  priests,  the  Levites,  those  who  are  of 
the  seed  of  Zadok,  who  draw  near  to  Me, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, — 

20  to  minister  to  ^le,  a  bullock,  a  young  steer,  for  a  sin-offering.  And  thou 
takest  of  its  blood,  and  give.st  it  upon  its  [thcaitar-s]  four  horns,  and  on  the  four 
corners  of  the  rest,  and  on  the  border  round  about,  and  thou  dost  cleanse  and 

21  e-xpiate  it.     And  thou  takest  the  bullock  of  the  sin-offering,  and  one  burns  it 

22  in  the  assigned  [appointed]  place  of  the  house,  without  the  sanctuary.  And  on 
the  second  day  thou  shalt  offer  a  kid  of  the  goats  without  blemish  for  a  sin- 

23  offering,  and  they  cleanse  the  altar  as  they  cleansed  with  the  bullock.  When 
thou  hast  completed  the  cleansing,  thou  shalt  offer  a  bullock,  a  young  steel 

24  without  blemish,  and  a  ram  of  the  flock  without  blemish.     And  thou  offere.'it 


toe  EZEKIEL. 

them    before    Jehovah,  and    the    priests   cast   salt  upon    them,  and   make 

25  them  ascend  as  a  burnt-offering  [oiah]  to  Jehovah.  Seven  days  shalt  thou 
prepare  a  kid  for  a  sin-offering  daily,  and  they  shall  prepare  a  bullock,  a 

26  young  steer,  and  a  ram  of  the  flock  without  blemish.     Seven  days  do  they 

27  expiate  the  altar,  and  purify  it,  and  fill  its  hand.  And  they  shall  have 
completed  the  [these]  days ;  thus  it  comes  to  pass  on  the  eighth  day  and 
onwards,  that  the  priests  shall  make  upon  the  altar  your  burnt-offerings, 
and  your  peace-offerings ;  and  I  receive  you  graciously, — sentence  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.    2.  Sept :  .  .  .  xarix  t.  «5ov  T*jf  m^r,;  T.  $Xtirouffr,i  irpot  .  .  .  f  «p»j  Tjjf  ircLpifM^eXxi  iti  f  «»vi)  ZirXxrtx^otran  woXXaif 

Ver.  3.  K.  n  opctirtf  iv  iSov  xatra  T.  epeto-iy  r,v  iSov  on  liffiTepli/of^rir  Toy  XP"^^'  ^*  ^oXif  x.  vt  ipat^if  rev  kpfMLTOi  ei  £'?;;,— 
Vulp. :  Et  vidi  visionem  secundum  gpeciem,  quam  videram  quando  venit  ut  dUperderet  .  .  .  ef  apeciem  secundum  atpectum 

quern  videram—    (Another  reading:  1X33<  i.e.  cum  venit  dominus.) 

Ver.    4.  .  ,  .  ingressa  est  templum — 

Ver.    6.  K.  iffTY,y  x.  l^ou  ^a/v»i  (k  .  .  .  t'trrrtxu  ixof^tfot  fjuiv^ 

Ver.  7.  ,  .  .  '£^/)<xx«f ,  uh  .  .  .  TW  I'^vfif;  ropy  voZan  .  .  .  £v  ojV  .  <  •  ro  Srofut  fjMv  ty  purv  rov  c'xov  'Itrp,  .  .  .  ;  x.  it 
rot!  ^cvois  voir  r,yeijfjLtvai¥  Ev  fMffai  atiiTVv,  (8.)  't>  TOf  rtdlvett  a,UTVJt  TO  rpoSvpof  fjuv  ir  r.  rpoSupoif  Mvraiy  X,  rats  ifXtxi  yum  ixof^tictt 
rmv  ^Xiafv  ixiTVn,  x.  tSaixxv  7.  roixo'  /Mu  u;  (rvv£;|^o,ufvoy  iiAov  x.  aiiraat,  x.  .  .  .  X.  i^irpf^x  etvrwjs  if  dufjLoi  fMiy  X,  ir  fo*v. 
Vulg. :  .  .  .  vestigiorum  pedum  meorum,  ubi  habico  ,  .  .  et  in  ruinis  requm  luorvm  el  in  exceUii^  (8.)  qui/abricati  ntnt  . . . 

propter  quod consumpsieos—    (Another  reading:  Dm03,  in  mor<e  eonrni.) 

Ver.   9.  .  .  .  *.  T.  ^oiovs —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  ruinas  regum  .  .  .  semper. 

Ver.  10.  Another  reading:  nJlKI— n'33n  fro  n'33n. 

Ver.  10.  .  .  .  3l({3y  r»  .  .  .  x.  xovxrovriw  Stro  -ron    Stfutpritn  ...  X.  «i^  tpxctr  ecvreo  X.  rvf  itxrxlif  eturmf  (11.)  X. 
xuToi  A*:%^«»Tai  Ttjy  xokxcty  xumt  tnpi  trxvrm  . .  .  K.  iixypx-^iit  T.  o'txtr  ...  X.  T»)f  if^oetxrn  alrov  X.  vxfTx  r.  TpetrT»ypMtT» 
%'jTau  X.  wxvTa.  rx  vofUput  xutou  ympttit  CLirots  ...  X.  fuXcc^ovTxi  iroeyrx  rts  ZiMetmpcxTx  fMV  x.  wxvrx  r.  vpoCTXy/Aarx  ptM 
Vulg.:  .  .  .  ostende  .  .  .  templum  .  ,  .  et  metiantur  /abricam  (\l.)  et  erubacant  .  .  .  Figwam  domus  et  fabricu  .  .  .  et 
omnem  descriptionem  .  .  .  prtccepta  .  .  .  cunctumque  ordinem  .  ,  .  ostende  eis  .  .   .  omnes  descriptiones —    (Desunt  in 

nonnuUiscodd.:  imiS  ^31  Vflpn  '?2   nSI,  or  only  imiX  'p2\    /»/«  fwnu  iejrfrurpiBr. :  VDIIIV  i>3.) 

Ver.  12    K.  Ty,r  Stxypx^.w  T.  oixov  in  rns  xcpufvf  "rev  opovt.     Tlxirx  T«  ipix —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  domut  in  summitatt 

montis. 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  Tfl  xeXrtifia  0x9o!  wtx^s  «*'  ^rvix^f,  x.  inj^fff  «  tiipoe-  x.  yfirot  iwi  vov  ;t;fjAoi';  awrai;  xvxXtdtft  mBa^uit, 

K.  ravro  to  i^oe —    Vulg. :  ...  In  sinu  ejus  erat  cuintus  .  .  .  hwc  quoque  erat  fossa  altaris. 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:   ix  ^xBcvs  t.  apx*li   Tov  xotXmtJUtTOS  .  .  .  trpoe  To  IXearryipier   TO  pctyct  to   uTOXaToiSlt  ...  X.   x««   rm 

IXxfTTpiov  T.  ij,ixpov  in  T.  iXoirrnpm  to  fuya—    Vulg. :  .  .  .  usque  ad  crepidinem  novissimam  ...  a  erepidint  minore— 

Ver.  16.  K.  TO  ipitsX  .  .  .  iTo  To»  ipifik  .  .  .  nn  xipxTm  mi^vf.    (Another  reading:  PK^lfini,  mmta  del.    Syr.: 

Adiel.— JS'ISHDI,  lilteris  Iranipositis.) 

Ver.  16.  K.  to  ctptr.X  (eadem  codicum  varietas). 

Ver.  17.  K.  TO  tXxff-rripior  .  .  ,  T9  ti/poi  Ttrpxyatvor  in  T«  Tiractpx  .  .  .  x.  ro  yuffoi  n'jTou  xuxXoBtr  xuxXo/Alvov  «WT».^ 
Vulg. :  Et  crepido  .  .  .  et  corona  in  circuitu  ejus — 

Ver.  19.  ...  0  Piof  Tov  Aew,  .  .  .  /.ue-xo*  i»  ^oa/v  rEpt  af^uxpriM^    Vulg.:  .  .  .  vituXum  de  armento pro peceato. 

Ver.  20.  K.  Xrr^ovrxi  .  .  ,  x.  itriBvirouirty  .  .  .  to'j  iXxrrnpiov  x.  iiei  t.  0xirt9  xvxXoi,  x.  tripipxrmi:  xuTO  SI.  i^^Axmrai 
xCto.    Vulg.:     .  .  .  angulos  crepidinis  et  super  coronam  .  .  .  et  mundabis  Ulud  et  expiabis. 

Ver.  21    K.  X^i^ovTxt  ...  X.  xxTxxxuQfiriTxi  i»  t.  xxoxlxoipifffHrtt  tov~ 

Ver.  22.  .   .  .  Xti-^evTXi  ipi^ovs  Svo  Ilto  x'lyoi*  otu.oi/Mvt — 

Ver.  23.  .  .  .  rrpotrotirouiri* —    Vulg.:  .  .     de  armento  et  .  ,  .  de  grege-^ 

Ver.  24.  X.  ^povoiriTt — 

Ver.  26.  .  .  .  Toir.iraiiiriv  (26.)  iirTX  vfttpai^  X.— 

Ver.  26.  Qeri :   ^"1£33''     Idem  tegunt  quam  plurimi  codices. 

Ver.  27.  .  .  .  *.  trparh^e/Axi  vfjMt —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  elplacatus  ero  roMs— 


EXEGETICAl  REMAKES. 

Vers.  1-12.   The  Entrance  of  the  Glory  of 
Jehovah. 

The  measuring  is  over,  the  house  is  in  this 
respect  finislietl  as  an  actual  house  (ch.  xlii.  15), 
that  is,  its  measurements  are  completed.  But 
heaven  and  earth  are  said  to  be  finished  (Gen.  ii.) 
only  when  the  Eternal  rested.  And  so  the  pro- 
phet s  guide  leads  him  back— Ver.  1 — to  the 
gate  ("lyt^'l),  to  the  one  tliat  principally  comes 

into  consideration  (comp.  what  has  been  re- 
marked in  tlie  foregoing  chapters  regarding  the 
»'(r»;ficance  of  this  gate,  and  also  the  Doctrinal 


Keflections),  to  the  east  gate, — we  will  have  to 
imagine  Ezekiel  standing  before  this  gate, — that 
after  aL  the  measuring  ne — Ver.  2 — may  see  the 
glory,  sq.  (see  pp.  38  sq.,  52),  coming  to  its  rest. 
Hengst.  :  a  parallel  to  Ex.  xl.  34  sq.,  and 
1  Kings  viii.  10  sq.,  and  the  counterpart  to  ch. 
xi.  of  our  prophet  (comp.  ch.  x.  19,  xi.  1,  23). 
The  gate  of  exit  then  is  the  gate  of  re-entrance 
now.  —  'ipipl,  comp.   on   ch.   i.   24.      The  voice 

might  refer   more   to   the   manifestation   of  the 
glory  ;  comp.  however.  Kfv.   i.   15  :  His  glory  is 
at  all  events  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  (Luke 
ii.  9;  Rev.  xviii.   1)!     The  significant  addition 
and  the  earth,  etc.,  is  not  sulficiently  explained 


CHAP.  XLIII.  3-7 


407 


by  a  brilliant  light  cast  upon  the  ground  ;  but  as 
the  land  of  Canhan  is  hartlly  meant  here,  by  this 
burst  of  light  extending  far  beyond  Israel  is 
meant  to  be  symbolized  an  enlightenment  also  of 
tlie  face  of  the  whole  earth,  that  is,  of  the  entire 
region  of  humanity,  thus  shown  to  have  been  in 
itself  and  hitherto  dark,  Isa.  vi.  3,  Ix.  1  sq.  It 
is  like  sunrise  (lix  i"  the  Hiphil,  to  "make"  or 
"give"  "light,"  Gen.  i.  15,  17)  for  the  world 
through  Israel's  temple-gate,  and  in  so  far  is 
certainly  something  addition.il  which  was  not 
in  the  tabernacle  or  Solomon's  temple  ;  just  as 
in  general  the  temple  of  Ezekiel  is  a  symbol  of 
the  future.  —  Ver.  3  in  no  way  contradicts 
this.     '-;t;''s  nsiSH  nS{"lD31  may  be  translated  : 

"  and  as  the  appearance  of  the  appearance 
which,  etc.,  as  the  appearance  (closer  definition) 
which  I  saw  when,"  etc.,  that  is,  quite  as  con- 
spicuous as  that  was,  was  the  appearance  of  glory 
this  time  also.  Keil:  "And  the  appearance 
which  I  saw  was  to  look  upon  just  like  the  ap- 
pearance   wliich   I   saw   when   I,"    etc.        3    is 

evidently  a  resumption  of  3v  The  former  ap- 
pearance (nS'lOSO  comes  first  before  the  pro- 
phet's mind  when  he  wishes  to  describe  what  he 
saw,  and  seeks  therefore  for  an  appearance  with 
which  he  can  compare  it ;  and  then  he  charac- 
terizes more   closely  this   appearance  (nXIDS), 

with  which  he  compares  that  now  seen.  Keil's 
observation  against  Hitzig  does  not  meet  the 
point,  but  neither  is  Hitzig's  alteration  of  the 
text  necessary.  In  the  first  place,  by  means  of 
this  comparison  the  re-entrance  of  the  divine 
glory  is  attested  ia  the  sti'ongest  way,  and  there- 
fore so  circumstantially.  It  was  the  same  glory 
then  as  now.  For  all  this,  the  prophet  does  not 
intend  to  deny  the  anger  in  the  execution  of 
judgment  then,   for  he  expressly  defines  more 

olosely   nntJ"?  'N23,  which  alone  is  the  correct 

text,  since  the  Lord  did  not  come,  but  rather 
went,  giving  over  the  city  to  destruction,  and  in 
reality  Ezekiel  was  the  person  coming — of  course 
in  the  vision  of  God,  the  subject  to  be  spoken  of 
immediately.  The  prophet  did  not  come  in  order 
to  see  the  destruction  of  the  city,  but  his  coming 
was  a  seeing  which  had  for  its  aim  and  issue  his 
announcement  of  the  overthrow  ;  and  then  this 
ideal  destruction  on  the  part  of  the  prophet  was 
also  realized  by  the  judgment  of  God  fulfilling  it. 
Ezekiel  first,  Nebuchadnezzar  afterwards  (ch. 
XXX.  11),  but  by  both  certainly  Jehovah.  In  the 
second  place,  the  prophet,  as  he  had  already  done 
in  ch.  X.  15,  20,  compares  the  last  visions  (comp. 
ch.  xl.  2),  hence  the  coming  of  the  glory  with 
its  individual  manifestations,  with  the  appear- 
ance which  the  manifestation  had  had  on  the 
Chebar  (ch.  i). — On  his  falling  down  Hengsten- 
berg  observes ;  "In  ch.  i.  28  it  was  before  the 
majesty  of  the  angry  God ;  here  before  the 
majesty  of  God  appearing  in  His  grace  (Rev.  i. 
17)."  Comp.  also  on  ch.  iii.  23. — Ver.  4.  A  con- 
tinuation of  ver.  2  ;  there  :  whence  the  glory  of 
the  God  of  Israel  came  ;  here  :  whither  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  came ;  there  :  from  the  east ;  here  ;  to 
the  house  through  the  east  gate,  to  its  dwelling, 
to  its  rest. 
Ver.  5.  Comp.  on  ch.  iii.  12.  There  is  still  leas 


need  of  the  "  wind"  here  ;  to  arrive  at  the  inner 
court,  the  prophet  needed  only  to  go,  as  hitherto, 
in  vision.  But  Ezekiel  needs  taking  up  by  the 
Spirit,  not  only  because  the  impression  of  ver.  2 
has  cast  him  to  the  ground  (Hexgst.  ),  but  also 
in  order  to  be  able  to  foUow,  so  far  as  was  per- 
mitted to  him  as  priest,  the  fresh  revelation  of 
the  glory  of  Jehovah  filling  the  temple.  For  the 
form  of  manifestation,  1  Kings  viii.  10  sq.  might 
be  compared,  and  so  much  the  more  as  that  be- 
comes quite  plain  there,  which  indeed  is  already 
indicated  in  Ex.  xl.  35  sq.,  that  the  cloud  is  as 
significant  in  the  manner  of  manifestation  as  the 
glory  is  in  the  actual  fact,  according  as  the  cloud 
is  one  of  fire  or  of  light  (Matt.  xvii.  5). — Ver.  6. 

Evidently,  however,  the  <^x  -\2^0  [Hav.  under- 
stands the  Hithpael  of  a  conversation  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  sanctuary  (?),  of  a  command  to  the 
angel  to  communicate  to  the  seer  the  revelation 
of  God],  that  is,  the  one  speaking  to  him  from 
the  house  whom  Ezekiel  hears  first,  is  meant  to 
be  represented  as  visible  by  'n^n  t5"X1i  ^°  'hat 

the  man  is  the  medium  between  Jehovah  and  the 
prophet,  and  so  must  certainly  be  conceived  of  in 
analogy  with  ch.  xl.  3  (which  comp. ),  as  KeU : 
•  Xsyts,  John  i.  Hengst.  supposes  :  "  the  man 
has  entered  the  door  to  speak  to  him."    IOK'1 

in  Ver.  7  is  certainly  the  {y'S  of  ver.  6.— TIK 
DipD  denotes  an  accusative,  and  reqtiires  a  "  be- 
hold" to  be  supplied.  What  the  man  says  iden- 
tifies him  entirely  with  Jehovah,  wherefore  the 
reference  by  the  article  back  to  the  man  in  ch. 
xl.  3  is  intentionally  omitted.  We  no  longer 
walk  with  the  prophet  through  the  courts  of  the 
sanctuary  to  the  measurings  of  his  guide,  but  th« 
vision  is  interpreted  to  Ezekiel,  and  through  him 
to  us,  from  the  most  holy  place.  The  man's 
speech,  legitimating  itself  as  word  of  Jehovah, 
shows  him  to  be  essentially  the  glory  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  so  that  we  now  know  why  nothing  far- 
ther was  said  regarding  the  way  and  manner  in 
which  the  glory  of  Jehovah  filled  the  house  (ver. 
5),  and  the  form  of  its  manifestation.  "  Between 
the  statement,"  rightly  remarks  Hengst.,  "that 
one  spake,  and  the  speech  that  was  spoken,  stands 
the  account  of  the  person  of  the  speaker,  to  which 
the  prophet  has  his  attention  first  directed  by  the 
speech  ;  the  seeing  was  first  occasioned  by  the 
hearing."  We  have  before  us  in  the  man  the 
essential  revelation  of  Jehovah's  glory.  Comp. 
on  ch.  i.  26,  pp.  55,  56  ;  Rev.  i.  10  sq.  The  Mes- 
sianic -  christological  interpretation  is  the  only 
explanation  conesponding  to  the  connection,  so 
much  the  more  significantly,  as  thei-e  is  no  men- 
tion in  Ezekiel  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  with 
which  elsewhere  the  dwelling  of  Jehovah  in  the 
midst  of  Israel  is  wont  to   ^e  connected  ;   and 

hence  also  the  cf?\]l^  here,  and  in  ver.  9,  is  to  be 

taken  as  unconditionally  literal  (th.  xxxvii.  26, 
28).  Neither  in  the  tabernacle  nor  in  the  temple 
of  Solomon  had  Jehovah  dwelt  for  ever,  although 
these  might  be  called  the  "place  of  His  throne," 
that  is,  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  (1  Sam.  iv.  4  ; 
Ex.  XXV.  22)  ;  see  Biihr,  Symb.  der  Mos.  Kult.  i. 
p.   387  sq.,   and  parallel  therewith  niB3  DIpD 


108 


EZEKIEL. 


i^j-i,  \,y  which    the    lower  part  of    the    throne, 

more  exactly  the  ground  whereon  it  stands,  is 
particularized.  C'onip.  for  the  latter  mode  of  ex- 
pressiiin,  Isa.  Ix.  13.  According  to  ch.  Ixri.  1  : 
place  of  the  boIcb  of  My  feet,  hence  the  same 
footstool  (the  earth)  as  here,  perhaps  alludes 
to  the  most  holy  place  of  the  temple,  where  the 
ark  stood,  while"  the  ark  which  was  set  up  upon 
the  floor  of  the  most  holy  place  is  to  be  compared 
to  heaven,  Isa.  Ixri.  1  ;  Ps.  xcix.  5,  cxxxii.  7. 
Reference  is  also  made  hereby  to  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  2).  Both  modes  of 
expression  symbolize  the  ten.ple  in  the  traditional 
legal  manner  as  the  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah 
(DU'"iZ'J'X  "ItJ'S),— tli<^  first  referring  chiefly  to 

the  ark,  and  the  second  chiefly  to  the  most  holy 
place  (for  which  see  ver.  12).  Bahr  says:  "  What 
the  dwelling  is  in  a  larger  sense  and  generally, 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  is  in  a  narrower  sense  and 
in  particular  ;  in  it  the  dwelling  of  Jehovah  is 
concentrated  in  a  single  point,"  etc.— In  confor- 
mity with  his  theory  of  the  conditionaUty  of 
certain  promises,  Hengst.  finds  in  the  statement : 
■hall  no  more,  etc.,  reference  to  a  condition, 
whereas  it  simply  repeats  negatively  what  the 
dwelling  of  Jehovah  for  ever  has  already  said 
positively  (ch.  xxxvii.  23  sq.,  xxxLx.  24,  29  ; 
comp.  John  x.  28). — On  :  the  name  of  My  holi- 
ness, comp.  on  eh.  xxxvi.  20  sq.  Ch.  xvi., 
XX. — 1J3  is  something  "fallen down,"  "flaccid," 

a  corpse.  It  cannot  he  proved  that  the  burial- 
places  of  kings  were  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
temple.  It  will  not  do  to  take  the  corpses  for 
dead  idols,  even  although  it  should  be  a  quotation 
from  Lev.  xxvi.  30,  for  that  passage  speaks  of 
demolished  idols,  whereas  flourishing  idols  are 
treated  of  here.  Moreover,  a  closer  definition 
could  hardly  be  omitted  (Jer.  xvi.  18),  which 
Keil,  indeed,  finds  here  in  the  context.  Hav. 
insists  on  finding  the  idols  in  the  kings  (Amos  v. 
26  ;  Zeph.  i.  5),  holding  it  to  be  a  contemptuous 
expression  for:  the  lifeless  idols.  On  the  other 
hand,  Keil  and  Hengstenberg  remind  us  of  kings 
like  Manasseh  and  Amon,  who  took  to  do  with 
dead  bodies,  which  according  to  the  law  were 
to  be  avoided  as  unclean  and  j)ollutiug,  had  built 
for  them  altars  or  high  places  in  the  courts  of  the 
temple  (2  Kings  xxi.  4,  5,  7),  and  patronized 
the  worship  of  idols.  As  whoredom  designates 
idolatry  in  general,  so  what  is  meant  to  be  said 
by  the  corpses  of  their  kings  applies  to  the  wor- 
ship of  kings,  the  forgotten  subjection  to  Jehovah 
under  them,  who,  if  kings,  yet  are  perpetuated 
or'y  as  corpses  ;  one  might  be  allowed  to  call  to 
mind  Schubert's  poem:  "The  Princes' Vault." 
To  this  the  appositional,  loosely  strung  ani02 

the  more  fittingly  attaches  itself,  as  in  riioa  the 

thought  of  the  kings  as  also  high  points,  points 
of  worship  in  social  life,  easily  connects  itself 
ivith  the  worship  on  the  high  places,  which  was 
specially  popular  in  the  time  of  the  kings,  and 
tolerated  even  by  the  better  kings  ;  the  worship 
of  the  king,  and  the  worship  favoured  by  the 
Kings,  would  border  on  one  another.  As  idolatry 
in  general  constitutes  the  defilement  of  the  name 
cf  Jehovah,  the  doings  on  the  part  alike  of  the 
house  of  Israel  in  general,  and  of  their  kings  in 
pftrticular,  so  the  figurative  and  literal  worship- 


ping on  high  places  forms,  with  special  reference 
to  the  kings,  a  contrast  to  the  eiTthronement  of 
the  King  Jehovah,  and  to  His  dwelling  in  the 
literal  sense  in  the  midst  of  Israel.  [In  the  in- 
terest of  the  difl'erent  explanation  of  <-i3B3 
Dn'3^0,  it  has  been  proposed  to  read  Dni03.  "  i" 

their  death,"  as  the  Chaldee  paraphrase  already 
interprets.      Zunz  makes  Dfltoa  dependent  on 

IKBtiN  but  the  3  wanting  before  DniD3  can  be 

easily  supplied  from  the  preceding  DflWia  and 

''■^iDB-] — ^^r.  8.     The  subject  in  DDHa  is  tiot 

the  kings  (Hengst.),  but  what  was  subject  in 
ver.  7,  the  house  of  Israel  and  their  kings.  The 
suffix  in  DBD  means,  if  any  particular  persons, 

the  kings,  but  better,  Israel  in  general.  'What  is 
then  said  refers  neither  to  the  temples  of  the  high 
places,  which  had  been  placed  so  close  beside  the 
temple  of  God  (Keil),  for  their  threshold  cannot 
refer  to  their  high  places,  nor  to  idol-chambers 
there  (comp.  for  this  ch.  viii. ),  and  idol-altars  in 
the  courts  of  the  temple,  which  the  kings  of 
Judah  built  (such  things  would  require  to  be  ex- 
pressed more  plainly) ;  nor  is  this  disparaging  ex- 
pression meant  to  condemn  the  buOding  of  royal 
palaces  like  that  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  vii.)  ;  but  if 
kings  are  specially  aimed  at,  then  the  figurative 
mode  of  expression,  as  given  by  the  temple  of 
Jehovah,  wUl  pronounce  sentence  on  the  conduct 
of  the  kings  who  assumed  an  equality  with 
Jehovah  (1  Kings  xii.  28,  32),  by  their  idolatrous 
appointments  and  arrangements  with  respect  to 
religion  and  worship.  It  is  better,  however,  to 
hold  that  the  defilement  of  the  name  of  the 
holiness  of  Jehovah  by  the  people  and  the  kings 
consisted  in  this,  that  the  consciousness  of  the 
distance  between  Jehovah  and  Israel  had  entirely 
disappeared  from  the  life  of  the  latter,  the  dwell- 
ing of  Jehovah  was  as  if  it  were  not  present  in 
Israel,  Israel  performed  his  domestic  and  secret 
worship  of  idols  as  his  worship  of  Jehovah,  so 
that  only  the  temple  wall  (Tjjn)  still  protested, 

and  preserved,  or  at  least  marked  to  Israel  the 
boundary  between  the  Holy  One  and  His  people. 
[KeU  understands  "I'pn  of  the  temple  wall,  which 

was  "the  only  thing  between  Jehovah  and  the 
corpse-gods."]— *>3S1,  from   rhs    imperf.   apoc. 

Piel(Ex.  xxxii.  10,  xxx.  3!),  signifies:  to  make 
the  measure  full,  to  finish  sin  by  death  (Jas. 
i.  15). — 'SX3,  comp.  on  ch.  xxxviii.  18. — Ver. 

9   resumes,   in   conclusion,   the  subject  of  ver. 

7,  as  also  to  the  same  purpose;  "the  eternal 
duration  of  the  new  and  perfect  revelation  of 
God  as  distinguished  from  the  Old  Testament 
merely  temporary  one,  which  is  at  this  time 
passing  over  into  complete  fulfilment  and  glori- 
fication" (Hav.),  is  repeatedly  set  forth.— ^prri* 

(Piel:    "to  put  far   away")   ijsp     corroborates 

with  respect  to  the  corpses  of  kings  the  inter- 
pretation proposed  (ver.  7)  of  idolatrous  adulation 
and  adoration  of  them  and  their  edicts  regarding 
worship. 


CHAP.  XLIII.  10-12. 


4  OS 


Ver.  10.  njn,  ch.  xl.  i.—The  Aim  of  the  An- 
nouncement of  the  Temple-Hsion,  and  congequently 
of  the  Vision  itself  as  regards  Israel. 

It  is  not  said  that  Israel  is  again  to  build  a 
temple  of  the  kind  ;  hut  neither  is  it  said  that  he 
is  to  build  up  his  phantasy  on  this  architectonic 
interim  phantasy.  But  with  the  perception  that 
Jehovah  still,  and  now  first  in  the  proper  sense, 
desires  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Israel, — a  percep- 
tion which  will  be  brought  about  by  the  announce- 
ment of  this  house  to  the  house  of  Israel,— shame 
shall  come  over  them  through  the  knowledge  of 
their  iniquities,  from  a  comparison  of  these  ini- 
quities with  the  mercy  and  grace  of  God  (ch. 
xx.wi.  31,  32),  so  that  the  goodness  of  God  leads 
them  to  repentance  (Rom.  ii.  4).  This  moral- 
prophetic  tendency  is  thoroughly  in  accordance 
with  the  Messianic  acceptation  of  the  temple- 
vision. —  n'JDD  (comp.    ch.    xxviii.   12),  not   so 

much  :  "  plan,"  model  (Hengst.),  but  ("  propor- 
tionality," says  Fiirst) :  the  harmony  of  the  pro- 
portions, the  regular  character  of  the  edifice. 
Keil:  "  the  well-apportioned  edifice."  Hengst. 
observes  on  this  measuring  ;  ' '  not  as  architects, 
but  as  Abraham  went  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Promised  Laud  (Gen.  xiii.  17)  with 
the  interest  of  the  family  belonging  to  the  house, 
in  a  meditating  and  loving  and  thankful  spiiit, 
following  the  measures  shown,"  etc. 

Ver.  11.  And  the  announcement  for  this  pur- 
pose is  not,  if  they  are  ashamed  of  themselves,  to 
be  confined  to  the  harmony  of  the  whole,  but  wUl 
enter  into  particulars,  which,  being  enumerated 
at  the  beginning,  and  in  a  profusion  of  words,  are 
well  fitted  to  produce  from  the  outset  the  im- 
pression of  something  important.        JVWi,  hovn 

"IIV,  "to  form"  (Ps  xlix.  15  [14]),  is  the  shape, 
the  form,  hence  primarily  the  outside,  with  which 
is  joined  njUn,  which   Gesenius   would   derive 

from  pfi,  and  compares  with  n^JSJI-  The  word 
is  derived  from  pg,  and  signifies  the  inside  plen- 
ishing of  a  dweUing-plaee,  as  also  the  dwelling- 
place  itself  (,lob  xxiii.  3),  for  which  its  out-goings 
and  its  in-comings,  taking  into  account  both  the 
exterior  and  the  interior,  come  above  all  into  consi- 
deration. inhlV"73  is  everything  that  TTVft  's  in 

T  T  T 

the  particular,  the   individual   forms ;  vn'iSPI'PS 

the  regulations  in  regard  to  the  pai-ticulars  of  the 
arrangement;  according  to  Keil  :  "regarding 
what  Israel  has  to  observe,  the  ordinances  of  wor- 
ship."  [Hengst.  :  All  here  has  a  practical  import 
(2  Tim.  iii.  16).  The  high  mountain,  for  example, 
on  which  the  house  is  situated  proclaims :  "Hearts 
upward."  The  wall  which  surrounded  the  whole 
(ch.  xlii.  20)  proclaims  :  "Ye  shall  be  holy,  for 
I  am  holy. "  The  guardrooms  of  the  gates  embody 
the  word;  "Without  are  dogs,  whoremongers, 
murderers,  idolaters."  The  chambers  for  the 
people  in  the  outer  court  preached;  "Kejoice 
before  the  Lord  always,"  and  ;  "  Be  ye  thankful." 
The  arrangements  for  the  priests  reminded  of  sin, 
and  deujanded  that  one  should  consecrate  himself 
to  God  in  the  burnt -ofl'ering,  present  to  Him 
always  the  thank-offering  and  the  meat-offering 
of  good  works.  The  altar  of  incense  proclaimed  U> 
all;  "  Pray  without  ceasing."]  That  the  dwell- 
ing of  the  Holy  One  among  His  people  has  as  its 


aim  their  sanctifieation  in  repentance  and  faith  aj 
to  every  part  of  them,  is  clear  from  the  accom- 
panying vn'3n"73,  which  is,  moreover,  repeated 
by  a  parallel  expression,  and  so  strengthened 
(and  all  its  forms  and  innin"f'3))  t^at  is,  all 

instructions  and  directions,  what  has  thereby 
been  given  in  doctrine  according  to  which  a  man 
should  live.  And  thus  the  symbolical  view  of 
the  section  (see  Doct.  Reflec.)  has  no  need  to  seek 
elsewhere  for  farther  justification.  By  the  com- 
mand :  write,  etc.,  the  :  make  them  know,  passes 
over  from  oral  annunciation  into  a  more  abiding 
form,  into  the  written  outline  we  have  before  us 
of  the  new  temple,  into  the  description  given  of 
the  vision. — The:  do,  corresponding  to  the  preced- 
ing ;  all  that  they  did,  certainly  does  not  mean 
that  they  are  to  build  such  a  temple,  and  just  as 
little  that  they  were  to  console  themselves  there- 
with. They  are  to  repent,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand.  The  "doing"  intended  is  a 
spiritual,  ethical  doing. 
Ver.   12.   The  mention  of  the  miin  leads  to 

the  summary  of  all  doctrine  and  precepts  in  respect 
to  this  temple,  which  is  signiticantly— in  contrast 
with  the  law  of  Moses  which  Israel  has  not  kept — 
one  might  indeed  say :  as  the  law  of  Christ — 
laid  down  repeatedly  (ver.  13)  as  the  Thorah  oj 
the  house.  For  all  is  summed  up  in  this,  that  what 
has  been  represented  on  the  (going  back  to  ch. 
xl.  2)  top  of  the  mountain  ("  head  "  of  the  moun- 
tain and  head  article  of  the  doctrine  !),  the  whole 
boundary  marked  out  for  the  house  round  and 
round,  is  most  holy  (ch.  xlv.  3).  The  summary 
thought  which  underlies  the  whole,  the  holiness 
of  Jehovah,  the  sanctifieation  of  Israel,  is  in  a 
way  set  forth  by  this,  that  even  the  courts  appear 
in  the  light  of  the  most  peculiar  abode  of  Jehovah, 
so  that  the  perfection  of  a  new  temple  as  the  com- 
pletion of  the  old  is  here  proclaimed  as  a  close  to 
the  temple-vision  proper.  Hengst.  quite  uselessly 
takes  pains  to  tone  down  the  D<{jnp  Bnp  into 

"  eminently  holy."  For  if  it  is  conceded  to  him 
that  "ideally"  (as  he  says)  such  (a  holy  place) 
was  already  extant  in  the  tabernacle  and  the 
temple  of  Solomon,  and  all  behoved  in  view  of  it 
to  strive  to  be  holy  in  their  whole  conversation 
(for  which  he  appeals  to  1  Pet.  i.  15),  then  he 
will  have  to  concede  that  this  "ideal"  is  set 
down  here  as  a  real,  as  the  fulfilled  law,  since 
its  ideality  was  nothing  else  than  the  idea  oi 
the  future,  the  promised  fulfilment  in  Christ. 
Num.  xviii.  10  rather  proves  this  advance  than 
furnishes  ground  for  contending  against  it,  with 
Hengstenberg ;  for  what  is  said  in  that  pas- 
sage of  the  court  of  the  tabernacle  is  expressly 
limited  to  the  priestly  families  representing  the 
people,  and.  moreover,  to  the  male  portion  of 
them.  The  Old  Testament  form,  indeed,  still  ob- 
tains on  the  top  of  the  mountain  here,  but  yet  the 
novum  qitod  in  velere  latet  is  distinctly  apparent. 
The  question  is  not  concerning  the  "world  sur- 
rounding" the  sanctuary,  but  when  the  vision 
here  finisiies  with  the  temple,  the  mutual  rela- 
tion of  its  parts  must  be  viewed — a  view  rendered 
possible  just  by  this,  that  the  most  holy  placf 
stUl  remains,  as  the  prophet  has  shown.  Cer- 
tainly 1;he  point  of  view  is  a  "  practical "  one  ;  but 
when  Hengst.  aays :  ' '  the  passage  serves  as  the 
foundation  for  the  confident  expectation  expressed 


410 


EZEKIEL. 


iu  vers.  7  and  9,  tliat  tlie  people  will  in  future 
lay  aside  all  unholy  dispositions,"  then  this  looks 
forwaid  to  a  future  which  points  far  beyond  the 
immediatly  post-exile  period,  namely,  that  God 
(to  speak  with  Hengstenberg)  "  holds  in  prospect 
to  the  children  of  Israel  a  help  against  themselves, 
whereby  they  may  succeed  in  conquering  the 
enemy  that  makes  the  dwelling  of  God  among  them 
impossible,"  this  lielp  being,  of  com-se,  the  Spirit 
of  the  Anointed  One,  of  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
somewhat  as  iu  the  passage  cited  by  Hengst., 
1  Pet.  i.  3  sq.  Comp.  1  Cor.  i.  30  :  is  ly.tinH 
iun  xa,  ayixru.,!  (2  Thess.  ii.  13  .sq. ;  Eph.  iv. 
20  sq.,  and  wxiilar  passages).  CoccEius:  "And 
tlie  least  on  this  mountain,  mthin  this  wall  of 
God,  is  great-  than  the  high  priest  in  the  temple 
of  Solomon,  Jiatt.  xi.  11  ;  Rev.  i.  6,  v.  10  ;  1  Pet. 
ii.  9;  comp.  also  Zech.  xiv.  20,  21." 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  VERS.  1-12. 

["In  this  striking  passage  we  are  first  of  all 
to  note  the  character  in  which  the  Lord  now  ap- 
pears to  dwell  and  manifest  Himself  among  His 
people.  It  is  as  their  divine  King,  occupying  that 
house  as  the  throne  of  His  kingdom.  God  had 
always  claimed  this  position,  and  had  at  first  re- 
sisted their  desires  to  have  an  earthly  sovereign, 
because  this  virtually  implied  a  rejection  of  Him 
M  the  proper  head  of  the  State.  Even  when  He 
consented  to  their  request,  it  was  with  a  solemn 
and  earnest  protest  against  the  person  chosen 
ruling  in  his  own  name,  and  for  selfish  purposes, 
or  in  any  other  way  than  as  the  Lord's  vicegerent. 
The  protest,  however,  was  soon  forgotten.  The 
king  looked  upon  himself,  and  the  people  also 
looked  upon  him,  as  posses.sing  an  absolute  title 
to  the  throne,  and  the  earthly  head  came  very 
much  to  occupy,  in  men's  eyes,  the  place  of  the 
true  and  proper  King.  But  in  the  new  and  more 
perfect  order  of  things  now  unfolded  in  vision 
to  the  prophet,   this  flagrant  perversion  of  the 

East  must  be  rectified  ;  God  must  be  known  and 
onoured  as  alone  properly  '  King  in  Jeshurun. ' 
And  hence,  not  only  here  does  He  declare  that 
He  had  come  to  occupy  His  throne  in  the  house, 
but,  as  mentioned  in  the  note  on  ver.  7,  the 
earthly  head,  when  spoken  of  in  a  subsequent 
chapter,  is  simply  called  'the  prince.'  The  su- 
premacy and  glory  of  Jehovah  were  henceforth  to 
appear  iu  their  full  splendour.  We  have  farther 
to  notice  in  the  preceding  passage  the  essentiaOy 
moral  character  of  all  that  was  here  displayed  in 
vision  respecting  tlie  future  things  of  God's  king- 
dom. It  was  not  a  pattern  which  God  was  going 
to  carry  out  anyhow,  and  accomplish  as  by  a 
simple  fiat  of  Omnipotence.  It  depended  upon 
the  condition  of  the  people,  and  only  if  they 
agi'eed  to  put  away  sin  from  among  them,  and 
ive  God  the  supreme  place  in  their  hearts,  could 
le  manifest  Himself  toward  them  in  the  manner 
described.  And  finally,  while  the  whole  scheme 
was  fraught  with  lessons  of  instruction,  and  in- 
laid with  principles  of  holiness,  tlie  grand  and 
distinguishing  peculiaiity  of  this  pattern  of  the 
future,  as  compared  with  the  past,  we  are  ex- 
pressly informed,  was  to  be  a  general  and  all- 
pcrviiding  sanctity.  The  law  of  the  liouse — what 
was  pre-eminently  entitled  to  be  called  the  law — 
consisted  in  the  whole  region  of  the  temple-mount 
being  most  holy.  Not,  as  hitherto,  was  this  cha- 
racteristic to  be  confined  to  a  single  apartment  of 


§: 


the  temple  ;  it  was  to  embrace  the  entire  circum- 
ference occupied  by  the  symbolical  institutions  o. 
the  kingdom, — the  chambers  allotted  to  the  priest, 
and  even  the  courts  trodden  by  the  people,  as 
well  as  the  immediate  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah. 
All  were  to  have  one  character  of  sacredness,  be- 
cause all  connected  with  them  were  to  occupy  a 
like  position  of  felt  nearness  to  God,  and  equally 
to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  access  to  Him.  So  that 
the  pattern  delineated  is  that  of  a  trae  theocracy, 
having  God  himself  for  king,  with  the  community 
in  all  its  members  for  true  denizens  of  the  king- 
dom, and  acceptable  ministers  of  righteousness 
before  the  Lord." — Fairbairn's  Ezehiel,  pp.  473, 
474.— W.  F.] 

Vers.  13-27.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-offering  (vers. 
13-17),  and  its  Consecration  (vers.  18-27). 

["The  remaining  verses  of  this  chapter  (vers. 
13-27)k  which  contain  a  description  of  the  altar 
of  burnt- oflTering,  and  of  the  necessary  rites  of 
consecration  connected  with  it,  seem  at  first  view 
somewhat  out  of  place.  But  there  is  an  histori- 
cal reason  for  such  a  description  being  given  here. 
Now  that  the  Lord  has  taken  possession  of  the 
house,  the  prophet  goes  on  to  show  how  the  work 
of  fellowship  and  communion  with  Him  is  to  pro- 
ceed on  the  part  of  the  people.  It  must,  as  it 
were,  commence  anew,  and  of  course  be  conducted 
after  the  old  manner ;  for  no  other  could  here 
come  into  contemplation.  But  in  ancient  times 
the  grand  medium  of  divine  intercourse  was  the 
altar,  at  which  aU  gifts  and  sacrifices  were  to  be 
presented  for  the  divine  favour  and  blessing. 
And  therefore,  the  prophet  here,  to  show  that 
the  way  was  open,  and  that  the  people  might 
have  free  access  to  the  fellowship  of  God,  after 
having  briefly  sketched  the  dimensions  of  the 
altar,  gives  instructions  for  its  consecration,  and 
the  consecration  of  the  priesthood,  which  was  aU 
that  was  needed  to  complete  the  arrangements. 
.  .  .  The  seven  days'  purification  services  for 
the  altar  have  respect  to  the  original  directions 
of  Moses  for  the  same  purpose,  in  Ex.  xxix.  37, 
and  are  simply  a  preparation  for  the  great  end 
aimed  at— that  God  might  accept  the  sacrifices  of 
the  people,  and  be  gracious  to  them  (ver.  27). 
This  indispensably  required  that  there  should 
first  be  a  consecrated  way  of  access — a  holy  altar, 
and  a  holy  priesthood  to  minister  at  it." — Fair- 
bairn's Ezekiel,  pp.  474,  475.— W.  F.] 

Ver.  13,  with  which  the  vision  already  turns 
more  expressly  to  the  second  particular,  the  ser- 
vice in  the  temple  of  Jehovah,  has  been  prepared 
for  by  occasional  references,  such  as  ch.  xl.  38 
sq.,  xlii.  13  sq.,  but  is  introduced  in  particular 
by  the  "ordinances"  and  "precepts"  com- 
manded to  be  made  known  in  ver.  11  of  our 
chapter.  We  remark,  as  regards  the  predominat- 
ing evangelical  tone  of  the  vision,  that  the  state- 
ment that  Jehovah's  sanctuary,  as  well  as 
Jehovah  Himself,  will  dwell  among  His  people, 
precedes  any  commandment  or  ordinance  in  re- 
gard to  it.  So  the  time  of  the  wandering 
patriarchs  was  likewise  before  the  time  of  the  law, 
which  simply  came  in  between  promise  and  fulfil- 
ment.—And  these  are  the  measures,  the  idea  is 
symbolized    in  the    "measure." — nattSH   ^  ^^^ 

altar  of  burnt-offering  (ch.  xl.  47,  ix.  2  ;  Ex, 
XXX.  28  sq.).     Both  on  account  of  its  significaoM 


CHAP.  XI.III.  1^-17. 


4X1 


in  regiird  to  the  people  in  their  relation  to 
Jehovah, — since  it  is  for  the  comt  what  the  ark 
which  is  wanting  in  Ezekicl  is  for  the  most 
holy  place,  and  the  altar  of  incense  for  the  holy 
place  (coMip.  Ezra  iii.), — and  also  because  a 
fresh  section  of  the  vision  announces  itself  here, 
the  more  exact  statement  of  the  measures  is 
repeated  in  accordance  with  ch.  xl.  5. — p>n,  from 

p^ri)   "to  surround,"  is  the   so-called   bosom, — 

Gesexius  :  the  hallowed  part  of  the  altar,  where 
the  fire  burnt;  Keil:  its  base;  Hengst.  :  the 
same  as  its  back  (?),  namely,  the  enclosure,  whicli 
was  of  brass, — as  being  on  the  outside  ;  "back," 
because  it  formed  the  periphery  of  the  altar ; 
"bosom,"  because  it  embraces  and  grasps  the 
heart,  since  p<n  projierly  means  something  that 

grasps.  Evidently  the  whole  circumference  of 
the  albir  wUl  be  first  given.  Keil  translates :  "a 
bottom-frame  one  cubit  high  and  one  cubit 
broad"  (?).  In  the  case  of  that  which  encloses 
the  earth  and  stone,  the  kernel  of  the  altar,  the 

breadth  is  the  thickness. — PiT^^i  (fie  feminine 

suflJx  here  and  in  nnSB',  referring  to  n<n,  has 

been  explained  from  the  transferred  relation), 

more  closely  defined  by  3<3d  nnBB'"i>X,  is,  since 

anything  else  can  scarcely  be  understood  from 
the  foregoing,  the  one  span,  that  is,  half  cubit 
broad  edging  projecting  over  the  circumference, 
inxn,  as  noun  :  a  span  of  unity,  of  the  one  =: 

one  span.  KeO,  who  interprets  from  below  up- 
wards, places  here  a  moulding  a  half  cubit  high. 
—  naisn  33  ntl   is  commonly  translated  :    the 

"back, "which  33  must  as  little  signify  as  it  can 

denote  the  "socle"  of  the  altar,  the  bottom- 
frame  with  its  moulding.  According  to  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  root-word,  to  be  "  drawn 
together,"   "heaped  up,"  33  may  at  least  quite 

as  well  denote  something  elevated  or  high,  which 
is  so  easily  expressed  by  this  object  {altare),  as 
what  is  bowed  or  bent,  especially  when  circum- 
ference and  edging  have  preceded,  and  when  in 
this  way  the  configuration  in  height  was  not  yet 
touched  on. — Ver.  14  would  describe  this  from 
tlie  bottom  upwards  ;  hence  jnXH  pTID  =  from 

the  circumference  (starting  from  that  with  which 
the  description  began  in  ver.  13),  where  it  rose 
above  the  earth,  apparently  as  belonging  to  it 
and  raising  itself  out  of  it.  [And  for  this  reason 
Havernick  already  in  ver.  13  makes  the  bosom 
mean  :  the  lowest  part  of  the  altar,  the  part  im- 
mediately on  the  earth,  the  support  of  the  whole. 
Keil  understands  psH  of  the  filling  up  of  the 

p<n  with  earth  (?).]— mtyn,  Hengst.:  "  clos- 
ing;" Keil:  "walling  round."  The  Aramaicized 
word,  which  is  derived  as  a  softened  form  from 
nSj;>  Jenotes  in  2  Chron.  iv.  9,  vi.  13,  the  court 

(iSn,  the  "enclosure").      If  derived  from  njy, 

"to  hold  off"  (hence,  "to  protect,"  "to  help"), 
the  word  would  indicate  a  rest  or  landing-pbce, 


as  the  courts  formed  such  ascending  landing- 
places  or  terraces.  It  can  hardly  be  a  third 
designation  for  the  wall  of  the  altar  (Hengst.  : 
"especially  the  external  wall  of  the  two  cubits 
thick  enclosure  ").  When,  as  here,  the  height  of 
the  altar  is  treated  of,  two  rests  are  to  be  under- 
stood, one  above  the  other, — first  a  lower  one,  be- 
cause only  two  cubits  high,  and  therefore  called 
the  lesser,  in  relation  to  the  greater  of  four  cubits 
high,  the  next  and  higher  one.  The  repeatedly 
stated  breadth  of  one  cubit  makes  the  detailed 
description  of  the  more  general  description  in 
ver.  13  more  intelligible.  We  make  by  addition 
the   height   six  cubits  ;    Keil,  seven   cubits,  but 

where  is  his  half  cubit  ^^33  ? 

Ver.  15.  PKinn,  "  the  mountain  of  God,"  four 

cubits  high,  denotes  after  the  two  court -like  rests, 
in   the   priestly   mode   of    expression,    the   altar 

E roper,  as  it  were  the  sanctuary  upon  the  very 
igh  mountain  (ch.  xl.  2).  The  height  of  the 
altar  which  is  being  described  suggested  the 
expression  ;  and  accordingly  the  entire  temple 
edifice,  as  it  has  been  designated  after  the  temple 
proper,  "house  "or  "palace,"  concentrates  itself 
in  the  altar  with  its  rests,  designate4  as  it  is 
after  its  upper  part  :  mountain  of  God.  From 
this,  however,  the  genuine  priestly  term  :  ^<s<"ixn, 

is  still  to  be  distinguished.  The  Qeri  reads : 
?K'1Ki  adopting  which  Keil  interprets,  in  con- 
formity with  Isa.  xxix.  1,  not:  "lion  of  God," 
but,  from  niX,  "to  bum"  {ara  Dei)  :  "hearth 

of  God."    Hengst.  holds  for  the  reading  in  the 

text:  <ij{,  "lion,"  and  takes  ^1^,  the  <  being 

elided  by  the  Masoretes,  as  "ram,"  while  he 
thinks  it  possible  that  the  original  form  was 

P'SIK,  instead  of  T'XIX,  so  that  a  double  seiisa 

had  been  intended.  Lion  of  God  and  ram-lion, 
the  lion  that  consumes  the  rams  for  God  !  At 
all  events,  what  is  meant  is  the  upper  surface, 
that  is,  in  reality  the  fire-hearth  of  the  altar  from 
the  four  comers  of  which  the  four  horns  extended, 
and  these,  according  to  Jewish  tradition,  belonged 
to  the  essential  requisites  of  the  altar,  and  indi- 
cate the  insignia  of  kingly  dominion,  hence  the 
revelation  of  divine  power  and  glory,  etc.  (Bahk, 
Symb.  i.  p.  473) ;  with  these  our  description  is 
completed  as  regards  extent  upwards.  The  altar 
has,  like  that  of  Solomon,  a  height  of  ten  cubits. 
— Ver.  16.  The  account  of  the  height  is  followed 
by  that  of  the  length  and  breadth,  measured  at 
the  highest  point  of  the  altar,  and  given  for  the 
whole  four  sides  from  the  ground  up. — Ver.  17. 
Setting  out  now  from  that  which  is  not  a  part  of 
the  altar  proper  (mTlJni,  collective,  conip.   vei'. 

TT-:  T  : 

14),  the  lower  ledge,  in  contrast  and  as  comple- 
ment to  VKIKni  (ver.  16),  the  top  surface,  ver. 

17,  measures  fourteen  instead  of  twelve  cubits 
square,  since  it  adds  from  vers.  13,  14  the  thick- 
ness of  the  "bosom,"  a  cubit  on  each  side,  to  th« 
length  and  the  breadth  ;  this  is  referred  to  in  what 
follows :  and  the  border  round  about  it,  etc.  =r 
"and  its  border  at  its  lip  round  about "  (ver.  13), 
although  for  the  sake  of  variety  we  have  half  a 


112 


EZEKIEL. 


cnbir.  here,  instead  of  a  span  there. — And  its 
bosom,  etc.  (vcr.  13)  ;  this  e.xfilains  the  difference 
in  the  measurement  here  from  tliat  of  ver.  16. 
The  mention  of  the  bosom  and  the  border  reverts 
to  tlie  beginning  of  the  description  of  the  altar 
(ver.  13),  so  that  only  33  there  still  needs  to  be 

mentioned,  and  this  is  now  done  by  naming  the 
steps,  in  distinction  from  Ex.  xx.  26,  indicat- 
ing the  elevation  of  the  altar  of  bumt-otfering. 
[Bahr  carries  an  inclined  plane  round  the  altar 
for  a  similar  purpose  as  the  two  rests  here.] — 
niJS-  infinitive  =  when  one  turns,  equivalent  to : 

tovard ;  according  to  others,  a  noun,  read  by 
Hitzig  as  participle  nijs. 

Vei.  18  leads  to  the  consecration  of  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering,  forming  an  introduction  to  its 
ritual  for  the  purpose  stated,  and  to  its  service. 
In  other  worils,  as  the  entire  temple-edifice  was 
refen'ed  to  the  underlying  idea  by  means  of  the 
measuring,  that  is,  was  set  forth  as  to  its  sym- 
bolical signification,  so,  in  accordance  with  its 
intention  as  respects  the  people,  in  whom  the 
idea  is  to  be  realized,  the  altar  of  burnt-offering 
has  been  purposely  described  at  such  length  ;  but 
this  intention  will  be  effected  only  by  this  means, 
that,  strictly  parallel  with  the  entrance  of  the 
glory  into  the  sanctuary,  a  formal  act  of  sacrificial 
consecration  in  respect  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  is  provided  for  beforehaud.  The  clothing 
of  the  idea  is  a  kind  of  dramatic  transaction 
between  Ezekiel  and  the  priests  of  the  new  temple, 
an  act  of  the  future  with  which  we  can  compare 
from  the  past  Lev.  'liii.  (Ex.  xxix.  10  sq. );  1 
Kings  viii.  62  sq.  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  4  sq. — By  the 
words  :  on  the  day  when  It  is  made,  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  altar  are  more  closely  defined  as 
ordinances  which  are  fulfilled  (as  to  their  idea)  as 
soon  as  the  whole  temple,  including  this  altar,  wUl 
be  in  actual  existence.  A  "being  made"  is  also 
spoken  of  in  the  sense  of  the  reference  throughout 
to  the  people,  just  as  the  whole  consecration 
points  to  men,  who  as  such  can  do  nothing  pure 
or  holy.  Comp.  Ex.  xx.  22 ;  Lev.  xvi.  16. 
But  the  consecration  of  the  altar,  the  ritual  of 
which  is  told  to  the  prophet  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment mode  of  expression,  particularly  by  the 
solemn  :  "  thus  saith  the  Lord, "  etc. ,  holds  out 
the  prospect  of  a  consecration  of  the  people  by 
Jehovah. — By  the  avowed  pui-pose  of  the  altar, 
"to  cause  ascendings "  (as  the  burnt-offerings 
meant  to  be  wholly  burnt,  specially  fulfilling  the 
view,  are  called)  "to  ascend  ujjou  it"  (with 
reference  to  the  altar,  the  raising  up  of  the  gift), 
and  to  sprinkle  blood  npon  it  (which  precisely  in 
these  ofierings  Wivs  done  merely  on  the  altar 
round  about),  is  therefore  siguified  in  the  first 
iustiince,  and  corresponding  at  the  same  time  to 
the  act  of  consecration  here,  the  consecration 
of  the  people  to  Jehovah,  their  entire  surrender 
and  presentation  of  themselves  to  Him.  The 
hnrut-nlfei-ings  usher  in  the  class  of  offerings 
which  obtains  in  the  state  of  grace.  The  justified 
man  lives  henceforth  not  to  himself;  the  service 
of  the  Loril  which  is  ministered  in  the  Church  is 
symbolized  by  tliis  puqjose  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  ;  hence  there  is  no  act  of  worship  with- 
out burnt-offering.  Its  expiatory  significance 
?omes  out  only  in  a  secondary  way  in  referring  to 
the  altar,  just  as  the  sprinkling  with  blood  in  the 
lAse  of  the  burnt-offering  takes  place  in  the  most 


general  form.  But  since,  in  the  time  before  th« 
law,  the  burnt-offerings  were  at  the  same  time 
the  sin-offerings,— just  as  their  atoning  nature 
reminds  of  the  sin  which  continually  adheres  to 
us,  although  the  awakened  conscience  is  again 
hushed, — so  likewise  the  history  of  sacrifice  is 
represented  to  us  by  this  oldest  of  all  sacrifices  , 
thus  the  self-surrendering  reliance  on  grace  con-' 
tinues  to  be  taken  into  account,  as  in  the  past,  sc 
for  the  future,  and  so  the  burnt-offering  may  be 
called  the  perpetual  offering  of  the  Church  of 
God. 

Ver.  19  passes  over  from  the  altar  as  to  it? 
purpose  to  the  priests  and  the  appropriate  victims. 
The  former  are  simply  presupposed  as  a  body  ol 
priests  descended  from  Levi,  l>elonging  through 
the  tribe  to  the  whole  people  as  their  natural 
and  official  representatives,  and  that  without 
consecration,  which  took  place  at  the  tabernacle  ; 
nevertheless,  instead  of  consecration  the  elective 
appointment  is  repeated  (comp.  ch.  xl.  46),  so 
that  only  the  race  of  Zadok  who  draw  near  to 
Jehovah  (ch.  xlii.  13)  are  qualified  for  the  service 
(comp.  on  ch.  xliv.  15  sq.).  As  to  the  second 
element,  the  victim,  "ipa'ja  "la,  a  young  bul- 
lock was  fixed  on.  The  male  was  the  fitting 
victim  for  the  burnt-offering,  and  the  bullock 
was  the  most  distinguished  among  the  animals 
coming  into  consideration  for  a  sin-offering  ;  and 
so  the  high  priest,  as  priestly  head  and  represen- 
tative of  the  commimity,  offered  for  his  cleansing 
a  bullock  still  in  the  full  flower  of  his  strength 
(Lev.  iv.  3  sq.,  comp.  13  sq.). — Ver.  20.  Comp. 
ver.  15  ;  vers.  14,  17  ;  ver.  13.  The  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  is  the  sprinkling  in  detail  of  the  par- 
ticular parts  characteristic  of  the  sin-offering. 
The  cleansing  and  expiation  of  the  altar  have  a 
reflex  influence  on  the  people  that  made  it,  and 
that,  at  the  word  of  God  (in  Lev.  xvii.  11  the 
altar  is  a  place  of  God),  raise  themselves  up  there 
to  God.  That  which  the  two  words  employed 
express  (cleanse,  and  expiate),  that  which  the 
procedure  above  and  below  and  around  the  ex- 
tremities s)Tnbolizes,  will  be  a  complete  sancrifi- 
cation  of  the  people.  With  such  a  strong  repre- 
sentation of  the  cleansing,  an  anointing  of  the 
altar,  etc.  (Lev.  viii.  11)  was  not  necessary  in 
order  to  give  expression  to  the  idea. — Ver.  21. 
rtKtSnn  IBH,  the  article  before  the  stat.  constr. 

It  is  quite  as  unwarranted  simply  to  suppose 
everything  omitted,  as  from  what  is  not  said 
to  make  the  prophet  be  in  contradiction  with  the 
Mosaic  ceremonial.  The  statements  in  this  vision 
are  mainly  determined  by  the  idea  to  be  set  forth, 
and  which  shows  itself  everywhere.  Thus  there 
was  no  need  of  saying  anything  about  the  blood 
which  was  not  consumed,  and  which  elsewhere 
was  poured  out  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  to  prevent  its  being  profaned,  since  the 
sanctification  is  so  strongly  expressed  in  that  no 
mention  is  once  made  of  the  fat  upon  the  inwards 
which  came  upon  the  altar,  but  it  is  so  spoken  as 
if  the  fire  consumed  the  whole  animal  (comp. 
besides  in  Lev.  iv.  12,  viii.  17,  the  manner  of 
expression)  without  the  sanctuary  ;  comp.  Lev. 
iv.  21,  vi.  23.  Thus  not  within  the  house,  and 
if  in  a  place  that  may  be  supposed  related  to  it, 
certainly  (comp.  what  was  remarked  in  speaking 
of  the  gizrab,  ch.  xli.)  in  the  "  off-place,"  hardlj 
ch.  xlri.  19  aq. 


CHAP.  XLIII.  22-26. 


413 


Ver.  '22.  The  goat  is  the  atonement  for  a  prince 
(Lev.  iv.  23/,  but  iils"  the  characteristic  ollering 
for  tile  [leople  on  tlie  great  day  of  atonement 
(Lev.  .xvi.).  Thus  the  people  might  be  looked 
upon  as  perfecrly  represented  at  the  altar  of  the 
coart,  rer.  10  sq.  ecclesiastically,  and  here 
civilly,  by  their  two  lieads  the  high  priest  and 
the  prince  (couip.  ch.  xliv.  3  sij.),  with  reference 
at  the  same  time  to  the  great  yearly  atonement. 
At  any  rate,  only  the  second  day  is  marked  at 
tlie  beginning  which  is  made  with  the  bullock,  as 
sin-ort'ering  ;  tlie  following  days  up  to  the  seventh 
are,  as  respects  sin-oH'eriug,  introduced  and  indi- 
cated by  the  second.  —  D'On,  integer,  which  had 

to  be  the  quality  of  every  victim,  but  clearly 
more  noteworthy  here  when  the  civil  side  is 
treated  of. — IKtSHV  the  priests,   or:   one,  etc., 

while  at  the  same  time  ver,  21  sq.  is  illitstrated 
in  this  respect  by  'nc'SB-     The  prophet  does  it 

by  instructing  the  priests  to  do  it. — After  what 
has  been  stated  regarding  these  two  days,  that 
the  liullock  cleanses  the  altar,  etc.  (ver.  20),  to 
which  reference  is  expressly  made  in  speaking  of 
the   goat   of    the    second    day    (ver,     22),    then 

Nano  ^ni?33  in  ver,  23  can  be  understood  only 

of  the  completion  of  the  two  sin-offerings,  to 
which  the  subordinate  purpose  of  the  altar,  the 
mention  of  the  sprinkling  of  blood  (ver,  18),  had 
led  the  prophet,  so  that  he  now  comes  to  what  is 
spoken  of  as  the  principal  purpose,  to  the  bumt- 
olTering,  which,  in  the  indefiniteness  as  regards 
time  with  which  the  bullock  and  ram  of  which 
it  consists  are  spoken  of,  can  be  quite  as  easily 
assigned  to  the  lirst  day  as  it  is  expressly 
assigned  in  ver.  25  to  seven  days.— Ver,  24.  What 
remained  still  indefinite  in  ver.  22  now  becomes 
quite  clear  by  tlic  mention  of  the  priests. — Very 
significant,  however,  and  exceedingly  telling  for 
the  setting  forth  of  the  idea  of  sanctification 
already  remarked  in  Ezekiel,  is  the  casting  of 
salt  by  the  priests,  which  in  the  law  is  expressly 
demanded  for  the  meat-otfering,  and  appears  here 

connected  in  a  similar  manner  (ij^t*)  with  the 

bnrnt-offering,  although  salt  (Lev.  ii.  13)  was  to 
be  put  on  every  oblation.  Salt  (especially  in 
contrast  w-ith  leaven  and  honey),  by  its  seasoning 
and  anti.septic  power,  with  its  hidden  cleansing 
fire  which  consumes  everything  unclean,  is  meant 
to  bring  out  the  signification  of  the  powerful 
truth  which  keeps  olf  impurity  and  hypocritical 
legal  sanctity,  viz.  the  surrender  to  the  service 
of  tlie  Lord  symbolized  in  the  burnt- offering. 
Perhaps  its  character  as  salt  of  the  covenant  of 
God,  with  reference  to  tlie  eternity  thereof  (Num. 
xviii.  19  ;  2  C'hron.  xiii.  5),  comes  additionallv 
into  coD.sideration  for  the  act  of  consecration.  The 
quality  of  Inimari  nature,  ob-serves  Heng.st.,  is  un- 
salted,  and  may  not  enter  into  relation  with  God. 
Ver.  25.  The  seven  days  can  be  neither  nine 
nor  eight  days,  i.e.  excluding  the  first  two  days, 
or  at  h-a.st  the  first  day,  fo'r  they  are  expressly 
seven  ;  as  also  it  is  saiil  again  in  ver.  26,  ^331 

(Qeri ;  11S3').  ^th  evident  allusion  to  ^nmsai 

in  ver,  20.  Moreover,  apart  from  the  significance 
ot  the  number  seven  as  the  number  of  the  cove- 


nant, consecr.ation,  sanctification,  etc.,  it  is  th(. 
basis  of  all  solemnities  in  Israel,  as  Keil  observes: 
prescribed  in  the  law  without  exception  for  every 
act  of  consecnation  continuing  over  one  day, 
Comp.  psirticularly  Ex.  xxix.  37  ;  2  Chron.  vii.  9, 
The  one  kid  for  a  sin-offering  daily  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  held  to  run  counter  to  this,  for  it  ex- 
presses what  relates  to  the  majority  of  these  days, 
six  days  ;  and  in  respect  of  the  first  day,  the  bul- 
lock (ver,  19  sq,)  stood  clearly  defined  from  the 
outset.  The  two  victims  appointed  for  burnt- 
ottering  (ver.  23  sq. )  are  also  distinguished  from 
the  kid  by  the  change  from  nc'yn  to  ?B>y'.    And 

not  without  significance  could  the  cleansing  sin- 
ottering,  in  distinction  from  the  burnt-offering, 
be  ascribed — although  only  formally — to  the  pro- 
phet ;  in  this  keeping  separate  he  "represents  the 
sanctifying  grace  of  God,  and  the  priests  the 
community  sanctifying  themselves  to  God. — As 
ver.  23  sq.  is  supplemented  by  the  Q^o'  nVStS* 

placed  at  the  beginning  of  ver.  25,  and  qualifying 
the  whole  verse,  the  burnt-ottering  in  question  is 
to  be  offered  daily  during  the  seven  days  after 
the  daily  completion  of  the  cleansing. — Ver.  26, 
concluding  the  act  of  consecration,  —  hence 
couched  in  general  terms,— confirms  both  the 
merely  seven  days'  duration  of  the  consecration 
of  the  altar  (for  nothing  else  is  meant  by  ?"int3), 

and  also,  in  virtue  of  the  entire  consecration 
above  mentioned,  its  perfect  purification,  on  the 
ground  and  in  consequence  of  the  expiation 
(lIMl)  of  the  altar,  which  according  to  ver.  20 

is  its  cleansing.  We  might  translate  :  a  pronounc- 
ing clean  for  the  present  use,  treated  of  in  ver, 
27.  It  is  certainly  also  in  harmony  with  this 
when,  in  making  over  to  the  altar  tliereby  repre- 
sented as  entering  personally  on  its  functions, 
the  peculiar  phrase :  fill  its  hand,  is  used.  After 
the  use  previously  in  the  description  of  the  altar 
of  the  words  "  bosom"  and  "  lip"  in  reference  to 
it,  its  hand  (vt,  plur.,  is  a  needless  gloss)  can 

cause  no  surprise,  especially  in  Ezekiel,  who  de- 
lights in  bold  symbols.  The  altar  representing 
the  people  in  the  priests,  even  of  itself,  easily 
becomes  a  person,  and  still  more  readily  if  the 
idea  of  it  is  to  be  made  prominent.  But  to  "fill 
the  hand"  is  the  expression  used  in  Lev,  viii.  on 
occasion  of  the  offering  for  consecrating  the 
priests,  inasmuch  as  those  parts  of  the  offerin", 
which  otherwise  were  heaved  and  waved  in  the 
thank-offering,  were  laid,  along  with  the  loaves 
and  cakes,  into  the  hands  of  the  priests.  With 
exception  of  the  breast  and  shoulder,  all  this  was 
laid  on  the  altar  as  a  sacrifice  of  consecration 
(D'N^D).    The  expression  :  ^^  xki,  occurs  simi- 

T  ■■  • 

larly  in  Ex.  xxxii.  29 ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  5 ;  2  Chron. 
xxix.  31  (DaT),  in  reference  to  Jehovah,  so  that 

the  application  to  the  priests  in  general  denotes 
the  wiving  of  a  present  to  them,  which,  altliough 
by  the  people,  is  yet  as  from  Johovali.  It  indi 
cates  in  particular,  however,  their  official  right 
to  their  ministry,  and  the  obligation  of  this  mfni 
stry  to  ott'er  to  Jehovah  in  the  fire  of  the  altar. 
Since  the  expression,  different  from  the  consecra- 
tion proper  of  priests,  implies  the  coufeiTing  of 
the  priestly  office,  the  formal  installation  into  it, 
—the  making  of  it  over  to  the  altar  here,  cone- 


414  EZEKIEL. 


spomiingto  its  puri5oiition,  is  ilesigiifd  to  repre-  to  the  past  and  for  the  future,  and  the  indivi- 
sent  tlie  making  uver  of  the  altar  of  burnt-oH'ering  dual's  enjoyment  of  peace  resting  on  and  flowing 
for  the  service  assigned  to  it,  as  ver.  27  farther  from  it  (in  which  perhaps  t\ik  niore  private 
describes.  The  use  for  which  this  altar  will  have  character  of  this  species  of  offering  compared 
to  lie  employed  henceforth,  after  the  completion  with  the  more  otficial  character  of  the  burnt- 
o(  what  has  to  be  completed  in  regard  to  it  in  the  offering  should  be  noticed).  The  burnt-offeringa 
seven  days,  !us,  moreover,  it  is  expressly  said  :  on  mentioned  first  give  the  key-note,  just  as  they 
the  eighth  day  and  onwards,  is  intimated  by  the  '  are  also  strengthened  through  the  bullock  in  tho 
burnt-ofi'ering  and  the  jSViefawjJm,  which,  however,  seven  days' consecration.  As  supplicatory  offer- 
appear  not  exactly  as  the  principal  and  most  fre-  I  iugs,  the  Shelamim,  therefore,  are  also  rather 
qnent  offerings,  i'fwtor  omnium  (Keil,  Henost.),  I  thank-otferiugs,  because  the  praying  Church 
but  to  make  prominent  the  idea  of  a  people  of   knows  on  whom  she  believes  (as  John  xi.    41). 


God  in  the  state  of  grace,  as  the  kinds  of  offering 
befitting  such  a  relation  to  Jehovah.  Hence  also 
the  Slidamim  are  not  called  here  DTISf.   "slain 

offerings,"  in  order  to  give  a  general  designation 
for  offerings,  or  to  mark  the  distinction  from  the 
burnt-ofl'ering,   which  falls  entirely  to  Jehovah, 

but  D^CTB")  that  is,  salvation-offerings  (peace- 


offeriims).  a  d')S)o;nation  well  fitted  to  place  them 
on  a  lovel  with  the  "whole  offering"  (^'"Ja),  as 


Finally,  the  Shelamim  were  in  the  Old  Covenant 
the  oldest  flesh-oH'erings  after  the  burnt-offerings. 
Comp.  also  Ex.  x.  25,  xviii.  12  (in  reference  to 
the  delivering  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt),  and  Gen. 
xlvi.  1.  —  KVn,  thus  only  here,   elsewhere  nSl 


(ch.  XX.  40,  41),  refers  to ;  "  restraining,"  so  that 
the  guilt  presupposed  in  having  recourse  to  the 
sacriiice  is  confessed ;  hence  Niphal  in  Isa.  xl.  2 
(Lev.  xxvi.  41,  43 :  py  't)  of  giult  being  recom- 

I  pensed,  here  :  to  receive  as  unrestrained  by  guilt 
the  bi'jnt-ofTering  is  also  called :  full  surrender  (the  idea  of  justification  is  perceptible  in  the 
is  »■:»!-  b/  full  grace,  salvation  perfect  in  respect   word),  equivalent  to  :  to  receive  graciously. 


CHAPTER  XUV. 

1  And  he  led  me  back  the  way  of  the  outer  gate  of  the  sanctuary  that 

2  looks  to  the  east ;  and  it  was  shut.  And  Jehovah  said  to  me :  This  gate 
shall  be  shut,  it  shall  not  be  opened,  and  no  man  shall  go  in  through  it ; 

3  because  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  went  in  through  it ;  thus  it  is  shut.  As 
to  the  prince,  he  [is]  prince,  he  shall  sit  in  it,  to  eat  bread  [food]  before 
Jehovah ;  from  the  way  of  the  [to  tiie]  porch  of  the  gate  shall  he  go  in,  and 

4  from  its  way  shall  he  go  out.  And  he  brought  me  the  way  of  the  north 
gate  before  the  house,  and  I  looked,  and  behold,  the  glory  of  Jehovah  filled 

5  the  house  of  Jehovah ;  and  I  fell  upon  my  face.  And  Jehovah  said  to  me  : 
Son  of  man,  set  thy  heart,  and  behold  with  thine  eyes,  and  hear  with  thine 
ears  all  that  I  say  unto  thee  concerning  all  the  ordinances  of  the  house  of 
Jehovah,  and  all  its  laws  [or:  its  whole  law]  ;  and  thou  settest  [shaitset]  thy  heart 
to  the  approach  of  the  house  in  [conjunction  with]  all  the  out-goings  of  the 

6  sanctuary.  And  thou  sayest  to  the  contumacy,  to  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  Cease  at  last  from  all  your  abominations,  0  house 

7  of  Israel,  When  ye  brought  sons  of  the  outland,  uncircumcised  in  heart  and 
uncircumcised  in  flesh,  to  be  in  My  sanctuary,  to  desecrate  it,  even  My  house; 
when  ye  offered  My  bread  [My  food]  (through  them),  fat  and  blood,  and  they 

8  broke  My  covenant  in  addition  to  all  your  abomuiations.  And  [yea]  ye  have 
not  kept  the  charge  of  My  holy  things,  and  [tnt]  ye  set  [such,  those]  to  keep  My 

9  charge  for  you  in  My  sanctuary.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  A  son  of 
the  outland,  uncircumcised  in  heart  and  uncircumcised  in  flesh,  shall  not  come 
to  My  sanctuary  ;  in  respect  of  every  son  of  the  outland  [shaii  it  be  said]  that  is 

10  in  the  midst  of  the  children  of  Israel.  Nay,  but  the  Levites  who  went  far 
from  Me  when  Israel  went  astray,  who  went  astray  from  Me  after  their 

11  detestable  idols,  they  bear  their  guilt;  And  they  are  servants  in  My  sanc- 
tuary, sentinels  at  the  gates  of  the  house  and  servants  of  the  house ;  they 
shall  slay  the  burnt-offering  and  the  slain-offering  for  the  people,  and  they 

12  shall  stand  before  them  to  serve  them.  Because  they  used  to  serve  them 
before  their  detestable  idols,  and  were  to  the  house  of  Israel  a  stumbling- 
block  of  guilt,  therefore  have  I  lifted  My  hand  over  them, — sentence  of  the 

13  Lord  Jehovah, — and  they  bear  their  guilt.  And  they  shall  not  draw  near  to 
Me,  to  minister  as  priests  to  Me,  and  to  draw  near  over  all  My  holy  things 


CHAP.  XLIV.  415 


to  the  most  holy  place,  and  [but]  they  bear  their  reproach  and  their  abomina- 

14  tions  which  they  did.     And  I  have  given  them  to  be  keepers  of  the  charge 

15  of  the  house,  for  all  its  service  and  for  all  that  is  to  be  done  in  it.  And  [tnt] 
the  priests  the  [these]  Levites,  the  sons  of  Zadok,  who  kept  the  charge  of  My 
sanctuary  when  the  children  of  Israel  went  astray  from  Me,  they  shall  come 
near  to  Me  to  minister  unto  Me,  and  stand  before  Me  to  offer  unto  Me  fat 

16  and  blood, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.  They  shall  come  to  My  sanc- 
tuary, and  they  shall  draw  near  to  My  table  to  minister  unto  Me,  and  to 

17  keep  My  charge.  And  it  comes  to  pass,  when  tliey  go  to  the  gates  of  thf 
inner  court,  they  shall  put  on  linen  garments,  and  wool  shall  not  come  upon 
them  when  they  minister  in  the  gates  of  the  inner  court  and  at  the  house. 

18  Linen  turbans  shall  be  upon  their  heads,  and  linen  breeches  upon  their  loins; 

19  they  shall  not  gird  themselves  in  sweat.  And  on  their  going  out  to  the  outer 
court,  to  the  outer  court  to  the  people,  they  shall  put  off  their  garments  in 
which  they  minister  [ministered],  and  lay  them  away  [down]  in  the  cells  of  holi- 
ness, and  put  on  other  garments ;  and  they  shall  not  sanctify  the  people  in 

20  [with]  their  garments.     And  their  head  they  shall  not  shave,  nor  suffer  their 

21  locks  to  grow  long  ;  polling  they  shall  poll  their  heads.     And  no  priest  shall 

22  drink  wine  when  they  go  to  the  inner  court.  And  a  widow  and  a  divorced 
woman  shall  they  not  take  to  themselves  for  wives  ;  but  maidens  of  the  seed 
of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  the  widow  who  was  widow  of  a  priest  they  may  take. 

23  And  they  shall  teach  My  people ;  what  [the  difference  is]  between  the  holy  and 
the  common,  and  between  the  unclean  and  the  clean,  they  shall  make  them 

24  know.  And  over  [matters  of]  strife  shall  they  stand  to  judge  in  My  judgments, 
and  judge  them  [«o] ;  and  My  laws  and  Mine  ordinances  on  all  My  festivals 

25  shall  they  keep ;  and  My  Sabbaths  shall  they  hallow.  And  to  a  dead  body 
of  a  man  shall  he  not  go  to  be  defiled  ;  but  for  father,  and  for  mother,  and 
for  son,  and  for  daughter,  for  brother,  and  for  sister  who  had  no  husband, 

26  they  may  defile  themselves.     And  after  his  cleansing  they  shall  count  to  him 

27  seven  days.  And  on  the  day  of  his  coming  to  the  sanctuary  to  the  inner 
court,  to  minister  in  the  sanctuary,  he  shall  offer  his  sin-offering, — sentence  of 

28  the  Lord  Jehovah.  And  it  is  to  them  for  an  inheritance  [namely],  I  am  their 
inheritance ;  and  a  possession  shall  ye  not  give  them  in  Israel,  I  am  their 

29  possession.     The  meat-offering,  and  the  sin-offering,  and  the  guiltoffering, 

30  they  shall  eat  it ;  and  every  devoted  thing  in  Israel  shall  be  theirs.  And  the 
first  of  all  the  firstlings  of  everything,  and  every  oblation  of  all,  out  of  all 
your  oblations,  shall  be  to  the  priests,  and  the  first  of  your  [ground]  corn  shall 

31  ye  give  to  the  priest,  to  bring  down  a  blessing  upon  thy  house.  Whatever  ia 
carrion,  or  torn,  whether  of  fowl  or  of  beast,  the  priests  shall  not  eat. 

Ver.    2.  Sept. :  ...  in  xupies  .  .  .  ttinXivffiTai  .  .  .  X.  errai  KirXufffUtr,.    Valg. :  .  ,  .  eritque  clausa  (3.)  pt-incipi. 
P*'inap$  ipse  .  .  .  per  viam  ports  vestitmli  ingredietttr  et  per  viam  ejus — 
Ver.    3.  AiDTf  e  ryouiAl^/^  cures  .  .  .  KjxTot  r.  ohov  etiXecfxr^ 

Ver.   4.  K.  i!(rr,yxyiv  /M  .  .  .  Ti.rfr.!  Sojrf  0  o/'»« —    (.Another  rending:   '3D"?y  ?DS1.) 

Ver.    6.  .  .  .  Tat|6»  it;  T.  KuLphta.v  .  -  .  «aT»  !r«*T«  ,  .  .  t>  vtcrit  rent  otyiois.     Vulg. :  ,  ,  .  de  universis  cereTTtoniit 
.  in  ri'is  tempH  per  omnes  exitus — 

Ver.    7.  .  .  .  «  Totptfiutvm  T.  Siafl»:»£r,v  jtwt/  «•  zKiraui —    (Another  reading:  73  DX  and  Dn^nSJrtn.) 
Ver.    8.  ...  a:.  cuToLi'x.ii  Toy  ^>.ot.irffitv  fi/^itxai —    Vulg. :  el  non  servaslts  prxcepla  .  .  .  et  posuislis  custodes  ob' 
tervationvm  mearum  in  .  .  .  robismet  ipsis. 

Ver.  10.  ixx'  vi  oi —    Vulg. :  Sed  et  .  .  .  qui  lenge  recesserunt — 

Ver.  11.  Vulg.:  .  .  .  xditui  et  janitores portarum — 

Ver.  Vi.  .  .  .  xBLi  lytilTO  Toi  oiiar— 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  ei5£  7eu  vfocetyetydf  vpH  *■«  StyitL  v'ttiv  'Iffp-  eCit  xpoi  T.  Itym  t.    S^yivy  fj^ou-   .  .  .  T.  eLTtfMxr  avTuj  tt  Tt 

wJ^vtje-u  ft  ir\xyrt8r,iritv.    Vulg.:  .  .  .  juxta  tancta  sanctorum     (Another  reading:  73  ?N.) 

Ver.  14.  K.  Te^^vrtv  uvTovt  .  .  .  om  ccv  rron^^atffii.    (Another  reading;  l7,) 
Ver.  15.  .  .  .  Toy  rpoc^ipttv  f^ei  &ufftp^f,  ffrtxp — 
Ver.  17.  Sept. :  .  .  .  «to  txs  skA*:?  ...*:.  irv. 
Ver.  18.  /3i«. 

Ver.  19.  The  words  repeated  are  wanting  in  several  manuscripts,  and  in  the  Sept.,  Syr.,  Tnlg.,  Arab.,  and  Chaldee 
Ver.  20.  .  .  .  X.  TOSS  xeucue  xiraiv  ov  fj.y:  •^'tXttffetjaH,  K»KuirTt»Tte  it»^jr^t/fit  T»e  »tf»}.ct(  mimrn.    Vulg.:  .  , 
wmarn  nutrient^  sed  tondentet  attondent  capita  mm. 


US 


EZEKIEr.. 


.  ceva  fjAtrw  xa,ffxfi»v  x.  «»«  u.!irav  a.xa.HxpTo'J — 
ETi   xpiny   xiu^TO;  .   .   .  Tx   hiKxiatLLXTX   fiM'j   hixxiairovrtv, 


Ver  ■.'•;    .  . 

VcT-  '2i.    K.    ETI   xfitn*   xiuxTO;  .   .   .  Tdc   diKxiatLLXTX   fio'j   dixxtatrouff'iv,    x.    rx    xptwxTX    fjLi'j  xpitmurit,   X.    Tdc   >«^(^z— 

Vu'p  :  .  .  .  controvei'na,  stahunt  in  judiciis  meU  et  judicabunt ; —    (Another  reading :  ODK'tD?.) 

Vt-r.  '1^.  K.  ts-f  '^J'wx*:»  xtt}pifTo:>  o-Jx  tiriXtuffoitTxi —    V'uJg. :  ...  ad  morluum  hominem  .  .  .  gus  iillerum  virum  nam 
habuer'l, — 

Ver. 

Ver.  27. 

Ver  2S, 

Ver. 

Ver.  30. 


,  ^p^rotrovirit  l\xirfjt^ —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  ut  ministret  mihi— 
XXI —     Vulg. :  Son  erit  autem  eis — 


Another  reading:  1BD*- 
.  .  .  t'lffrofivatvTXi  t*s  T.  oevAsitr  . 
X.  irrxi  xuToii  .  .  .   'Eyti 
K.  Txi  6vrix; — 

K.  xvxpy^xt  !r«»T4»if  !'.  Tx  rrfiaiToriXx  rrxyran  X.  t«  ct^xipsLucrx  Tacvra  iif/.ai»  Ix  Toeyrwv  t.  xrxp^m  .  .  .  x.  r* 
rpafTey!i*r.u.xTx  vum* —    Vulg.:    Et  primitiva  omnium  primogenilorum  et  omnia  Hbamenta  ex  omnibus  qux  ojferuntur 
.  .  et  primitiva  ciborum  vestrontm  .  .  .  ui  reponal — 
Ver.  31.  .  .  .  8*y,ffipi.xie*  X.  Bfipix^et^n — 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-3.   The  Prince  in  the  East  Gate. 

[As  the  preceding  chapter  had  disclosed  the 
purpose  of  God  to  re-occupy,  and  that  for  ever, 
this  new  temple,  and  had  described  the  neces- 
sary means  and  rites  of  consecration  in  order  to 
its  being  a  source  of  blessing  to  His  people,  so 
the  present  chapter  lays  down  regulations  for 
preventing  any  new  desecration  of  the  house, 
such  as  might  again  compel  God  to  withdraw 
His  gracious  presence.  These  regulations  refer 
successively  to  the  prince  and  the  priesthood — 
the  two  classes  through  whom  directly  the  former 
pollutions  had  been  introduced  into  the  house  of 
God.— Faikbaikn.— W.  F.] 

The  prophet  observed  in  the  priests'  court  (ch. 
xliii.  5)  all  that  relates  to  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering.  He  is  thence  brought  back,  as  we  shall 
have  to  suppose,  through  the  inner  north  or  south 
gate  the  way  to  the  outer  east  gate.  It  is  not 
without  significance  that  the  east  gate  of  the 
outer  court  (comp.  ch.  xliii.  12)  is  designated  as 
"gate  of  the  sanctuaiy,  the  outer  one  which," 
etc.  Looking  into  it  from  the  court  (not  as 
Hitzig  and  Hengstenberg  :  from  before  the  outer 
east  gate,  as  ch.  xliii.  1),  Ezekiel  perceived  that 
it  was  shut  (comp.  ch.  xl.  11) ;  and  this  must 
the  more  astonish  him,  as  this  entrance  to  the 
sanctuary  had  been  described  to  him  in  ch.  xl. 
a.s  forming  the  rule  for  all  the  other  gates 
of  the  temple.  The  fact,  then,  of  its  being 
closed  demands  an  explanation,  which  also 
Jehovah  \comp.  on  ch.  xliii.  6,  7)  gives  him  in 
Ver.  2.  Since  the  whole  vision  points  to  the 
future,  it  is  said  first  of  all  in  reference  thereto: 
This  gate  shall   be   shut   (n'n<).      Hence  the 

closing  shall  continue  for  all  futurity,  as  is  arain 
expressly  confirmed  by  the  statement :  It  shall 
not  be  opened,  and  strengthened  by  this  other 
declinitinn  :  And  no  man  (whoever  he  may  be) 
shall  go  in  through  it, — in  other  words,  by  the 
exclusion  of  every  one.  AVhen  it  is  thereafter 
s.iid :    Because   Jehovah,    etc.,   the    <3  explains 

certainly    the    immediate    present    (n'ni)i    *'"* 

present  closing  of  the  gate,  which,  as  we  see 
iu  ver.  1,  is  the  first  thing  treated  of;  but  we 
.siiall  liave  to  draw  ujiou  it  for  the  explana- 
tion for  the  future  likewise,  for  this  future 
has  been  announced  as  the  continuance  of  the 
closing  in  the  present.  The  way  which  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  went  (ch.  xliii.  4)  is  thus  a  unique 
ray,  and  will  remain  such,  no  man  sliall  tread  it 
henceforth  ;  and  tliis,  when  we   look   upon   the 


fulfilment  in  Christ  of  all  that  had  been  written 
aforetime,  reads  like  a  Messianic  prophecy,  with- 
out its  being  necessary  for  us  to  suppose  with  the 
Church  Fathers  a  direct  reference  to  the  virginity 
of  Mary  {Jit  porta  Christi  pervia,  rtferta,  plena 
gratia,  transitque  rex  et  permanet  clausa  ut/uit 
per  scecula).  [The  Rabbins  have  interpreted  the 
closing  of  the  gate  to  this  effect :  that  the 
Shechinah  shall  no  longer  be  able  to  come  out, 
an  idea  which  Lightfoot  has  transformed  into  the 
ever-during  dwelling  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
Christian  Church ;  while  Hengst.  expresses  it 
thus  :  that  the  glory  of  the  impending  revelation 
of  the  Lord  "embodies"  itself  in  the  door's  re- 
maining shut.]— When,  after  this  quite  universal 
explanation  in  respect  to  future  and  present  of 
the  shut  east  gate,  Ver.  3,  by  its  very  commenc- 
ing with  the  absolute  construction  ^''ifjrTnx, 

directs  attention  to  the  prince,  and,  besides, 
gives  as  reason  for  what  is  to  be  said  of  him  in 
reference  to  the  east  gate,  f{^n  R'bJi  that  is  aa 

'     T 

much  as  to  say :  qua  prince  it  belongs  to  him  ; 
then  an  exception  from  the  rule  just  laid  down, 
that  is,  an  exceptional  entering  of  the  prince 
through  this  gate  at  certain  times  and  for  certain 
contingencies,  is  not  to  be  supposed,  especially  as 
what  is  announced  regarding  him  is  not :  13  X3<, 

but  simply :   ia'atj'',  that  he  shall  sit  in  this 

gate,  namely  (comp.  for  the  expression  :  to  eat 
bread  before  God,  Ex.  xviii.  12;  Luke  xiii.  26), 
to  enjoy  the  sacrificial  banquets.  Of  this  place 
of  the  prince  in  the  east  gate,  Hengst.  exckims  : 
"  How  glorious  must  the  entering  Lord  be,  when 
the  prince  cannot  be  more  highly  honoured  than 
by  a  place  in  the  gate  by  which  He  entered  !  " 
Now,  since  according  to  vers.  1,  2  the  entrance 
through  the  east  gate  was  closed  to  him,  the  way 
by  which  the  prince  arrived  at  his  place  of  honour 
wOl  necessarily  have  to  be  given,  as  is  accord 
ingly  done  ;  and  this  account  is  not  to  be  inter 
preted,  with  Keil,  of  the  outside  stair  over  the 
threshold  at  the  guardroom,  and  onward  to  the 
gate-porch  at  the  inner  end  of  the  gate-structure. 

For  such  a  way  surely  'UT^H  'Ty\1i  would  be  a 

strange  mode  of  expression  !  On  the  contrary, 
this  mode  of  expression  is  quite  conceivable  when 
we  consider  the  way  of  the  prophet  (ver.  1),  who 
had  been  brought  from  the  north  or  south  to  the 
east  gate,  and  finds  himself  there  on  the  side  of 
the  court  west  of  the  gate,  and  hence  has  the 
]>orcli  ri"ht  before  him,  so  that  he  will  the  more 
readily  define  from  it  the  way  of  the  prince  into 


CHAF.  XLIV.  4.  5. 


417 


tlw  gate  (from  its  way  In-  shall  also  go  out),  as 
the  eiiterini;  from  the  way  of  the  porch  of  the 
gate  Ibnns  self-eviik-iitly  the  coiitvast  to  an  enter- 
ing Irom  the  way  of  the  gate  without.  Conse- 
quently, the  prince  has  (as  Hitzig  riglitly  under- 
stands) to  come  through  the  outer  north  or  south 
gate  into  the  outer  eourt,  and  to  cross  the  same, 
in  order  to  arrive  at  the  place  where  he  will  sit, 
etc.  Whether  tlie  gate-porch  which  thus  lay  on 
this  side  (toward  the  court)  of  the  gate-barrier  is 
meant  to  be  given  as  the  place  for  the  banquets 
of  the  prince  may  be  questioned  ;  Hengstenberg 
recommends,  as  "  specially  "  adapted  for  them, 
"  the  inner  threshold  immediately  adjacent  to 
the  porch."  According  to  all  this,  the  exception 
of  the  prince  symbolizes  merely,  in  its  own  way, 
the  holiness  of  the  .sanctuary," the  solemnity  of 
drawing  near  to  Jehovah  and  appearing  before 
Him.  It  will  no  longer  be  as  in  the  former 
temple,  that  any  one  ('J"X)  "'iU  march  straight 

to  the  sanctuary  through  the  east  gate  ;  but  the 
saints  of  God,  His  jieople  sanctitieil  for  ever,  will 
know  how  to  honour  the  holiness  of  Him  who 
sanctified  them.     ( "  In  the  case  of  the  tabernacle 
and  its  court  there  was  only  one  entrance,  from 
the  ea.st,  through  whirh  all  had  to  go,"  Klif.f.) 
But  it  is  signihcant  that  the  civil  head  of  the 
people  (comp.   on  ch.   .\liii.   22),  the  prince,  sits 
and  eats  in  the  east  gate  closed  for  ever)-  one,  on 
the  way  which  the  glory  of  Jehovah  went  to  fill 
the  house  (ver.  i),  and  there  enjoys  the  fruit  of 
that  which  has  been  provided.     For  the  sioni- 
ficance  of  the  banquets  has  regard  to  the  com- 
munion and  friendly  relation  in  which  the  parti- 
cipants   stand    to    one   another,    and   with    tlie 
provider  of  the   feast,   who  in  the    last  resort  is 
Jehovah — at  least  He  participates  therein  in  the 
sense  of  Rev.  iii.   20  ;  just  as  also  the  gladness 
and  joy  before  the  Lord,  ami  e\eii  the  joys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  appear  under  the  figure  of  a 
feast  (Ps.  xxiii.   5,  xxxvi.   9  [S] ;  3Iatt.°viii.  11  ; 
Luke  xiv.   15  :  Eev.  xix.   9).     We  have  in  this 
the  genuine  gospel  feature,  which  excels  in  glory 
till!  face  of  the  law.     So  much  the  more,  how"- 
ever,   as  regards  the   piince— who,   as   has  been 
said,  is  rather  a  refiex  of  the  people  (conip.  ch. 
xlvi.   10),  ju.st  as  to  them  also  tlie  entrance  to 
the  temple  has  been  opened  by  the   setting  in 
operation  of  the  altar  of  burnt-oH'ering  (ch.  xliii. 
•26)  — must  we  avoid   the   interpretafion   whicli 
accentuates  in  him  the  David  of  Jlessianic  times 
(ch.  xxxiv.  23  sq.,  xxxvii.   24).     On  this  comp 
also  ch.  .\lv.  22.  xh-i.  2,  16.     It  would  be  better 
to  insist  with  Hengst.  on  his  "cheering"  form, 
as  opposed  to  the  ceasing  of  the  magisterial  oHice 
in  the  exile,  especially  when  his  presence  is  so 
incidentally   "presupposed."      But  tliis  prince- 
ship,  which  makes  orderly  civil  relations  af^in 
obtain  in  Israel,  had  its  post-exile  appearanc'e  in 
Zenibbabel,  for  instance  (Zech.  iv.),  and  has  at  all 
events  been  perfected  in  the  Messianic  kin>»dom 
even  as  to  the  side  applioalde  here,  which  Isa   liii' 

10  expresses  thus:     "The   pleasure  of  Jehovah 
shall  prosper  through  his  hand;"  wliile  in  ver 

11  he  is  said  :  "to  see,"  "to  be  refreshed  :"  and 
fimilarly  ver.  12. 

["  In  regard  to  the  prince,  it  is  inipos.sible  for 
us  to  think  of  any  one  but  the  roval  head  as  he 
I.S  throughout  spoken  of  as  an  individual,  anil  in 
the  next  chapter  is  directed  '  to  prepare  for  him - 
Bdl,  and  for  all  the  people  of  the  land.'  a  sin- 
offenng  (ch.  xlv.  22).     So  that  the  idea  of  Haver- 


nick,  that  the  word  is  used  collectively  for  the 
rulers  and  jiresidcnts  generally  of  the  people,  i; 
quite  untenable.     And  not  less  «o  is  the  opinioa, 
that  by  the  expression  is  simply  to  be  understood 
the    Jlessiah  :    for  this   is   utterly  irieconcilable 
with  all  the  prescriptions  given,  and  in  particular 
with  those  requiring  the  presentation  of  sacrifices 
and  sin-ort'erings  lor  tlie  prince.     It  is  to  be  ex- 
plained precisely  as  the  whole  delineation  here, 
and  in  the  preceding  visions  (ch.  xxxiv.-x.xxix.  V 
by  viewing  it  as  part  of  an  ideal  description  of  com- 
ing realities  under  the  form  and  aspect  of  the  old 
relations.      And  no  more  than  we  expect  other 
parts  of  the  vision  to  find  their  accomplishment 
under  the  gospel  by  a  restoration  of  the  carnal 
.sacrifices  and  institutions  of  Judaism,  should  we 
look  here  for  an  actual  prince  to  follow  the  regula- 
tions prescribed.     Standing  on  the  position   he 
did,  the  prophet  must  speak  of  the  future  under 
the  image  of  the  past ;  and  as  it  was  by  means  of 
the  earthly  head  of  the  Jewish  state  that  many 
of  the  former  coiTuptions  had  been  introduced, 
he  now  shows  how  a  repetition  of  such  evils  is  to 
be  guarded  against  in  the  future.     Whether  the 
kingly  power  should  ever  again  be  concentrated 
in  one  person,  or  should  be  shared  by  many,  is  of 
no  moment  as  regards  the  substiuce  of  the  truth 
here  unfolded. "     As  for  the  connection  betwier. 
the  prince  and  the  cast  gate  (vers.  1-3),  "what 
could  this  import,  but  that  the  prince  should  feel 
he  now  occupied  a  place  of  peculiar  nearness  to 
God  ?     As  God's  vicegerent  and  deputy  among 
the  people,  it  became  him  to  be  the  most  distin- 
guished  representative   in   public    life   of  God's 
holiness,   to  tread  the  higher  walks  of  spiritual 
communion  and    fellowship    ,^-ith    Heaven,    and 
stand  pre-eminent  in  his  zeal  for  the  interests  of 
truth  and  righteousness.     Far  now  from  usurping 
the  authority  that  belonged  to  God,  and  abusing 
to  selfish  ends  and  purposes  the  power  which  was 
given  by  Him  for  higher  ends,  all  authority  and 
]iower   in    Israel   should   be    exercised  —  if    this 
divine   ideal    were   reduced    to    practice  —  in    a 
solemn  feeling  of  .subordination  to  God's  majestv, 
and  with  an  unfeigned  desire  for  His  glory."— 
F.4iuB.\inx's  Hzekiel,  pp.  477,  478  — W.  F.] 


Vers.  4-16.    T/ie  Pri 


Ver.  4.  The  outei  north  gate  cannot  be  the  onii 
spoken  of,  for  the  prophet  stands  in  the  outer 
court  before  the  porch  of  the  e.ast  gate.     He  i.- 

brought  n^3n  'JS'^'x,  auJ  so  lisxn-nyu*":]"!'' 

must  be  the  way  to  the  inner  north  gate,  ,as  thi.'i 
was  also  the  way  by  which  to  get  near  to  the 
temple-house. — Comp.  for  the  rest  on  rh.  xliii, 
5  and  3.  As  there  the  filling  of  the  house  with 
the  glory  of  Jehovah  introduced  the  Thorah  of  i\\b 
temple,  especially  the  consecration  of  the  altar  ol 
burnt-ofTering,  which  certainly  forms  also  the 
transition  to  the  temple -service,  so  here  by  a 
similar  introduction,  in  which  Ver.  5  refers  so 
far  back  as  to  ch.  xl.  4,  the  service  before  Jehovah 
is  now  introduced,  and  that  with  attentive  re- 
gard to  the  personille.  Thus  the  two  parts  of 
the  section,  ch.  xl.-xlvi.,  are  even  formally 
separated.— Jehovah,  as  in  ver.  2. — The  threefold 
demand  upon  the  prophft,  of  which  the  first, 
wliich  as  the  most  inward  strikes  the  iey  for  the 
.seeing  and  hearing,  has  its  ground  not  exactly  in 
the  glory  just  now  seen  (Henost.),  but  r»ther  in 


(IS 


EZEKIEL. 


ivhat  Jcliovali  will  s;iy  to  liim,  and  in  the  abomi- 
nations  lonuiiittcil  liy  Israel,  to  which  it  has 
rcliTeiii;e. — Wbat  concerns  the  ordinances  and 
laws  of  tlie  house  (coinp.  ch.  xliii.  11,  12)  is  cer- 
tainly limited  here    by  ^''^PSH   to    the    temple 

building  proper,  as  is  also  indicated  by  the  de- 
sicnation  :  house  of  Jehovah,  repeated  from  ver. 
4,  so  tliat  the  approach  of  the  house  with  all 
the  out-goiugs  is  to  be  understood  in  reference  to 
tbe  priests. — Ver.  6.  That  the  house  of  Israel  is 
to  be  addressed  (ch.  ii.  7)  shows  the  more  plainly 
how  it  had  been  represented  by  the  priesthood 

of  the  past.  — '^ro  D3i'"31,    literally  :  there  is 

much  to  you  from  all  your  abominations,  suffi- 
cient, enough  for  you,  so  that  you  may  at  last 
abstain  (1  Pet.  iv.  3).  Like  priest,  like  people  ; 
but  also,  like  people,  like  priest  (Hos.  iv.  9). 

Ver.  7,  in  tins  connection,  in  which  the 
T'^mple-house  accessible  to  the  priests  alone  is 
i/eated  of,  and  [iriestly  ministration  is  had  regard 
lo,  can  hanlly  refer  to  heathens  or  foi'eigners 
living  amongst  Israel  (comp.  for  this  Lev.  xvii. 
)0,  12;  Num.  xv.  13  sq. ;  Ex.  xii.  43,  44; 
1  Kings  viii.  41  si|. ),  foreign  merchants  as  sellers 
••f  sacrificial  victims,  etc.,  nor  heathenized  Israel- 
ues  in  general,  but  must  be  understood  as  refer- 
ling  to  the  introiiiiction  of  priests,  who,  as  the 
ihildren  of  Israel  were  called  "  heatheus  "  (D'ij) 

m  ch.  ii.  3,  were  133"'33,  instead  of  being  sons 

of  Jehovah's  house.  In  what  sense  the  term  em- 
jdoyed  is  to  be  taken  is  shown  by  the  next 
clause  :  uncircumcised  in  heart,  which,  if  said  of 
genuine  born  heatheus,  would  be  nonsense  : 
whereas,  said  of  Israelites,  of  tjie  priests  here,  and 
conjoiried  with  the  following  clause  :  and  uncir- 
cumcised in  flesh,  it  expresses  exactly  the  same 
as  Itom.  ii.  25,  when  the  -rtptrofjin  aicpslivtrTioL 
ytycyst, — wheu  the  direct  opposite  of  the  idea 
ef  the  symbcd  realizes  itself  (comp.  besides, 
Deut.  XXX.  6),  the  distinction  also  which  the 
symbol  denotes  will  disajipear,  the  Jew  has  he- 
come  heathen.  Comp.  also  ch.  xvi.  3 ;  Zech. 
xiv.  21  (Phil.  iii.  3).  The  expression:  to  be  in 
My  sanctuary,  which  more  closely  defines  the 
DSX^^riB  as  the  bringing  in  to  the  priestly  mini- 
stration, is  still  farther  illustrated  by  the  clause  : 
to  desecrate  it,  My  house.     When  it  is  farther 

said  :  when  ye  offered  'on?  (in  ^  manner,  the 

daily  bread  of  Jehovah,  which  is  immediately 
explained  to  mean  the  sacrificial  food  as  to  its 
elements  :  fat  and  blood,  for  which  comp.  Num. 
xxviii.  2  ;  Lev.  iii.  11,  xxi.  6,  8,  etc.),  this 
Jiarallel  phrase  to :  when  ye  brought  to  be  in 
My  sanctuary,  etc.,  confirms  the  view  tnat 
priests  are  meant  who  formed  the  pure  contrast 
to  the  Israelitish  priesthood  according  to  its  idea, 
and  this  the  more  plainly  as  !|"1S'1  (ch.  xvi.  59, 

xvii.  18,  19)  can  scarcely  be  said  of  heathens  as 
such,  who  were  outside  of  the  covenant ;  but  when 
understood  of  such  priests,  it  looks  straight  into 
.iie  inmost  relation,  from  which  are  derived  the 
sanctuary,  the  service  in  it,  and  the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  Israel.  The  interchange  of  ye  and  they 
is  farther  shown  to  be  intentional  by  the  next 
clause  :  in  addition  to  Eillyour  abominations,  in- 
ismuch  as  not  even  the  priests  were  correct,  with 


whose  holiness  the  people  so  freqnently  think 
they  may  venture  to  dispense  with  their  own. 
Ver.  8  accordingly  goes  on  to  reprimand  such 
shameful  priestly  representation  of  the  people  in 
respect  to  the  holy  things  (ch.  xxii.  8)  cf  Jiliov:i'i 
(comp.  ch.  xl.  45,  4t)).  Uf  this  Keil  gives  a  super- 
ficial view,  when  he  says  that  "the  people,  by 
unlawfully  admitting  ungodly  heathen  into  the 
temple,  had  not  only  forgotten  the  reverence  due 
to  the  holy  things  of  God  (!),  but  had  also  made 
for  themselves  these  heathen,  so  to  say  (?).  mini- 
sters of  God  in  His  sanctuary."  How  can  "per- 
mission to  tread  the  temple"  be  "put  on  the 
same  level,"  even  only  "  spiritually,"  with 
"placing  in  the  temple  for  superintending  the 
w'orship  "  ?  What  is  meant  flow.s,  moreover,  from 
the  general  statement,  impossible  to  be  under- 
stood except  in  its  constant  sense  :  And  ye  set 
(namely,  such  parties)  .  .  .  for  you  in  My  sanc- 
tuary.     Q^[)  implies  also  the  representation  of 

the  people  by  such  keepers  of  the  charge,  which 
the  sanctuary  and  tlie  covenaut  of  Jehovah  with 
them  bound  Lsrael  to  keep.  (Comp.  1  Kings  xii. 
31.)  Hav.:  "Not  to  serve  God,  but  to  serve 
your  own  sinful  inclination." 

[F.i.iKB.\iuN:  "The  children  of  Israel  are  spoken 
of  as  doing  all  this,  because  the  corrupt  priest- 
hood was  inseparably  connected  with  the  sins  of 
the  people — the  one  continually  acting  and  re- 
acting on  the  other.  And  the  corrnption  in  the 
priesthood,  it  will  be  observed,  is  expres.sed  as  if 
persons  had  been  put  into  the  office  who  were 
not  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  or  even  of  the  seed  of 
Israel,  but  uncircumcised  heathen.  Not  that 
literally  persons  of  this  descrijition  had  been  ad- 
mitted into  the  priestly  office  ;  that  did  not  take 
place,  not  even  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  where 
still  the  Israelites  were  employed,  though  not  of 
the  family  of  Aaron.  But  the  prophet  is  viewing 
all  in  a  spiritual  light ;  he  is  reading  forth  the 
import  of  the  outward  transactions,  as  they  ap- 
peared to  the  eye  of  God  ;  and  as  in  that  res]iect 
the  officiating  priesthood  liad  been  no  better  than 
uncircumcised  strangers,  so  he  speaks  of  them  as 
having  actually  been  such." — W.  F.] 

Ver.  9.  We  have  now,  in  condemnation  of  such 
profanation,  Jehovah's  solemn  declaration  regard- 
ing the  persoiielle  of  His  service  in  future.  In 
the  first  place,  a  simple  negativing  of  what  has 

been,  that  shall  no  longer  be;  hence  ^^3";3"?^, 

to  be  understood  in  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  7 ;  also 
the  phrase:  shall  not  come  to,  etc.,  conespond- 
ing  to  what  has  been  previously  said,  is  to  be 
understood  of  priests,  as :  My  sanctuary,  proves 
beyond  a  doubt.      But  the  summary  winding  up 

(h^b,  EwALl),   Oram.  §  310a):    that  is  in  the 

midst  of,  etc.,  precludes,  by  the  explanation  it 
gives,  every  thought  of  genuine  foreigners,  or 
even  of    the   Q'lJ,   strangers,   ch.   xlvii.   22  sq. 

"Jewish  heathen,"  as  Hengstenberg  designates 
them,  are  most  expressly  excluded  by  this  canon 
of  church  discipline,  which  begins  at  the  house 
of  God.  To  be  a  "son  of  Israel"  is  the  first 
qualification  which  Jehovah  demands  for  His 
priesthood,  and  this  taken  strictly  explains  like- 
wise as  antithesis  thereto  the  son  of  the  outland. 
Ver.  10.  'CX  *3  (■'>  strong  "but,"  Ewald,  Grain. 
p.  85ti),  after  the  ample   legativing  ^ver.  9),  in 


CHAP.  XLIV.  U-15. 


419 


trojiioi-s  the  ])osition  which  makes  everytliiiig 
ficifectl}'  clear  tluit  the  discouisc  is  to  he  con- 
cerning the  tribe  of  Levi.  Tliis  designation  is 
given  in  the  outset,  because  there  will  still  fcike 
place  a  cho'ix  siir  cJioix,  a  narrower  election  in 
respect  of  the  Aaronites,  the  peculiaily  priestly 
family,  and  a  degradation  of  priests  to  be  servants 
and  assistants,  like  the  Levites  given  as  such  to 
Aaron  and  his  lineage  (Num.  iii. ). — pm  (ch.  xi. 

6,  viii.  15),  "to  be  away,"  to  depart  from,  Jer.  ii. 
5,  8.  —  nvn  '**  ■   "'°  stagger"  (Isa.  xxviii.  7),  in 

the  wider  signification:  to  go  astray  (Isa.  liii.  6). 
—  It'K  can  explain  "  Israel's  going  astray  "  (eh. 

\i.  4),  and  then  it  is  still  people  and  priest  taken 
together  as  formerly  ;  and  this  is  especially  clear 
when     'ij;n  IC'Ki    corresponding    to    the    nt'X 

^pni,  makes  it  conformable    to   "Israel's  going 

astray." — 'iisb'ji.    ch.     xiv.     10,    xvi.    52,    58 

SHengst.  :  "  they  shall  take  their  iniquity  upon 
them  "),  the  guilt  to  be  boine  will  be  made  clear 
by  the  immediately  following  punishment.  This 
iiiolatrous  stiiggering  had  at  different  times  sei.,ed 
hold  of  priest  and  people,  sometimes  more,  some- 
times less.  Instead  of  allowing  themselves  to  be 
dragged  along  by  the  people  to  active  or  even 
passive  participation  in  the  service  of  idol.s,  they 
ought,  from  their  otfice,  to  have  restrained  the 
people,  Jer.  ii.  8.  Comp.  moreover,  Ps.  xvi.  4. 
[Havernick  thinks  here  of  "even  the  old  mis- 
deeds of  Levi,  which  will  make  themselves 
observable."] — Ver.  11.  They  shall  not  be  ex- 
cluded from  all  service  in  the  sanctuary,  but 
degraded  from  the  functions  of  priests  to  those  of 
simple  Levites;  as  Rashi  expresses  it:  "to  do 
what  strangers  and  servants  and  women  can  per- 
form."    niB'  is  used  also  of  priestly  service  ;  it 

is  only  rrnpS  (tli<*  function  for  those  discharging 

it)  that  with  the  words  expressly  added  points  to 
the  gates  of  the  house,  although  the  word  in 
itself  is  equivalent  to  "lOrD,  mpB'D.     It  is  still 

in  respectful  terms  that  these  degraded  priests 

are  spoken  of  (it  is  not  said  :  rnhl'TlN  ihvh,  as 

is  said  of  the  Levites  specifically.  Num.  xvi.  9). 
They  are  porters  and  house-ser\'ants,  yet  in  this 
at  least  they  still  represent  the  people,  that  they 
relieve  them  of  the  slaying  of  the  victims  ;  it  is 
only  with  their  "  standing  before  them  to  serve 
thi'm  "  that  their  being  degi-aded  to  Levites  be- 
comes more  marked  (comp.  Num.  xvi.  9),  because 
now  the  punishment  corresponding  to  the  guilt  is 
— Ver.  l;i — to  be  mentioned  ;  the  guilt  which  they 
i;hall  bear  is  characterized  by  the  punishment  for 
it  in  tliis  way  :  what  they  were  accustomed  to 
do  in  the  ajjosta.sy  at  the  will  of  the  jieople — 
and  thus  as  a  Btuinbling-block  which  caused  to 
tall  into  guilt — is  now  ollicially  imposed  upon 
them. — Comji.  on  ch.  xx.  5,  6,  15,  23,  xxxvi.  7. 
^Ver.  13  hereupon  expressly  cuts  them  off  from 
being  priests  as  hitherto.     [n2,  the  fuller  stem 

ol  p3i  signifies  :  those  who  establish  anything  as 

it  should  be  according  to  the  divine  ordinance, 
the  people  continuing  always  in  their  functions  ; 
iccording  to  others  :   those  bending  themselves, 


namely,  doing  homage  to  the  Eternal  ;  Num. 
xvi.  lb  of  the  priesthood,  as  distinguished  Irom 

mere  Levite  service.  *  U  therefore  antithesis  to 
DmtJVi  ^'c.  II-  Fait;  er  details  are  given  in 
what  follows.  By  tht.  appositional  'Jinp-^jj 
D''t;ni5  n,  the  expression  :  to  draw  near  over  all 

My  holy  things,  is — as  itself  suggests,  and  th* 
plural  ''cnp  (comp.  Num.  iv.  19)  confirms— in- 
terpreted as  referring  to  the  eating  of  the  most 
holy  things  (comp.  on  cli.  xlii.  13),  appertaining 
to  the  priests  alone.  For  the  rest,  comp.  ch.  xvi. 
52. — Ver.  14  recapitulates  and  sums  up  the  re- 
proach and  guilt  to  be  borne,  with  respectful 
reference  to  their  former  priestly  calling  ;  hence 
'L"0  'ICC',  which  mode  of  expression,  however, 

receives    its    levitical    limitation    through    p'jl) 

imbv  (comp.  Num.  xvi.  9,  ch.  iii.). 

Ver.  15.  Those  likewise  are  called  Levites 
who  in  conti-ast  to  the  punishment  of  the  former 
priests  are  all  the  more  exalted  as  priests. — 
pilV,  the  sou  of  Ahitub  (1  Chron.  v.  34  [vi!  S]), 

of  the  line  of  Eleazar  (1  Chron.  xxiv.  1  sq.),  was 
co-high  priest  with  Abiathar  of  the  line  of 
Ithamar,  in  consequence  of  the  twofold  service 
of  worship  in  David's  time,  that  at  Jerusalem  and 
that  at  Gibeon  (1  Chron.  xvi.  [xvii.]  39).  .\fter 
.\biathar  had  like  Joab  repeatedly  attached  liim- 
self  to  Adonijah,  the  pretender  to  the  crown, 
and  had  brought  about  his  owii  fall  and  banish- 
ment to  .4nathoth  (1  Kings  ii.),  Zadok  was  ap- 
pointed by  Solomon  sole  liigh  ])riest,  and  with 
him  the  line  of  Eleazar  again  became  the  alone 
high-priestly  one.  We  are  not  to  go  along  with 
Hengstenberg  when  he,  in  order  to  interpret  the 
sons  of  Zadok,  goes  back  even  to  the  relation  of 
fatherhood  in  the  Decalogue,  and  drags  in  the 
pope  too  as  a  holy  father,  simply  to  get  a  father- 
priest,  after  whom  all  priests  (since  1  Kings  ii.) 
are  to  be  designated  as  his  sons,  "even  the  un- 
faithful, "says  Hengstenberg,  "who  were  excluded 
in  the  foregoing  passage"  (!!).  He  hazards  this 
contiadiction  to  the  connection  in  order  to  get 
the  faithful  priests  first  in  ch.  xlviii.  11,  and 
because  he  finds  in  ch.  .xliii.  19,  instead  of  "sons 
of  Zadok"  (as  in  ch.  xl.  46),  "that  are  of  the 
seed  of  Zadok,"  "the  heads  (!)  of  the  high -priest- 
hood, those  who  are  of  the  high  priest's  kindred 
(Acts  iv.  6),  officiating  at  the  consecration  of  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering  "  (that  is,  it  is  incorrect  to 
say  that  in  the  whole  vision  the  high  priest 
never  meets  us  !).  In  Zadok  ive  might  indeed  be 
reminded  of  Melchizedek,  had  not  the  very  name 
Zadok  ("righteous"),  and  still  more  what  is 
historically  known  of  him,  symbolized  him  as  a 
type  of  the  true  priestly  character.  The  faithful 
position  which  he  had  taken  towards  Daviii  he 
did  not  forsake  towards  Solomor,  as  .Vbiathar 
did  (1  Kings  i.  7,  8,  25,  26,  ii.  22)  ;  he  even 
anointed  Solomon  king  over  Ijrael.  Conse- 
quently, in  the  theocratic  (Messianic)  signification 
of  the  kingdom  of  David  and  Solomon,  Zadok 
kept  himself  precisely  in  the  relation  w-hich  is 
so  significant  for  our  vision  (see  Doct.  Reflec). 
Comp.  also  1  Sam.  :'i.  35. — [F.\iKB.\iKiV  :  "The 
promise  of  a  priest  lood  of  the  house  of  Zadok 


130 


EZEKIEL. 


entirely  correspimdHcl  to  tlie  promise  of  a  shepherd 
with  tlio  name  of  David.  It  simply  indicated  a  race 
of  faithful  and  ilrvoted  servants,  in  wliom  the 
outward  and  the  inward,  the  name  and  the  idea, 
slioiild  proiierly  coincide, — a  priesthood  serving 
fl'id  in  newness  of  spirit,  not  in  the  oMness  of 
the  letter,  as  the  people  whom  they  represented 
shoidd  also  have  become  trae  Israelites,  them- 
selves a  royal  priesthood  otfering  up  spiritnal 
sacriKces  to" the  Lord.  In  tiuth,  it  is  the  raising 
up  of  a  people  who  should  be  such  a  priesthood 
that  is  meant  by  the  description,  and  the  sons  of 
Zadok  came  into  notice  only  because  in  connec- 
tion with  them  there  was  an  historical  ground 
for  taking  them  as  representatives  of  a  right- 
hearted  spiritual  community." — W.  F.] — Hut  .as 
not  all  the  children  of  Abraham  are  of  his  faith, 
so  here  the  sons  of  Zadok  are  only  those  who 
kept,  etc.,  who  liare  kept  and  will  keep  them- 
selves faithful  to  Me.  Not  until  after  this  essen- 
tial personal  qualification  for  priest,  is  the  formal 
and  ofiicial  service  described :  in  general,  the 
"drawing  near,"  etc.  (ch.  xl.  46,  xliii.  19),  in 
particular,  the  "  standing  before  Me  (in  contrast 
to  'before  them.'  ver.  11)  to  offer  unto  Me 
(comp.  ver.  71  fat,"  etc.,  part  of  the  service  at 
tlie  .altar  of  buint-offering. — Then  in  Ver.  16 
comes  the  treading  of  the  dwelling  in  the  holy 
jilace,  especially  the  drawing  near  to  the  altar 
of  incense  (ch.  xli.  22),  for  which  the  name 
table  is  significantly  retained.      Finally,  nDBH 

'rnOUiOTIS  reverts  to  the  starting-point  in  ver. 
15,  'notr  -IC'N- 


Vers.  17-31.  Priestly  Duties  and  Privlkijes. 

A'er.  17  begins  with  the  most  external,  the 
clothing ;  the  duty  in  this  re.spect  will  make  the 
syiubolized  inward  obligation  the  more  apparent. 
The  coming  to  the  inner  gates  implies  the  inten- 
tion of  service  at  or  in  the  sanctuary,  and  thereby 
involves  the  duty  of  putting  on  (ntl'S,  "flax") 

linen  garments,  and  this  makes  {;"£;•,  "^  already- 
ordained  bv  Moses,  perfectly  clear  (corap.  Ex. 
xxxix.  28,  xxriii.  39  sq.  ;  Lev.  vi.  3  [10],  xvi,  4, 
23).       The   express   prohibition   of   wool    ("IDV, 

what  is  "drawn  together,"  hanging  together  like 
rellus,  ipc;,  i!m)  gives  additional  emphasis  to  the 
linen,  and  makes  the  ministering  in  the  gates  of 
the  inner  conrt,  tliat  is,  within  them,  and  at  the 
house,  said  of  functions  discharged  within  the 
house,  the  former  in  relation  to  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering,  and  the  latter  in  relation  to  the  altar  of 
incense,  still  more  distinctly  prominent. — Ver. 
IS,  like  ver.  17,  refers  to  the  priest's  garments; 
nXS  is  properly:   "adornment,"  diadem,  which 

might  suggest  the  special  high-priestly  nSJVD; 

the  word,  however,  occurs  rather  in  connection 
with  rijJ330,  Ex,  x.xxix.  28  ("goodly  bonnets"), 

and  we  have  no  warrant  for  supposing  it  is  a 
special  head-covering  for  priests  in  general.  It 
is  rather  meant  to  be  remarked  that  they  are 
Dcorned  ("IXB  is  suggestive  of  floral  ornaments), 

tlthough  with  linen. — The  covering  for  the  loins 


('D330.  plural  or  dual),  reaching  from  high  alovt 

the  loins  down  to  about  the  thigh  (comp.  Ex. 
.xxviii.  421,  forms  the  third  of  the  fovir  articles, 
as  B.ahr  says,  designed  for  the  otticial  ilress  of  the 
priests  (i"  accordance  with  "the  symbolical  ]ilace 
of  Jehovah's  testimony  and  revelation  ") ;  while 
the  injunction  about  "girding,"  which,  more- 
over, explains  the  sense  and  spirit  of  the  whole 
linen  dress,  subjoins  the  033S,  tl^^t  i-S  girdle  of 

the  priests,  as  the  fourth  article.  This  was  worr. 
higher  up  toward  the  breast,  as  would  then  be 
contirnred  by  the  adiled  defining  clause  :  not  in 
sweat  ;  which  certairdy  willrrot  bear  the  meaning: 
while  they  sweat,  but  accordirrg  to  Biihr  is  rireant 
to  imply :     where  they  sweat.     But    yp^  (TV'i 

found  only  liere,  elsewhere  nVT.  from  jflf :    what 

is  forced  out  by  pressure  or  anguish)  certainly 
nreans  nothing  but  what  has  been  said  already  : 
that  no  wool  shall  come  upon  them  ;  for  as  the 
white  linen  makes  the  cleanness  apparent,  so 
sweat,  so  readily  produced  by  wooUen  stuff,  espe- 
cially when  for-ming  a  girdle  and  thus  confiniirg  the 
body,  is  meant  to  be  guarded  against  as  unclean- 
rress",  and  on  the  whole  accordingly  the  holiness 
of  the  priests  for  the  sanctification  of  the  peojrle 
to  be  signified.  [Did  the  Septuagint  mean  too 
tight  girding,  or  gilding  in  violent  haste  ?] 

Ver.  19.  I'he  repetition:  to  the  outer  court, 
is  meant  to  strengthen  the  prohibition,  which  is 
particular'ly  strong  in  our  verse  ;  to  call  attention 
to  the  distinction  between  the  outer  court  aird 
the  inner,  while  both,  liowever,  are  still  only 
courts  ;  and  to  the  altar  in  the  inner  cour-t, 
where  the  sanctification  of  the  people  willed  by 
Jehovah  has  to  take  place.  After  this  (comp. 
ch.  xlii.  14)  comes  the  laying  aside  of  the 
priest's  official  dress,  and  the  la\-irrg  of  it  do%vn  at 
the  place  suitable  to  the  "  holiness  of  Jehovah" 
(ch.  xlii.  13V,  and  the  putting  orr  of  other  gar- 
ments, for  the  ]iuiiiose  of  guarding  against  the 
thought  of  another  sanctification  than  the  God- 
ordained  one  by  the  way  of  sacrifice.  Xot  in 
their  garments,  that  is,  it  is  not  they,  although 
they  are  priests,  who  are  to  sanctify  the  people 
(comp.  John  xiii.  19  !).  Consequently,  the  goirrg 
out  to  the  people  is  to  be  understooil  in  reference 
to  sanctification,  and  shows  moreover  that  this 
outer  court  was  for  the  people.  Kxpositors  geire- 
rally  refer  here  to  Lev.  vi.  11,  20  (enp')  ;   Ex. 

xxix.  37,  XXX.  29  ;  comp.  besides,  Ex.  xxviii.  43  ; 
Lev.  -vi.  4  [11],  xvi.  23.  [That  contact  with  the 
people  defiles  the  priests  when  in  their  ofiicial 
dress,  as  Keil  referring  to  Lev.  xxi.  supposes,  is 
not  said  here.] 

Ver.  20  forbids,  as  already  Lev.  xix.  27,  xxi. 
5,  the  shaWrrgof  the  head  smooth,  as  heathenish  ; 
censuring  the  Creator  ( I  ?),  says  Hengst. ;  ac- 
cording to  Bahr,  as  moui'ning,  a  sign  of  fellow- 
ship with  the  dead,  inasmuch  as  the  hair  is  a 
proof  of  'life  and  vigour  of  body.  The  Egy^jtian 
priests  kept  the  head  always  close  .shaved.  Cn 
the  contrary,  the  priests  of  Israel  are  to  bear 
their  head  high,  as  the  mediator's  of  an  eternal 
life   in   holiness  through  grace.  — jns  implies- 

"breaking  forth,"  "being  on  the  top;"  hence, 
the  hair  on  the  head.  The  covering  for  ths 
head  Ls  treated  of   next  to  the    garments  foi 


CHAP.  XLIV.  21-1'8. 


42] 


the  body.     F.  .-il  cites  for  n^JB'  {"  to  let  loose  "), 

us  "  to  let  grow  freely,"  liev.  x.  6  and  Num.  vi.  5. 
B  It  the  first  passage  must  not  be  so  understood, 
and  we  need  not  supjicse  here,  iu  accordance  with 
the  second,  a  prohibition  of  Nazaritism,  but,  as 
the  markedly  positive  clause  shows,  the  hair  is 
simply  to  be  kept  short,  to  be  polled.  Comp. 
1  Cor.  xi.  14  sq.  (Kev.  ix.  8).     (QDS  's  found  only 

here.)  On  this  Hengstenberg  oKserres  :  "That 
which  is  the  sign  of  a  wild,  disorderly  man,  who 
lets  nature  take  its  free  course,  might  indeed  be 
permitted  to  the  Nazarite,  in  consequence  of  a 
vow  undertaken  for  a  time,  iu  order  thereby  to 
typify  his  .separation  from  the  world  ;  b>it  not  to 
the  priest,  whose  duty  it  was  to  hold  converse  with 
the  world,  and  adapt  himself  to  Society,  to  «ntei' 
which  with  shorn  hair  was  the  custom  even  in 
Jo.seph's  time.  The  priest  should  be  no  separati;d 
person."  If  flowing  locks  and  the  growth  of  hair 
generally  is  the  sign  of  Wgorous  natural  life,  as  the 
forbidden  shaving  also  on  its  part  symbolizes,  then 
by  forbidding  the  priest  as  representative  of  a  holy 
jieople  to  let  liis  locks  grow  long,  the  false  posi- 
tive, in  addition  to  the  false  negative,  is  forbidden  ; 
the  maxim  that  :  every  one  is  his  own  law  (as  every 
one  his  own  devil),  unbounded  naturalism  is  for- 
bidden. Neither  annihilation  nor  yet  glorification 
of  nature,  neither  askesis  unto  death  nor  honouring 
of  the  Hesh,  but  simply  law,  divine  order,  is  the 
watchword  for  the  servant  of  Jehovah.  The 
sanctification  treated  of  is  neither  heatlienishly 
self-chosen,  one's  own  fabrication,  self-sanctifica- 
tion,  nor  is  it  a  natural  holiness  of  one's  own, 
which  needs  not  a  sanctification  in  Jehovah's  way. 
— Ver.  21.  Although  abstinence  from  wine  is  de- 
manded, yet  our  jiassage  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Nazarite  i)roper.  His  was  a  vow  regulated 
by  law  ;  but  always  a  free-will  dedication  pro 
tevipore,  where  the  man  thus  devoted  himself  to 
God  with  all  his  naturalism,  just  as  he  had  grown 
up.  That  the  priests  are  not  to  drink  wine  (Lev. 
X.  9)  is  grounded  on  no  temporary,  formal  sepa- 
ration from  the  world,  is  no  drastic  consecration, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Nazarite,  but  is  simply  an 
emblem  of  v/hat  is  seemly,  of  sobriety  of  soul,  of 
the  true  spirit  of  a  servant  of  God,  who  goes  into 
the  inner  court, — the  reason  assigned  for  the 
prohibition. 

Ver.  22.  From  their  manner  of  life  in  respect 
to  drinking,  and  no  doubt  generally  (Rom.  xiii. 
14),  the  obligation  of  the  priests  turns  to  their 
married  life.  The  injunction  not  to  marry  a 
widow  (Lev.  xxi.  14,  13)  is  extended  here  from 
the  high  priest  to  the  whole  body  of  priests,  who 
in  this  respect  then  appear  high-priestl)',  just  as  in 
ch.  xliii.  12  everything  upon  the  mountain  round 
about  was  most  holy.  The  ordinary  priest  also 
is  not  allowed  to  marry  (Lev.  xxi.  7)  nC'IIJ  nts'X, 

a  woman  put  away  by  her  husband,  of  course  with 
reason,  because  of  guilt  ;  one  of  tins  kind  is  classi- 
fied as  a  factitious  widow  with  those  who  are 
really  widows.  The  permission  to  take  a  priest's 
widow  forms  a  pendant  to  the  judgment  pro- 
nounced on  the  daughter  of  a  priest  in  Lev.  xxi. 
9.  Foi-  the  rest,  the  verse  relates  to  the  iiriests' 
being  holy  with  referem^e  to  the  holiness  of  Jeho- 
vah. [Tiie  Jewish  Talnuulic  view  limits  the  first 
part  to  the  high  priest,   understanding  psDI  "f 

the  other  priests  :  "Yet  the  widow  who  is  (really) 


a  widow,  those  who  occupy  the  position  of  ordi' 
nary  priests  may  take."] 

Ver.  23  defines  the  official  duties  of  the  priests. 
m<  (Hiph. ),  "to  spread  out,"  the  hand,  for  ex- 
ample, to  point  to  something,  to  teach,  here  the 
people,  of  whom  Jehovah  says  :  My  people  (Deut. 
.wii.  .Osq.,  xxxiii.  10;  Lev.  x.  10);  and  above  all 
to  teach  them  the  difference  between,  etc.,  foi 
which  comp.  ch.  xxii.  26.  The  priestly  service, 
then,  is  to  comprehend  worship  and  doctrine,  re- 
presentation of  the  people  before  God,  and  repre- 
sentation of  God  before  the  people.  (Comp.  M;il. 
ii.  7.)  But  above  all,  everything  with  an  eye  to 
sanctification. — Ver.  24  gives  in  addition  to  this 
the  court  of  judicature  which  they  form  in  dis- 
puted cases  (Deut.  xvii.  8  sq.,  xix.  17) :  3'T7y, 

they  are  to  stand  over  the  confused  and  compli- 
cated points  raised  by  the  parties,  and  because 
they  have  tlie  power  to  stand  over  them  as  judges, 
since  they  have  to  judge  in  My  judgments,  they 
will  always  find  in  the  law  of  Jehovah  what  is 

right  in  every  case.     Qeri  :  CB!5'D7i    and  Qeri  : 

inD3"*',   are  both  equally  unnecessary.      What 

this  administration  of  justice  is  in  civil  life — it 
too  being  a  sanctification  of  the  people  through 
the  judgment  of  God — has  its  counterpart  in 
church  life,  in  the  observance  of  all  the  laws  and 
ordinances,  on  all  the  festivals  of  Jehovah,  the 
key-note  for  which  is  given  with  the  hallowing 
of  the  Sabbaths  (comp.  for  the  reverse,  ch.  xxii. 
26),  while  at  the  same  time  we  are  told  what  is 
always  the  main  matter  iu  priestly  ministration. 
Ver.   25  therefore  snows  how  the  priests  have 

to  keep  themselves  from   defilement.  —  {{13'  K7 

individualizes,  to  sperk  exactly. — The  exception 
(DX  '3)  affects  the  same  blood-relations  as  Lev. 

xxi.  The  exception  of  the  high  priest  (Lev.  xxi. 
10  .sq. )  is  not  noticed,  just  as  there  is  no  notice 
of  tlie  high  priest  in  the  whole  book.  Ver.  26  is, 
according  to  Keil,  the  command  to  purify  from 
uucleanness  by  the  dead  sharpened,  inasmuch  as 
he  believes  the  seven  days  are  a|ipointed  over  and 
above  the  space  of  seven  days  prescribed  by  the  law 
(Num.  xix.  11  so.),  and  finds  this  indicateii  in 
imnt3,  in  which  he  thinks  he  sees  a  compensation 

for  the  previously  permitted  condng  of  the  priests 
to  the  dead,  which  in  the  law  had  been  forbidden 
to  the  high  priest  even  in  the  case  of  father  or 
mother.  Kather  perhaps  the  number  seven  simply 
points  the  more  strongly  to  holiness  and  sanctifi- 
cation. Hengstenberg,  on  the  other  hand,  insists 
on  the  distinction  between:  having  been  cleansed, 
and  :  "  cleansing,"  which,  he  says,  began  with  the 
beginning  of  the  seven  days  (Num.  xix.),  seven 
days  being  the  longest  period  which  any  nnclean- 
ness  lasts.  At  all  events  it  cannot  Vie  denied  that 
Ver.  27  still  demands  the  offering  of  a  sin-oli'uring 
when  the  priest  enters  again  on  his  ministry. 

After  the  duties  come  now  the  privileges  of  the 
|iriests,  what  is  to  accrue  to  them  for  their  .ser- 
vice.— In  Ver.  28  we  have,  first  of  all,  the  fun- 
danientid  condition  known  from  tlie  law  (com]!. 
Num.  xviii.  20  ;  Ueut.  x.  9,  xviii.  1 1,  expressed 
first  positively,  then  negatively,  atd  finally  uiw. 
more  [lositively  ;  which  the  Israelite  piiestly  con- 
sciousness received  and  retained  in  living  and  ii 


422 


EZEKIEL. 


djing.  For,  since  the  priests  of  Israel  are  no 
foreigners,  no  dominant  race,  but  of  Israel,  like 
all  their  brethren,  it  would  be  natnral,  when 
(Janaan   was   promised   by  God   as  n^PIJ  to   the 

people  to  whom  they  belonged,  that  to  them  also 
there  should  be  a  definite  tribal  territory  for  in- 
heritance and  possession  (runXt  something  which 

one  grasps  and  retains).  But  they  represent 
Israel  nut  as  to  the  flesh  but  as  to  the  spirit,  as 
to  the  iilea  which  from  the  outset  makes  of  this 
people  God's  peculiar  possession,  and  thereby  God 
their  peculiar  possession:  "My"  people,  and  I 
am  Jeliovah,  "thy  God."  Now,  as  the  Lord 
already  (Gen.  xv.  ])  says  to  Abraham,  the  lather 
of  all  believers  :  I  am  thy  very  great  reward,  so 
this  is  to  the  priests  for  an  inheritance,  that  I  am 

their  inheritance  (n/flj),  as  Jehovah  says.    They 

are  thereby  in  such  a  position  that  nothing  more 

is  to  be  given  to  them  (DH?  IWiTN?),  at  least 

by  their  fellow-countrymen,  to  whom  on  the  con- 
trary they  give  an  earnest  of  the  ideality  of  their 
nationality,  of  the  eternal  inheritance,  of  the  pos- 
session of  Canaan  in  trutii,  in  that  they  as  matter 
of  fact  teach  Israel  its  bettei-  self,  its  true  asjiira- 
tion,  its  eternal  future.  [Ver.  28  does  not,  as 
K.eil  supposes,  treat  of  cities  to  dwell  in,  with 
the  houses  and  pasture-grounds  belonging  thereto, 
which  in  tlie  Mosaic  economy  .Jehovah  assigns  to 
the  Levites  and  priests  from  His  own  peculiar 
posse-ssion  in  land  ;  comp.  eh.  xlv.  ] 

Ver.  29.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  their  liveli- 
hond  from  the  offerings,  and  in  so  far  live  from 
Jehovah's  hand.  On  the  meat,  sin,  and  guilt- 
oHerings  here  mentioned,  comp.  in  the  law  Lev. 
ii.    1-10;  1   Cor.   ix.    13. —Q-in  ("  separating ") 

is  what  is  devoted  to  Jehovah  without  possibility 
of  redemption  ;  for  this  comp.  Lev.  xxvii.  21, 
28. — Ver.  30.   D'"I133  are  the  first-fruits  of  tree- 

fniit  and  of  corn  (from  -133,  "t"  break  forth  "). 


Comp.  Ex.  xxiii.  19,  xxxiv.  26  ;  Num.  xviii 
13;  Dcut.  xviii.   4. —  riOTin  is  said  of  parts  o. 

the  offerings  with  reference  to  the  ceremonial  ol 
heaving  and  waving,  which  likewise  signified 
consecration  to  Jehovah.  The  IJabbius  explain  the 
word  of  the  gift  "  sejiaiated  "  for  the  Lord  ;  for 
thus  it  took  place  with  all  the  first-fruits,  sheai'es 
as  well  as  loaves.  At  all  events,  the  heave-offer- 
ing is  in  general  whatever  is  according  to  prece))t 
or  of  flee  will  lifted  up  for  Jehovah  as  a  conse- 
crated gift  to  the  sanctuary,  indirectly  to  its 
ministers  (Ex.  xxv.  2  .sip,  xxx.  13  sq. ;  Num. 
XV.  19  sip,  xviii.  27  si].).  Comp.  eh.  xx.  40. — 
no'"'!?,  used  only  in  the  [ilural,  is  supposed  to  be 

"groats,"  or  "peeled  grain"  (Gesexius),  with 
which  n'B'NI  Joes  not  well  harmonize  ;    hence 

Meier  supposes  grain-corn.  Comp.  Num.  xv.  20 
sc(. — Everything  mentioned  in  ver.  29  tends  to 
sanctification  ;  ilie  heaving  and  waving  in  parti- 
cular involved  the  thought,  that  in  conseijiieiice 
of  such  gifts  to  the  priest  the  blessing  of  God  is 
brought  down  on  the  individual  house.  .  Heng- 
stenberg  translates ;  "  and  that  thou  mayest  make 
blessing  rest  in  thy  house,"  and  cites  Matt.  xv. 
4,  5.  Comp.  Mai.  iii.  10. — Ver.  31  firings  to  a 
close  what  refers  to  tlie  sustenance  of  tlic  priests, 
mentioning  the  things  to  be  excluded  therefrom. 

n733,  a  dead    body,    what  lies    stretched  out  of 

men   and  beasts,   cadaver.     nSTD,   "soiiietliing 

torn  of!',"  torn  by  wild  beasts.  Comp.  ch.  iv. 
14;  Ex.  xxii.  30  [31];  Lev.  xxii.  8.  Lev. 
xvii.  15  marks  this  as  defiling  for  any  man,  how 
much  more  so  for  the  priests  of  Jehovah  ;  so  that 
by  this  the  idea  of  holiness  is  exemplified. 
"Only  what  Jehovah  gives  to  them  and  His 
sanctuary  in  offerings  and  dues,  which,  however, 
must  never  be  unclean,  shall  accrue  to  them;  and 
this  at  the  same  time  forms  the  best  transition  to 
the  awards  wliich  follow  "  (Ewalu). 


CHAPTER  XLV. 


1  And  when  ye  allot  [divide]  the  land  as  inheritance,  ye  shall  make  an  obla- 
tion to  Jehovah,  a  holiness  from  the  land ;  the  length  five  and  twenty  thou- 
sand and  the  breadth  ten  thousand  ;  holiness  [is]  it;  in  all  its  border  round 

2  about.  Of  this  shall  be  [cDme,  belong]  to  the  sanctuary  five  hundred  by  five 
hundred,  a  square  round  about ;  and  fifty  cubits  of  environs  for  it  round 

3  about.  And  from  [accmdinK  to]  this  measure  shalt  thou  measure  a  length  of 
five  and  twenty  thousand  and  a  breadth  of  ten  thousand,  and  in  it  shall  be 

4  the  sanctuary,  the  most  holy  place.  Holiness  from  the  land  is  this ;  for  the 
priests,  the  ministers  of  the  sanctuary  shall  it  be,  who  draw  near  to  minister 
to  Jeliovah  ;  and  it  is  to  them  a  place  for  houses,  and  a  holy  place  for  the 

5  sanctuary.  And  five  and  twenty  thousand  in  length  and  ten  thousand  in 
breadth  shall  be  [beionK]  to  the  Levites,  the  ministers  of  the  house,  to  them 

6  for  a  possession,  twenty  chambers.  And  as  a  possession  of  the  city  ye  shall 
give  five  thousand  in  breadth,  and  in  length  five  and  twenty  thou.sand,  beside 
[ruiMiing  alone]  the  oblatiou  of  holiness  ;  it  shall  be  for  the  whole  house  of  Israel. 

7  And  for  the  prince  :  adjoining  the  oblation  of  holiness  on  both  sides  and  the 
possession  of  the  city,  before  the  oblation  of  holiness  and  before  the  possession 
of  the  city,  on  the  west  side  westward,  and  on  the  east  side  eastward,  and 


CHAP.  XLV.  423 


the  length,  beside  [nmi.inK  along]  one  of  the  [nbai]  portions  from  the  west  hordei 

8  to  the  east  bonier.  It  shall  be  land  to  him  for  a  possession  in  Israel  :  and 
My  princes  shall  no  more  oppress  My  people ;  and  [but]  the  land  shall  they 

9  give  to  the  house  of  I.=rael  according  to  their  tribes.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
Jehovah  :  Enough  for  you,  0  princes  of  Israel;  remove  [pm  away]  violence  and 
rapine,  and  do  judgment  and  justice,  take  away  your  expulsions  from  My 

10  people, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.     Ye  shall  have  just  balances,  and  a 

1 1  just  ephah,  and  a  just  bath.  The  ephab  and  the  bath  sliall  be  of  one  mea- 
sure ;  that  the  bath  may  contain  [amount  lo]  the  tenth  of  the  homer,  and  the 

1 2  ephah  a  tenth  of  the  homer ;  its  measure  shall  be  after  the  homer.  And  the 
shekel  [»h»ii  be]  twenty  gerahs  ;  twenty  shekels,  five  and  twenty  shekels,  fifteen 

13  shekels,  shall  be  your  maneh.  This  is  the  oblation  which  ye  shall  make  : 
the  si.xth  of  the  ephah  from  the  homer  of  wheat,  and  ye  shall  six  the  ejiliah 

14  from  the  homer  of  barley.     And  the  ordinance  of  the  oil:  the  bath  of  oil 

what  is  10  be  offered  as  bath  fnim  Ibc  oil  shaU  be]    the    tenth    of   the    bath    OUt    of    the    COr, 

15  [which  ia]  ten  baths,  a  homer;  for  ten  baths  are  a  homer.     And  one  sheep 

or  guar]  out  of  the  Hock,  from  two  hundred  from  the  watered  'land]  of  Israel,' 
for  the  meat-offering,  and  for  the  burnt-offering,  and  for  pea'ce-offerings,  to 

16  atone  for  [to  cover]  them, — sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah.     All  the  people  of 

17  the  land,  they  shall  be  [um]  to  this  oblation  for  the  prince  in  Israel.  And 
upon  the  prince  shall  be  the  burnt-olferings,  and  the  meat-offering,  and  the 
drink-offering,  on  the  feasts,  and  on  the  new  moons,  and  on  the  Sabbaths,  in 
all  the  festal  seasons  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  he  shall  prepare  the  sin-offering, 
and  the  meat-offering,  and  the  burnt-offering,  and  the  peace-offerings,  to  atone 

18  for  [to  cover]  the  house  of  Israel.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  In  the  first 
[month],  on  the  first  of  the  month,  thou  shalt  take  a  bullock,  a  young  steer, 

19  without  blemish,  and  cleanse  the  sanctuary:  And  the  priest  takes  of  the 
blood  of  the  sin-offering,  and  puts  it  upon  the  posts  of  the  house,  and 
upon  the  four  corners  of  the  'edge   of  the  altar,   and  i!i)on    the  posts  of 

20  the  gate  of  the  inner  court.  And  so  shalt  thou  do  on  tlie  seventh  of 
the  month  for  the  erring  man  and  for  the  fool,  and  ye  atone  for  the  house. 

21  In  the  first  [m..n-h],  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month,  shall  the  passover 
be  to  you,  a  feast  of  seven  days ;  unleavened  bread  shall  be  eaten  [one  sh,ii  eat 

22  •i.aizoih].     And  the  prince  brings  on  this  day  for  himself  and  for  the  whole 

23  people  of  the  land  a  bullock  as  a  sin-ottering.  And  the  seven  days  of  the 
feast  he  shall  bring  as  a  burnt-offering  to  Jehovah  seven  bullocks  and  seven 
rams  without  blemish,  daily  the  seven'days  ;  and  as  a  sin-ottering  a  kid  of  the 

24  goats  for  the  day  [daily].     And  as  a  meat-ottering  he  shall  otter  an  ephah  for  a 

25  bullock,  and  an  ephah  for  a  ram,  and  of  oil  an  bin  for  the  ephah.  In  the 
seventh  [month],  on  tiie  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  in  the  feast  he  shall  bring 
just  such  [offerings]  seven  days,  as  the  sin-offering,  as  the  burnt-offering,  and  as 
the  meat-offering,  and  as  the  oil. 

Ver.  1.  Sept.:  .  .  .  i-rccfx':'  ■  ■  '■  '"I"!  uxcri  x<>J»3«>—  (The  second  or  the  first  ^IN  Is  omitted  in  ihe  vailom 
icanusciipts.) 

Vlt.  2.  .  .  .  tis  aytafff^M  .  .  .  i,atrrr,fj,iit  aCran —  Vulg. :  Et  erit  ex  omni  parte  sanctificatum  .  .  .  in  suburbans 
•Jus — 

V  er.    3.  .  .  .  iniiu.sTfl7}ffia/!  ...  TO  iytacrfxa  rait  uyiim.     Vulg. :  .  .  .  templum  sanctujiique  sanctorum. 

VeV.    4.   .    .  .    ti;  otxovi  ccfaipifffjbtv6ti!  Toi  iyixir,u.iu  c^Itoi*. 

Ver.     6.   .  .    .   airoif  tU  XXTXtr^tff-it  roXli;  raw  xaTotxttv. 

Ver.     6.  .  .    .  ev  TpoTov  Koti  r,  c^rratpxY,  Tu*  otyiatv  Tavrt  olx^  '\rp.  iffanxi. 

Ver.  7.  .  .  .  It;  Tar  iTup^us  t.  ctyut*.  lU  KscTtca-x'-irii  t.  ToXfa;;.  xaTa  vparairroj  raii  irxpx^  ...  Toe  Tpei  BxXsrratt 
K,  irro  raiv  vpe;  daXcca-^xt  Tot  apt;  i»oeT9/.af  ■  *.  to  fjc>iX6t  u;  fjuoc  rat*  fxipto^v  aTo  Tan  opiate  roiv  ^pti  SxXxfffxt,  X.  to  ^r«Oi  in 
Ta  »pix  Tot  rrpas  cLintTekxs  (8.)  T*jf  yrf.      K.  icrai  ocuraf  .   .   .  eiixlTi  ct  ic^r.ya-jiMi^oi  to'j  'Itrp.  .  .  .  X.  Tr,v  yr,v  MaTOLxkr.pokOpLxrevriw 

•Jsau'Iirp.— Vulg. :  .  ...  et  non  depoputabunim —    (Another  rending:  DDJ??-) 

Ver.  9.  Ixatfe'^rHai  i/^tv  .  .  .  x.  rctXecirraipiixt  .  .  .  *.  l^xpetTt  xatrxhvjutffTUatt —  Vulg.  :  .  .  .  /niquitatem  et  r.toinat 
.  .  .  separate  conjii-ia  vestra  a  poputo  meo — 

Ver    II'.   .    .   .  X.  ptlTpov  Sixaejov  K.  X'"**i  Sixettx  ir-rxt  Cfjui  Tou  fMtrpev. 

Ver.  11.  .  .  .  K.  ti  ;to"''4  ouJiia/!  fj.ix  ia-Toti  toi^  /.ott^ot^lii-,  to  Sl*otTo»  7au  yofiup  it  xo'"«.  x.  to  itxacret  tou  yoc^a-  n 
u.fTpti  rooi  to  youop  io-roti  *Va».  Vujg. ;  .  ,  .  aiqualui  et  unius  nientura  .  .  .  partem  cori  .  .  .  Juxta  mensuram  cori  tril 
mqjii  Uhratio  eorum. 


42-4 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.  12.   K.  rx  irrxOujet  iix6ffi  o^o\ot,  oi  tuti  ffix>.it  rriirl  X.  c\  SuMt  0-j«X«  Si«cc  *.  TivTiixckTa   irix>.ot  VI  iJ.\jL  trrai  ujbMr. 

Vuljr.;  .  .  .  obo\o$  .  .  .  Pori'O  viginti  sicU  et  .  .  .  et  .  .  .  mnam/acxunt.    (Another  leading:  D^^pt^.) 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  ixTO)!  Tov  fjLtTpctj  .  .  .  *.  TO  ixTflv  T«y  oj^j —    Vulkj. :  .  .  .  p/'imirite. 

ver.  14.  Sept  :  .  .  .  aseTi/Ar*  iXat/w  ctvo  Tan  hlxx  xeruXw,  «t(  ol  htxx.  K9Ttj\et  tifftv  yauop.  VlUif . :  .  .  .  tuitus  olei 
itKima  pars  cori  est;  et  decern  bati  i-orum  faciunl,  quia  dectm  ball  impient  coruin. 

\  er.  15.  K.  trpoiixTov  Iv  otio  T.  ilxx  rrpojixThn  otfxtptfMt  ix  wxruy  t**  trxrp.^v  T.  'Ig-p. —  Vulg.;  Et  afietem  Unurst  tU 
^ege  ducenlorum,  de  his  quse  nutriunt  Israel — 

Ver  17.  K.  5i«  Tfly  ipiiyeiz/iE^ou  (rra*—     (Other  readings:    n?^J?n  and  ^^y^D   ?33V) 
Ver.  IS.  .  .  .  x^+!«-Si— 

Ver.  19.  Another  reading:  mHtO- 

\  er.  20.  .  ,  .  £v  T.  ur.vt  Till  i^ShofiM-  pux  till  fjir,^oi  Ar*^*!  ^«/''  ixoeffTflu  aj-veou^Tsf  at.  bto  »»;tjou,      Vulg.; 
mtit  et  envre  deceptus  est  — 

Ver.  22.  .  .  .  i/Ttp  xlrov  k.  i/^ip  r.  otKou  k.  i/Tip  rrxfrot  t.  Aacv  T.  yrf — 

Ver.  23.   .  .  .  «.  6uirtxv.     (24.)  K-  ^rtpcutx  tu  fMcr^en — 

Ver  24.  Vult:. :  Et  sacrijicium  ephi  per  vitulunt — 

Ver.  25.  .  .  .  Tomt^ui  xxtx  rx  xurx  .  .  .  x.  xa,Oui  to  [xx^xx —    Vulg.:  .  .  .  sicut  supra  dicta  sunt — 


,  qui  ignor- 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vers.  1-9.  The  Oblation  of  Holiness,  the  Larul  of 
the  Levites,  the  Possession  of  the  C'ily,  and  the 
Portion  of  the  Prince. 

That  Jehovah  is  the  inheritance  and  jiossession 
of  His  jjriests  (ch.  xliv.  28)  is  a  reality  even  for 
this  workl,  as  godliness  in  like  manner  has  the 
promise  "of  the  life  that  now  is. "  In  order  to 
give  form  to  this  tnith,  Ver.  1  connects  what  fol- 
lows with  the  preceding. — ^'sn,  from  ^3j,  signi- 

lies  :  "  to  make  to  fall,"  and  is  used  peculiarly  of 
the  lot  (ch.  xxiv.  6)  ;  but  when  nothing  suggests 

this,  and  when  5  is  not  prefixed  to  the  word,  it 

is  to  be  taken  in  its  general  sense,  and  nirija, 

cum  3   essentim,  is  to  be  understood  as  meaning  : 

to  divide  in  general.  Comp.  Ps.  xvi.  6.  (The 
reference  to  the  time  immediately  after  the  Baby- 
lonian servitude,  hitherto  maintained  by  Heng- 
stenberg,  must  now,  as  we  may  well  conceive,  be 
abandoned  :  and  so  then  he  makes  the  prophet 
travel    to    Utopia,   etc.) — HCTin  10*111  (Hiphil 

of  Q!!-),  referring  to  what  was  done  in  the  case  of 

the  peace  or  thank-offerings  with  the  shoulder  of 
the  victim — the  waving  with  the  breast)  has  here 
the  moie  general  signification,  although  not  that 
of:  "to  present  a  present,"  nor  that  of:  "to 
offer  an  offering, "   but  that  of :    to   consecrate, 

to  hallow  to  the  Lord  (nilT^),  which,  moreover, 

was  the  meaning  of  the  ceremony  of  heaving  on 
high  as  well  as  of  the  heaving  up  upon  the  altar. 
Corn]*,  also  oil  ch.  xliv.  30.  For  details  see  on 
ch.  xlviii. — Holinees  (corresponding  to  Jehovah) 
fro^  the  land,  and  thus  separated,  ' '  partly  for 
sacred  and  partly  at  least  for  higher,  more  general 
purjioses  "  (Bunsen)  ;  but  see  the  intended  use 
in  what  follows. — The  word  length  is  repeated, 
pei'hajis  on  account  of  tlie  significant  number 
mentioned  for  tl:e  first  tinie,  or  because  the 
n:itural  length  of  the  laud  is  not  to  be  regarded, 
but  by  length  reference  is  meant  to  be  made  to 
th:U  which  is  forthwitli  so  called  in  the  vision, 
the  extension  from  east  to  west,  and  so  tlie  repe- 
tition is  not  exactly  pleonastic.  Wliether  rods 
(Jeho.m?;,  Kasjii,  Hav.)  or  cubits  (Ewald, 
HrrziG,  HKNG.ST. )  are  meant,  is  not  said.  The 
suplxjrters  of  both  interpretations  appeal  to  en. 
xliL  16  6(j. ;  hence  compare  what  is  said  there. — 


The  express  mention,  too,  of  cubits  in  ver.  2  is 
pressed  into  the  service  of  both  parties.  Those 
who  hold  lor  rods  say  :  Thus  rods  are  always 
meant  in  what  goes  before,  because  here  cubits  are 
excepted  ;  those  who  contend  for  cubits  replv  : 
Thus  in  what  goes  before,  too,  as  everywhere  "in 
the  case  of  all  the  large  measurements,  cubits  ;iie 
to  be  understood,  otherwise  rods  would  need  to 
be  expressly  named.  That  cubits  are  mentiom-d 
first  in  ver.  2,  Hengstenberg  explains  from  "tlie 
unexpectedly  small  measure  there,  so  that  one 
might  easily  think  of  a  larger  scale."  Bottcher, 
moreover,  adduces  against  the  measurement  by 
rod  which  he  calculates  would  give  40  German 
[about  900  English]  square  miles  (?),  i.e.  almost 
the  tenth  of  the  whole  land,  the  colossal  dispro- 
portion to  the  statements  elsewhere,  especially  its 
to  the  temple,  which  measures  only  500  eubi'i. 
square.  Keil,  on  the  other  hand,  maintains  that  <  b. 
xlviii.  with  its  proportions  corresponds  through  - 
out  to  the  Ti^i.o;  of  25,000  rods  in  length  and 
10,000  rods  in  breadth.  Comp.  therefore  ch. 
xlviii.— The  breadth  trends  from  north  to  south 

(ch.  xlriii.  10).— Keil  finds  Cj^x  mb'J?  for  10,000 

surprising,  for  which,  he  observes,  D'S^N  mbj) 

is  constantly  used  in  vers.  3,  5,  and  in  ch.  xlviii. 
He  therefore  prefers  the  20,000  of  the  Sept.,  giving 
as  additional  reasons  for  this,  that  the  part  men- 
tioned in  ver.  3  is  to  be  measured  off  from  what 
was  measured  in  ver.  1 ;  also  that  the  Levites  of 
ver.  5  are  to  be  cousidei'ed,  whose  possession  is  like- 
wise "Terumah  of  holiness"  (ch.  xlviii.  14  sq.), 
as  is  plain  from  other  passages  of  our  chapter  ; 
ver.  1  comprehends  the  land  of  the  priests  and  of 
the  Le\'ites  [25,000  and  20,000],  which  vers.  2  and 
.•^  divide  into  two  districts. — Finally,  the  charac- 
ter of  the  oblation,  because  to  Jehovah,  is  again 
insisted  on,  and  that  in  respect  of  all  its  border 
round  abo:t. 

Ver.  2,  after  this  general  statement,  marks  oH 
from  the  above-mentioned  (HID)  the  sanctuary 

described  and  measured  in  ch.   xl.,  that  is,  the 

500  cubits  square  forming  the  temple  edifice,  or, 

as  Keil,  in  accordance  with  his  view  of  ch.  xlii 

15  sq. :    the   500  square    rods  pertaining  to  the 

sacred  enclosures  of  the  temple.      But  as  he  inlds  : 

"  there  is  still  to  be  around  this  enclosure,  which 

separates  between  the  sacred  and  the  common,  a 

I  free  space  of  fifty  cubits  on  each  side  to  keep  the 

I  ]iiiests'  dwellings  from  being  built   too   near  to 

I  the  sacred  square  of  the  temple  buildings,"  how. 


CHAr.  XLX.  3-6. 


425 


we  ask,  does  lie  leave  this  latter  entirely  out  of 

account  !  ? — :;'"\30,  comp.  on  eh.  xxvii.  28.     "A 

free  space  of  50  cubits  to  a  sanctuary  of  500  rods 
would  be  much  too  small.  It  was  evideutly  in- 
tended to  be  an  interspace  between  the  house  of 
God  and  the  houses  of  the  priests  "  (Hengst.  ). — 
Ver.  3.  nN?n  mtSn"|D  is  not  the  same  as  n?D  in 

ver.  2  ;  for  if  so,  this  distinct  and  different  mode 
cf  e.xpression  would  not  have  been  chosen,  which, 
as  it  refere  to  the  measuring  of  the  sanctuary,  so 
it  designates  as  the  sanctuary  the  temple  building, 
and  not  the  "sacred  enclosure  of  the  temple." 
Keil  needs  10,000  rods  more  in  ver.  1,  because 
he   makes   ns?n  rnSH    here  =  "  this   measured 

piece  of  land."    -p,  as  modified  by  mSH,  which 

has  had  always  hitherto  to  be  translated  "  mea- 
sure," denotes  that  from  which  the  prophet  has 
to  take  the  measure,  and  is  therefore  entrusted 
with  the  "measuring"  (liDn,  as  it  is  expressly 

said)  ;  it  had,  indeed,  been  measured  before  him 
in  ch.  xl.  The  temple  building,  just  referred  to 
in  ver,  2  as  the  principal  part,  is  normal  for  the 
whole  oblation,  which  as  such  is  again  referred  to 
in  Ver.  3,  where  also  the  centrality  of  the  temple, 
already  indicated  by  the  phrase  :  and  in  it  shall 
be  the  sanctuary,  is  distinctly  denoted  by  the 
epithet  ;  most  holy,  pointing  to  ch.  xliii.  12. 
After  that  the  holiness,  the  separation  from  the 
land  for  the  holy  pur2)ose  (for  Jehovah,  for  His 
sanctuary)  of  the  land  of  which  the  oblation  con- 
sists (mn),  with  (ver.  3)  tlie  sanctuary  in  it  (in- 
clusive of  the  courts),  has  been  again  insisted  on. 
Ver.  4  treats  now  of  the  area  in  question  in  its 
relation  to  the  priests,  who,  as  hitherto  (ch.  xl. 
4t5,  xlii.  13,  xliv.  15) — here,  however,  with  a  view 
to  the  sanctuary  and  its  central  position — are 
described,  both  as  respects  their  official  functions 
and  their  dwelling-places.  Since  they  are  such, 
since  this  is  their  official  calling,  it  is  befitting 
to  assign  to  them  the  holiness  from  the  land  as  a 
place  for  houses,  explained  in  the  clause  follow- 
ing to  he  ;  a  holy  place  for  the  sanctuary,  so  that 
this  latter  defines  the  priests'  houses  to  be  a  de- 
pendency of  the  sanctuary,  jist  as  similarly  in 
ch.  xliiL  12  the  whole  was  even  called  most  holy 
(ver.  3  here).  The  last  clause  of  the  verse  is 
jommonly  taken  as  indicating  a  second  use  for 
the  area  of  the  oblation,  namely,  for  the  temple, 
a  supeifluous  repetition.  The  mention  of  houses  is 
in  harmony  with  the  law,  in  which  the  thirteen 
cities  for  the  priests  (Josh,  .xxi.)  likewise  come 
into  consideration  simply  as  regards  the  houses 
in  them.  From  that  which  is  His  own  through 
the  oblation  Jeliovah  gives  to  the  priests  as  His 
ministers,  and  as  ministers  of  the  sanctuary  in  the 
neighbourhood,  the  space  necessary  for  dwellings 
ijust  as  in  ch.  xliv.  the  necessaries  of  life).  This 
is  an  arrangement  which  doubtless  is  to  be  taken 
in  connection  with  the  entire  division  of  the  land, 
but  differs  from  that  laid  down  in  Num.  xxxv. , 
so  that  it  will  have  to  be  understood  from  the 
idea  meant  to  he  illustrated  (Doct.  Reflec.  19). 

Still  more  surprising  is  the  new  arrangement 
in  Ver.  5,  where  an  area  equal  to  that  occupied 
by  the  sanctuary  and  jjriests'  ho\ises  is  assigned 
to  the  Levitts  as  ministers  of  the  house  (ch.  xliv. 
11  sq. ),  without  any  farther  descri|ition,  while 
the  priests  were  described  (ver.  4)  as  ministers  of 


the  sanctuary,  making  thus  a  marked  dift'erence 
between  them  ;  and  this  distinction  of  the  l.evites 
is  also  marked  by  the  phrase  :  to  them  for  a  pos- 
session; for  the  next  verse  goes  on  to  speak 
likewise  of  a  possession  of  the  city,  although  tliia 
latter  is  "given"  (comp.  on  the  other  hand  cL. 

xliv.  28,  Urin"N?),  ^"d  ^lo^s  not  simply  be'oug 
(iTD'),  and  n?nX7  Qnb  stands  evidently  opposed 

to  the  cirjpB^  K'HpDl  "f  '^r-   *•     ^"t  ^^^^  '^''^^ 

will  be  different  from  the  one  demanded  in  gene- 
ral in  ver.  1,  although  the  Levites  too  belong  to  the 
ministers  of  the  Lord,  and  the  twenty  chambers 
correspond  very  little  to  a  special  landed  posses- 
sion of  the  extent  mentioned.  Keil  includes  the 
land  of  the  Levites  in  ver.  1  ;  but  indeed  with  his 
20,000  rods  in  breadth  there,  of  which  10,000 
fall  to  the  priests  and  the  sanctuary,  he  has  still  a 
breadth  of  1 0, 000  rods  left  for  the  Levites.  Hengst. 
on  the  other  hand  says  :  "Along  with  the  priests 
the  Levites  receive  a  portion  of  land  of  like  extent ; 
then  follows  the  district  of  the  holy  city  with  the 
same  length,  and  a  breadth  of  5000  cubits  ;  so 
that  the  whole  portion  marked  ott'  in  advance  for 
priests,  Lerites,  and  city  is  in  breadth  as  in 
length  25,000  cubits." — Instead  of  nTf,  the  Qeri 

reads:  n\T- — The  words  roch  O'lOT  formed  a 
difficulty  to  the  LXX.,  who  perhaps  imagined  the 
text  to  be  n3t?5'  D'ly.     The  chambers,  instead 

of  the  thirty -five  Levitical  cities  of  Moses  with  pas- 
turage, form,  as  regards  the  expression,  no  dilfi- 
ciilty  ;  they  are  very  suitable  diminutives  of  tlie 
"houses  "  of  the  priests.  The  priests  have  houses, 
the  Levites  as  inferiors  only  chambers,  which  pos- 
sibly may  mean  ranges  of  cells  (  Hose.n  m.  )  or  courts, 
with  one-twentieth  of  the  pasturage  for  each.  Keil, 
who  cannot  understand  the  Masoretic  text,  and 
holds  Dntj'P  to  be  a  corruption  of  D'lyC',  reads  : 

natv,    by   w-hich,    however,    he    obtains    only 

"gates  (!  !)  as  dwellings"  for  the  Levites,  under- 
standing indeed  the  "gates"  as  equivalent  in 
meaning  to  cities.  Hengst.  calls  them  the  bar- 
racks of  the  Levites  ;  the  departure  from  tha 
ordinance  of  Moses,  according  to  whicli  the 
Levites  dwelt  scattered  through  the  whole  land, 
is  so  much  the  more  surprising. 

Ver.  6.  The  land  of  the  Levites  could  be  pro- 
perly oblation  only  if  it  were  the  same  portion 
of  land  as  that  of  the  priests  and  the  sanctuary, 
or  if  the  reading  in  ver.  1  be  20,000  rods  in 
breadth.  Hence  Hengst.  limits  the  oblation  to 
the  sanctuary  and  the  priests'  portion.  Only 
"in  the  wider  sense"  does  he  make  it  include 
also  the  portion  of  the  Levites  and  the  circuit  of 
the  city  ;  it  may  include  even  the  portion  of  the 
prince  (he  says),  "since  the  prince  acts  as  the 
minister  of  God."  The  structure  of  the  clause  in 
ver.  5  speaks  in  favour  of  a  special  area  of  1 0, 000 
in  breadth  as  Levites'  land  ;  and  so  does  the  con 
sideration  that  by  such  a  possession  in  land 
the  so  much  greater  number  of  cities  than  oj 
priests'  cities,  which  according  to  the  ordinance 
of  Moses  belonged  to  them,  is  perhaps  given 
expression  to.  Comp.  betides  on  ch.  xlviii.  20. 
But  however  much  the  definition  in  vei'.  5  ' 
to  them  for  a  posseMion,  indicates  a  special  pos- 


4i'(: 


EZEKIEL. 


tion   of  Levites'  land   outside  of  the   Termnah  I 
("oblation"*  demanded  in  ver.  1,  yet  the  pos- 
session of  the  city  lies  still  farther  outside,  as 
likewise  ^ijpin  seems  to  separate  it  even  from  the 

land  of  the  Levites.  The  city  is  the  capital  of 
the  land.  Its  area  has  the  same  length  as  that 
hitherto  given  (25,000),  but  differs  in  breadth, 
wliich  therefore  is  mentioned  first ;  we  have  in 
this  respect  10,000  +  10,000  +  5000  =  25,000. 
Tlie  possession  of  the  city  "  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  city  itself,  which  (ch.  xlviii.  16)  is  square, 
the  length  being  equal  to  the  breadth  "  (Hengst.  ). 
The  length  of  this  possession  runs  along  the  obla- 
tion of  iioliness,  by  which  designation  is  meant 
specially  the  land  of  the  priests  and  the  sanctuary. 
Its  destined  purpose,  for  the  whole  house  of 
Israel,  shows  that  it  is  to  belong  to  no  single 
tribe  merely.     Comp.  ch.  xlviii. 

The  transition  to  SfbjS  in  Ver.  7  is  mediated 

by  the  whole  house  of  Israel  in  ver.  6,  of  which 
the  prince  is  the  civil  head  and  representative.  — 
Either  a  kind  of  protasis  to  which  Ver.  8  forms 
the  apodosis,  or  we  may  supply;  "ye  shall  give," 
from  ver.  6.  —  niDI  illO  =  on  both  sides,  so  that 

the  oblation  of  holiness,  which  certainly  may  here 
include  the  land  of  the  Levites,  and  the  possession 
of  the  city  lie  betweeri,  running  before  these  from 
north  to  south,  so  that  seen  from  the  west  side 
what  is  westward  as  far  as  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
seen  from  the  east  side  what  lies  east  as  far  as  the 
Jordan  is  to  belong  to  the  prince  ;  just  as  Tj-|j<l 

explains  that  as  to  the  length,  that  is  from  west 
to  east,  the  territory  shall  run  the  same  length 
with  one,  i.e.  any  one  of  the  portions  of  the 
tribes,  shall  neither  go  beyond  nor  fall  short  of 
any  single  tribal  portion.  Jerome  remarks  that 
the  prince  received  for  himself  a  whole  tribal 
portion,  with  the  exclusion,  however,  of  the  land 
of  the  sanctuary,  the  priests,  the  Levites,  and  the 
city  ;  but  in  return  he  has  not  only  the  duty  of 
protecting  the  square  in  question,  but  also  the 
honour  of  possessing  on  his  territory  whatever  is 

holy  pertaining  to  the  nation.— Ver.   8.    pS?, 

more  exactly  defined  by  n^UVth  ■  the  land  described 

ill  ver.  7  shall  be  the  land  assigned  to  him  for  a 
possession  in  Israel.  The  reason  for  this  ar- 
rangement follows ;  'iiy[.     The  former  state  of 

things,  in  which  no  landed  possession,  no  crown 
estate,  was  allotted  to  them  qua  princes,  had 
tempted  them  to  misuse  of  their  power,  to  acquire 
for  themselves  possessions. — My  princes  corre- 
sponds to  My  people  ;  hence  those  who  will  in 
future  have  princely  power  over  the  people.  This 
My  applied  to  both  parties  contains  at  the  same 
time  the  divine  sentence  on  the  former  princes, 
who  may  be  considered  persons  as  little  conscious 
of  their  high  and  responsible  position  as  of  the 
significance  of  Israel.  Instead  of  taking  to 
themselves,  they  are  rather  to  give  to  the  house 
of  Israel,  that  is,  to  leave  in  possession,  and  also, 
if  need  be,  to  restore.  The  phrase  :  according 
to  their  tribes,  shows  what  land  is  meant. 
[Faiebairn  :  "That  the  whole  ground  for  the 
priesthood,  the  prince,  and  the  people  of  the  city 
was  to  form  together  a  square,  betokened  the  per- 


fect harmony  and  agreement  which  shot.ld  sub' 
sist  between  these  ditl'erent  classes,  as  well  as  th« 
settled  order  and  stability  which  should  distin- 
guish the  sacred  commonwealth,  in  which  they 
held  the  highest  place.  Th^t  the  priest'iood  were 
to  occupy  what  was  emphatically  holy  ground, 
was  a  symbol  of  the  singular  degree  o'"  holiness 
which  should  characterize  those  who  jtood  o 
their  official  position  the  nearest  to  the  I.oi.a 
And  that  the  prince  was  to  have  a  separate  pc-? 
session  assigned  him  was  to  cut  off  all  oocasioa 
for  his  lawlessly  interfeiiug  with  the  possession" 
of  the  people,  and  to  exhibit  the  friendly  bearing 
and  upright  administration  which  was  to  be  ex- 
pected of  him  (ver.  8).  And  not  only  must  he 
personally  abstain  from  all  oppressive  behaviour, 
but  as  the  divinely  constituted  head  of  a  righteous 
commonwealth,  he  must  take  effective  measures 
for  establishing  justice  and  judgment  throughout 
the  whole.  Particular  examples  are  given  of  this 
in  regard  to  the  using  of  just  weights  and  mea- 
sures in  the  transactions  of  business  (vers.  9-12)." 
— W.  F.]— Ver.  9  concludes  what  specially  re- 
gards the  princes,  by  whose  conduct  in  good  and 
in  bad  a  mirror  and  example  was  held  up  to  the 
people,  while  at  the  same  time  it  solemnly  intro- 
duces the  more  general  regulations  which  follow 
in  regard  to  judgment  and  justice  in  trade  and 
commerce. — The  subject  in  ch.  xliv.  6  was  the 
people  with  reference  to  the  priesthood,  here  it  is 
the  prince  in  reference  to  the  people  ;  as  there 
holiness  and  sanctiflcation,  so  here  judgment  and 
justice.  (Jerome  interprets  '3-) :  let  this  tribe- 
like possession  suffice  you!)  What  has  already 
taken  place  far  too  often  is  now  so  much  the  more 
enough,  as  all  natural  temptation  has  been  taken 
away  by  the  assigning  of  domains  (ver.  7  sq.  V — 
lb'  (^^B')  i'  virtually  the  same  as  DOn,  a  violent 

mode  of  acting,  misuse  of  power,  only  stronger, 
because  the  consequence  thereof :  "devastation," 
is  implied  in  the  word,  as  in  the  corresponding 
justice  the  exercise  of  judgment  is  manifested. 
Hengstenberg  thinks  :  the  direct  address  shows 
that  representatives  or  descendants  of  the 
princes  who  had  formerly  committed  injustice 
were  also   in   exile. — ncnj   is  expulsion  of  the 

lawful  possessor  from  his  property,  as  in  1  Kings 
xxi. — The  burden  which  this  was  to  the  com- 
munity, the  pressure  which  thereby  was  inflictei^ 

on  Israel,  is  depicted  in  the  words  ;  'pjjo  ID'IH 

"The  political  parties  especially, "  observes  Heng 
stenbcrg,  "gave  occasion  for  the  confiscations.' 
Comp.  besides,  1  Sam.  viii.  14. 

Vers.  10-12.  Jxistke  in  Common  Life. 

The  transition  which  is  made  by  Ver.  10  shows 
what  an  example  for  the  community  the  conduct 
of  the  prince  may  be  in  evil  and  oiight  to  be  in  good. 
— ("Princes  have  in  all  times  attempted  to  take 
advantage  of  their  subjects  by  alteration  of  coin- 
age and  weights,"  Philippson.) — D'JTXD,  dual, 

denotes  the  two  scales  of  the  balance,  from  jfx, 

"to  make  ready,"  "to  fix  ;"  in  reference  to  the 
way  this  can  be  done,  "to  weigh,"  to  determine 
the  weight. — nS'X  (HBX))  according  to  Josephns' 

statement  in  Greek,  a  measure  about  the  same  a* 


CHAP.  XLV.  n-16. 


iV 


iL  bfilin  bushel  [about  1^  bushels  English] ;  see 
Gesex.  Lexicon.  In  the'  same  wayas  the  ephah 
for  drj'  goods,   tlic-  03  "'as  "sed  for  linuids,  as 

Delitzsch  observes  on  Isa.  v.  10.  This  measure 
occurs  first  in  the  days  of  the  kings,  and  from 
Josephus'  caleulation  it  might  contain  somewhat 
more  than  33  Berlin  ijuarts  [about  7  gallons  Eng- 
lish].— Ver.  11  now  begins  to  discuss  what  is 
right  as  to  measure  (ph,  peiisum,  Ex.    v.    18), 

that  which  the  ephah  and  bath  are  to  represent, 
in  order  clearly  to  set  forth  exactness  in  trade 
and  commerce  as  the  divine  characteristic  of  the 
people,  as  their  holiness  in  ordinary  life.  Ver. 
iO  is  expounded  and  illustrated  by  examples. — 

riNB'i'  Rashi  explains  by   nnp^,    "to  bear"  = 

to  hold,  to  contain.     The  "iDh  (a  heap  collected 

together)  shall  be  the  measure,  the  norm,  for 
ephah  and  bath,  as  the  greatest  dry  goods  mea- 
sure, commonly  called  "cor"  from  the  time  of 
the  kings,  and  (from  Josephus)  estimated  at  a 
little  njore  than  15  Berlin  pecks  [about  600  Eng- 
lish pints]. — Ver.  12  proceeds  to  speak  of  the 
standard  for  money,  the  shekel.  An  exactly 
weighed  and  hence  definite  (small)  pound  of  silver, 
railed  by  the  Rabbins  "  rock  "  in  distinction  from 
ihe  gerah,  which  they  called  "little  stone,"  is 
the  oldest  biblical  standard  of  value,  originally, 
In  barter  a  weight,  afterwards  a  coin,  like  the 
ilrachma  among  the  Greeks  and  the  as  among 
the  Romans.  The  value  doubtless  affixed  by 
rommon  agreement  of  the  dealers  to  the  ordinary 
ohekel  before  the  time  of  Moses  cannot  now  be 
Jetermined ;  but  originating  probably  in  Babylon, 
and  coming  through  the  Phoenicians,  the  word 
meets  us  also  in  Greek  (trixXcs,  nyXm). — nijl  is 

what  is  "made  small,"  hence  grain  as  a  small 
piece,  like  "grain"  (a  weight),  from  granum; 
Gesenius  supposes  it  to  be  the  carob  bean 
(x!f«ria>),  which  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and 
Arabians  used  as  the  smallest  weight,  in  the 
same  way  as  barley  and  pepper-corns  have  been 
so  used, — the  smallest  biblical  silver  coin. — 
After  the  value  of  the  shekel  has  been  thus 
defined  from  the  parts  it  contains  (eomp.  Ex. 
XXX.  13  ;  Lev.  xxvii.  25  ;  Num.  iii.  471,  there 
may  perhaps,  as  Cocceius  and  J.  D.  Michaelis 
think,  be  three  different  kinds  of  shekel  given,  a 
}arger,  an  intermediate,  and  a  smaller.  Heng- 
6tenberg  better  :  "  the  maneh,  probably  of  foreign 
origin,  which  explains  its  rare  and  late  occurrence, 
is  stated  at  a  threefold  value,"  according  to  its 
different  worth  in  the  several  countries  from 
which  it  came.  The  normal  maneh  =  20  shekels, 
corresponding  to  the  20  gerahs,  stands  first. — 
n:D  (1  Kings  X.  17  ;  Ezra  ii.  69  ;  Neh.  vii.  71, 

721,  from  a  comparison  of  the  first  passage — in 
which  Hengstenberg,  indeed,  prefers  to  read 
niSO  instead  of  Q'jlo — with  2  Chron.  ix.  16,  it 

appears  that  a  maneh  is  equal  to  100  shekels,  a 
result  usually  reconciled  with  our  passage  by  say- 
ing that  civil  shekels,  that  is,  Mosaic  half-shekels, 
*re  intended  to  be  meant  in  2  Chron.  ix. ,  since 
the  ypa  in  the  course  of  time  became  as  shekel 

the  widest  spread  large  silver  piece.  But  still 
100  such  shekels,  or  50  Mosaic  ones,  by  wh'ch 


Ezekiel  reckons,  would  not  be  20  +  25  -|-  15,  the 
numbers  given  here,  added  together  :=  60  shekels 
and  besides,  the  three  divisions  and  the  putting  ol 
the  20  first  remain  unexplained  !  Hence  Keil  in 
fers  a  very  ancient  corruption  of  the  text.  Hitzig, 
accepting  like  Hengstenbergthreemanehs,  the  only 
reasonable  interpretation  of  the  present  text,  sup- 
poses comjiutation  in  gold,  silver,  and  copper ; 
that  is,  a  gold,  a  silver,  and  a  copper  maneh.  The 
Chaldee  paraphrast,  on  the  other  hand,  took  th« 
60  shekels  as  the  extraordinary  value  of  the  happj 

Messianic  age  (]13^  <n'  SBHIp  S31  'JtOl)-  Tin 
interpretation  of  the  LXX.,  accepted  by  Boeckh 
(Metrol.  Unters.)  and  Bertheau  (Gesch.  der  Isr.), 
gives  the  following  very  insignificant  proposition : 
The  5-shekel  weight  shall  be  to  you  5  shekels, 
and  the  10-shekel  weight  10,  and  50  shekels  shall 
be  a  maneh. 

Vers.  13-17.   Tlie  Oblation  of  the  People. 

As  formerly  it  was  from  the  prince  to  the 
people,  so  now  it  is  what  the  people  have  to 
render  to  the  prince.  The  foregoing  fixing  of 
measures  forms  the  transition,  and  the  designa- 
tion PlO^inn  in  Ver.  13,  taken  from  ver.  1  sq.,  is 

also  an  intermediate  link.  The  oblation  is  offered 
to  Jehovah  as  being  set  apart  for  purposes  of 
woi-ship.  It  is  to  be  the  sixtieth  part  of  wheat 
and  barley.     nU'B'i  *<>  divide  into  six  parts,  hence 

here:  to  take  off  the  sixth  part.— Ver.  14. 
Njjtjn  ph  is  the  ordinance  of  the  oil,  what  the 

law  of  the  oblation  is  to  be  in  respect  to  the  oil  ; 
namely,   as  explained  by  the   apposition :    nsH 

tOtyn,  which  Hengstenberg  makes  a  parenthesis, 

and  paraphrases  thus  :  "  the  bath  is  the  measure 
for  the  oil," — the  quantity  taken  from  the  bath  of 
oil  shall  be  the  tenth  part'of  it.  The  cor  (1  Kings 
V.  2  [iv.  22]  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  9  [10],  xxvii.  5),  for 
dry  goods  and  liquids,  a  post- Mosaic  name  of  a 
measure  ;  and  hence  it  is  not  only  added  that  the 
cor  is  ten  baths,  but  also  that  it  is  the  same  as 
the  homer,  for  ten  baths  (ver.  11)  make  a  homer. 
[Hf.ngst.  :  homer  without  doubt  the  native 
name  ;  cor  introduced  from  the  Aramaic  during 
or  after  the  exile.]  Thus  the  tenth  of  the  bath  is 
as  retards  the  oil  the  hundredth  part  of  the  har- 
vest.— Wine  (specifically  for  the  drink-offering) 
is  not  mentioned  ;  small  cattle  however  are — 
Ver.  15 — (the  "  oblation  "  in  their  case  is  to  be  one 
out  of  two  hundred,  and  that  one  to  come  from 
fat  pastures,  to  be  well  fed),  but  not  oxen.  The 
enumeration,  says  Keil,  is  not  complete,  but  con- 
tains only  the  norm  for  levying  the  contributions: 
as  Hengstenberg  expresses  himself :  to  serve  as 
proof  that  the  regulations  here  "  do  not  bear  the 
character  of  an  actual  tax,"  but  are  only  by  way 
of  example  and  outline.  Philippson  remarks  ; 
"This  impost  appears  intended  to  serve  as  sub- 
stitute for  the  tithes  prescribed  by  Moses,  which 
are  not  mentioned  here. " — npE'O  is  "a  watered 

district,"  like  Gen.  xiii.  10  ;  a  significant  allusion: 
Israel  after  their  return  to  their  own  land  will  be 
as  richly  blessed  as  ever  the  valley  of  Jordan  waj 
before  its  devastation. 

Ver.  16  consigns  this  oblation  to  the  princ<B.— 


«2S 


EZEKIEL. 


'ha  VnV  they  are  to  see  to  it  that  they  render  it. 

The  prince  is  hereby  on  the  one  hand  enabled  to 
provide  for  the  service  of  worsliip,  as  on  the  other 
his  representation  of  the  people  is  made  manifest. 
Hengstenberg  holds  the  amount  of  this  oblation 
to  be  too  great,  and  barley  moreover  was  not  used 
in  worship,  unless  we  understand  that  "the  other 
expenses  for  the  general  good  "  were  to  be  in- 
cluded.—Ver.  17.  Instead  of  ■)}{  n*n,  which  ap- 
plies to  all  the  people,  we  have  now  pj)  n'H,  that 

which  concerns  the  prince  only  ;  on  him  it  shall 
be  incumbent.  First,  the  things  incumbent  upon 
him  are  enumerated,  and  then  is  added  what  he 
has  to  do    (nb'ysin),  namely,   as   is   obvious 

from  his  very  position,  that  he  shall  defray  the 
material  expenses  of  worship,  and  in  so  far  per- 
form it.  He  is  indeed  "governor  of  the  feast," 
but  not  "officiator  in  presenting  the  atoning 
sacrifice  on  the  feast  days,"  with  a  priestly 
dignity,  such  as  Umbreit  attributes  to  him. 
nb'V'  may  simply  be  ;  cause  to  be  done  (ch.  xlvi. 

2).  Hiivernick  again  well  observes:  "Thus 
there  arises  a  beautiful  contrast  to  the  former 
state  of  matters.  Instead  of  violent  exactions, 
harsh  oppression,  infamous  tyranny,  and  mutual 
injustice  and  disloyalty,  comes  a  settled  order  of 
things,  conscientious  gifts  of  the  people  which  are 
holy  gifts.  The  prince  appears  as  the  theocratic 
head,  who  truly  cares  for  the  weal  and  safet}'  of 
Israel,  who  supports  in  the  liveliest  and  demands 
in  the  strongest  manner  the  close  communion  of 
the  people  with  their  God  ;  not  only  administer- 
ing justice,  but  also  caring  for  the  most  sacred 
interests  of  the  people,"  etc. 

Ters.  18-20.    The  Sin-offering  in  the  First 
Month. 

A  solemn  introduction  :  Thus  saith,  etc. — 
("Taking  occasion  from  the  thought  in  ver.  17, 
the  prophet  now  portrays,  as  a  new,  solemn  cycle 
of  feasts  begins  in  Israel,  what  also  the  prophets 
elsewhere  announce  regarding  the  sacred  festivals 
in  the  Messianic  period,  e.g.  Isa.  Lxvi.  23  ; 
Zech.  xiv.  16,"  Hav.)  The  whole  mode  of  ex- 
pression in  Ver.  18,  as  well  as  the  comparison  of 
ch.  xliii.  18  sq.  (of  the  difference  between  that 
and  this),  and  the  connection  with  what  follows, 
—all  this  compels  us  to  reject  the  view  given  by 
Hengstenberg,  that  corresponding  to  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  we  have  to 
regard  the  consecration  of  the  sanctuary  as  a 
solemnity  occurring  only  once.  Hengstenberg 
compares  the  seven  days'  solemnity  in  the  case 
of  Solomon's  temple  (2  Chron.  vii.  8),  and  the 
fresh  consecration  of  the  temple  under  Hezekiah 
(2  Chron.  xxix.  18  sq.),  but  especially  the  conse- 
cration of  the  tabernacle  on  the  first  day  of  the 
first  month  in  Ex.  xl.  Besides  what  we  have 
said  already,  the  following  consideration  tells 
against  this  \-iew.  Surely  we  may  suppose  a 
difference  between  these  sanctuaries  built  by  men, 
like  the  altar  of  burnt-oti'eriugs  (iniE'J?n   DI'S), 

tn\  the  divine  temple  beheld  by  Ezekiel,  when 
its  x)nsecration  in  this  sense  had  already  taken 
place  by  the  coming  in  of  the  divine  glory  (cli.  xliii. 
£  »q.\     Tlie  solemnity  here  ordained  on  the  first 


and  seventh  days  of  the  month  (Nisan,  ver.  21)  it 
a  yearly  rekirning  one,  as  is  shown  also  by  tht 
reference  in  ver.  2U  to  continual  recurrence.  Num. 
xxviii.  11  sq.  shows  that  the  beginning  of  every 
month  is  to  be  solemnized,  and  Num.  xxix.  thai 
there  is  to  be  additionally  a  special  solemnity  on 
the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month.  On  this 
comp.  Ezek.  xlvi. — The  cleansing  of  the  sanctu- 
ary is  effected  here  through  a  young  bullock,  in- 
stead of  the  goat  prescribed  by  Moses  for  the  ne« 
moon, — an  augmentation  of  the  sin-ofl'ering  as  tc 
the  victim,  just  as  in  Ver.  19  through  the  pro- 
cess which  accomplishes  the  cleansing.  The  posts 
of  the  house  (ch.  xli.  21)  refer  to  the  sanctuary 
(ver.  18),  without  distinction  in  respect  to  its  two 
divisions,  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings  and  the  gats 
(doubtless  collective  for  all  the  three  gates,  for  if 
only  the  east  gate  were  meant,  specific  mention 
of  it  would  hardly  be  omitted)  of  the  inner  court. 
— Ver.  20,  however,  explains  in  direct  terms 
that  this  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary  on  the  first 
and  seventh  days  of  the  first  month  takes  place 
from  the  ground  (to),  the  cause  which,  in  view 

of  the  holiness  of  the  house,  may  be  found  in 
njb'  tJ''N.  that  is :   the  erring,   frail   man,   and 

<ns,  either :  folly,  or,  abstr.  pro  concreio .  the  fool 

(properly,  the  man  open  to  every  impression,  easily 
led  astray).  The  two  designations  are  distin- 
guished as  actus  and  pofentia,  the  occasional  act 
and  the  natural  disposition  ;  but  it  has  been 
rightly  remarked  that  both  denote  sins  of  weak- 
ness.      [Keil    wrongly    interprets    p:     "from, 

away  fiom,"  setting  him  free  from  his  sin  ;  for 
this  neither  agrees  with  the  immediately  follow- 
ing n*3n"ns  OrnSSI,  nor  can  it  be  found  in  the 

nb'l'n  pv  which  refers  back  to  ver.  19.]     "Thus 

shall  the  j'ear,  newly  consecrated  by  such  a  be- 
ginning, most  truly  present  the  appearance  of  a 
holy  year.  At  the  same  time  this  is  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  feast  of  the  passover  in  ver.  21  " 
(Hav.).  Since  the  great  day  of  atonement  (Lev. 
xvi.  16  sq. )  had  the  same  end  in  view  as  the  very 
expressive  and  augmented  solemnity  ordained 
here  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  the  single 
yearly  day  of  atonement  is  otherwise  quite  passed 
over,  and  thus  there  is  ground  for  the  opinion 
that  the  solemnity  here  is  meant  to  express  the 
idea  of  the  day  of  atonement  for  the  worship  of 
the  future. 

Vers.  21-25.    TTie  Passoi^er  and  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles. 

Ver.  21.  Tlie  chief  fundamental  feast  of  Israel, 
the  beginning  of  the  feast-cycle,  as  afterwards  its 
close,  so  that  with  the  passover  and  the  feast  of 
tabernacles  the  whole  circle  of  feasts  in  the  narrower 
sense  is  either  embraced  (Hav.),  or  decreed  as  tha 
annual  feasts  of  the  future  (Keil).  Comp.  the 
original  institution  of  the  feast  of  the  passover  in 
Ex.   xii. — niyat;'  jn,    to  which  is  here  added 

D<t3<.  is :  feast  of  seven  days,  because  it  alw  lys 

lasted  seven  days  (comp.  Num.  xxviii.  17),  sc 
that  the  "continuous"  feast  is  denoted,  but  not, 
as  He.ngst.  :  "  in  contrast  to  the  feast  of  conse 
oration,"  but  rather  implying  that  in  this  co» 


CHAP.  XLV.  22-25. 


42S 


Dection  recurrin"  feasts  are  spoken  of.  The  old 
translations  render  the  designation  simply;  "a 
feast  of  seven  days";  the  addition  :  Q'O',  will  at 

lea.st  distinguish  it  as  seven-dayed  from  the 
"  feast  of  weeks  "  (niya'ii'  jn),  celebrated  later  at 

the  close  of  harvest.  Kliefoth,  on  the  other  hand, 
supposes  that  in  future  the  passover  will  be  held 
as  a  feast  of  seven  weeks,  which  lasts  seven  weeks  ; 
and  so  not  merely  the  seven  days  of  unleavened 
bread,  but  the  whole  seven  weeks  will  be  pass- 
over — the  feast  of  weeks  shall  be  one  with  the 
passover.      The   ordinance   regarding   the    flijfo 

relates  (he  holds)  to  the  whole  seven  week.s  up  to 
the  feast  of  tirst-fruits.  See  the  refutation  of 
this  in  Keil  on  the  passage.  The  seven  days  of 
the  feast  in  ver.  23  also  tell  very  plainly  what  is 
meant.  Comp.  on  Deut.  xvi. — Ver.  22  exhibits 
the   ]irince   in   the   charge   imposed    upon    him 

(nrv;"sin,  here  nbvi)-  —  wnn  Di'3  is  the 

above  -  mentioned  fourteenth  day  of  the  first 
month,    the    feast-day    proper  (riDSn),  on   the 

evening  of  which  the  paschal  lamb  was  slain  and 
eaten.  —  The  sin-offering  precedes,  whereas  in 
Num.  xxviii.  it  follows  after.  In  this  way  the 
idea  of  the  day  of  atonement  pervades  also  the 
passover  of  the  future  (for  himself  and  for  the 
whole  people  of  the  land).  The  victim,  too,  of 
the  sin-offering  on  the  first  feast-day  proper  is  not 
a  goat,  but  a  bullock  !  For  the  seven  folloning 
days  of  the  mazzoth  there  are  ordained — Ver.  23 
— as  a  burnt-offering,  instead  of  the  two  bullocks 
of  Moses,  seven  bullocks,  and  instead  of  the  one 
ram  in  the   law,   here   seven    rams,   all  without 

blemish,   Qisp,  "for  the  day,"  each  of  the  seven 

days  ;  and  only  the  one  goat  as  daily  sin-offering 
is  retained  from  the  law  of  Moses.  This  enhance- 
ment of  the  feast-offerings,  49  bullocks  and  49 
rams  as  burnt-offering,  is  additional  proof  of  an 
element  which  has  already  repeatedly  shown 
itself,  to  wit,  Israel's  state  of  giace  for  the  future. 
In  reference  to  the  passover  Heugstenberg  ob- 
serves :  "  That  precisely  the  grace  of  redemption 
sealed  by  this  festival  was  to  receive  so  rich  an 
accessiciU  by  the  events  of  the  future. "  The  seven 
Iambs  of  the  first  year  ordained  in  the  law  are 
omitted  by  Ezekiel  ;  we  might  say,  because  the 
Lamb  of  God,  who  is  the  fulfilment  of  this  feast, 
will  be  sufficient  in  the  Messianic  times.  But, 
as  only  befits  the  symbolized  idea  meant  to  be 
made  j.Tominent,  the  meat-offering — Ver.  24 — 
accompanying  the  burnt-offering  surpasses  even 
the  measure  of  the  latter.  In  the  law  there  are 
to  each  bullock  only  three-tenths  of  an  ephah  of 
flour  mingled  with  oil,  two-tenths  to  the  ram, 
and  only  one-tenth  to  each  of  the  seven  lambs  ; 
here  a  whole  ephah,  namely  of  flour,  is  appointed 
for  each  bullock  and  each  ram,  finally  of  oU  one 
}«n  (ch.  iv.  11). 

Ver.  25  describes  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  the 
feast  (jna)  falling  on  the  15th  day  of  the  7th 

month,  so  designated  because  not  expressed  by 
name.  Keil  and  Kliefoth  assign  as  the  reason 
for  its  not  being  named  :  "  without  doubt  because 
the  dwelling  in  tabernacles  will  for  the  future  be 
discontinued."  What  the  prince  has  to  perform 
\d  thill  feast  is,  as  to  time  (seven  davs^  and  kinds 


of  offering,  the  same  as  in  the  passover.  Heng- 
stenberg  excepts  from  this  similarity  the  numbeJ 
of  victims.  Comp.  Num.  xxix.  13  sq.  Bjt  th« 
definition  :  as  meat-offering,  leaves  us  to  suppose 
for  the  rest  also  nothing  but  a  matter  relative  to 
number  and  measure,  and  Hengstenberg's  solici- 
tude about  the  passover  as  "  the  root  of  all 
feasts,"  seems  in  the  case  of  such  a  comparison 
as  is  made  here  to  overlook  the  fact  that  the 
number  of  victims,  which  indeed  daily  decieased, 
was  far  more  signal  and  greater  in  the  Mosaic 
feast  of  tabernacles  ;  moreover,  the  eighth  day,  as 
concluding  feast  with  its  special  offerings,  is,  as 
Keil  observes,  .wanting  here.  Havernick  farther 
observes:  "The  sacred  number  seven  dominates 
here  both  in  the  passover  and  in  the  ott'erings  of 
the  feast  of  tabernacles.  The  gradual  decrease 
of  the  number  of  victims  in  the  latter,  explained 
by  Biihr  as  a  gradual  decrease  of  the  festal  charac- 
ter of  the  seven  feast-days,  receives  a  fresh  lonfir- 
mation.  Here,  namely,  an  eqnal  number  of  vic- 
tims is  appointed  for  every  day.  The  distinction 
between  the  feasts  themselves  thereby  almost  dis- 
appears. Each  day  comes  forth  in  its  proper  and 
symmetrical  holiness.  The  sacred  number  seven 
pervades  the  whole  cycle  of  feasts.  The  defective 
and  imperfect  charaiter  of  the  ancient  mode  gives 
place  to  a  higher  and  more  perfect  fonn." 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  VEUS.   18-25. 

["As  it  was  more  especially  in  connection  with 
the  stated  and  yearly  festivals  that  the  prince 
had  to  represent  the  people  in  the  public  service 
of  God,  so  the  prophet  takes  a  rapid  glance  of 
these,  and  refers  particularly  to  the  first  and  the 
last.  But  he  first  mentions  a  consecration  ser- 
vice with  which  the  year  was  always  to  begin, 
and  of  which  no  mention  whatever  was  made  in 
the  law  (vers.  18-20).  On  the  first  and  again  on 
the  seventh  day  of  the  first  montli,  the  sanctuary 
was  always  to  be  cleansed,  that  the  year  miglit 
be  commenced  in  sacredness,  and  that  all  might 
be  in  preparation  for  the  feast  of  the  passover  on 
the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month.  As  the  pro- 
phet has  introduced  a  new  solemnity  befor*  the 
passover,  so  for  the  passover  itself  he  appoints 
quite  ditt'erent  sacrifices  from  those  named  by 
Moses  ;  instead  of  one  ram  and  seven  lambs  for 
the  daily  burnt-offering,  he  has  seven  bullocks 
and  seven  rams ;  and  the  meat-ofl'erings  also 
vary.  And  while  there  were  quite  peculiar  offer- 
ings prescribed  in  the  law  for  the  feast  of  taber- 
nacles, constantly  diminishing  as  the  days  of  the 
feast  proceeded  ;  here,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
prophet  appoints  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the 
passover.  This  shows  how  free  a  use  was  made 
by  the  prophet  of  the  Old  Testament  ritual,  and 
how  he  only  employed  it  as  a  cover  for  the  great 
spiritual  truths  he  sought  to  unfold.  They  were 
not  permanently  fixed  and  immutable  things,  he 
virtually  said,  those  external  services  of  Judaism, 
as  if  they  had  an  absolute  and  independent  value 
of  tlieir  own,  so  that  precisely  those  and  no  other 
should  be  thought  of ;  they  were  all  symbolical  of 
the  spiritual  aiul  etenial  truths  of  God's  kingdom, 
and  may  be  variously  adjusted,  as  is  now  done,  in 
order  to  make  them  more  distinctly  expressive 
of  the  greater  degree  of  holiness  and'  purity  that 
is  in  future  times  to  distinguish  the  people  and  s<ir 
vice  of  God  over  all  that  has  been  in  :he  past."— 
Faikbairn's  Ezekiel,  pp.  485,  4f  6.— W.  F.l 


(30  EZEKIEL. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

1  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  The  gate  of  the  inner  court  that  looketk 
toward  the  east  shall  be  shut  the  six  working  days ;  and  on  the  Sabbath  day 

2  it  shall  be  opened,  and  on  the  day  of  the  new  moon  it  shall  be  opened.  And 
the  prince  cometh  the  way  of  [to]  the  porch  of  the  gate  from  without,  and 
will  stand  at  the  post  of  the  gate ;  and  the  priests  oflfer  up  his  burnt-offering 
and  his  peace-offerings ;  and  he  worships  at  the  threshold  of  the  gate,  and 

3  will  go  out ;  and  the  gate  shall  not  be  shut  until  the  evening.  And  the 
people  of  the  land  worship  at  the  door  of  this  gate  in  the  Sabbaths  and  in 

4  the  new  moons  before  Jehovah.  And  the  burnt-offering  which  the  prince 
shall  offer  to  Jehovah  on  the  Sabbath  day  is  six  lambs  without  blemish,  and 

5  a  ram  without  blemish.  And  the  meat-offering  [ehaiibe]  an  ephah  for  the 
ram,  and  for  the  lambs  the  meat-offering  [shall  be]  what  his  hand  gives,  and 

6  oil  a  hin  to  the  ephah.  And  on  the  day  of  the  new  moon  without  blemish 
a  bullock — a  young  steer,  and  six  lambs  and  a  ram  ;  without  blemish  shall 

7  they  be.  And  an  ephah  for  the  bullock  and  an  ephah  for  the  ram  shall  he 
make  the  meat-offering,  and  for  the  lambs  so  much  as  his  hand  will  attain 

8  to,  and  oil  a  hin  to  the  ephah.  And  when  the  prince  cometh  he  shall  come 
the  way  of  the  porch  of  the  gate,  and  by  the  same  way  shall  he  go  out. 

9  And  when  the  people  of  the  land  come  before  Jehovah  in  the  set  times,  he 
that  cometh  the  way  of  the  north  gate  to  worship  shall  go  out  the  way  of 
the  south  gate,  and  he  that  cometh  the  way  of  the  south  gate  shall  go  out 
the  way  of  the  north  gate ;  he  shall  not  return  the  way  of  the  gate  by  which 

10  he  came,  but  they  shall  go  out  each  straight  before  him.  And  the  prince 
shall  come  in  their  midst ;  when  they  come  and  when  they  go  out,  they  shall 

11  go  out  [together].  And  in  the  feasts  and  in  the  set  times  the  meat-offering 
shall  be  an  ephah  for  the  bullock  and  an  ephah  for  the  ram,  and  for  the 

12  lambs  what  his  hand  gives,  and  oil  a  hin  to  the  ephah.  And  when  the 
prince  shall  offer  a  free-will  offering,  burnt-offering,  or  peace-offering,  as  a 
free-will  offering  to  Jehovah,  then  one  opens  to  him  the  gate  that  looketh 
toward  the  east,  and  he  offers  his  burnt-offering  and  his  peace-offering,  as  he 
■will  do  on  the  Sabbath  day ;  and  he  goeth  out,  and  one  shuts  the  door  after 

13  his  going  out.     And  a  lamb  a  year  old  without  blemish  shalt  thou  daily 

14  offer  as  a  burnt-offering  to  Jehovah  ;  every  morning  shalt  thou  offer  it.  And 
a  meat-offering  shalt  thou  offer  with  it  every  morning,  the  sixth  of  an  ephah, 
and  oil  the  third  of  a  hin,  to  moisten  the  fine  flour, —  a  meat-offering  to 

15  Jehovah,  ordinances  perpetual,  continual.  And  they  offer  the  lamb  and  the 
meat-offering   and   the    oil    every   morning,   as   a   continual   burnt-offering. 

16  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  :  When  the  prince  shall  give  a  gift  to  one  of 
his  sons,  it  [is]  his  inheritance,  to  his  sons  shall  it  be  [become],  their  possession 

17  as  an  inheritance.  And  when  he  shall  give  a  gift  from  his  inheritance  to  one 
of  his  servants,  then  it  is  his  until  the  year  of  freedom,  when  it  returns  to 

18  the  prince  ;  only  his  inheritance  of  his  sons  shall  belong  to  tlieni.  And  the 
prince  shall  not  take  of  the  people's  inheritance  to  thrust  them  out  of  their 
possession  ;  from  his  own  possession  he  may  endow  his  sons,  that  My  people 

19  be  not  scattered  every  man  from  his  possession.  And  he  brought  me,  in  the 
entry  which  was  at  the  side  of  the  gate,  to  the  chambers  of  holiness,  to  the 
priests,  that  look  toward  the  north ;  and,  behold,  there  was  a  place  on  the 

20  hinder  side  westward.  And  he  said  to  me,  This  is  the  place  where  the 
priests  shall  boil  the  guilt-offering  and  the  sin-offering,  where  they  shall  bake 
the  meat-offering,  so  as  not  to  bring  it  forth  to  the  outer  court,  to  sanctify 

21  the  people.  And  he  brought  me  forth  to  the  outer  court,  and  made  me  pasa 
on  to  the  four  corners  of  the  court,  and,  behold,  in  each  comer  of  the  cour* 

22  was  a  court.  In  the  four  corners  of  the  court  were  smoking  courts,  forty 
[enbiu]  long  and  thirty  [cu  its]  broad ;  one  measure  was  to  them  to  thre  foui 


CHAP.  XLVI.  1,  2. 


43 


23  corner-rooms.     And  a  range  was  round  about  in  them,  round  about  the  foui 

24  of  them,  and  cooking-places  were  made  under  the  ranges  round  about.  And 
he  said  to  me  :  These  are  the  house  of  the  cooks,  where  the  ministers  of  tho 
house  shall  boil  the  slain-oflFering  of  the  people 

Ver.   2.  Sept. :  .  .  .  Tr,<  nXr,;  njt  ilaiSu  ...  ill  t«  »^ft//ii —    Valg. :  .  .  .  tlabU  in  limine— 

Ver,    3.  .  .  .  KxTx  Tct  rpoSvpx — 

Vm'.    4.  K.  70  e^e>iMtj7u/.uc  xpoffoiffli  — 

Ver.   6.  Another  reading :  IS  T\pT\  and  D*Dn ;  all  the  old  translations  read  singular  as  the  latter. 

Ver.   9.  .  .  .  iXA'  ■;  «aj-'  life  aiTr;  ii'Munrcu.    Viilg. :  .  .  .  led  e  regione  illius  egredieiur.    (Another  reading 
KV\  also  ver.  10.) 

Ver.  lu.  .  .  .  iiirtMviriTtci  t^ir'  ctCrtiv,  x.  'v  tw  .  .  .  i^(>.ivrfrau  /Mr'  suTtfr. 

Ver.  11,  .  .    .   XXI  lit  Txit  Txyr,yuptffi» — 

Ver.  12.  .  .  .  if^okeytxv  iXoxccuTtuiMx,  ffanTvipieu  toi  xtipiai  x.  ix»oj{{i— 

Ver.  13.  .  .  .  nctxffi,  .  .  .  Toir.iru —    (Another  reading:  Hl^^y,  also  ver.  14.) 

Ver.  14.  Sept.:  .  .  .  vpor-rxytcac  eti^ie*  hixxxuras  (16.)  voifirtTl  TOW  xfJ^atr  Jt.  .  .  .  »Oi»]«TI—  Vulg. :  .  .  .  00(0  mant 
• .  .  tachjicium  domino  legiiimum^Juge  atqun  perpetuum. 

Ver.  15.  Faciet  .  .  .  catamantmane —    (Qeri:  ^B'V^.) 

Ver.  16.   .  .   .  u'lw  xltTW  rcy  ix  t.  x\y,pot6fj4x{  xi/reu,  revre — 

Ver.  17.  ,  .  .  X.  gtrodotirti  .  .  .  <rXr,y  r.  xX*ificyef^x;  T.  w'a»»  xurou —     Vulg. :  .  .      hxreditaa  auUm  ^usfiliit  if  us  erit, 

Ver.  18.  Vulg. :  .  .  .  per  viotentiam  eC  de  posstiaione  toi^m, 

Ver.  19.  .   .  .  ixli  Te^ros  xixB-ifii^.u^yot- 

Ver.  20.  .  .  .  tTj  TflE  Ttffirapx  fAtpvi  T-  «vA*!f  .  .  .  ociiXri  XXTX  TX  xXiTJt  r.  ctuX>j(,  atCXri  xxTx  Ttf  xAjref,  ttvKt]  (22.)  ivt  T« 
n^r,  *X<rr  T.  aiA»:f ,  ttUv  pttxpx  fj.KX4tvf —    Vulg. :  ...  in  angulo  atrii,  atriola  singula  per  angulos  atrii. 

Ver.  22.  Vulg  :  .  .  .  atriola  disposita — 

Ver.  23.  K.  litlpxt  .  .  .  ly  aCrxis,  .  .  .  X.  fixytipux  /f/svATiK  vrtxttTn  rm  itiSysui—  VuJg.:  Et  paries  per  circuitum 
ambtens  quatuor  ati-io/a  .  .  .  subter  porticut — 

Ver.  24.  .  .  .  »i  iu'«iu  Ton  lAxfiipvm—    Vulg. :  .  .  .  domut  culinarunt— 


EXF.GETICAL  REMARKS. 

Vera.  1-12.  The  Prince  and  People  at  Sacrifice. 

Ch.  xliv.  1  sq.  treated  of  the  outer  east  gate, 
while  here  the  inner  east  gat«  comes  into  consi- 
deration. There  the  prince  appears  as  sitting 
feasting  upon  tlie  offerings ;  here  he  is  viewed  as 
standing,  in  accordance  with  his  duty  of  ofi'ering. 
Both  passages  accord  to  him  precedence  of  the 
people.  In  Keil's  view  the  two  passages  supple- 
ment each  other  in  this  way,  that  we  have  here  the 
exceptions  to  the  rule  there.  But  ch.  xliv.  per- 
mits no  exception  in  regard  to  the  shutting  of  the 
gate  (comp.  on  ch.  xliii.  5,  also  xlvii.  2) ;  and 
besides,  it  is  the  outer  gate  that  is  spoken  of 
there,  whereas  here  it  is  the  inner.  If  one  is  to 
call  it  a  case  of  supplementing,  he  can  say ;  whereas 
ch.  xliv.  shuts  the  outer  east  gate  always,  the 
inner  east  gate  also,  according  to  our  passage, 
■hould  as  a  rule  he  shut;  the  Sabhath  day  and  the 
day  of  the  new  moon  are  to  form  the  exceptions. 
— Ver.  2.  We  are  told  in  ch.  xliv.  how  the  prince 
arrives  at  the  outer  gate,  namely,  by  the  way  of 
the  porch  of  the  gate  ('Tl"nD)  ;  that  same  way, 

only  iu  respect  to  the  inner  east  gate, — which, 
however,  as  we  have  seen  on  ch.  xl.  31,  has  its 
porch  likewise  turned  to  the  outer  court, — the 
prince  comes  here  also,  so  that  WnO  means  just 

the  same  as  jo  in  tniD  (ch.  xliv.  3) :  from  the 

outer  court,  into  which  he  entered  by  the  north 
or  south  gate.  pHD  only  makes  the  gate  in- 
tended, but  not  expressly  named  in  ver.  2,  more 
plain  as  the  inner  gate,  the  gate  that  leads  into 
the  inner  court.  [Hengst.  takes  it  as  ;  "  with- 
out," "beyond";  he  makes  the  prince  proceed 
through  the  opened  door  of  the  inner  east  gate  as 
far  as  its  threshold  and  post ;  not  cass  through 
the  porch,  but  remain  standing  on  tliis  side  of  it. 


beyond  the  gateopening,  but  close  by  it,  on  the 
threshold  between  the  gate-opening  and  the  porch. 

Keil,  again,  understands  priD  as  meaning  from 

outside  of  the  temple  through  the  outer  east  gate. 
Ewald  makes  as  correction  in  ver.  1  the  gate  of 
the  "outer"  court.]  The  mention  again  of  the 
east  gate  repeats,  in  reference  to  the  prince,  the 
distinction  conferred  upon  him  in  ch.  xliv.  It 
is,  however,  rather  a  distinction  from  the  people, 
or  a  distinction  of  the  people  in  his  person,  than 
a  distinguishing  approximation  of  the  prince  to 
the  priests.  Compare  with  what  is  here  said 
Solomon's  probably  pulpit-like  brazen  scaffold, 
on  which  he  knelt,  and  which  thus  was  situated 
before  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  inner  court 
(2  Chron.  vi.  13);  likewise  2  Kings  xi.  14,  xxiii. 
3;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  13,  xxxiv.  31.  According 
to  the  passage  before  us,  the  position  even  of  the 
prince  inside  of  the  environs  of  the  temple  suffers 
a  noteworthy  modification.  A  definite,  fixed,  ele- 
vated standing  place,  a  auggentus  for  the  bearer  of 
princely  power  at  the  entrance  into  the  inner 
court,  as  occupied  since  Solomon  by  the  pre-exile 
kings,  is  no  longer  spoken  of.  The  king  of  the 
future  is  the  Messiah ;  the  princedom  shines  in 
His  light  (Doct.  Keflec.  14),  in  the  brightness  of 
the  glory  that  entered  through  the  east  gate, 
which  in  view  thereof  is  shut  for  ever  toward  the 
outside,  and  it  (namely,  the  east  gate)  is  tem- 
porarily opened  only  toward  the  interior,  to  be 
shut  again  at  even.  The  Messianic  idea  dominates 
the  modification  of  the  prerogative  of  the  posses- 
sion derived  from  the  pre-exile  kingdom  within 
the  architectonic  symbolism  of  the  theocracy. 
Hengst.  says:  "What  is  treated  of  here  is  not 
merely  a  subordination  of  the  prince  to  God; 
there  is  also  as  regards  worship  a  sharp  line  drawn 
between  prince  and  priest. "  Havernick  observes  i 
"  As  on  the  one  hand  the  orince  is  unreservedlj 


M2 


EZEKIEL. 


icknowledged  in  his  special  exaltation,  so  on  the 
other  his  rights  appear  in  due  limitation,  in  refer- 
euce  to  encroachment  of  any  kind  on  the  priestly 
prerogatives.  With  regard  to  this,  a  position  is 
assigned  to  him  at  the  post  of  the  gate  leading  to 
the  inner  court,  on  the  threshold  of  the  gate, 
hence  at  the  liead  of  the  people,  yet  not  in  the 
priests'  court  proper."  While  he  stands,  the 
priests  "do"  what  the  prince  cannot  do,  but 
must  cause  to  be  done  by  them.    ninriB'n  (nnB'i 

"to  bow"),  Hithp.  with  ni  as  reduplication  of 
the  third  radical,  reflexive.- -And  will  go  out  by 
the  way  that  he  came  (ch.  xliv.  3).  As  what  has 
been  said  invests  the  prince  with  privileges  only 
above  the  people,  Ver.  3  fixes  the  people's  place 
at  worship.      'nn3    [Hengst.  :    "  opposite  the 

opened  door,  through  which  they  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  altar  of  burnt-otfering,  which  the  prince — 
this  is  the  only  difference  (?  he  enters  the  inner 
east  gate,  however) — sees  from  a  nearer  point"]  is, 
according  to  Klief.,  equivalent  to;  through  the 
opening  of  the  gate,  inasmuch  as  the  people  before 
the  outer  east  gate  have  to  look  at  tlie  temple 
through  it,  and  also  through  the  inner  gate  (comp. 
ver.  9).  The  arrangement  intimates  that  the 
people  shall  worship  outside  of  the  threshold  of 
the  inner  east  gate,  the  gate  spoken  of  (sinn)- 

Ps.  xcv.  6. 

Ver.  i.  The  Sabbath-offerings  to  be  brought 
and  offered  by  the  prince  are  instead  of:  two 
lambs  of  the  first  year  without  blemish  for  a 
burnt-offering,  and  two-tenth  deals  of  flour  and 
oil  for  a  meat-ott'ering  and  drink-off'ering  (Num. 
xxviii.  9)  ;  in  future  :  three  times  as  many  lambs 
and  a  ram  besides. — Ver.  5.  This  increase  of  offer- 
ings extends  also  to  the  meat-offering :  an  ephah 
for  the  ram  (ch.  xlv.  24).  This  may,  and  doubt- 
less does,  imply  a  proportionate  increase  with  re- 
spect to  the  lambs  likewise ;  \1>  nWO,  however, 

which  does  not  necessarily  mean  the  same  as  the 
formula  in  ver.  7,  expresses  free-willingness  as  the 
other  element  in  the  ordinance.  A  range  of  free- 
dom along  with  the  obligation,  as  Hengst.,  is  not, 
however,  so  much  the  thought  here,  as,  on  the 
one  hand,  greater  richness  and  splendour,  which 
on  the  other  presupposes  a  liberal  and  munificent 
disposition  in  the  individual.  "  The  disposition 
has  become  changed ;  with  the  greater  blessings, 
demands  higher  than  hitherto  present  themselves. 
But  the  more  the  amount  to  be  spent  is  left  to  the 
free  will  of  the  individual,  the  more  of  zeal  and 
faithfulness  is  presupposed  "  (Hiv.). — Ver.  6.  The 
new -moon  offerings,  on  the  contrary,  show  a  de- 
crease ;  n^tmely,  instead  of  :  two  bullocks,  one  ram, 
seven  lambs  (Num.  xxviii.  11  sq.),  we  have  here 
only  :  one  bullock,  one  ram,  six  lambs.  Hengst., 
indeed,  disputes  this  ;  the  number  of  bullocks,  he 
says,  "is  left  to  the  free  judgment,  only  it  may 
not  fall  short  of  the  two  required  by  the  law." 
In  support  of  this  view  he  takes  "ig  as  collective 

(an  "ideal  unity"),  and  appeals  to  the  plural 
D'O'DD.  which  certainly  cannot  be  interpreted 

13  referring  to  the  frequent  recurrence  of  the  feast. 
(Accordin]^  to  Keil,  it  is  a  "blunder  of  the  tran- 
scriber "  tor  C'DD)     Not  only  one  bullock  and 

one  ram,  however,  but  also  the  goat  for  the 
lin-otfering  (Num.  xxviii.  15)  is  wanting  here. — 


Ver.  7.  The  increase  appears  to  be  retained  only 
through  the  meat-oflering  (comp.  ch.  xlv.  24), 
and  to   be   expressed    by   the    formula :    IC'SS 

n»  J'tsTl,  which  takes  as  measure,  not  the  frea 

will,  like  ver.  5,  but  ability  (Lev.  xir.  30). 

In  order  to  pass  over  from  Sabbaths  and  new 
moons  to  other  seasons  of  worship,  Ver.  8  first  re- 
peats what  has  been  said  in  ver.  2.     i3"n3  =  by 

the  same  way. — Ver.  9.  Keil  notices  as  a  distinc- 
tion from  ver.  3,  that  there  the  people  were 
spoken  of  " only  incidentally  "  ("provided  some 
of  them  came  "),  since  they  were  "  not  bound  to 
come  on  Sabbaths  and  new  moons."  Such  a  dis- 
tinction, however,  would  require  to  be  more 
definitely  noted.  I  n  reality,  Ezekiel  as  much  sup- 
poses the  people  coming  in  ver.  3  as  here,  where 
the  coming  and  going  of  individuals  (N3n)  is  ex- 
pressly mentioned.  Something  similar  to  Deut.xvi. 
16  is  not  exactly  expressed  here.  The  most  that 
can  be  said  is,  that  myiQ3  (this  is  what  makes 

the  distinction  from  ver.  3) — lyio  (IJJ')  "^®  set 

time  and  assembling  of  the  community  —  the 
coming  and  going  of  the  people,  might  make  more 
of  a  throng,  so  that  here  the  relative  rank  of 
people  and  prince,  expressed  in  ver.  3,  is  nut  so 
much  regarded,  but  care  is  taken  for  due  order 
in  the  temple  ;  and  while  in  vers.  2,  3  the  prince 
was  distinguished  from  the  people,  here  he  and 
they  are  taken  together.  [Faip.e.\irn  :  "At  the 
great  festivals  the  prince  was  to  depart  from  the 
state  of  isolation  which  it  was  proper  for  him  to 
observe  at  other  times,  and  at  the  head  of  the 
people  join  in  the  great  throng  of  worshippers 
that  were  to  pass  through  the  temple  courts  from 
one  side  to  another.  It  reminds  us  of  David,  who 
in  this  was  doubtless  the  exemplar  in  the  eye  of  the 
prophet :  '  I  had  gone  with  the  multitude,  I  went 
with  them  to  the  house  of  God,  with  the  voice  of 
joy  and  praise,  with  a  multitude  that  kept  holy- 
day.'  A  beautiful  picture  of  a  religious  people  : 
the  highest  in  rank  freely  mingling  with  the  mass 
of  worshippers,  and  inspiriting  their  devotions 
by  the  elevating  influence  of  his  presence  and  ex- 
ample."— W.  r.]  ("The  reason  of  the  regulation 
in  ver.  9  can  only  be  a  theological  one,  that  each 
should  go  out  of  the  sanctuary  another  man  than 
he  came  in  (Phil.  iii.  13)  ;  to  avoid  a  throng,  all 
must  have  been  obliged  to  go  in  by  the  same  gate, 
and  out  by  the  opposite  one. " — Hengst.  )  Hengst. 
renders  D*lJ?iBa  liere  :    "  in  the  feast  seasons  ;  " 

in  ver.  11  :  "on  the  feast  days;"  in  order  to 
assure  himself  of  the  continuance  of  the  great  day  of 
atonement ;  and  hence  he  renders  D<3n3  :  "on  the 

joyous  feasts. "     Keil  makes  D'lyio  comprehend 

"  Sabbaths,  new  moons,  and  the  day  of  atone- 
ment, all  the  seasons  and  days  sanctified  to  tha 
Lord."  This  in  itself  cannot  be  disputed,  but  in 
the  connection  here  in  Ezekiel  may  be  very  ques- 
tionable. Keil  at  all  events  overthrows  by  this 
his  own  distinction  of  vers.  9  and  10  from  ver.  3, 
which  rests  on  the  ground  that  vers.  9  and  IC 
speak  of  the  h  gh  feasts,  at  which  every  one  has  tc 
appear.       D"iyiQ3  in  ver.  9  points  rather  to  th» 

two  days  app  )  nte  1  for  the  first  month,  ch.  xlv.  IS 
20. — Since  mention  is  made  of  two  ways  of  coming 


CHAP.  XLVI.  10-15. 


433 


the  singular  Qeri  ({{V')  most  be  rejected. — Ver. 

10,  very  suitably  for  the  two  days  of  the  first 
month,  views  the  prince  and  people  together. 
Here,  too,   the  Qeri  is  to  be  rejected  ;  ^XS*  are 

prince  and  people.  Hengstenberg  rightly  com- 
pares Ps.  xlii.  5  [4]. — Ver.  11  introduces  the 
"  feasts  "  strictly  so  called  (see  ch.  xlv.  21  and  25) 
in  addition  to  the  "  set  seasons  "  (ch.  xlv.  18,  20); 
but,  as  the  statement  of  the  meat-otfering  shows, 
the  D'nviO  ^fe  chiefly  meant,  for  as  to  the  feasts 

comp.  the  meat-offering  ordained  in  eh.  xlv.  24 
sq.,  while  the  lambs  are  explained  from  ver.  6  of 
our  chapter,  which  tells  of  those  for  the  new 
moon.  Hence  what  is  there  mentioned  for  burnt- 
ottering  must  hold  good  also  in  ch.  xlv.  18-20, 
and  likewise  the  meat-oifering  here,  for  which 
comp.  ver.  7  of  our  chapter.  While  the  formula 
there  measures  according  to  ability,  the  one  here 
expresses  also  that  which  corresponds  to  free-will, 
and  this  the  more  appropriately  as  free-will  offer- 
ings are  treated  of  in  what  follows. — Ver.  12. 
(1313  (Ps.  ex.  3),  from  313,   "to  impel,"  is  the 

peculiar  inward  impulse,  the  joyful  readiness  for 
good  and  for  all  sacrifices  which  comes  from  the 
Spirit  of  God  (Ps.  li.  14  [12]).  The  expression  is 
used,  as  of  the  impulse  originally,  so  of  that  to 
which  one  feels  himself  impelled,  of  the  gift,  and 
esjK'cially  of  the  sacrifice  to  which  a  man  was 
bound  by  no  vow  (Lev.  xxii.  23).  The  repetition 
in  our  verse  of  this  element  makes  it  specially 
prominent.  [Faikbauin  :  "  To  show  that  his 
worship  was  not  merely  of  a  public  and  official 
nature,  that  it  should  spring  from  a  heart  truly 
alive  to  divine  things,  and  itself  delighting  in  fel- 
lowship with  God,  the  prophet  passes  from  those 
lioUdaj'  services  to  the  voluntary  oft'erings  and 
the  daily  morning  sacrifice,  which  the  prince  was 
also  to  present  to  the  Lord.  In  a  word,  the  pro- 
per head  of  a  religious  people,  he  was  to  .surpass 
them  all,  and  be  an  example  to  them  all,  in  the 
niultitiide  and  variety  of  his  acts  of  homage  and 
adoration." — W.  F.]  Keil  observes  on  the  modi- 
fied regulation  in  regard  to  opening  and  shutting 
the  gate,  as  compared  with  ver.  2,  that  the  free- 
will offering  could  be  brought  on  any  day  of  the 
week  ;  Hengst.  points  to  the  distinction  that  "in 
the  free-will  ottering  the  prince  appears  as  an 
individual,  in  the  Sabbath-ottering  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  people." 

Vers.  13-15.   The  Daily  Sacrifice. 

Ver.   13.  The  address  to  the  people  (ntJ'Vn), 

where  hitherto  we  have  had  to  do  with  the  prince, 
and  the  comparison  of  what  was  imposed  on  him 
in  ch.  xlv.  17,  make  it  probable  that  the  daily 
sacrifice  is  to  be  "an  affair  of  the  community," 
which  "the  priests  have  to  provide"  (Keil). 
"Yet,"  observes  Hengstenberg,  "the  conclusion  is 
not  certain  ;  the  transition  from  the  prince  to  the 
people  is  an  easy  one,  since  in  the  foregoing  pas- 
sage also  the  prince  represents  the  people.  Ch. 
xlv.  18-20  likewise  began  with  the  address  to  the 
people,  and  undoubtedly  the  close  here  corre- 
sponds to  the  beginning  there ;  the  prince  is  en- 
compassed on  both  sides  by  the  people."  Accord- 
ing to  Num.  xxviii.  3  sq.,  two  such  lambs  were 
to  be  offered  daily  for  a  bumt-ofiecing  namely, 


one  in  the  morning  and  the  other  in  the  evening. 
The  more  exact  statement  here; -|pa3  "lp33,  that 

it  shall  be  done  every  morning,  cither  abolishes 
the  evening  bumt-offering  (Keil),  or  silently 
supposes  it  (Hengst.).  The  aim  is,  corr  spend- 
ing to  ch.  xlv.  18  sq.,  a  similar  sanctificatioa  of 
the  commencement  of  the  day  as  of  that  of  the 
month  and  year  ;  hence  the  sanctification  of  tlie 
whole  of  time  in  all  its  divisions,  in  distinction, 
perhaps,  from  the  significance  of  the  evening  for 
Israel  (Ex.  xii.  6).  If  the  evening  sacrifice  is  to 
be  discontinued,  the  increase  of  the  meat-offering 
every  morning  in  Ver.  14  (compared  with  Num. 
xxviii.  5,  one-tenth  of  an  ephah  and  oue-fourtli 
of  a  hin)  perhaps  comes  into  consideration  for  th( 
deficit. — UX),  from  DD1,  "to  rend,"  to  scatter. 

to  sprinkle.  Hengst.  and  Keil:  to  moisten.— 
n?D,  probably  from  JJD  (but  of  doubtful  signi- 
fication ;  Meier  :  to  split,  to  widen  ;  Geses.  : 
to  lift  up,  to  oscillate),  is  the  finest  wheat  meal. 
The  plural  nisn  refers  both  to  the  burut-otferiiig 

in  ver.  13,  and  the  meat-ofierlng  here.  The 
significance  of  such  a  solemnity  every  morning 
is  emphasized   by  the  TOR  strengthening   the 

OMy,  for  which,  with  Hitzig,  Lev.  xxiii.  14,  21, 

31   is    to   be  compared. — Ver.    15.    Keil   takes 

*  .  .  ... 

1t."jr.    as   imperative  ;    it  is  preterite  with   yav. 

The  Qeri  reads  the  imperfect.— Again  the  em- 
phatic Ton-     ("That  which  is  to  be  done  daily 

forms  a  contrast  to  the  festivities  ;  it  is  to  be 
acknowledged  and  honoured  in  due  dignity  and 
significance  as  a  perpetual  burnt-offering,"  Hav. ) 
Hexgst.  ;  "We  move  here  entirely  on  the  realm 
of  Old  Testament  worship,  and  there  is  not  the 
slightest  (?)  indication  that,  by  the  sacrifice  of 
bulls,  lambs,  and  goats,  other  forms  of  worship 
are  here  denoted.*  Even  if  the  details  were  only 
colouring  and  means  of  representation,  yet  an 
intimation  in  regard  to  the  whole  should  not  be 
wanting"  (neither  is  it  wantuig,  it  is  manifest 
throughout  the  i^hole  and  in  every  part!)  "  ii 
the  announcement  were  to  extend  to  a  time  when, 
by  the  offered  sacrifice  of  Christ,  a  total  revolu- 
tion in  the  woi'ship  was  produced.  This  is  cer- 
tainly correct;  although  the  prophecy  refers 
primarily  to  the  restoration  of  the  Old  Testament 
worship,  aud  in  this  respect  has  long  ago  found 
its  fulfilment,  and  indeed  a  fulfilment  that  has 
long  disappeared  again, — the  disappearance  wa^ 
proclaimed  by  the  word  of  Christ ;  Behold,  youi 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  ; — yet  at  the  same 
time  it  conceals  in  the  details  the  kernel  of  a 
general  truth, — the  imperishability  of  the  worship 
in  the  community  of  God  on  earth,  which  is 
demonstrated  among  other  things  also  by  this, 
that  as  the  worship  here  predicted  had  to  perish 
by  the  Roman  destruction,  the  worship  in  the 
Christian  Church  rose  again  gloriously."  Any 
misunderstanding,  as  if  Ezekiel  should  have  pre- 
dicted the  Koman  or  Greek-Catholic  woi-ship,  or 
a  new  evangelical  worship  of  kindred  form,  might 
have  been  obviated  by  the  consideration,  that  in 
everything  here  relative  to  the  service  of  tha 
temple  of  the  future,  the  object  aimed  at  is  tc 
give  to  the  idea  an  expression  as  distinct  as  po9 


4S4 


EZEKIEL. 


Bible,  although  in  terms  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  so  in  a  symbolizing  prophetic  form,  here 
•pecially  to  the  idea,  that  whereas  the  Church 
Militant  is  a  teaching  church,  the  Church  Trium- 
phant of  eternity  (l»Dn  D^V)  wiU  o"  ^^^  con- 
trary be  a  liturgic  one ;  a»  also  the  so  much 
debated  question  of  constitution  will  be  over- 
come, because  solved. 

Vers.  16-24.  Appendices  .-—Vers.  16-18.  The 
Rhjht  of  the  Prince  as  regards  the  Disposal 
of  his  Property. — Vers.  19-24.  The  Sacri- 
ficial Kitchens. 

Just  as  supplementary  matter  to  the  temple 
building  is  appended  in  oh.  xli.  15  sq.  in  the 
transition  to  the  service  of  the  temple,  so  we 
have  here  a  supplementary  statement  in  reference 
to  the  prince  and  the  priests, — the  former  as  the 
procurer  and  defrayer  of  the  material  of  worship, 
the  latter  as  the  persons  formally  celebrating  it, 
after  the  order  of  worship  was  finished  in  the 
foregoing. 

Vers.  16-18.   The  Prince  and  his  Possession. 
Ver.  16.    'lOS'n'a  expressly  introduces  what 

loUows  as  a  dirine  ordinance,  and  not  the  fancy 
of  the  prophet ;  and  this  connects  itself  with 
that  which  was  assigned  to  tlie  prince  in  ch.  xlv.  8 
is  his  "  possession  in  Israel."  As  we  know  from 
that  passage,  reference  is  made  here  too  to  the 
former  despotic  regime.  When  Hengstenberg 
Bays  that  "the  prophet  does  not  set  himself  up 
asa  lawgiver,  but  only  seeks  to  give  a  representa- 
tion of  the  thought  that  the  princes  of  the  future 
are  to  be  no  despots,  are  to  beware  of  the  unjust 
absolutism  of  the  princes  of  the  past,"  it  is  clear, 
and  Hengstenberg  cannot  deny  it,  that  an  ideal 
future  is  kept  in  view.  But  the  ideality  of  the 
wholo  Old  Testament  is  the  future  of  the  Messiah. 
Hengstenberg,  indeed,  observes  quite  conectly : 
"  The  prince  cannot  be  Christ.  He  is  one  who 
may  have  several  sons  of  his  own  body  ;  who  in 
the  prospect  of  his  death  disposes  of  his  property  ; 
who  does  not  stand  beyond  the  region  of  sin,  else 
he  should  not  need  to  be  warned  against  it." 
The  concession  in  respect  of  one  of  his  sons  pre- 
serves the  character  of  the  princely  possession  ; 
it  becomes  an  inheritance,  but  it  remains  in  the 
princely  family.  Hengstenberg  connects  \jx>ni 
X'n  ^vith  the  principal  clause,  and  makes  the 

Buffix  refer  to  the  prince  :  "  this  shall  become 
his  inheritance  (surely  :  his  possession,  which  in 
this  case  he  bequeaths)  to  his  sons."     It  is  more 

natural  to  connect  it  with  V33p  tJ^xi")  "'^'^  *" 

make  the  suffix  refer  to  the  prince's  son  in  ques- 
tion :  the  inheritance  shall  be  his,  bequeathed  to 
him  by  his  father  (comp.  on  ver.  18) ;  and  this 
is  confirmed  by  the  immediately  following  clause, 
which  does  not  generalize,   so  that,   with  Keil, 

the  suffix  in  VJ3?  should  now  revert  to  the  prince; 
but  liis  sons  are  the  sons  of  the  just-mentioned 
prince's  son,  and  the  idea  of  the  inprjj  is  only 
farther  can  led  out :  it  shall  be  their  poMsession, 


so  that  it  c*i:   be  bequeathed  (ilPnOS)  to  theil 

sons  also. — Ver.  17.  The  idea  of  "inheritance" 
remains  the  key-note  as  formerly,  so  that  the 
farther  concession  in  respect  of  a  meritoricis  or 
favourite  servant  of  the  prince  does  not  indeed 
forbid  a  present  to  the  servant  in  land  from  th&l 
which  the  prince  possesses  as  hereditary  property, 
but  yet  alienation  and  so  lessening  of  the  crowu 
estates  is  guarded  against  by  the  limitation :  until 
the  year  of  freedom,     -\\-\rj  (from  im),  which 

denotes  free  outflowing  (Ex.  xxx.  23),  is  free 
motion  in  general,  freedom,  as  the  year  of  jubilee 
is  consequently  named  in  Lev.  xxv.  10,  13.  The 
reversion  is  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  an  Israelitish 
heritable  landed  possession,  when  it  passes  by  sale 
to  another. — The  meaning  of  tlie  phrase  ;  only  his 
inheritance  of  his  sons,  is  clear  from  the  fore- 
going :  only  what  the  prince  has  presented  to  his 
sons  from  his  inheritance  shall  remain  to  them. 
[Keil:  "  only  his  inheritance  is  it  (?) ;  as  regards 
his  sons,  to  them  it  shall  belong.  "J — Ver.  18. 
That  which  is  to  be  preserved  in  the  case  of  the 
prince,  is  also  to  be  preserved  for  the  people  : 
inheritance  in  their  case  as  in  his.     nj',    "to 

oppress,"  in  general,  hence:  to  exercise  violence, 
to  treat  one  with  violence  (ch.  xviii.  7  sq.,  xlv.  S), 
here  with  [Q. — On  WQ,  comp.  ch.  xxxiv.  (1  Sam. 

viii.  14,  xxii.  7). 

Vers.  19-24.  The  Sacrificial  Kitchens  for  Priest* 
and  People. 

Ewald  inserts  this  section  after  ch.  xlii.  13,  14, 
as  he  does  the  preceding  ch.  xlv.  between  vers.  8 
and  9.  The  prophet,  who  has  not  changed  his 
standing-place  since  ch.  xliv.  4  sq.,  is  brought  to 

the  niSB'pn  described  in  ch.  xlii.  1  sq.  (which 

comp.). — On  Si3t33,  comp.  on  ch.  xlii.  9. — As 

the  chambers  in  question  are  the  priests',  Hengst. 
explains  the  appositional  phrase :  to  the  priests,  as 
in  Roman  Catholic  countries  one  may  say,  for  ex- 
ample :  "  to  the  Carmelites, "  etc.  — The  description : 
that  look  toward  the  north,  refers  of  course  to 
chambers.  The  gate,  accordingly,  is  the  north 
inner  gate  ;  according  to  Hengst.,  the  entry  leads 
"  from  the  inner  court  gate  on  the  west  to  the  east 
entrance  gate  of  the  fence- wall  of  the  priests'  cells. " 
—  DB',  Keil  :  "At  the  cells  on  the  extreme  hin- 
der side  toward  the  west ; "  Hexgst. :  "Thus  the 
kitchens  are  in  the  cell  building,  not  by  and  out- 
side of  it.  "—The  Qeri  has   DTISTS   (Hengst.; 

QnaT",  "on  their  west  side;"   "singular,  as  in 

Gen.  xlix.  13  ;  the  suffix  refers  in  fact  to  the 
chambers,  in  form  to  the  priests,  including  under 
them  the  chambers  " ).  Geseuius  derives  the  dual 
from  the  original  signification  :  limb. — Ver.  20. 
Here  the  guUt-otfering  comes  first,  whereas  in  ch. 
xl.  39,  xlii.  13,  xliv.  29,  it  always  comes  after  the 
sin-offering,  as  it  did  in  the  law  also,  and  hence 
appeared  as  a  subordinate  kind  of  sin  offering, 
ordained  merely  for  certain  cases  ;  in  accordance 
with  the  leading  thought  that  the  sinner  should 
not  only  desire  atonement  of  his  sin  before  God 
by  a  sin-offering,  but  likewise  endeavour  as  fat 
as  Dcssible  to  pay  what  was  owing,  make  good 
i  the  damage,  make  restitution  for  the  crime  com 


CHAP.  XLVI.  22-24. 


435 


n"tt*i — b\i'2,  "  to  swell ;"  hence,  naturally :  "to    running  below  the  court- walls  (nTt3>  a:  iJ  alon; 
ripen;"  artificially:    "to  cook"   (Piel).  — riBX, 
properly  :  to  draw  together,  is :  "to  bake."   Comp. 
moreover,   ch.   xlii.    13. — ''Pl'^3?>   to  be  under- 
stood as  in  ch.  xliv.  19,  which  comp.;  K*yin, 

namely  :  out  of  the  kitchens,  which  were  situated 
in  the  corners  of  the  outer  court,  like  those  which 
follow,  where  the  priests  had  to  pass  through  the 
crowd  in  order  to  get  to  their  cells.  To  the  outer 
court,  mentioned  to  prepare  for  what  follows, 
forms  the  transition  to  ver.  21. — The  repetition  : 
'yi'P03  "ISn,  repeats  in  words  what  was  repeatedly 

seen  :  "a  court  in  the  corner  of  the  court,  and 
again  a  court  in  the  corner  of  the  court "  (as 
Hesgst.  ),  so  that  rer.  22  first  gives  the  exact 
number  of  four. — The  being  brought  forth  to  the 
outer  court  is  explained  by  its  distinction  from  the 
inner,  the  priests'  court,  against  whose  wall  the 
cells  and  kitchens  rested,  as  belonging  to  the  sanc- 
tuaiy.  Comp.  ver.  19. — Ver.  22.  These  kitchens 
for  the  people  are  distinguished  by  the  detaUed 
description  given  from  those  formerly  mentioned 
for  the  priests.  Hengst.  considers  them:  "as 
off- rooms  of  the  chambers  of  the  jieople  in 
the  sides  of  the   court,"  and   translates   nilVn 

^rt^pp:    "smoking    courts,"    saying    that    the 

ascending  smoke  is  the  characteristic  mark  of 
these  "buildings,"  and  asserting  that  the  verb 
^Dp,  with  all  its  derivatives,  signifies  in  Hebrew 

only:  to  exhale,  to  smoke,  etc.  Gesenius  assumes 
another  root,  -itjp,   "to  bind,"  "to  close,"  and 

understands:  closed  (parlic.  pass.)  with  walls 
and  doors.  This  latter  description  would  express 
as  little  as  the  other  meanings,  which  Kcil  rightly 
rejects,  and  which  the  expression  cannot  have, 
such  as-  "uncovered"  (Klief.),  "firm"  (Hiiv.), 
"pressed  over'  (HlTZic),  and  the  like.  The 
description  from  the  smoke  has,  on  the  other 
hand,  something  pictorial  and  emblematic,  in  so 
far  as  it  might  point  to  this,  that  in  these  kitchens 
meat  to   cook  will   never   be  wanting. — jriVpO, 

plur.  D» —  and  ni — ,  's  :   comer,  from  j;vp,  to 

"cut  off. " — The  Sept.  and  Vulgate  omit  niwpno, 

the  last  word  of  the  verse,  and  the  Masoretes,  by 
points  placed  over  it,  mark  it  as  suspicious. 
Hengst.  holds  it  to  be  "a  kind  of  priestly  pro- 
per name  for  those  rooms  (HXv.  :  a  peculiar 
technical  term  for  :  placed  in  the  corner),  which 
Ezekiel  here  brings  forward  as  a  fond  reminis- 
cence." It  is  part.  Hojihal,  and  signifies  :  "cor- 
nered," "a  corner  room,"  as  Hengstenberg  says  ; 
according  to  Keil :   "cornered  off,"   "cut  off  in 

corners  "  (apposition  to  the  suffix  in  DPyaiN^). 

Havemick  observes  that  the  word  still  depends 
upon   nilSn.— Ver.   23.    -o,\2    is  something  on 

which  one  walks  round.  Keil  translates  :  "a 
row  of  standing  places  was  in  it  round  about." 
[Klief.  :  "a  framework  was  in  it  round  about."] 

Evidently  the  range  of  cooking-places  (niptJ'aD, 

literally:    "which  cause  to  cook,"  partic.  Piel), 


them,  is  meant  to  be  described.     [Keii.  :  a  tier 
of  wail-work  had  several  single  tiers,  und;r  which 
the    cooking-hearths    were   constructed.     Hiv. 
"the    surrounding   bouudary-wall  rises    so  higt 
above   the  kitchens,   that  these  are   construoteu 

below  the  wall."] — Ver.  24.   D'^UOSn  n'3  is  in 

fact:  the  "  kitchen -house, "  but  formally:  tin 
house  where  the  cooks  cook. — The  ministers  ol 
the  house,  as  formerly,  are  the  mere  Levites,  in 
contradistinction  from  the  priests. — "Not  with- 
out reason  is  only  the  slain-offering  mentioned 
(the  name  bearing  reference  to  the  form  ;  earlier 
the  name  denoted  the  essence  :  Shclamim),  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  sin  and  guilt-olferiuga  to  be 
prepared  in  the  kitchens  of  the  priests.  Only 
with  the  slain-otferings,  such  offerings  as  are 
akin  to  common  slaughtering,  was  a  communion 
connected.  The  greater  part  fell  to  the  offerers, 
and  was  consumed  in  the  sacrificial  meals.  But 
the  slain-offering  was  not  allowed  to  be  prepared 
by  the  people  themselves"  (Hengst.). 

DOCrRIXAL  KEFLECTIOSS  OX  CH.  XL. -XLVI. 

1.  Havemick  rightly  finds  "the  nervous  and 
lofty  unity  "  in  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  "  mani- 
fested in  this  section  also."  "The  visions  of  the 
prophet  find  here  their  fairest  completion  and 
perfect  rounding  off."  Already  in  the  exposition 
(on  ver  1  sq. )  the  harmony  with  the  former  part 
of  Ezekiel's  prophecy  has  been  remarked.  Cli. 
xliii.  3  expressly  refers  back  to  ch.  i.  and  viiL 
The  free  conformity  in  expression  between  our 
chapters  and  the  whole  closing  portion  generally, 
and  the  earlier  chapters,  has  been  often  proved 
(comp.  Philippson,  p.  1294).  The  proof  is  the 
more  striking  when  we  consider  the  com]ilete 
difference  of  the  subject.  That  we  have  a  vision 
here  too  harmonizes  not  only  with  ch.  i.  and 
viii.,  but  in  general  with  the  prophetic  character 
of  Ezekiel,  ch.  viii.,  xv.,  xvii.  I'he  prophet  has 
repeatedly  hinted  at  this  close  of  his  book. 
Thus  ch.  xi.  16,  xx.  40,  x.\xvi.  38,  .\xxvii.  26  sq. 
The  last  passage  in  particular  might  be  regarded 
as  the  text  for  ch.  xl.  sq.  The  eighth  and  fol- 
lowing chapters  required  by  the  necessity  of  the 
idea  our  conclusion  of  the  book. 

2.  In  regard  to  analogies  in  the  other  prophets, 
Ezekiel's  contemporaries,  as  we  may  well  con- 
ceive, will  chiefly  come  into  consideration. 
Hence,  above  all,  Ezekiel's  fellow-labourer  Jere- 
miah. Jeremiah  represents  the  restoration  and 
renewal  of  Israel  as  a  rebuilding  of  Jenisalem,  ch. 
xxxi.  38  sq.  (with  this  comp.  in  our  prophet,  ch. 
xlvii.  13  sq.,  ch.  xlviii.).  Jer.  xxxiii.  18  is 
similar  to  Ezek.  xliv.  9  »q.  Hag.  ii.  7  sq. 
follows  entirely  the  thought  here  of  a  new  temple, 
insisting  on  its  glory  in  view  of  a  meagre  present. 
But  still  more  analogous  are  the  night-\nsions  of 
Zechariah  (ch.  ii.  5  [1]  sq.,  ch.  iv.,  ch.  vi.  13 
sq.,  ch.  xiv. ). 

3.  The  parallel  between  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  as 
it  stands  in  relation  to  the  vision  in  ch.  i.  (p.  41 ), 
is  not  completed  by  citing  Isa.  Ix.  as  correspond- 
ing to  the  close  of  our  book  ;  but  we  shall  have 
to  seek  the  culminating  point  of  Isaiah's  pro- 
phecy for  the  culmination  of  Ezekiel's,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  office  of  this  prophet  to  be  the 
prophet  of  Jehovah's  holiness  to  obdurate  Israel, 


436 


EZEKIEL 


— just  aj  for  till-  commencement  Isa.  vi.  is  covered 
by  Ezek  i. — not  so  much  in  the  close  as  in  ch. 
liii.  Tie  corres)ionJing  pendant  to  our  closing 
chapters  is  the  lil'e-like  description  given  there  of 
the  Messiah  and  His  sacrifice  of  Himsslf.  It  is 
this  self-sauctification  of  Jehovah  through  His 
Bervant  Israel  which  in  Isaiah  corresponds  to  the 
Belf-glorifioation  of  Jehovah  in  Ezekiel  (ch.  xl. 
sq. )  by  means  of  the  new  sanctuary  and  the  new 
nationality  ;  and  this,  again,  accords  with  Eze- 
kiei's  oflice,  to  behold  the  glory  of  Jehovah  in 
the  misery  of  the  exile.  In  this  respect  Ezekiel 
stands  to  Isaiah  somewhat  as  Easter  and  Pente- 
cost do  to  Good  Friday. 

4.  The  difl'erent  views,  especially  regarding  the 
vision  of  the  temple,  may  be  distinguished  gene- 
rally as  subjective  and  objective.  I.  The  views 
which  derive  the  explanation  of  ch.  xl.  sq.  solely 
or  chiefly  from  Ezekiel's  subjectivity:  (1)  Already 
Villalpandus  saw  everywhere  here  only  remini- 
scences of  Solomon's  temple  and  of  Solomon's 
era,  and  consequently  a  similar  line  of  thought 
to  that  in  Ezra  iii.  12.  Similarly  Grotius,  only 
that  he  reconciled  the  dili'erences  between  Eze- 
kiel's temple  and  that  of  Solomon  by  ascribing 
them  to  the  temple  at  the  time  of  its  destruction, 
just  as  Buusen  refers  in  this  connection  to  2 
Kings  xvi.  According  to  both  these  expo.sitors, 
Ezekiel  traced  out  from  reminiscences  a  pattern 
fir  the  future  restoration.  Thus,  according  to 
Ewald,  Ezekiel  becomes  "  a  prophetic  lawgiver. " 
"Such  an  undertaking,  quite  unusual  in  the  case 
of  earlier  prophets,"  is  explained  from  the  "pre- 
dominating thoughts  and  aspirations  of  the  better 
class  of  those  days  for  the  restoration  of  the 
subverted  kingdom."  "Ezekiel  probably  medi- 
tated long,  with  passionate  longing  and  lively 
remembrance,  on  the  institutions  of  the  demo- 
lished temple,  etc.  ;  what  appeared  to  him  gi'eat 
and  glorious  became  impressed  upon  his  mind  as 
a  pattern,  with  which  he  compared  the  Messianic 
expectations  and  demands,  etc.,  until  at  length 
the  outline  of  the  whole  arrangement  which  he 
here  writes  do«'n  pressed  itself  upon  him !  " 
"Above  all,  he  sketches  the  holy  objects,  temple 
and  altar,  with  the  utmost  exactness  and  vivid- 
ness, as  if  a  spirit  (1)  impelled  him,  now  when 
they  were  destroyed,  at  least  to  catch  up  their 
image  in  a  faithful  and  worthy  form  for  the 
redemption  that  will  one  day  certainly  come  ;  so 
that  he  must  have  diligently  instructed  himself 
in  these  matters  from  the  best  written  and  oral 
sources"  (!).  "Thus  it  is  quite  in  keeping  with 
Ezekiel's  way  of  prophesying,  that  he  introduces 
everything  as  if  he  had  been  borne  in  spirit  into 
the  restored  and  completed  temple,  accompanied 
throughout  by  a  heavenly  guide,  and  had  learned 
exactly  from  him  all  the  single  parts  of  this 
unique  building  as  to  their  nature  and  use." 
The  paragi-aph  ch.  xlvii.  1-12  is,  in  Ewald's 
opinion,  "  from  its  great,  all-embracing  sense, 
quite  adapted  to  bring  to  a  close  briefly  and 
pithily  all  these  presentiments!"  "Yet  when 
precepts  more  moral  are  to  be  given,  or  the  per- 
fected kingdom  has  to  be  described  in  its  extent, 
reaching  even  beyond  the  temple,  this  assumed 
form  (!)  easily  passes  over  into  the  simple  pro- 

f)hetio  discourse."  (2)  While  the  foregoing  view 
ooks  to  realization,  Hitzig,  for  example,  entirely 
rejects  the  idea  that  Ezekiel  "  considered  such 
things  (as  our  chapters  contain)  possible,  feasible, 
or  probable,  and  relatively  commanded  and  pre- 


scribed them."  "One  does  not  or  did  not  r.^flect 
that  the  prophet's  calling  was  to  express  the 
demands  of  the  idea,  indiflerent  in  the  first 
instance  about  their  realization."  All  is  pure 
fancy,  a  mere  castle-in-the-air,  a  kind  of  "Pla- 
tonic sketch,"  as  Herder  expresses  himself.  The 
self-criticism  of  this  view  of  our  chapters  can 
hardly  be  more  suitably  given  than  when  Hitzig 
continues;  "In.ismuch  as  this  or  that  could  be 
set  in  order  otherwise  than  he  imagines,  he  would 
not  in  regard  to  plans  and  proposals  have  re- 
sisted obstinately,  but  would  have  known  how  to 
distinguish  the  unessential  of  the  execution  from 
the  essential  of  the  thing  itself.  He  sketches  the 
future  in  the  form  he  must  wish  it  to  take,  ia 
which  it  really  would  have  the  fairest  appearance. 
If  the  reality  falls  short  of  the  image,  then  the 
idea  is  defectively  realized  ;  but  the  fault  lies  in 
the  reality,  not  in  the  idea,  and  Ezekiel  is  not 
responsible  for  it."  This,  moreover,  is  merelv 
what  already  Doederlein  and  others  have  held 
with  respect  to  the  closing  portion  of  our  book. 
Similarly  Herder:  "  Ezekiel's  manner  is  to  paint 
an  image  entire  and  at  length  ;  his  mode  of  con- 
ception appears  to  demand  great  visions,  figures 
written  over  on  all  sides,  even  tiresome,  dilfi- 
rult,  symbolical  acts,  of  which  his  whole  book 
is  full.  Israel  in  his  wandering  upon  the  moun- 
tains of  his  dispersal,  among  other  tongues  and 
peoples,  had  need  of  a  prophet  sucli  as  this  one 
was,  etc.  So  also  as  regards  this  temple.  Another 
would  have  sketched  it  with  soaring  figures  in  lofty 
utterances  ;  he  does  so  in  definite  measurements. 
And  not  only  the  temple,  but  also  appurtenances, 
tribes,  administration,  land,  etc.  How  far  has 
Israel  always,  so  far  as  depended  on  his  own 
ellbrts,  remained  below  the  commands,  counsels, 
and  promises  of  God !"  (3)  Bottcher  has  attempted 
to  combine  both  views,  and  after  him  Philippson, 
who  expresses  himself  to  the  following  effect : 
"  Ezekiel  the  prophet,  sunk  in  himself,  brooding 
over  matters  in  the  distance  and  in  solitude,  had 
not,  like  Jeremiah,  upon  whom  the  immediate 
reality  pressed,  viewed  the  occurrences  simply  as 
punishment  of  defection  and  degeneracy,  but  was 
conscious  also  of  their  inward  signification,  which 
came  to  him  in  the  appearance  of  a  vision.  Hence 
he  represented  the  destruction  of  the  temple  as  a 
suspension  of  the  relation  of  revelation  between 
God  and  Israel ;  and  so  much  the  more  necessary 
was  it  to  represent  the  restoration  of  that  same 
relation  as  the  return  of  God  into  the  restored 
sanctuary.  Now,  from  the  peculiar  character  of 
Ezekiel,  this  necessarily  had  to  assume  a  form  at 
once  ideal  and  real, — ideal  in  its  entirety  as  some- 
thing future,  real  as  individual  and  special,  mat- 
ter of  fact  in  its  appearance. "  As  the  "indubit- 
able motive  of  the  prophet,"  the  following  is 
given  :  "to  keep  alive  in  the  exiles  in  the  midst 
of  Babylonian  idolatry  the  idea  of  the  one  temple, 
and  the  priestly  institute  consecrated  to  it,  as  the 
centre  of  the  religion  of  the  one  God  ;  and  at  the 
return  into  Palestine  to  confirm  the  life  of  the 
people  in  their  calling,  by  the  removal  of  all  ele- 
ments of  strife,  and  by  approximaticn  to  the  Mosaic 
state  of  things. "  Hengstenberg's  view  is  surpris- 
ingly near  the  above  one  ;  he  says  :  "  With  the 
exception  of  the  Messianic  sectim  in  ch.  xlvii 
1-12,  the  fulfilment  of  all  (!)  the  rest  of  the  pro- 
phecy  belongs  to  the  times  imme  iiately  after  the 
return  from  the  Chaldean  exile.  So  must  every 
one  of  its  first  hearers  and  readers  have  under. 


CHAP.  XL.— XLVI. 


437 


<too<l  it.  Jeremiah,  whom  Ezekiel  follows  through- 
out, had  prophesied  tlie  restoration  of  the  city 
and  temple  70  years  after  the  beginning  of  the 
Chaldean  servitude,  falling  in  the  fourth  year  of 
Jehoiakim.  Th  irty-two  years  had  already  elapsed. 
Forty  years  after  the  devastation  of  Egypt  (eh. 
xxix.  13),  the  nations  visited  by  the  C^haldeans 
shall  get  back  to  their  former  state.  According 
to  ch.  xi.  16,  the  restoration  is  to  follow  in  a  brief 
space  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple.  We 
have  before  us  a  prophecy  for  which  it  is  essen- 
tial (!)  to  give  truth  and  poetry  (!  !),  which  con- 
tains a  kernel  of  real  thoughts,  yet  does  not  pre- 
sent them  naked,  but  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood, 
that  they  may  be  a  counterpoise  to  the  sad  reality, 
because  they  fill  the  fancy,  that  fruitful  workshop 
of  despair,  mth  bright  (!)  images,  and  thus  make 
it  an  easier  task  to  live  in  the  word  at  a  time 
when  all  that  is  visible  cries  aloud,  Where  is  now 
thy  God  ?  The  incongruity  between  the  prophecy 
of  Ezekiel  and  the  state  of  things  after  the  exile, 
vanishes  at  once  by  distinguishing  between  the 
thoughts  and  their  clothing,  and  if  we  can  rightly 
figure  to  ourselves  the  wounds  for  which  the  heal- 
ing plaster  is  here  presented,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  mental  world  of  the  priest  (Ezekiel),  and 
the  materials  given  in  the  circumstances  sur- 
rounding him,  for  clothing  the  higher  verities 
which  he  had  to  announce  to  the  people."  II. 
The  views  which  above  all  look  to  and  keep  hold 
of  the  objecti^'ity  of  the  divine  inspiration  of 
Ezekiel.  The  very  regard  which  must,  in  one 
way  or  other,  be  paid  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  people  for  whom,  and  the  Babylonian 
exile  in  which,  Ezekiel  prophesied,  objectivizes  in 
Bome  measure  his  subjectivity,  so  that  not  all  the 
views  hitherto  cited  ot  our  chapters  and  the  ones 
that  follow  are  to  be  designated  as  purely  subjec- 
tive ;  the  properly  objective,  however,  will  be, 
that  "  the  hand  of  Jehovah  was  upon  him,"  that 
he  was  brought  "  in  visions  of  God  "  to  the  land 
of  Israel.  Here  the  distinction  is  drawn  by  his 
own  hand  between  the  prophet  of  Israel  and  the 
fanciful  Jemsh  priest ;  and  not  only  this,  Imt  the 
unavoidable  and  irreconcilable  alternative  presents 
itself :  either  Ezekiel  was  a  man  of  God,  or  a 
deceiver,  for  whom  the  fact  that  he  had  deceived 
himself  also  with  assumed  divine  objecti^aty  were 
no  excuse,  but  would  only  be  his  self-condemna- 
tion. The  case  of  Ezekiel,  for  the  sake  of  truth, 
is  too  solemn  for  thinking  of  "poetic  clothing" 
in  the  case  before  us.  The  subjective  for  the 
form  before  us,  is  to  keep  in  mind  when  consider- 
ing it  what  that  form  is.  It  has  pleased  God  to 
speak  to  us  through  men.  If  we  take  full  account 
of  the  national  peculiarity  of  Israel  in  general  dur- 
ing the  whole  old  covenant,  and  of  the  peculiar 
personality  in  the  case  of  our  vision  here,  that  is, 
that  Ezekiel  is  the  priest-prophet,  that  he  above 
all  other  prophets  is,  as  Umbreit  says,  a  "  born 
sjrmbolist  '  ("in  the  temple  which  he  erects  he 
makes  known  his  greatness  as  a  symbolist,  as 
well  by  what  he  says  as  by  what  he  passes  over 
in  silence  "), — if  we  concede  to  Umbreit  the  "  sur- 
prising skill  in  popularizing  instruction  "  which 
ne  observes  in  Ezekiel,  we  sliall  have  to  accept  as 
the  ultimate  ground  why  Israel  was  the  mediator 
of  the  world's  salvation,  and  Ezekiel  was  chosen 
to  behold  the  temple  of  the  future,  divine  wisdom 
and  its  purpose  for  the  world,  that  is,  the  objec- 
tive ««t'  ilo^i'  above  everything  subjective.  In 
•ccordance  with  this  principle,  we  have  to  judge 


of  (I)  the  view  oLjectivized  in  this  sense  of  a 
model  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  after  the 
return  from  the  exile,  the  supporters  of  which 
assume  a  building  -  plan  "issued  under  diviiie 
authority,"  given  by  Jehovah  through  the  pro- 
phet. Although  there  is  a  resemblance  between 
Ex.  XXV.  9,  40  and  Ezek.  xl.  4,  yet  it  is  not  said 
to  Ezekiel  regarding  Israel  :  "according  to  all 
that  I  show  thee,  the  pattern  of  the  dwelling, 
etc.,  even  so  shall  ye  make  it;"  the  prophet  is 
only  to  "convey,"  announce  (njj)  all  that  he  sees 

to  the  house  of  Israel.  From  this  circumstance, 
and  not  because  the  reality  fell  short  of  the  idea 
(HiTziG,  Herder),  or,  as  PhQippson  adduces 
here,  ' '  the  similar  fate  of  so  many  Mosaic  pre- 
cepts," the  fact  is  explained  that  the  post-exile 
temple  was  built  without  any  regard  to  our  vision. 
Only  the  fundamental  reference  to  Solomon's 
temple,  which  in  general  obtains  in  Ezekiel  also, 
meets  us  in  Ezra  iii.  12.  This  fact,  the  more 
remarkable  considering  the  nearness  of  time, 
shows  that  ch.  xl.  4,  soon  after  it  was  WTitten, 
and  when  fully  known,  was  not  regarded  as  i 
divine  building-specification.  We  do  not  need, 
therefore,  to  express,  as  Hengst.,  "the  obvious 
impossibility  of  erecting  a  building  according  to 
the  specifications  here  given."  The  circumstance 
that  the  building  materials  are  not  given  has  at 
least  not  prevented  the  temple  of  Ezekiel  from 
being,  with  more  or  less  success,  constructed  and 
fashioned  after  his  statements.  Bunsen  says  that 
"  the  temple  here  forms  a  very  easily  realized, 
congruous  whole,  of  which  an  exact  outline  may 
be  made,  as  the  prophet  also  has  evidently  done." 
Umbreit,  too,  holds  this  latter  view.  And  although 
we  have  to  do  not  with  an  architect  but  with  a 
prophet,  yet  nothing  stands  in  the  way  of  our 
believing  that  the  subjectivity  of  Ezekiel  was  pre- 
eminently qualified  for  this  vision,  from  the  fact 
that  he  possessed  architectural  capacity  "  (Introd. 
§  7).  (2)  The  symbolical  view.  It  corresponds 
generally  to  the  character  of  Holy  Writ.  (Comp. 
Lange,  Rev.  Introd.  p.  11.)  In  particular  it 
pays  due  regard  to  the  law  of  Hoses,  to  the  part 
of  it  relating  to  worship,  the  subject  here.  Espe- 
cially when  the  whole  worship  of  Israel  is  con- 
centrated in  the  temple,  a  symbolical  view  re- 
specting a  vision  thereof  will  be  quite  in  place. 
Thereby  only  its  due  right  is  given  to  this  ob- 
jective, to  the  divine  idea,  in  the  shape  which 
it  has  above  all  assumed  in  Israelitish  worship. 
The  symbolical  character,  moreover,  is  specially 
appropriate  for  the  prophetic  writings.  As 
has  already  been  often  said  and  pointed  out, 
the  symbolical  predominates  in  Ezekiel ;  and  as 
to  these  concluding  chapters,  Havernick  ad- 
duces, as  indicating  their  general  character,  the 
description  of  the  circuit  of  the  new  temple  (ch. 
xlii.  15  sq.),  the  representation  of  the  entrance, 
etc.  of  the  diWne  glory  (ch.  xliii.  1  sq. ),  the 
river  (ch.  xlvii.  1  sq.  etc.),  and  observes  that 
"it  is  just  such  passages  that  form  the  conclu- 
sion to  the  previous  description,  and  hence  cast  a 
lighten  it."  Comp.  on  ch.  xliii.  10  sq.  But 
everything  architectonic  is  not  a  symbol,  although 
everything  of  that  nature  will  indeed  primaruj 
relate  to  the  building  to  be  erected,  and  wiL 
thereby  at  the  same  time  in  some  way  serve  the 
idea  of  the  whole.  This  character  conies  out 
clearly  even  in  individual  statements  of  number, 
yet  all  such  measurements  are  not  therefore  to  be 


KZEKIl.l.. 


interpreted  symbolically.  Nay,  as  the  exposition 
rLows,  there  are  here  bare  numbers,  resisting 
every  attempt  to  trace  them  back  to  the  idea. 
It  is  sufficient  in  respect  to  the  numbers,  that 
(conip.  Umbreit,  p.  259  sq.)  4,  as  "  signature  not 
only  of  regularity  but  also  of  the  revelation  of 
Goil  in  space,"  e.g.  in  the  quadrangle  of  the 
temple  ;  3,  "the  signature  of  the  divine,"  e.g.  in 
the  sets  of  three  gates  ;  10,  "perfection  complete 
iu  itself,"  occurring  often  ;  likewise  the  "sacred 
number"  7  ;  and  the  number  12  in  the  tables  for 
preparing  the  offerings  (ch.  xl. ),  represent  sym- 
bolism. (On  the  symbolism  of  numbers,  comp. 
Lange  on  Rev.  Introd.  p.  14.)  Umbreit  rightly 
maintains  ;  "  It  is  a  symbolical  temple,  notwith- 
standing the  arid  and  dry  description,  in  which 
only  exact  specifications  of  the  number  of  cubits 
and  the  apparently  most  insignificant  calculations 
and  measurings  occur;"  as  he  says,  "quite  in 
keeping  with  the  poverty  of  the  immediately 
succeeding  age  and  the  dignity  of  the  most 
significant  inwardness."  (3)  The  Messianic 
view  (for  which  comp.  Lange  on  Kings,  p.  60 
sq.)  is  only  the  taking  full  advantage  of  and 
applying  the  symbolic  view  in  general.  Symbol 
and  type,  emblem  and  pattern,  must  mutually 
interpenetrate  one  another  in  a  law  like  that  of 
Israel.  What  separates  Israel  from  the  heathen 
is  its  law ;  what  qualifies  Israel  for  the  whole 
world  is  its  promise.  But  now,  because  of  sin, 
the  law  has  come  in  between  the  promise  and  the 
fulfilment ;  that  sin  becoming  the  more  powerful 
as  transgression  may  make  manifest  for  faith  the 
gra.;e  which  alone  is  still  more  powerful,  and  that 
consequently  the  neces.sity  of  the  promise  should 
be  the  more  apparent  ;  that  is,  the  pedagogy  of 
the  law  (and  especially  of  its  ethical  part)  to 
Christ.  Thus  the  law  of  Israel  is  the  theocratic 
expression  of  Israel,  the  servant  of  God,  as  he 
ought  to  be,  and  hence  prefigures  the  servant  of 
Jehovah  who  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  as  He  is 
the  personal  fulfilling  of  Israel,  inasmuch  as  in 
Him  who  was  delivered  for  our  transgressions, 
and  raised  again  for  our  iimen^in,-,  Israel  after  the 
Spirit  is  represented  ;  so  that  here  out  of  the  law 
relating  to  worship  rise  up,  as  on  the  one  hand 
sacrifice  and  the  priesthood,  so  on  the  other  the 
concentration  of  the  whole  of  worship  in  the 
temple,  this  ])arable  of  the  future,  with  reference 
to  which  Christ,  John  ii.,  gives  the  cyifLsist :  De- 
stroy (XvirrtTi)  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I 
«-ill  raise  it  up  (iytpv),  saying  this  of  the  temple 
of  His  body  ;  as  also  the  disciples  remembered 
when  He  had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  as  the 
accusation  against  Him  ran  (Matt.  xxvi.  61). 
Accordingly  the  law,  and  especially  the  temple 
and  its  service,  is  c-x/af  X^t^^  t^v  (WsXXawTiy*  ;  the 

future  aufj.tt  is  given  in  the  ffoifta.  rov  XpiirTotj  {aufta. 
Si  xaTtifTicu  fiitv,  Heb.  X.).  "This  reference  to 
the  future,"  says  Ziegler  (in  his  thoughtful  little 
work  on  the  "historical  development  of  divine 
revelation"),  "is  the  most  dynamical  among  all 
the  references  of  the  law  ;  its  significance  for  its 
own  time  is  so  weak  and  unimportant,  that  it 
Beems  to  exist  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  future, 
although  its  office  is  the  opposite  of  the  oflSce  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  is  formed  and  abiding 
In  the  hearts  of  men  (hittKuvia  rti;  5j«a/o<rwvt!f,  rov 
Ttiv/iaTci) ;  still  it  was  a  sensible  type,  a  strongly 
marked  and  distinctly  stamped  shadow  of  the 
coming  substances,  and  yet,  moreover,  a  veil  which 
concealed  it."     What  has  been  said  shows  the 


typical  signification  of  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  in 
which  the  symbolical  view  of  it  is  completed,  and 
the  pedagogic  and  providential  neces.sity  of  that 
form  borfowed  from  the  legal  worship  iu  wliich  it 
is  enshrined.  Here  is  more  than  what  (as  Heng- 
stenberg  can  say)  "  suflices  to  employ  the  fancy." 
For  the  anointed  one  is  t-Xj,-  tob  tiitiu.  But  as 
the  Messianic  view  of  our  chapters  is  thus  justi- 
fied by  the  symbolic  view,  when  we  have  taken 
into  account  the  law,  particularly  the  law  o< 
worship  in  Israel,  so  likewise  the  already  (Doct. 
Keflec.  1)  noted  connection  of  ch.  xl.  sq.  with  the 
previous  chapters,  especially  with  ch.  xxxvii.  26 
sq.  (p.  351),  yields  the  same  result,  as  also  the 
position  after  ch.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.  and  the 
relation  to  this  prophecy  will  have  to  be  taken 
into  consideration.  What  holds  good  of  ch. 
xxxvii.  26  sq.  will  also  be  a  hint  for  our  chapters. 
But  even  the  Talmudists  saw  themselves  com- 
pelled (principally  because  of  the  treatment  of 
the  law  of  Moses,  to  be  spoken  of  presently)  to 
acknowledge  "that  the  exposition  of  this  portion 
would  be  first  given  in  Messianic  times,"  as  the 
"best"  (according  to  Philippson)  Jewish  ex- 
positors recognised  here  "  the  type  of  a  third 
temple."  The  saying  of  Jesus  in  John  ii.  pos- 
sibly alluded  to  the  exegetical  tradition  of  the 
Jews.  Havernick  accommodates  as  follows  : 
"  The  shattered  old  theocratic  forms  rather 
than  new  ones  were  above  all  cognate  to  the 
priestly  mind  of  Ezekiel  ;"  so  "he  sees  nothing 
perish  of  that  which  Jehovah  has  founded  for 
eternity  ;  those  forms  b»»m  before  him  revivified, 
animated  with  fresh  breath,  and  lit  up  in  the 
splendour  of  true  glory ;  he  recognises  their  full 
realization  as  coming  in  first  in  Messianic  times." 
As  errors  are  still  committed,  e.g.  by  Schmieder, 
in  the  symbolizing  of  particulars,  so  the  Messianic 
typology  of  a  Cocceius  has  deserved,  although 
only  in  part,  the  anathema  on  "mystical  alle- 
gories," which  above  all  modem  criticism  utters; 
for  our  defect  in  understanding  in  respect  of 
many  particulars  will  always  have  to  be  conceded. 
The  Christian  idea,  however,  the  Old  Testament 
typical  symbolizing  of  which  we  have  here  to 
expound,  is  not  only  the  idea  of  Christ,  but  also 
the  idea  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  kingdom 
of  God  in  Christ.  If  the  resurrection  of  the 
Anointed  One  comes  into  consideration  in  the 
first  respect,  so  in  the  latter  does  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  grace,  after  its  last  afflic- 
tion, into  the  kingdom  of  glory  ;  comp.  Rev.  xxi. 
22.  The  one  is  as  eschatological  in  the  wider,  that 
is,  christological  in  the  narrower  sense,  as  the 
other  is  eschatological  in  the  narrower,  or  chris- 
tological in  the  wider  sense.  By  the  translating 
of  our  passage  into  the  higher  key  of  John's 
Apocalypse,  the  relation  of  ch.  xl.  sq.  to  cli 
xxxviii.  xxxix.  must  be  so  much  the  more  evi- 
dent. Comp.  Doct.  Reflec.  on  xxxviii.  and  xxxix. 
We  refer,  finally,  to  what  has  been  said  in  the 
Introduction,  §  7,  that  Jehovah's  building  in 
Ezekiel  here  (still  more  in  its  already  actual 
reality  for  the  seer,  so  that  what  already  existed 
had  only  to  be  measured  to  him)  forms  the  archi- 
tectonic antithesis  to  the  buildings  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. As  the  figure  of  Gog  with  his  people 
may  have  presented  itself  to  our  prophet  through 
means  of  Babylon  (comp.  Doct.  Reflec.  on  ch. 
xxxviii.  xxxix.,  p.  375),  so  from  that  same  fjaar 
ter  may  have  been  derived  the  representation 
given  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  victorious 


CHAP.  XL.— XLVI. 


4SS 


opposirion  to  the  world.  Hitzig,  too  (as  we  now 
first  see  when  treating  of  the  closing  chapters), 
supposes  that  there  probably  "flitted  before  the 
eyes  of  the  author  living  in  Chaldea,  when 
describing  his  quailrangle,  the  capital  of  the 
country  and  the  temple  of  Belus,— Hhe  former, 
like  the  latter,  forming  a  square,  mth  streets  in- 
tersecting one  another  at  right  angles."  Umbreit 
says  of  the  vision  of  Ezekiel  as  a  whole:  "It  is 
K  great  thought,  which  presents  itself  unadorned 
to  our  view  in  the  prophetico-symbolic  temple  : 
God  henceforth  dwells  in  perfect  peace,  revealing 
Hini-self  in  the  unbounded  fulness  of  His  glory, 
which  is  returning  to  Jei-usalem,  in  the  purest 
and  most  blissful  unison  with  His  sanctified 
people,  making  Himself  known  in  the  living 
word  of  progressive,  saving,  and  sanctifying 
redemption.  Everything  is  placed  upon  the 
ample  circuit  of  the  temple,  whose  extended 
courts  receive  all  people,  and  through  whose  high 
and  open  gates  the  King  of  Glory  is  to  enter  in 
(Ps.  xxiv.  7,  9),  and  tlien  upon  the  order  and 
harmony  of  tlie  divine  habitation,  the  well-pro- 
portioned building  ich.  xlii.  10);  and  the  revela- 
tions of  the  holiest  are  stored  up  in  the  pure, 
•ieep  water  of  His  word,  which  in  life-giving 
streams  issues  from  the  temple.  The  stone  tables 
of  the  law  are  consumed  (?),  and  the  fresh  and 
free  fountain  of  eternal  truth  streams  forth  from 
the  temple  of  the  Spirit,  quickening  and  vivify- 
ing in  land  and  sea,  awakening  by  its  creative 
and  fructifying  power  a  new  and  mighty  race  on 
earth.  And  thus  hast  thou,  much  misjudged  yet 
lofty  seer,  in  the  unconscious  depth  of  thy  mys- 
teriously flowing  language,  set  up  upon  the  great, 
undistinguishing  (comp.  Jer.  xxxi.  34),  well- 
proportioned,  and  beautifully  compacted  building, 
a  type  of  the  simple  yet  lofty  temple  of  Christ, 
from  which  flows  the  spiritual  fountain  of  life !  " 
From  this  Messianic  view  of  the  section  we  have 
to  reject  (4)  tlie  chiliastic-literal  view,  according  to 
which  Ezekiel  describes  what  may  be  called  either 
the  Jewish  temple  of  the  future,  or  the  Jewish 
future  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  what  kind  of  spirits  meet  together 
here  in  the  flesh  ;  e.ij.  Baumgarten  and  Auberlen, 
Hofmann  and  Volck  (who  acts  as  champion  for 
him,  and  that  partly  with  striking  power  of 
demonstration  against  Kliefothi,  are  combined 
here  only  in  general  because  they  make  the  com- 
munity of  God  at  our  Lord's  Paroiisia  to  be  an 
Israelite  one.  Comp.  moreover,  p.  357  and  §  10 
of  the  Introduction.  Auberlen  (Daniel  and  the 
Revelation  of  John,  p.  348  sq.,  Clark's  tr.)  ex- 
presses the  apocaly])tic  phantasm  as  follows : 
' '  Israel  brought  back  to  his  o«ti  land  becomes 
the  people  of  God  in  a  far  higher  and  more  in- 
ward sense  than  before,  etc.  ;  a  new  period  of 
revelation  begins,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  richly 
poured  forth,  and  a  fulness  of  gracious  gifts  is 
conferred,  such  as  the  apostolic  Church  possessed 
typically  "  (!).  (One  can  hardly  go  farther  in  the 
4ilusion  of  "deeper"  knowledge  of  Scripture 
than  to  make  primitive  and  original  Chris- 
tianity a  type  of  Judaism!)  "But  this  rich 
spirit-imparteil  life  finds  its  completed  representa- 
tion in  a  priestly  as  well  as  in  a  kingly  manner. 
That  which  in  the  ages  of  the  Old  Covenant 
obtained  only  outwardly  in  the  letter,  and  that 
which  conversely  in  the  age  of  the  Church  with- 
drew itself  into  inward,  hidden  spirituality,  will 
then  in  a.  pneumatic  (!)  manner  assume  also  an 


outward  appearance  and  form.  In  the  Old 
Covenant  the  whole  national  life  of  Israel  in  it< 
various  manifestations — household  and  state, 
labour  and  art,  literature  and  culture — was  de- 
termined by  religion,  but  only  in  an  externa', 
legal  manner ;  the  Church,  again,  has  to  inaiiit 
above  all  on  a  renewal  of  the  heart,  and  mi:st 
leave  those  outward  forms  of  life  free,  enjoining 
it  on  the  conscience  of  each  individual  to  glorify 
Christ  in  these  relations  also  ;  but  in  the  millen- 
nial kingdom  all  these  spheres  of  life  will  be  truly 
Christianized  from  within  outwardly.  Thus 
looked  at,  it  will  no  longer  be  offensive  (?)  to 
say  that  the  Mosaic  ceremonial  law  corresponds 
to  the  priesthood  of  Israel,  and  the  civil  law  to 
its  kingshif.  The  GentUe  Church  could  adopt 
only  the  nc/ral  law  ;  so  certainly  the  sole  means 
of  influence  assigned  to  her  is  that  which  works 
inwardly, — the  preaching  of  the  word,  the  exercise 
of  the  prophetic  oflice." 

(The  Romish  Church,  however,  has  known  how 
to  serve  itself  heir  natis  saperque  to  the  Jewish 
ceremonial  law  !)  "  But  when  once  the  priesthood 
and  the  kingship  arise  again,  then  also — without 
prejudice  to  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  (?) — the  ceremonial  and  civil  law 
of  Moses  will  unfold  its  spiritual  depths  in  tlie 
cultus  and  the  constitution  of  the  millennii" 
kingdom  (Matt.  v.  17-19).  .The  present  is  still 
the  time  of  preaching,  but  then  the  time  of  the 
liturgy  shall  have  come,  which  presupposes  a  con- 
gregation consisting  solely  of  converted  people," 
etc.  etc.  When  Hengstenberg  calls  such  inter- 
pretation "altogether  unhappy,"  that  is  the  least 
that  one  can  say  about  it ;  but  even  that  could  not 
have  been  said  if  Ezekiel's  descriptions  reaUy 
had  the  "Utopian  character"  which  Hengsten- 
berg attributes  to  them.  He,  however,  justly  anim- 
adverts upon  the  incongruity  of  expecting  the 
restoration  of  the  tem])le,  the  Old  Testament 
festivals,  the  bloody  sacrifices  (!  !),  and  the  priest- 
hood of  the  sons  of  Zadok,  within  the  bounds  of 
the  New  Covenant.  Comp.  Kcil,  p.  500  sq.,  who, 
both  from  the  prophetic  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  from  the  New,  refutes  at  length  the 
notion  of  a  transformation  of  Canaan  before  the 
last  judgment,  and  a  kingdom  of  glory  at  Jerusa- 
lem before  the  end  of  the  world.  (Auberlen,  who 
looks  on  the  "first  resurtection  "  as  a  "bodily 
coming  forth  of  the  whole  communit)-  of  believers 
from  their  hitherto  inrisibility  with  Christ  in 
heaven,"  makes  the  now  "transformed  Church 
again  return  thither  with  Christ,  and  the  sainta 
rule  from  heaven  over  the  earth;"  and  from  thi« 
he  concludes  that  "the  intercourse  between  th" 
world  above  and  the  world  below  will  then  be  morn 
active  and  free,"  etc.  Hofmann's  transference  o< 
the  glorified  Church  to  earth,  and  his  further  con- 
necting therewith  the  national  regeneration  of 
Israel,  Auberlen  declares  to  be  "incompatible 
with  the  whole  of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  to  say 
nothing  of  its  internal  improbability.") 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  CH.  XL.-XLVI. 

[Dr.  Fairbaim's  classification  of  the  views  which 
have  been  held  of  Ezekiel's  closing  vision  gene- 
rally, and  in  particular  of  the  description  coa- 
tained  in  it  respecting  the  temple,  is  as  followj  : 
1.  The  hktorico-literal  view,  "  which  takes  all  if 
a  prosaic  description  of  what  had  existed  in  the 
times  immediately  before  the  captivity,  in  <»ii- 


uo 


EZEKIEL. 


BectioD  with  the  temple  which  is  usually  called 
Solomon's."  2.  The  historico-ideal  view,  that 
"  the  pattern  exhibited  to  Ezekiel  differed  mate- 
rially i'rora  anything  that  previously  existed,  and 
pressnted  fi)r  the  first  time  what  should  have  been 
after  the  veturn  from  the  captivity,  though,  from 
the  remissness  and  corruption  of  the  people,  it 
never  was  properly  realized. "  3.  The  Jewish-ear- 
ned view,  held  by  certain  Jewish  writers,  who 
naintain  that  Ezekiel's  description  was  actually 
fjUowed,  although  in  a  necessarily  imperfect  man- 
ner, by  the  children  of  the  captivity,  and  after- 
wards by  Herod  ;  but  that  "it  waits  to  be  properly 
accomplished  by  the  Messiah,  who,  when  He  ap- 
pears, shall  cause  the  temple  to  be  reared  pre- 
cisely as  here  described,  and  carry  out  all  the 
other  subordinate  arrangements," — a  view  which, 
strangely  enough,  is  in  substance  held  also  by 
certain  parties  in  the  Christian  Church,  who  "  ex- 
pect the  vision  to  receive  a  complete  and  literal 
fulfilment  at  the  period  of  Christ's  second  coming. " 
4.  The  Chrutian-spiritual  or  typical  view,  "ac- 
cording to  which  the  whole  representation  was 
"lot  intended  to  find  either  in  Jewish  or  Christian 
times  an  express  and  formal  realization,  but  was 
a  grand,  complicated  symbol  of  the  good  God  had 
in  reserve  for  His  Church,  especiall)'  under  the 
coming  dispensation  of  the  gospel.  From  the 
Fathers  downwards  this  has  been  the  prevailing 
view  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  greater  part 
have  held  it,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  ;  in 
particular,  among  the  Reformers  and  their  suc- 
cessors, Luther,  Calvin,  Capellus,  Cocceius, 
PfeifTer,  followed  by  the  majoritj'  of  evangelical 
divines  of  om-  own  country." 

To  tliis  fourth  and  last  view  Dr.  Fairbaim  him- 
self strenuously  adheres,  expounding,  illustrating, 
and  defending  it  at  considerable  length,  and  with 
marked  ability  and  success.  We  give  has  remarks 
in  a  somewhat  condensed  form. 

"  1.  First  of  aU,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  description  purports  to  be  a  Wsion, — a  scheme 
of  things  exhibited  to  the  mental  eye  of  the  pro- 
phet '  in  the  visions  of  God. '  Tins  alone  marks 
it  to  be  of  an  ideal  character,  as  contradistin- 
guished from  anything  that  ever  had  been,  or 
ever  was  to  be  found  in  actual  existence  after  the 
precise  form  given  to  it  in  the  description.  Such 
we  have  uniformly  seen  to  be  the  character  of  the 
earlier  visions  imparted  to  the  prophet.  The 
things  described  in  chap,  i.-iii.  and  viii.-xi., 
which  were  seen  by  him  'in  the  visions  of  God, ' 
were  all  of  this  nature.  They  presented  a  vivid 
picture  of  what  either  then  actually  existed  or 
was  soon  to  take  place,  but  in  a  form  quite  diffe- 
rent from  the  external  reality.  Not  the  very 
image  or  the  formal  appearance  of  things  was 
given,  but  rather  a  compressed  delineation  of 
their  inward  being  and  substance.  And  such, 
too,  was  found  to  be  the  case  with  other  portions, 
which  are  of  an  entirely  similar  nature,  though 
not  expressly  designated  visions  ;  such,  for  ex- 
ample, as  ch.  iv.,  xii.,  xxi.,  all  containing 
delineations  and  precepts,  as  if  speaking  of  what 
was  to  be  done  and  transacted  in  real  life,  and 
yet  it  is  necessary  to  understand  them  as  ideal 
representations,  exhibiting  the  character,  but  not 
tie  precise  form  and  lineaments,  of  the  coming 
tansactions.  .  .  .  Never  at  any  period  of  His 
Church  has  God  given  laws  and  ordinances  to  it 
Bmiily  by  Wsion  ;  and  when  Moses  was  commis- 
■icned  to  (ave  such  in  the  wilderness,  his  autho- 


rity to  do  so  was  formally  based  on  the  ground  oi 
his  office  being  different  from  the  ordinarily  pro- 
phetical, and  of  his  instructions  being  communi- 
cated otherwise  than  by  vision  (Num.  xii.  6).  So 
that  to  speak  by  way  of  vision,  and  at  the  same 
time  in  the  form  of  precept,  as  if  enjoining  law» 
and  ordinances  materially  differing  from  those  o( 
Moses,  was  itself  a  palpable  and  incontrovertible 
proof  of  the  ideal  character  of  the  revelation.  It 
was  a  distinct  testimony  that  Ezekiel  was  uo  new 
lawgiver  coming  to  modify  or  supplant  what  had 
been  written  by  him  with  whom  God  spake  face 
to  face  upon  the  mount. 

"2.  'WTiat  has  been  said  respecting  the /onn 
of  the  prophet's  communication,  is  confirmed  by 
the  substance  of  it — as  there  is  much  in  this  that 
seems  obviously  designed  to  force  on  us  the  con- 
viction of  its  ideal  character.  There  are  things  iu 
the  description  which,  taken  literally,  are  in  the 
highest  degree  improbable,  and  even  involve  natu- 
ral impossibilities."  Thus,  for  example,  "ac- 
cording to  the  most  exact  modes  of  computation, 
the  prophet's  measurements  give  for  the  outer 
wall  of  the  temple  a  squiire  of  an  English  mile 
and  about  a  seventh  on  each  side,  and  for  the 
whole  city  [i.e.  including  the  oblation  of  holy 
ground  for  the  prince,  the  priests,  and  the  Levites] 
a  space  of  between  tliree  and  four  thousand  square 
miles.  Now  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  boundaries  of  the  ancient  city  exceeded  two 
miles  and  a  half  in  circumference  (see  Robinson's 
Researches,  vol.  i.),  while  here  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  wall  of  the  temple  is  nearly  twice  as 
much."  And  then,  taking  the  land  of  Canaan  at 
the  largest,  as  including  all  that  Israel  ever  pos- 
sessed on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan,  it  amounted  3nly 
to  somewhere  between  ten  and  eleven  thousand 
square  miles.  Surely  "the  allotment  of  a  portion 
nearly  equal  to  one-half  of  the  whole  for  the  prince, 
the  priests,  and  Levites  is  a  manifest  proof  of 
the  ideal  character  of  the  representation ;  the  more 
especially,  when  we  consider  that  that  sacred  por- 
tion is  laid  off  in  a  regular  square,  with  the  temple 
on  Mount  Zion  in  the  centre.  .  .  .  The  measure- 
ments of  the  prophet  were  made  to  involve  a 
literal  incongruity,  as  did  also  the  literal  extra- 
vagances of  the  vision  in  chap,  xxxviii.  xxxix., 
that  men  might  be  forced  to  look  for  something 
else  than  a  literal  accomplishment.   .   .   . 

"3.  Some,  perhaps,  may  be  disposed  to  ima- 
gine that,  as  they  expect  certain  physical  changes 
to  be  effected  upon  the  land  before  the  prophecy 
can  be  carried  into  fulfilment,  these  may  be  ad- 
justed in  such  a  manner  as  to  admit  of  the  pro- 
phet's measurements  being  literally  applied.  It 
is  impossible,  however,  to  admit  such  a  supposi- 
tion. For  the  boundaries  of  the  land  itself  are 
given,  not  new  boundaries  of  the  prophet's  own, 
but  those  originally  laid  down  by  Moses.  And  as 
the  measurements  of  the  temple  and  city  are  out 
of  all  proportion  to  these,  no  alterations  can  be 
made  on  the  physical  condition  of  the  country 
that  could  bring  the  one  into  proper  agreement 
with  the  other.  Then  there  are  other  things  in 
the  description,  which,  if  they  could  net  cf  them- 
selves so  conclusively  prove  the  impossibility  of  a 
literal  sense  as  the  consideration  arising  from  the 
measurements,  lend  great  force  to  this  considera- 
tion, and,  on  any  other  supposition  than  theii 
being  parts  of  an  ideal  representation,  must  wear 
an  improbable  and  fancifui  aspect.  Of  this  kind 
is  the  distribution  of  the  remainder  of  the  land  in 


CHAP.  XL.— XLVl. 


441 


equal  portions  among  tin-  twelve  tribes,  in  parallel 
sections,  running  straight  across  from  east  to  west, 
without  any  reSpect  to  the  particular  circuni- 
Btances  of  each,  or  their  relati\^  numbers.  More 
especially,  the  assignment  of  five  of  these  parallel 
sections  to  the  soTith  of  the  city,  which,  after 
making  allowance  for  the  sacred  portion,  would 
leave  at  the  farthest  a  breadth  of  only  three  or 
four  miles  a-pixs  !  Of  the  sime  kind  also  is  the 
supposed  separate  e.xistence  of  the  twelve  tribes, 
Tllich  now,  at  least,  can  scarcely  be  regarded 
otherwise  than  a  natural  impossibility,  since  it  is 
An  ascertained  fact  that  sui'h  separate  tribeships  no 
longer  exist ;  the  course  of  Providence  has  been 
ordered  so  as  to  destroy  them  ;  and  once  destroyed, 
they  cannot  possibly  he  reproduced.  ...  Of  the 
same  kind,  farther,  is  '  the  very  high  mouutain  ' 
on  which  the  vision  of  the  temple  was  presented 
to  the  eye  of  the  prophet ;  for  as  this  unquestion- 
ably refers  to  the  old  site  of  the  temple,  the  little 
eminence  on  which  it  stood  could  only  be  desig- 
nated thus  in  a  moral  or  ideal,  and  not  in  a  literal 
sense.  Finally,  of  the  same  kind  is  the  account 
given  of  the  stream  issuing  from  the  eastern 
threshold  of  the  temple,  and  flowing  into  the 
Dead  Sea,  which,  both  for  the  rapidity  of  its  in- 
erea-se  and  for  tlie  quality  of  its  waters,  is  unlike 
anything  that  ever  was  known  in  Judea,  or  in  any 
other  region  of  the  world.  Putting  all  together, 
it  seems  as  if  the  prophet  had  taken  every  pos- 
sible precaution,  by  the  general  character  of  the 
delineation,  to  debar  the  expectation  of  a  literal 
fulfilment ;  and  I  should  despair  of  being  able  in 
any  case  to  draw  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  ideal  and  the  literal,  if  the  circumstances  now 
mentioned  did  not  warrant  us  in  looking  for 
something  else  than  a  fulfilment  according  to  the 
letter  of  the  vision. 

"  i.  Yet  there  is  the  farther  consideration  to 
be  mentioned,  viz.  that  the  vision  of  the  prophet, 
OS  it  nmst,  if  understood  literally,  imply  the  ulti- 
mate restoration  of  the  ceremonials  of  Judaism, 
so  it  inevitably  places  the  prophet  iu  direct  con- 
tradiction to  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  entire  and  total  cessation  of  the  peculiarities 
of  Jewish  worship  is  as  plainly  taught  by  our 
Lord  and  His  apostles  as  language  could  do  it, 
ftnd  on  grounds  wliich  are  not  of  temporary,  but 
of  permanent  validity  and  force.  The  word  of 
Christ  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  ;  '  Woman,  be- 
lieve me,  the  hour  cometh  when  ye  shall  neither 
in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jenisalem,  worship 
the  Father,'  is  alone  conclusive  of  the  matter; 
for  if  it  means  anything  worthy  of  so  solemn  an 
asseveration,  it  indicates  that  Jerusalem  was  pre- 
Bently  to  lose  its  distinctive  character,  and  a  mode 
of  worship  to  be  introduced  capable  of  being  cele- 
brated in  any  other  place  as  well  as  there.  But 
when  we  find  the  apostles  afterwards  contending 
for  the  cessation  of  the  Jewish  ritual,  because 
suited  only  to  a  church  '  in  bondage  to  the  ele- 
ments of  the  world, '  and  consisting  of  what  were 
comparatively  but  'weak  and  beggarly  elements  ;' 
and  when,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  we  also 
find  the  disannulling  of  the  Old  Covenant,  with  its 
.^aronic  priesthood  and  carnal  ordinances,  argued 
at  length,  and  especially  '  because  of  the  weak- 
ness fijil  unprofitableness  thereof,'  that  is,  its 
own  inherent  imperfections,  we  must  certainly 
hold,  either  that  the  shadowy  services  of  Judaism 
are  finally  and  for  ever  gone,  or  that  these  sacred 
writers  very  much  misrepresented  their  Master's 


mind  regarding  them.  No  intelligent  and  sinceru 
Christian  can  adopt  the  latter  alternative  :  he 
ought,  therefore,  to  rest  in  tlie  former.  And  he 
will  do  so,  in  the  rational  persuasion,  that  as  in 
the  wise  administration  of  God  there  nmst  ever 
be  a  conformity  in  the  condition  of  men  to  the 
laws  and  ordinances  under  which  they  are  placed, 
so  the  carnal  institutions,  wliich  were  adapted  to 
the  Church's  pupilage,  can  never,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  be  in  proper  correspondence  with 
her  state  of  manhood,  perfection,  and  millennial 
glory.  To  regard  the  prophet  here  as  e.vhibiting 
a  prospect  founded  on  such  an  unnatural  conjunc- 
tion, is  to  ascribe  to  him  the  foolish  part  of  seek- 
ing to  have  the  new  wine  of  the  kingdom  put 
back  into  the  old  bottles  again,  and  while  occupy- 
ing himself  with  the  highest  hopes  of  the  Church, 
treating  her  only  to  a  showy  spectacle  of  carnal 
superficialities.  We  have  far  too  high  idea's  of 
the  spiritual  insight  and  calling  of  an  Old  Testa- 
ment prophet,  to  believe  that  it  was  possible  for 
hira  to  act  so  unseemly  a  part,  or  contemplate  a 
state  of  things  so  utterly  anomalous.  And  we 
are  perfectly  justified  by  the  explicit  statement  of 
Scripture  in  saying,  that  '  a  temple  with  sacrifices 
now  would  be  the  most  daring  denial  of  the  all- 
sufficiency  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
efficacy  of  the  blood  of  His  atonement.  He  who 
sacrificed  before,  confessed  the  Messiah  ;  he  who 
should  sacrifice  now,  wotild  most  solemnly  and 
sacrilegiously  deny  Him. ' ' 

"  5.  Holding  the  description,  then,  in  this  last 
vision  to  be  conclusively  of  an  ideal  character,  we 
advance  a  step  farther,  and  affirm  that  the  ideal- 
ism here  is  precisely  of  the  same  kind  as  that 
which  appeared  in  some  of  the  earlier  visions, — 
visions  that  must  necessarily  have  already  passed 
into  fulfilment,  and  which  therefore  may  justly 
be  regarded  as  furnishing  a  key  to  the  right  under- 
standing of  the  one  before  us.  The  leading  cha- 
racteristic of  those  earlier  visions,  which  coincide 
in  nature  with  this,  we  have  found  to  be  the 
historical  cast  of  their  idealism.  Tlie  representa- 
tion of  things  to  come  is  thrown  into  the  mould' 
of  something  .similar  in  the  past,  and  presented 
as  simply  a  reproduction  of  the  old,  or  a  return- 
ing back  again  of  what  is  past,  only  with  such 
diversities  as  might  be  necessary  to  adapt  it  to 
the  altered  circumstances  contemplated  ;  while 
still  the  thing  meant  was,  not  that  the  outward 
form,  but  that  the  essential  nature  of  the  past 
should  revive."  In  this  connection,  Dr.  Fairbairn 
refers  to  the  vision  of  the  iniquity-bearing  in  ch. 
iv. ;  to  the  sojourn  in  the  wilderness  spoken  of  in 
ch.  XX. ;  to  the  ideal  representation  given  of  the 
king  of  Tyre  in.  ch.  xxviii.  11-19  ;  and  to  the 
prediction  of  Egypt's  humiliation  in  ch.  xxix. 
1-16.  "Now  in  all  these  cases,"  he  goes  on  to 
remark,  "of  an  apparent,  we  should  entirely  err 
if  we  looked  for  an  actual  repetition  of  the  past. 
It  is  the  nature  of  the  transactions  and  events, 
not  their  precise  form  or  external  conditions, 
that  is  unfolded  to  our  view.  The  representation 
is  of  an  ideal  kind,  and  the  history  of  the  past 
merely  supplies  the  mould  into  which  it  is  cast. 
The  spiritual  eye  of  the  prophet  discerned  the  old, 
as  to  its  real  character,  becoming  alive  ags.in  in 
the  new.  He  saw  substantially  the  same  pro- 
cedure followed  again,  and  the  unchan(,«abla 
Jehovah  must  display  the  uniformity  of  His  cha- 
racter and  dealings  by  visiting  it  with  substantially 
'  Douglas'  Structure  0/  Proflucy,  p  71. 


14S 


EZEKIEL. 


the  -?ame  treatment.     If,  now,  we  bring  tlie  light 
furnished  by  those  earlier  revelations  of  the  pro- 
phet,  in  respect  to  which  we  can  compare  the 
prediction  with  the  fulfilment,  so  as  to  read  by 
its  help,   and  according  to   its   instruction,   the 
visiiin  before  us,  we  shall  only  be  giving  the  pro- 
phet  the  benefit  of  the  common   rule,   of  inter- 
preting a  writer  by  a  special  respect  to  his  own 
peculiar  method,  and  explaining  the  more  obscure 
by  the  more  intelligible  parts  of  his  writings.     In 
ail  the  other  cases  referred  to,  where  his  repre- 
sentation takes  the  form  of  a  revival  of  the  past, 
we  see  it  is  the  spirit  and  not  the  letter  of  the 
representation  that  is  mainly  to  be  regarded  ;  and 
why  should  we  expect  it  to  be  otherwise   here  ? 
In  this  remarkable  vision  we  have  the  old  pro- 
duced again,  in  respect  to  what  was  most  excel- 
lent and  glorious  in  Israel's  past  condition, — its 
temple,   with  every  necessary  accompaniment  of 
sacredness   and   attraction  —  the   symbol   of  the 
divine  presence  within  —  the  ministrations   and 
ordinances  proceeding  in  due  order  without — the 
prince  and  the  priesthood — everything,  in  short, 
reijuired  to  constitute  the  beau-ideal  of  a  sacreil 
commonwealth  according  to  the  ancient  patterns 
of  things.     But,  at  the  same  time,  there  are  such 
changes  and  alterations  superinduced  upon  the 
old   as   sufficiently  indicate   that  something   far 
greater  and  better  than  the  past  was  concealed 
under   this  antiquated   form.     Not   the   coming 
realities,  in  their  exact  nature  and  glorious  ful- 
ness— not  even  the  very  image  of  these  things, 
could  the  prophet  as  yet  distinctly  unfold.    While 
the  old  dispen.sation  lasted,  they  must  be  thrown 
into  the  narrow  and  imperfect  shell  of  its  earthly 
relations.     But  those  who  lived  under  that  dis- 
peusivtion  might  get  the  liveliest  idea  they  were 
able  to  obtain  of  the  brighter  future,  by  simply 
letting  their  minds  rest  on  the  psst,  as  here  modi- 
fied and  shaped  anew  by  the  prophet ;  just  as  now, 
tlie  highest  notions  ice  can  form  to  ourselves  of 
the  state  of  glory  is  by  conceiving  the  best  of  the 
Church's  present  condition  refined  and  elevated 
to  heavenly  perfection.     Exhibited  at  the  time 
the  vision  was,  and  constructed  as  it  is,  one  should 
no  more  e.xpect  to  see  a  visible  temple  realizing 
the  conditions,   and  a  reoccupied   Canaan,   after 
the   regular  squares   and   parallelograms   of  the 
prophet,  than   in  the  case  of  Tyre  to  find  her 
monarch   literally  dwelling   in  Eden,   and,   as  a 
cherub,  occupying  the  immediate  presence  of  God, 
or  to  behold  Israel  sent  back  again  to  make  trial 
of   Egyptian   bondage   and   the   troubles   of  the 
desert.     Whatever  might  be   granted   in   provi- 
dence of  an  outward  conformity  to  the  plan  of 
the  vision,  it  sl.ould  only  be  regarded  as  a  pledge 
of  the  far  greater  good  really  contemplated,  and  a 
help  to  faith  iu  waiting  for  its  proper  accomplish- 
ment. 

"  6.  But  still,  looking  to  the  manifold  and 
minute  particulars  given  in  the  description,  some 
may  be  disposed  to  think  it  highly  improbable 
that  anything  short  of  an  exact  and  literal  fulfil- 
ment should  have  been  intended.  Had  it  been 
only  a  general  sketch  of  a  city  and  temple,  as  in 
the  60th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and  other  portions  of 
prophecy,  they  could  more  easily  enter  into  the 
ideal  character  of  the  description,  and  understand 
how  it  might  chiefly  point  to  the  better  things  of 
the  gospel  dispensation.  But  with  so  many  exact 
measurements  before  them,  and  such  an  infinite 
rariety  of  particulars  of  all  sorts,   they  cannot 


conceive  how  there  can  be  a  proper  fulfilment 
without  corresponding  objective  realities.  It  is  pre- 
cisely here,  however,  that  we  are  met  by  anotbel 
very  marked  characteristic  of  our  jirophet  Above 
all  the  prophetical  writers,  he  is  distinguished,  as 
we  have  seen,  for  his  numberless  particularisms. 
What  Isaiah  depicts  in  a  few  boW  and  graphic 
strokes,  as  in  the  case  of  Tyre,  for  example,  Eze- 
kiel  spreails  over  a  series  of  chapters,  filling  up 
the  picture  with  all  manner  of  details,  — not  only 
telling  us  of  her  singular  gieatness,  but  also  of 
every  element,  far  and  near,  that  contributed  to 
produce  it,  and  not  only  predicting  her  downfall, 
but  coupling  it  with  every  conceivable  circuui- 
btance  that  might  add  to  its  mortification  and 
completeness.  We  have  seen  the  same  features 
strikingly  exhibited  in  the  prophecy  on  Egypt, 
in  the  description  of  Jerusalem's  comlitioii  aud 
punishment  under  the  images  of  the  boiling 
caldron  (ch.  xxiv. )  and  the  exposed  infant  (,ch. 
xvi.),  in  the  vision  of  the  iniquity-bearing  (eh. 
iv.),  in  the  typical  representation  of  going  into 
exile  (ch.  xiii. ),  and  indeed  in  all  the  more  im- 
portant delineations  of  the  prophet,  which,  even 
when  descriptive  of  ideal  scenes,  are  characterized 
by  such  minute  and  varied  details  as  to  give  them 
the  appearance  of  a  most  definitely  shaped  and 
lifelike  reality. 

"...  Considering  his  peculiar  manner,  it  was 
no  more  than  might  have  been  expected,  that 
when  going  to  present  a  grand  outline  of  the 
good  in  store  for  God's  Church  and  people,  the 
picture  should  be  drawn  %vith  the  fullest  detail. 
If  he  has  done  so  on  similai  but  less  important 
occasions,  he  could  not  fail  to  do  it  here,  when 
rising  to  the  very  top  and  climax  of  all  his  revela- 
tions. For  it  is  pre-eminently  by  means  of  the 
minuteness  and  completeness  of  his  descriptions 
that  he  seeks  to  impress  our  minds  with  a  feeling 
of  the  divine  certainty  of  the  truth  disclosed  in 
them,  and  to  give,  as  it  were,  weight  and  body 
to  our  apprehensions. 

"  7.  In  farther  support  of  the  view  we  have 
given,  it  may  also  be  asked,  whether  the  feeling 
against  a  spiritual  understanding  of  the  vision, 
and  a  demand  for  outward  scenes  anil  objects 
literally  corresponding  to  it,  does  not  sjiring,  to 
a  large  extent,  from  false  notions  regarding  the 
ancient  temple  and  its  ministrations  and  ordin 
ances  of  worship,  as  if  these  possessed  an  inde 
pendent  value  apart  from  the  spiritual  truths 
they  symbolically  expressed?  On  the  contrary 
the  temple,  with  all  that  belonged  to  it,  was  ar 
embodied  representation  of  divine  realities.  I- 
presented  to  the  eye  of  the  worshippers  a  mani 
fold  and  varied  instniction  respecting  the  thingi 
of  God's  kingdom.  And  it  was  by  what  thej 
saw  embodied  in  those  visible  forms  and  externa.' 
transactions  that  the  people  were  to  learn  how 
they  should  think  of  God,  and  act  toward  Him  in, 
the  difl'erent  relations  and  scenes  of  life — when 
they  were  absent  from  the  temple,  as  well  as 
when  they  were  near  and  around  it.  It  was  an 
image  and  emblem  of  the  kingdom  of  God  itself, 
whether  viewed  in  respect  to  the  temporary  dis- 
pensation then  present,  or  to  the  grander  develop- 
ment everj'thing  was  to  receive  at  the  advent  of 
Christ.  And  it  was  one  of  the  capital  errors  of 
the  Jews,  in  all  periods  of  their  history,  to  pay 
too  exclusive  a  regard  to  the  mere  externals  of  the 
temple  and  its  worship,  without  discerning  the 
spiritual  truths  and  principles  that  lay  concealed 


CHAl-    \L-^LVI. 


443 


nniler  them.  But  such  beiug  tlie  caso,  tlie  iieues- 
sity  for  au  outward  ;iu  literal  realization  of  Eze- 
kiel's  jilau  obviously  lalls  to  the  grouml.  For  if 
all  counected  with  it  was  ordered  antl  arranged 
chiefly  for  its  symbolical  value  at  any  rate,  why 
might  not  the  description  itself  be  given  forth  for 
the  edification  and  comfort  of  the  Church,  on 
account  of  what  it  fiontainej  of  symbolical  in- 
struction ?  Even  if  the  plan  had  been  fitted  and 
designed  for  being  actually  reduced  to  practice, 
it  would  still  have  been  principally  with  a  view 
to  its  being  a  mirror  in  which  to  see  reflected  the 
mind  and  jmrposes  of  God.  But  if  so,  whj'  might 
not  the  delineation  itself  be  made  to  serve  for 
such  a  mirror?  In  other  words,  why  might  not 
God  have  spoken  to  H  is  Church  of  good  things  to 
come  by  the  wise  adjustment  of  a  symbolical 
plan  ?  .  .  .  Let  the  same  rules  be  applied  to  the 
interpretation  of  Ezekiel's  Wsionary  temple  which, 
on  the  express  warrant  of  Scripture,  we  apply  to 
Solomon's  literal  one,  and  it  will  be  impossible  to 
show  why,  so  far  as  the  ends  of  instiiiction  are 
concerned,  the  same  great  purposes  might  not  be 
served  by  the  simple  delineation  of  the  one,  as  by 
the  actual  constmcti<m  of  the  other. ' 

"  It  is  also  not  to  be  overlooked,  in  support  of 
'his  line  of  reflection,  that  in  other  and  earliei- 
communications  Ezekiel  makes  much  account  of 
'he  symbolical  character  of  the  temple  and  the 
*hings  belonging  to  it.  It  is  as  a  priest  he  gives 
us  to  understand  at  the  outset,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  doing  priest-like  service  for  the  cove- 
uant-people,  that  he  received  his  prophetical  call- 
ing, and  had  visions  of  God  displayed  to  him  (see 
.m  ch.  i.  1-3).  In  the  series  of  visions  contained 
lU  ch.  viii.-xi.,  the  guilt  of  the  people  was  repre- 
^nted  as  concentrating  itself  there,  and  deter- 
niiiing  God's  procedure  in  regard  to  it.  By  the 
iivine  glory  being  seen  to  leave  the  temple  was 
symbolized  the  withdrawing  of  God's  gracious 
presence  from  Jerusalem  ;  and  by  His  promising 
to  become  for  a  little  a  sinctuani'  to  the  pious 
remnant  in  Chaldea,  it  was  virtually  said  that  the 
temple,  as  to  its  spiritual  reality,  was  going  to  be 
transferred  thither.  This  closing  vision  comes 
now  as  the  happy  counterpart  of  those  earlier 
snes,  giving  promise  of  a  complete  rectification  of 
(ireceding  evil.s  and  disorders.  It  assured  the 
Church  that  all  should  yet  be  set  right  again  ; 
nay,  that  greater  and  better  things  should  be 
found  in  the  future  than  had  ever  been  known  in 
the  past, — things  too  great  and  good  to  be  pre- 
sented merely  under  the  old  symbolical  forms ; 
these  must  be  modelled  and  adjusted  anew  to 
»dapt  them  to  the  higher  objects  in  prospect. 
Nor  is  Ezekiel  at  all  singular  in  this.  The  other 
prophets  represent  the  coming  future  with  a  refer- 
tnce  to  the  symbolical  places  and  ordinances  of 
the  past,  adjusting  and  modifying  these  to  suit 
their  immediate  design.  Thus  Jeremiah  says,  in 
ch.  xx.xi.  38-40:  '  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith 
the  Lord,  that  the  city  shall  be  built  to  the  Lord 
from  the  gate  of  Hananeel  to  the  corner  gate. 
And  the  measuring  line  shall  go  forth  opposite  to 
it  still  farther  over  the  hiU  Gareb  {the  hill  of  the 
leprous),  and  shall  compass  about  to  Goath  {the 
place  of  execution).  And  the  whole  valley  of  the 
dead  bodies,  and  of  the  ashes,  and  all  the  fields 

^  See  the  Typology  of  Srripture,  vol.  i.  ch.  i.  and  ii  ,  for 
Mie  eetabliitinient  of  the  pilnciples  referred  to  regarding 
the  tabernacle  :  and  vol.  ii.  part  ili.,  for  ttie  application  of 
t^em  to  paRicuIar  parti. 


to  the  brook  Kedron,  unto  the  corner  of  the  horse- 
gate  toward  the  east,  shall  be  holy  to  the  Lord.' 
'fhat  is,  there  shall  be  a  rebuilt  Jerusalem  in 
token  of  the  revival  of  God's  cause,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  even  the  places  formerly  unclean 
shall  become  holiness  to  the  Lord  :  not  only  .shall 
the  loss  be  recovered,  but  also  the  evil  inherent 
in  the  past  purged  out,  and  the  cause  of  righteous- 
ness made  completely  triumphant.  The  sublime 
passage  in  Isa.  Ix.  is  entirely  parallel  as  to  its 
general  import.  And  in  the  two  last  chaptei's  of 
Kevelation  we  have  a  quite  similar  vision  to  the 
one  before  us,  employed  to  set  forth  the  ultimate 
condition  of  the  redeemed  Church.  There  are 
dirt'erences  in  the  one  as  compared  with  the 
other,  precisely  as  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel  there 
are  diti'erences  as  compared  witli  anything  tljat 
existed  under  the  Old  Covenant.  In  p  irticular, 
while  the  temple  tonus  the  very  heart  and  centre 
of  Ezekiel's  plan,  in  John's  no  temple  whatever 
was  to  be  seen.  But  in  the  two  descriptions  the 
same  truth  is  symbolized,  though  in  the  last  it 
appears  in  a  state  of  more  perfect  development 
than  in  the  other.  The  temple  in  Ezekiel,  with 
God's  glory  returned  to  it,  bespoke  God's  presence 
among  His  people  to  sanctify  and  bless  them  ; 
the  no-temple  in  John  indicated  that  such  a  select 
spot  was  no  longer  needed,  that  the  gracious  pre- 
sence of  God  was  everywhere  seen  and  felt.  It  is 
the  same  truth  in  both,  only  in  the  latter  repre- 
sented, in  accordance  with  the  genius  of  the  new 
dispensation,  as  less  connected  with  the  circum- 
stantials of  place  and  form. 

"8.  It  only  remains  to  be  stated,  tliat  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  vision  we  must  keep  carefully 
in  mind  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  given, 
and  look  at  it,  not  as  from  a  New,  but  as  from  an 
Old  Testament  point  of  view.  We  must  throw 
ourselves  back  as  far  .as  possible  into  the  position 
of  the  pro]ihet  himself  We  must  think  of  him 
as  having  just  seen  the  ilivine  fabric  which  had 
been  reared  in  the  sacred  and  civil  constitution  of 
Israel  dashed  in  pieces,  and  apparently  become 
a  hopeless  wreck.  ■  But  in  strong  faith  in  Jeho- 
vah's word,  and  with  divine  insight  into  His  future 
purposes,  he  sees  that  that  never  can  perish  wliicli 
carries  in  its  bosom  the  element  of  God's  un- 
changeableness  ;  that  the  hand  of  the  Spirit  will 
assuredly  be  applied  to  raise  up  the  old  anew  ; 
and  not  only  tliat,  but  al.so  that  it  shall  be  in- 
spired with  hesh  life  and  vigour,  enabling  it  to 
burst  the  former  limit.s,  and  rise  into  a  greatness 
and  perfection  and  majesty  never  known  or  con- 
ceived of  in  the  past.  He  speaks,  therefore, 
chiefly  of  gospel  times,  but  as  one  still  dwidling 
under  the  veil,  and  uttering  the  language  of  legal 
times.  And  of  the  substance  of  his  communica- 
tion, both  as  to  its  general  correspondence  with 
the  past  and  its  difference  in  particular  parts,  we 
submit  the  following  summary,  as  given  by  Haver- 
nick  :— '1.  In  the  gospel  times  there  is  to  be  on 
the  part  of  Jehovah  a  solemn  occupation  anew  of 
His  sanctuary,  in  which  the  entire  fulness  of  the 
divine  glory  shall  dwell  and  manifest  itself.  At 
the  last  there  is  to  rise  a  new  temple,  diverse 
from  the  old,  to  be  made  every  way  suitable  to 
that  grand  and  lofty  intention,  and  worthy  of  it ; 
in  particular,  of  vast  compass  for  the  new  oc:\n- 
munity,  and  with  a  holiness  stretching  over  '.ho 
entire  extent  of  the  temple,  so  that  in  this  re- 
spect there  should  no  longer  be  any  distinction 
bietweeu  the  different  parts.     Throughout,  every 


(44 


EZEKIEL. 


thing  IS  subjected  to  the  most  exact  and  particu- 
lar appointments  ;  individual  parts,  and  especially 
such  as  had  formerly  remained  indeterminate,  ob- 
tiin  now  an  immediate  divine  sanction  ;  so  that 
fTery  idoi  of  any  kind  of  arbitrariness  must  be 
altogethc:  excluded  from  this  temple.  Accord- 
ingly, thu.  sanctuaiy  is  the  thoroughly  sufficient, 
perfect  manifestation  of  God  for  the  salvation  of 
His  people  (ch.  xl.-xliii.  12).  2.  From  this 
sanctuary,  as  from  the  new  centre  of  all  religious 
life,  there  gushes  forth  an  unbounded  fulness  of 
blessings  upon  the  people,  who  in  consequence 
attain  to  a  new  condition.  There  come  also  into 
being  a  new  glorious  worship,  a  truly  acceptable 
priesthood  and  theocratical  ruler,  and  equity  and 
righteousness  reign  among  the  entire  community, 
who,  being  purified  from  all  stains,  rise  indeed  to 
possess  the  life  that  is  in  God  (ch.  xliii.  13-xlvii. 
12).  3.  To  the  people  who  have  become  renewed  by 
such  blessings,  the  Lord  gives  the  land  of  promise  ; 
Canaan  is  a  second  time  divided  among  them, 
where,  in  perfect  harmony  and  blessed  fellowship, 
they  serve  the  living  God,  who  abides  and  manifests 
Him.self  among  them' '  (ch.  xlvii.  13-xlviii. ). " — 
Faikbairn's  Ezekid,  pp.  436-450.— W.  F.] 

5.  In  connection  with  the  wall  with  which  the 
description  begins,  mention  is  forthwith  made 
(ch.  xl.  5)  of  the  "  house."  This  makes  clear  in 
the  outset  what  is  the  principal  building,  to  which 
all  else  is  subordinate,  although  the  wall  is  called 
a  "building."  However  large,  then,  that  which 
the  wall  comprehends  may  appear  to  be^  -and  it  is 
said  in  ver.  2  to  be  "a  city-like  building," — the 
"  house"  is  still  the  kernel.  Comp.  the  measuring 
from  it  in  ver.  7  sq.  Hence  the  symbolized  idea 
is  the  dwelling  of  Jehovah  as  a  permanent  one, 
especially  when  we  compare  ch,  xxxvii.  26  sq. 
As  type,  the  realization  of  the  idea  is  to  he  found 
in  the  Word  become  flesh  (John  i.  14),  as  also  the 
xa.1  nit  iiTTiv  (John  iv.  23)  farther  shows  that  the 
worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and  thereby  the 
fulfilling  of  the  worship  at  Jerusalem,  has  come 
with  Christ.  Salvation  (b  iruTtifia)  is  of  the  Jews, 
as  our  vision  also  sets  forth  in  an  architectonic 
form  ;  they  worship  what  they  know.  But  as 
the  law  was  given  by  Moses,  so  grace  and  truth 
came  by  Jesus  Christ.  The  original  influ- 
ence of  the  sanctuary  on  the  first  constituting 
of  Israel  as  a  people  through  the  making  of  a 
divine  covenant  is  still  held  by  in  ch.  xxxvii.  26 
sq.  (Yes,  Israel  is  Jehovah's  family,  His  house, 
i.'t  ra  ihix  K>^fs,  John  i.  11  ;  Jehovah's  covenant 
with  Israel  is  a  marriage-covenant,  Ezek.  xvi.) 
The  visibility  of  Jehovah's  dwelling,  «ven  in  the 
vision  here,  although  spiritual,  must  be  looked 
on  as  a  pledge  of  the  entire  relation  of  Jehovah 
to  Israel,  and  especially  of  the  promise  of  the 
Messiah.  This  is  the  sacramental  character  of 
Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  temple  specially  insisted 
on  by  Hengstenberg.  But  the  temple  as  the 
abode  of  Jehovah  is  a  place  of  farther  revelation, 
for  Jehovah  is  the  Self-revealing  One.  The  very 
name  Jehovah  contains  a  pleoge  for  the  whole 
future  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  Church  of 
the  future.  Now  this  name,  as  is  well  known, 
coincides  most  essentially  and  intimately  with 
the  destination  of  this  "house;"  Ezekiel  re- 
peatedly emphasizes  the  fact  that  it  is  the  name 
of  His  holiness,  just  as  in  connection  therewith 
the  sanctification  of  Israel  is  again  and  again 
expressed.  Now,  as  this  expresses  also  the  ulti- 
I  mvernlcV,  Comm.  p.  633. 


mate  aim  of  all  Jehovah's  revelation  in  Israel,  vri 
must  have  got  before  us  in  the  sanctuary  the  per- 
spective to  the  end  of  God's  way  with  Israel  and 
mankind  in  general,  the  vision  of  Israel  fulfilling 
its  destiny  of  being  God's  tabernacle  with  men, 
and  the  consummation  of  the  world  in  gloiy,  Kev. 
xxi.  xxii.  But  the  holiness  of  Jehovah,  the 
sanctification  of  Israel,  is  signified  forthwith  by 
the  wall  "round  about  the  hou.se." 

6.  The  significance  of  the  wall,  however,  comes 
first  into  consideration  in  respect  to  the  court  o* 
the  people,  so  that  in  special  the  sanctification  ol 
Israel  as  the  end  and  object  of  Jehovah's  dwelling 
in  their  midst  is  before  all  thus  s)nnbolically  ex- 
pressed. If  the  "house"  is  the  central  point  of 
the  whole,  still  the  court  completes  the  idea  of  the 
house  ;  as  we  have  the  tempFe  in  its  entirety,  as 
it  was  meant  to  be,  only  when  it  has  the  two 
courts  conjoined  with  it.  The  reference  to  the 
city,  and  farther  to  the  whole  land,  which  un- 
doubtedly was  always  contained  in  the  idea  of  the 
court,  is  moreover  expressly  given  shape  to  in 
Ezekiel  (comp.  ch.  xlviii. ).  The  court  here  repre- 
sents the  Israel  in  the  widest  extent  that  appears 
before  Jehovah,  as  it  lives  in  the  light  of  His 
countenance  and  of  intercourse  with  Him  ;  that 
is  to  say,  it  refers  to  the  idea  proper  of  a  holy 
people.  When,  accordingly,  the  visionary-pro- 
phetic description  in  ?"zekiel  exhibits  a  striking 
difference  from  the  brevity,  incompleteness,  and 
indefiniteness  of  the  historical  account  in  the 
books  of  Kings  .and  Chronicles,  this  indicates,  as 
respects  the  idea,  another  Israel  than  the  people 
had  hitherto  been.  Havernick  reniarks  on  "the 
wide  compass,  in  order  to  contain  the  new  com- 
munity," and  "the  sanctuary  extending  itself  on 
all  sides  of  the  temple  indiscriminately,"  "that 
which  was  formerly  undefined  is  now,"  as  he  says, 
"  to  receive  a  higher,  a  divine  sanction."  Bahr, 
speaking  of  Solomon's  temple,  says  that  the 
"almost  total  indefiniteness"  of  its  oourt  ii 
owing  to  its  "human  character"  in  contrast  t> 
the  idea  and  purpose  of  the  house,  and  that  even 
the  court  of  the  tabernacle,  although  measured 
and  defined  more  exactly  than  that  of  the  temple, 
shows  numbers  and  measurements  which  indi- 
cate "imperfection  and  incompleteness."  This 
latter  statement  might  possibly  give  a  hint  as  to 
Ezekiel's  description  of  the  courts  of  the  tempi*, 
which  is,  on  the  contrary,  so  exact  and  dctaileil, 
and  would  at  least  be  plainer  than  what  Bahr  says 
of  the  human  as  "  not  divine, "  etc. ,  while  yet  he 
must  concede  to  the  court  a  mediate  diTinene.s.s. 
Israel  in  the  wilderness  might,  as  Jehovah's  host, 
as  the  people  under  His  most  special  guidance, 
still  in  some  measure  stamp  this  relation  on  the 
court  of  the  tabernacle.  In  Solomon's  temple, 
on  the  contrary,  the  self-development,  left  more 
to  the  freedom  of  the  people,  especially  as  they 
now  had  kings  like  other  nations,  and  when  their 
position  under  Solomon  was  so  influential,  would 
be  expressed  in  the  characteristic  indefiniteness 
of  the  people's  part  in  the  sanctuary.  But  the 
Israel  of  the  future,  Ezekiel  in  fine  would  say, 
will  be  exactly  and  distinctly  Jehovah's  posses- 
sion. Havernick  (and  Bahr  too)  cites  for  the 
conformation  of  the  court,  "  shaping  itself  accord- 
ing to  the  need  of  the  people  and  the  times,"  its 
well-known  division  by  Solomon  into  two  courts. 
After  referring  to  2  Chron.  xx.  5,  and  the  varioue 
annexes,  the  cells,  and  the  frequ«nt  defilement  ol 
this  locality  (2  Rings  xziii.  11,  12),  he  concludw 


CHAP.  XL.— XLVI. 


•lU 


thus  :  "The  tre.'iding  of  the  courts  (Isa.  i.  12) 
has  now  come  to  an  end  ;  the  repentant  people 
are  as.humed  of  their  sins,  and  draw  near  to  t)ieir 
God  in  a  new  spirit,  Ezek.  xliii.  10.  The  new 
condition  of  the  I'ourts  is  a  figure,  an  expression 
of  tlie  new  condition  of  the  community.  (Corap. 
Zech.  iii.  7  ;  Hev.  xi.  2. )  Thus  in  Ezekiel's  sym- 
bolism the  new  garnishing  of  the  courts  comes  to 
view  as  the  quickening  anew,  the  glorious  restora- 
tion of  the  community  of  Israel."  [Comp.  addi- 
tional note  on  p.  3SS. — \V.  F.] 

7.  Hut  the  di-scription  in  our  vision  begins 
with  the  gates,  dwelling  specially  on  the  east  gate. 
For  the  copiousness  with  which  the  gates  are 
described,  comp.  ch.  xliii.  11,  xlviii.  31  sq. 
Havemick,  against  Hottcher,  dwells  on  their  sig- 
nificance (p.  t>41  srj.)  :  makes  them  since  Solomon 
have  acquired  under  his  successors  the  "  disturb- 
ing character  of  the  incidental ;"  remarks  that  the 
law  says  nothing  definitely  regarding  them  ;  points 
out  the  profane  use  to  which  they  were  put  (Jer. 
XX.  2)  ;  and  maintains  that,  on  the  contrary,  "the 
prophet  assigns  to  them  a  definite  relation  to  the 
whole  of  the  building,  so  that  they  are  thoroughly 
in  conformity  with  the  idea  of  the  building." 
But  the  contrast  to  ch.  viii.  and  tho.se  that  fol- 
low is  to  be  Very  specially  observed.  "  Brought 
to  the  gates  of  the  temjile,  the  prophet  had  been 
witness  of  the  idol-worship  prevalent  there.  And 
lie  had  seen  the  Shechinah  departing  out  of  the 
east  gate.  To  this  we  have  now  a  beautiful  and 
complete  contrast.  Henceforth  Jehovah  will  no 
longer  see  the  holy  passages  in  and  out  so  con- 
temptuously desecrated  and  defiled  (ch.  xliii.  7 
sq. ) ;  on  the  contrary,  the  holy  bands  that  keep 
the  feast  and  otter  sacrifice  shall  go  in  and  out 
with  the  prince  of  the  people  in  their  midst  (ch. 
xlvi.  8  sq. ;  comp.  Rev.  xxi.  25  sq. ).  But  above 
all,  the  glory  of  Jehovah  shall  enter  in  by  the  east 
gate  (ch.  xUii.  1  sq.).  Hence  this  gate  is  the 
pattern  for  all  the  others,"  etc. 

8.  From  the  relation  on  the  whole  to  the  temple 
of  Solomon,  Bunsen  thinks  that  "  in  general  the 
old  temple  was  the  model  ;  "  only,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  disposition  of  the  parts  was  "simpler 
and  less  showy,"  and  on  the  other,  "  an  effort  was 
exhibited  to  attain  to  sjTnmetry  in  the  propor- 
tions and  regularity  in  general."  While  Tholuck 
and  others  remark  on  "  the  colossal  size  "  in  dif- 
ferent respects,  as  indicating  the  pre-eminence 
of  the  future  community,  Hengstenberg  finds 
throughout  " always  very  moderate  dimensions." 
Unmistakeably  there  is  a  reference  throughout  to 
the  temple  which  Ezekiel  had  seen  with  his  own 
eyes  ;  this  explains  the  brevity  and  incomplete- 
ness partially  attaching  to  thedescription,  although 
in  respect  to  the  sanctuary  proper  this  peculiarity 
of  Ezekiel,  who  is  otherwise  so  pictorial,  demands 
lome  farther  explanation.  That  the  knowledge 
of  the  temple,  whenever  it  could  be  supposed,  is 
supposed  in  our  vision  (comp.  on  ch.  xli. ),  espe- 
cially when  what  was  seen  presented  itself,  as  it 
were,  in  short-hand  to  the  prophet,  is  only  what 
we  should  naturally  expei^t.  But  it  corresponded 
also  to  the  typology  of  Solomon  and  the  glorious 
age  of  Solomon,  which  had  entered  so  deeply  into 
the  consciousness  of  Israel,  and  was  so  popular, 
when  Solomon's  temple  forms  the  foil  for  the  still 
future  levelation  of  glory  and  the  form  it  assumes. 
Ezekiel's  vision  presupposes,  indeed,  that  which 
it  passes  over  in  silence,  but  certainly  not  always 
that  which  it  suppresses,  as  having  to  be  supplied 


from  the  days  of  Solomon.  A  supposition  o/  thit 
kind  is  least  of  all  permissible  for  the  metallic  orna- 
ments, of  which  nothing  whatever  is  said  in  ])a8- 
sages  in  which,  on  tlie  contrary,  e.g.  ch.  xli.  22, 
what  is  made  "of  wood"  is  particularly  men- 
tioned, or  when  explanations  are  made,  such,  for 
example,  as  :  "This  is  the  table  which  is  befoi-e 
Jehovah."  The  old  is  presupposed,  and  also 
something  new  and  ditl'erent  is  inserted  in  the  old 
when  not  put  in  its  place.  What  Havernick 
observes  generally  regarding  the  use  made  of  the 
sacred  symbols  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
allusions  to  the  law  by  our  prophet,  may  be  ap- 
plied to  the  way  in  which  refereuce  is  made  to 
Solomon's  temple  and  the  knowledge  of  it  sup- 
posed :  "  He  Uves  therein  with  his  whole  soul, 
but  by  the  Spirit  of  God  he  is  led  beyond  the 
merely  legal  consciousness,  he  rises  superior  to 
the  legal  symbolism,"  etc.  In  the  prophetic 
description  in  the  chapters  before  us,  we  can  per- 
ceive a  struggle  as  of  a  dawning  day  with  the 
clouds  of  morning  ;  and  if  something  testifies  to 
the  derivation  of  our  vision  Irom  a  higher  source 
than  a  fancy,  however  pious,  would  be,  we  may 
take  that  something  to  be  the  sudden  advent  of 
peculiar  and  quite  unexpected  lights,  which  havt 
in  them  at  least  something  strange  and  surprising 
in  the  case  of  Ezekiel,  who  was  not  only  lamiliar 
with  ancestral  tenets  and  i>riestly  tradition,  but 
strongly  attached  to  both.  One  might  sometimes 
say  a  less  than  Solomon  is  here  (Matt.  xii.  42), 
and  yet  not  be  satisfied  with  Hengstenberg's  refer- 
ence to  the  troublous  times  in  which  temjile  and 
city  were  to  be  rebuilt,  but  (as  Umbreit  beautifully 
says)  will  feel  constrained  to  tixke  still  more  into 
consideration  the  "woith  of  the  most  significant 
inwardness"  for  "the  poverty  of  the  immediately 
succeeding  times,"  in  view  of  "  the  new  temple  for 
the  new  covenant ,"  so  that  whatever  of  "appa- 
rently meagre  simplicity  "  attaches  to  our  temple- 
vision  may  have  to  be  read  according  to  the  rule 
given  in  Matt.  vi.  29.  Umbreit  aptly  says  ;  "  In 
the  interior  of  the  abode  of  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,  quite  a  ditl'erent  appearance  indeed  is  pre- 
sented from  that  in  Solomon's  temple,  and  the 
splendour  of  gold  and  brilliant  hues  is  in  vain 
sought  for  therein  ;  no  special  mention  is  made 
of  the  sacred  vessels,  and  only  the  altar  of  incense 
is  changed  into  a  table  of  the  Lord,  which,  instead 
of  all  other  symbols,  simply  suggests  the  purely 
spiritual  imji.artation  of  the  divine  life.  The  ark 
of  the  covenant  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  of  God, 
and  our  prophet  no  more  than  Jeremiah  cared  to 
know  about  a  new  one  being  made,  as  also,  indeed, 
it  was  actually  wanting  in  the  so-called  second 
temple.  It  is  enough  that  the  cherubim  resume 
their  place  in  the  sanctuary,  and,  entering  through 
the  open  doors,  now  fill  the  whole  empty  house, 
in  which  the  distinctions  of  the  old  temple  are 
very  significantly  left  out ;  for  we  no  longer  see 
the  veils,  and  the  whole  temple  has  become  a 
holy  of  holies."  In  the  same  strain  Havernick 
says  :  "  If  Jehovah  wills  to  dwell  among  a  new 
people,  He  must  do  so  in  a  new  manner,  although 
in  one  analogous  to  the  former.  It  is  the  same 
temple,  but  its  precincts  have  become  ditt'erent,  in 
order  to  contain  a  much  more  numerous  people  ; 
and  all  the  arrangements  and  adjustments  here 
testify  to  the  faithfulness  and  zeal  with  which  the 
Lord  is  sought  and  served.  The  whole  sacred 
temple  area  has  become  a  holy  of  holies  ;  in  this 
temple  there  is  no  place  for  the  ark  of  the  cove 


146 


EZEKIEL. 


nant  (Jer.  iii.  \6),  ins'ead  of  which  comes  the 
full  revelation  of  the  Shechinah."  On  the  one 
hand,  the  legal  form  of  worshiji  is  retained  in 
oveiy  iota,  or  tacitly  supposed  ;  on  the  other,  a 
new  element,  as  with  ch.  xli.  22,  almost  exactly 
what  Chris'endom  calls  "the  Lord's  table,"  sheds 
its  light  over  everything  previously  existing.  On 
the  one  hand,  the  numbers  and  pro))ortions  ex- 
press a  magnitude  and  beauty,  a  majestic  har- 
mony, surpassing  both  the  "  tent "  and  the 
"temple"  (ch.  xli.  1);  on  the  other,  there  are 
unmistakeable  indications,  as  respects  the  ftspifr: 
hsu,  in  the  simplicity  and  plainness  of  the  whole 
and  the  parts,  of  an  sv  ofi^ia/fian  av^pu^uv  yivofuvo;, 
a  xitaiiri;,  and  Ta-Tiitunn,  and  here  and  there  even 
a  hint  is  perceptible  of  the  outward  poverty  of 
the  Church  in  the  last  times.  Moreover,  as  the 
temjile  of  Ezekiel  consolingly  presented  to  those 
who  returned  from  the  exile,  approaching  the 
more  closely  to  them  as  respects  its  human  cha- 
racter, its  divinity  and  spirituality  in  their  temple 
DuiMing,  so  again  it  contained  a  sacred  criticism 
.■u  the  splendid  edifice  erected  by  Herod  500  years 
.ater  (of  the  immensa  opulenliu  of  which  the  Ro- 
nan  Tacitus  sp  aks), — a  criticism  which  He  who 
Talked  in  this  last  temple  of  Israel,  and  who  was 
rfimself  the  fulfilling  of  the  temple,  completed 
^ttToi  Tvivfia,  and  as  xptTi;^  tcpifca. 

9.  The  treatment  of  the  side-building  (ch.  xli. 
5  sf].),  especially  in  its  connection  with  the 
temple-house,  and  the  detailed  description,  kept 
now  first  in  due  correspocdence  with  the  sanctu- 
ary, of  the  building  on  the  gizrah  (ch.  xli.  12  sq. ), 
aie  worthy  of  oliservation,  althoiigh  not  so  im- 
portant as  Havernick  makes  them.  With  a  touch 
of  human  nature,  Hengstenberg  connects  the  side- 
chambers  with  Ezekiel's  dearest  youthful  remini- 
scences, reminding  us  at  the  same  time  of  Samuel, 
who,  as  well  as  Eli,  had  even  his  bedroom  in  such 
a  side-chamber  of  the  tabernacle.  According  to 
Havernick,  Ezekiel's  description  is  meant  to  keep 
the  annexe  in  fairest  proportion  to  the  sanctuary 
itself,  etc. ;  it  is  the  pei-fect  building,  instead  of  the 
still  defective  and  imperfect  one  described  in  1 
Kings  vi.  The  side-building  and  the  gizrah  are 
evidently  distinguished  in  relation  to  the  temple  as 
addition  and  contrast.  The  description,  too,  given 
of  both,  suggests  a  still  farther  realization  of  the 
temple-idea,  as  regards  priestly  service  and  other 
modes  of  showing  reverence  to  God,  and  also  of 
i:he  "  in  spirit  and  in  truth  "  for  this  future  wor- 
ship. 

10.  As  to  the  temple  of  Ezekiel's  vision  con- 
sidered a;sthetically,   Biihr's  thoughtful   analysis 

Der  sal.  Tenipel,  pp.  7  si].,  269  Sep)  is  so  much 
;he  more  applicable,  as  this  visionary  temple  is 
itill  more  animated  and  dominated  by  the  reli- 
^!;ious  idea  of  Israel,  which  in  its  futurity  is  the 
Messianic  idea.  The  temjile  before  us  is  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  word  music  of  the  future, 
although  only  a  variation  of  an  old  theme.  The 
import  of  this  oM  theme,  Solomon's  temple  and 
the  original  tabernacle,  will  first  find  full  expres- 
sion in  Ezekiel's  temple,  whether  its  measures 
and  numbers  are  the  old  ones  or  dilferent.  We 
nm.st  not  employ  here  the  classical  criterion  of 
tile  beautiful  ;  sensuous  beauty  of  form  is  not  to 
be  found  here.  The  adornment  of  the  edifice  is 
limited  to  eht'tubim  and  palms,  either  together 
or  separate  ;  and  of  the  cherul>im  it  must  be 
granted  that,  wsthetically  considered,  they  are 
figures  the  reverse  of  beautiful.     We  meet,  how. 


ever,  with  nothing  tasteless  or  repulsive,  like  th« 
dog  or  bird-headed  human  forms,  the  green  and 
blue  faces  of  the  Egyptian  gods,  or  the  many- 
armed  idols  of  the  Indian  eultus.  But  what  a 
difference  is  there  between  the  temple  of  Ezekiel  a 
vision  and  the  fancy  edifice,  for  example,  the 
description  of  which  is  to  be  found  in  the 
younger  Titurel  (strophe  311-415,  edited  by  Hahn ; 
comp.  Snip.  Boisseree  on  the  description  of  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Grail,  Munich  1834),— the 
wondrous  sanctuary  on  Mont  Salvage,  in  which 
the  ideal  German  architecture  consecrates  its 
poetic  expression  under  the  niflucnce  of  remini- 
scences of  Eev.  xxi.  n  sq. !  (The  chapel  of  the 
Holy  Cross  at  Castle  Karlstein,  near  Prague,  pre- 
sents to  this  day  a  jjartial  imitation,  and  on  a 
reduced  scale,  of  the  temple  of  the  Grail.)  A 
large  fortress  with  walls  and  innumerable  towers 
surrounds  the  temple  of  the  GraS,  like  an  exten- 
sive and  dense  forest  of  ebony  trees,  i-ypresses, 
and  cedars.  Instead  of  the  guard-rooms  i,iih.  xl.) 
and  the  express  charge  of  the  house  (ch.  xliv. )  of 
Ezekiel,  are  the  guardians  and  protectors  of  the 
Grail, — the  templars,  a  band  of  spiritual  knight.^ 
of  the  noblest  kind,  humble,  pure,  faithful,  chaste 
men.  And  whatever  of  precious  stones,  imagery, 
gold,  and  pearls  the  poetic  fancy  was  able  to 
in.agine,  is  collected  af6und  the  shrine  of  the 
Holy  Grail.  In  the  heathen  temple,  with  its 
attempts  to  represent  the  divine,  and  especially 
in  the  Greek  temple,  conformably  to  the  innate 
artistic  taste  of  the  Greeks,  with  such  Ijeautiful 
natural  scenery  cherishing  and  demanding  this 
taste,  where  sky,  earth,  and  sea  on  every  side 
suggest  the  divine  as  also  the  beautiful,  the  exe- 
cution, form,  and  shape,  distribution  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  parts,  as  well  as  all  its  decorations, 
correspond  to  the  demands  of  aesthetics ;  but 
already  in  Solomon's  temple  the  ethical  religious 
principle  of  the  covenant,  and  consequently  of  the 
theocratic  presence  of  Jehovah  among  His  people, 
penetrates  and  pervades  everything  else.  Th'as 
the  tabernacle,  and  also  the  wdiole  temjde  build- 
ing, culminates  in  the  holy  of  holies,  which  con- 
tains the  ark  of  the  covenant  with  the  tables  of 
the  law,  and  in  which  the  atonement  par  excellence 
is  completed.  A  relation  like  this,  then,  is  served 
by  any  form  which  rather  fulfils  its  office  than 
strives  after  artistic  configuration,  and  the  form 
has  answered  its  purpose,  jirovided  it  only  is  a 
religiously  significant  form.  "Solomon's  temple, " 
says  Biihr,  "  cannot  stiind  as  a  gi-eat  work  of  art 
before  the  forum  of  the  ajsthetic."  Human  art  in 
general  goes  along  with  nature,  hence  its  mainly 
heathenish,  its  cosmic  («»ir^»;,  "decoration") 
character.  Jehovah,  on  the  contrary,  is  holi- 
ness, and  no  necessity  of  nature  of  any  kind,  no 
nationality  as  such,  no  deification  of  nature,  no 
magic  consecration  binds  Him  to  Israel,  but  the 
freest  covenant  grace,  which  has  as  its  aim  the 
sanctification  of  Israel  as  His  people,  with  a  view 
to  all  mankind.  That  Phoenician  artists  executed 
the  building  of  Solomon's  temple  (comp.  for  thi.s 
the  exhaustive  eriti(iue  of  Biihr  in  the  work  quoted 
above,  p.  250  sq.) — although  (Ku.m'sk,  die  dret 
alteslen  Kunsturkunden  der  Freiiiiaiirer-hr&.l(r- 
wha/t,  Dresden  1819)  freemasonry  makes  grand 
masters  after  Solomon,  who  is  held  to  represent 
the  Father  (omnipotence).  King  Hiram  as  Son 
(wisdom),  and  Hiram  Abif  as  Spirit  (harmorrT, 
beauty) — concerns  chiefly  the  technical  woiking  ii) 
wood  and  metal.     If  the  artistic  execution,  tlum 


CHAP.  XL— XLVl. 


447 


[imitfd,  of  the  temple  decoration  bore  on  it  a 
Phctnician  character,  ami  the  employment  of 
table  work  coated  with  silver  showed  signs  of 
Hither  Asia  in  general,  yet  the  Phienician  ele- 
ment, this  muiulane  configuration,  would  not 
amount  to  much  mure  than  what  the  Greek  lan- 
guage was,  in  which  the  gospel  of  the  Xew  Cove- 
nant, as  well  as  that  of  the  Old,  came  before  the 
worlil.  But  a  specifically  Christian  element,  the 
really  fundamental  element  in  the  first  and  oldest 
Christian  church  architecture,  namely,  that  what 
is  also  called  (it  is  true)  "  God's  house  "  is  simply 
an  enclosure  of  the  congregation  (•<'«ii,-  UjsXiiiria,-, 
T«v  ixK>.ziri&/v  oixa:,  dominf  eccJesi(E\j  is  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  extension  of  the  outer  court  in 
Ezekiel,  which  extension  is  quite  in  unison  with 
the  Christologieal  method  of  our  prophet,  with 
the  peculiar  regard  he  piavs  to  the  people  of  the 
Messiah  (Introd.  §  9).  Comp.  2  Cor.  vi.  16  ; 
Eph.  ii.  20  sq. ;  1  Pet.  ii.  4.  The  Christian  com- 
munity forms  in  future  the  house  of  God,  the 
temple  ;  as  also  its  development,  externally  and 
internally,  is  in  the  New  Testament  called  edifi- 
cation, building.  Voltaire  has  declared  that  he 
could  remember  in  all  antiquity  no  public  build- 
ing, no  national  teniple,  so  small  as  Solomon's  ; 
and  J.  D.  Michaelis  held  that  his  house  in  Got- 
tingen  was  larger  ;  whereas  Hengstenberg  ascribes 
to  Solomon's  tenijile,  "  inclusive  of  the  courts,  an 
imposing  size. "  The  prominence  given  in  Ezekiel 
to  the  east  gate  of  the  new  temple,  although  the 
holy  of  holies  still  lies  towards  the  west,  may 
remind  us  of  the  projecting  eastward  of  Christian 
church  buildings  from  the  earliest  age,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Concha  closing  them  on  the  east. 
As  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  comes  from  the 
east  (ch.  xliii. ),  so  in  the  east  is  the  Dayspring 
from  on  high  (Luke  i.  7S;  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, Mai.  iii.  20  [iv.  2]l,  the  Light  of  the  world 
(.John  viii.  12  ;  Isa.  ix. ),  which  has  brought  a 
new  day,  the  precursor  ami  pledge  of  the  future 
new  morning  and  day  of  eternal  glory  (Rom.  xiii. 
12 :  2  Tim.  iv.  S).  li'  the  light-concealing  stained 
windows  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  not  to  be  traced 
back  to  the  parts  shut  up  and  covered  in  Ezekiel's 
temple,  still  thi'  powerful  tendency  to  elevation 
upwards,  so  appropriate  to  the  Gothic  style,  has 
at  least  some  support  in  the  pillars  (ch.  xl.  14), 
and  even  suggests,  an  avjw  rav  »otv  (Phil.  iii.  20  ; 
Col.  iii.  1  sq. ). 

11.  The  designation  of  the  temple  in  ch.  xliii. 
as  the  place  of  Jehovah's  throne,  etc.,  might 
make  us  suppose  the  existence  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  unless  its  significance  as  (to  borrow 
Bahr's  words)  ' '  centre,  heart,  root,  and  soul  of 
the  whole  edifice  "  necessarily  demanded  an  ex- 
press mention,  when,  for  example,  we  have  in 
Ezekiel  most  exact  accounts  of  the  altars ;  comp 
on  ch.  xli.  22.  Solomon's  temple  (1  Kings  viii.) 
first  became  what  it  was  meant  to  be  from  the 
fact  that  the  ark  of  the  covenant  came  into  it.  But 
the  post-exile  temple  had  an  empty  holy  of  holies, 
as  Tacitus  (Hi.<<t.  v.  9)  relates  of  Pompey,  that 
"  he  by  his  riglit  as  conqueror  entered  the  temple, 
from  which  time  it  became  known  that  no  divine 
image  was  in  it,  but  only  an  empty  abode,  and 
that  there  was  nothing  in  the  mystery  of  the 
Jews."  (Comp.  JoRephros,  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  5.) 
The  most  probable  supposition  is,  that  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  disappeared  at  the  destruction  of 
Solomon's  temple,  that  it  was  consumed  by  fire. 
For  the  traditions  of  what  became  of  it  are  mere 


myths  ;  e.g.  in  2  Mace,  ii.,  that  Jeremiah,  among 
other  things,  by  divine  command  hid  the  ark  in 
a  cave  in  Mount  Nebo,  but  when  they  who  had 
gone  with  hira  could  not  again  find  the  place,  he 
rebuked  them,  and  pointed  to  the  future,  when 
the  Lord  would  again  be  gi-acious  to  His  people 
and  reveal  i  to  them,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
and  the  cloud  would  appear  as  formerly.  [The 
Mishna  makes  it  be  hid  in  a  cave  under  the 
temple,  a  statement  which  the  Rabbins  endeavour 
to  confirm  from  2  Chron.  xxxv.  3.  Carpzov 
supposes  the  ark  included  in  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  10, 
and  holds  that  it  was  restored  by  Cyrus,  Ezra  i.  7; 
a  statement  which  Winer  rightly  cannot  find  in 
that  passage,  but  rather  the  reverse  ;  while  at  the 
same  time  he  is  unable  to  agree  with  Hitzig,  who 
concludes  from  Jer.  iii.  16  tliat  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  was  no  longer  in  existence  even  in  the 
days  of  this  projihet.  According  to  the  Mishna 
(Joma  v.  2),  there  had  been  put  in  its  place  au 
altar-stone  rising  three  fingers  above  the  ground, 
on  which  the  high  priest  on  the  great  day  o( 
atonement  set  the  censer.]  That  the  symbo- 
lical designation  of  the  temple  expressed  in 
Ezekiel  with  reference  to  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant is  simply  a  legal  technical  term  may  be  the 
more  readily  believed,  as  in  certain  respects  in 
contrast  thereto,  at  least  in  distinction  therefrom 
(although  this  is  strangely  denied  byHengst. ), 
the  whole  precincts  of  the  temjile,  in  consequence 
of  the  re-entrance  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  became 
a  holy  of  holies  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
this  house  ;  comp.  on  ch.  xliii.  12.  W.  Neumann 
expounds  Jer.  iii.  16  of  the  new  birth  of  Israel, 
when  Jehovah  will  be  glorified  in  the  midst  ol 
His  saints,  that  these  shall  no  longer  celebrate 
the  ark  of  the  covenant.  He  rejects  the  opinion 
of  Abendana,  who,  from  ver.  17  of  the  same  chap- 
ter, inferred  that  the  whole  of  Jerusalem  is  to  be  a 
holy  dwelling-place,  and  holds  to  Rashi's  view, 
that  the  entire  community  will  be  holy,  and  that 
Jehovah  will  dwell  in  its  midst  as  if  it  were  the 
ark  of  the  covenant.  "  For  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant as  such  is  a  symbolical  vessel.  As  it  con- 
tains within  it  the  law,  which  testifies  to  the 
covenant  (Dent.  iv.  13,  xxvi.  17  sq.),  so  the 
covenant-people  are  represented  in  it,  the  bearers 
of  the  law  through  worldly  life,  until  the  days 
when  it  shall  be  written  on  the  hearts  of  tlie 
saints  (Jer.  xxxi.  31  sq.).  The  Capporeth  repre- 
sents the  transformation  of  the  creature  trans- 
formed by  Israel's  perfection  in  the  Lord  (?t.  the 
new  heavens  and  the  new  eaith  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness,  Isa.  Ixvi.  22,  23.  If  this  is  the 
thought  which  lies  at  the  root  of  the  symbolism, 
then  when  the  ark  of  the  covenant  is  no  longer 
kept  in  commemoration,  the  shadows  of  the  Old 
Co  'enant  have  passed  away,  all  has  become  new, 
and  the  redeemed  are  the  holy  seed  (Isa.  vi.  13),  to 
whom  Jehovah's  law  has  become  the  law  of  their 
life."  The  eloquent  silence  in  our  prophet  re- 
garding the  ark  of  the  covenant  will,  moreover, 
be  understood  in  respect  to  the  man  who  speaks 
as  Jehovah  (comp.  on  ch.  xliii.  7),  that  is.  in  a 
Messianic  -  christologieal  sense,  notwithstanding 
that  Ezekiel's  Christology  (Introd.  §  9)  has  th« 
Messianic  people  principally  in  view. 

12.  Ezekiel's  vision  rests  throughout  on  the 
law  of  Moses.  Were  it  othenvise  in  our  chapters, 
Ezekiel  could  have  been  no  prophet  of  Israel,  noj 
the  Jlosaic  law  the  law  of  (},«\.  This  legal  cha- 
racter  was,  moreover,  well  adapted  to  put  an  airesl 


148 


EZEKIEL. 


on  a  mere  fancy  portraiture,  if  not  to  make  it 
altogeiluT  imjiussible.  As  to  the  departure  from 
the  law  of  Moses,  which,  however,  he  must  con- 
cede, Philippson  maintains  that  it  is  **notgi'eat," 
and  "is  limited  to  the  number  of  victims  "  (?  ?). 
Hengstenberg  denies  any  difference,  calling  it 
merely  "alleged."  On  the  other  hand,  Haver- 
nick,  with  whom  many  agree,  speaks  of  Ezekiel's 
"many  differences  and  dehnitions  going  beyond 
the  law  of  the  Old  Covenant,"  while  at  the  same 
time  he  rejects  the  idea  that  the  prophet  forms 
the  transition  to  the  farther  improved  system  of 
the  Pentateuch  (Vatke),  and  affirms  against  J.  D. 
llichaelis  the  unchangeable  character  of  the  law 
of  Moses.  Havernick  says :  "  These  discrepancies 
rather  show  with  so  much  the  more  stringent 
necessity,  that  a  new  condition  of  things  is  spoken 
of  In  the  prophet,  in  which  the  old  law  will  con- 
tinue in  glorious  transformation,  not  abrogated, 
but  fulfilled  and  to  he  fulfilled,  coming  into  full 
truth  and  reality. "  Bunsen  speaks  to  this  eHect  : 
"Ezekiel's  design  was  to  make  the  ritual  more 
spiritual,  and  to  break  the  tyranny  of  the  high- 
priesthood.  For  mention  is  nowhere  made  of  a 
high  Iciest,  whereas  a  high-priestly  obligation, 
although  slightly  relaxed,  is  laid  upon  the  priests 
(ch.  xliv.  22).  The  daily  evening  sacrifice  falls 
away,  and  among  the  yearly  feasts  we  miss  Pente- 
cost and  the  Great  Day  of  Atonement,  all  which 
accords  with  the  absence  of  the  high  priest  and 
the  ark  of  the  covenant ;  instead  of  these  conies 
an  additional  feast  of  atonement  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  (ch.  xlv.  18  sq. ),  and  the  amount  of 
the  morning  sacrifice  and  the  festal  sacrifices  is 
enhanced.  There  is,  indeed,  much  reference  to 
the  original  law  throughout,  and  it  is  anew  set 
forth  with  respect  to  transgressions  and  abuses 
that  had  crept  in,  special  weight  being  laid  on 
the  precepts  concerning  clean  and  unclean  (ch. 
xliv.  17  .'q. ;  comp.  ch.  xxii.  26) ;  but  still  more 
does  Ezekiel  go  beyond  the  law,  and  gives  addi- 
tional force  to  its  precepts."  We  must  call  to 
mind  the  position  generally  of  prophecy  to  the 
law  of  Moses.  As  prophecy  is  provided  for  in 
the  law  in  the  proper  place  (comp.  our  Comment 
on  Deut.  p.  134),  namely,  when  Moses'  departure 
demanded  it,  so  its  foundation  is  traced  hack  in 
Deut.  xviii.  16  sq.  to  Sinai,  and  thus  it  is  thence- 
forth comprehended  historically  in  the  legisla- 
tion. But  although  it  thus  stands  and  falls  with 
the  law,  having  by  its  own  account,  like  all  the 
institutions  of  Israel,  its  norm  in  the  law,  yet  it 
rejoices  in  its  extraordinary  fellowship  with  God, 
Its  divine  endowment  and  inspiration.  And  this 
not  in  order,  like  the  priesthood,  to  teach  after 
the  letter,  and  to  serve  in  the  ceremonial ;  but  the 
jirovision  made  and  charge  given  already  on 
Mount  .Sinai,  as  they  make  the  official  duty  of 
prophecy  to  Ije  the  representation  of  God's  holy 
will  against  eveiy  other  will,  so  they  give  to  it 
the  character  of  a  legitimate  as  well  as  legitima- 
tized officiality,  which,  like  Moses,  has  to  serve 
as  the  chosen  means  of  intermediation  in  rela- 
tion to  the  will  of  the  Most  High  Lawgiver 
revealing  itself ;  the  calling  is  ordained  in  Israel 
for  the  I  ontinuity  of  the  divine  legislation.  This 
latter  qualification  of  the  prophets  of  Jehovah  in 
Israel  afforded  a  foundation  for  their  deepening 
of  the  legal  worship,  as  opposed  to  hypocrisy  and 
torpid  formality,  for  their  spiritual  interpretation 
of  the  ceremonial ;  as,  in  view  of  their  position 
towards  the  future,  a  consideration  of  the  ecclesi- 


astical and  civil  law  in  their  be^ng  on  tha 
future  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  idea 
which  for  this  end  dominates  Ezekiel's  closing 
vision  is  the  holiness  of  Jehovah,  and  the  corre- 
sponding sanctification  of  Israel,  their  separation 
to  Jehovah  as  a  possession.  It  is  the  loot  ide.i 
which  the  law  expresses  and  symbolizes  in  all  itn 
tonus,  whether  of  morality,  worship,  or  polity. 
And  as  it  is  said  already  in  Ex.  xix. :  "  Ye  shall 
be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests,"  so  it  is  also  said 
in  1  Pet.  ii.  of  the  Christian  community,  that 
they  who  are  lively  stones  are  built  up  a  spiri- 
tual liouse,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  oti'er  >ip  spiritual 
sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ 
(comp.  ver.  9).  Peter  thus  makes  a  New  Testa- 
ment use  of  the  same  mode  of  expression  regard- 
ing worship,  which,  carried  out  in  Old  Testament 
form,  is  Ezekiel's  representation  of  Jehovah's  ser- 
vice of  the  future,  when  Jehovah  shall  dwell  for 
ever  in  Hi^  people.  Comp.  ch.  xx.  4U.  Ezekiel's 
position,  therefore,  to  the  law  of  Moses  is  not 
that  of  freedom  from  legal  restraints, — a  posi- 
tion which  might  be  subjective  and  arbitraiy, — 
but  what  he  applies  from  the  law  for  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  future,  and  the  way  in  which  he  does 
so,  passing  by  some  things,  more  strongly  em-  • 
phasizing  others,  or  putting  them  into  new  shapes, 
derives  its  legal  justification  from  the  idea  of  the 
law  as  it  shall  be  realized  in  a  true  Israel,  that  is, 
the  Messianic  Israel.  That  the  Messiah,  who 
says  in  John  xvii. :  "  And  for  them  I  sanctify 
myself,  that  they  also  may  be  sanctified  in  truth," 
remain.s  as  a  person  in  the  background,  is  quite 
in  correspondence  with  Ezekiel's  Christology  (In- 
trod.  §  9),  which,  as  already  said,  characterizes 
the  times  and  the  salvation  of  the  Messiah  through 
the  Messianic  people. 

13.  "The  proper  significance  of  the  new  temple 
lies  in  the  full  revelation  of  Jeliovah  in  His  sanc- 
tuary, in  the  new  and  living  fellowship  into  which 
God  enters  with  His  people  by  this  His  dwelling 
among  them  "  (Hav.).  As  being  a  return,  which 
it  is  in  relation  to  ch.  xi.,  the  entrance  of  the 
glory  of  the  Eternal  has,  although  with  a  New 
'Testament  application,  coiTesponding  to  the  ;  iya 

filff      UUUV    TBtfftti     Taj     Tifcipiti     :ai5    TT.i     ffUVTi?.lllt;    T»V 

iciuya;  (Matt,  xxviii.  20),  also  its  Apocalyptic 
significance,  as  John  says  before  the  close  of  his 
Revelation  (ch.  xxii.)  :  »«/  ifx°">  ^"e"  'Iw'ti. 

14.  If  the  idea  of  the  court  is  unquestionably  that 
of  the  people,  whose  Messianic  perfection  as  Israel 
Ezekiel  is  to  behold,  theu,  since  everything  on 
the  mountain  of  the  vision  here  is  "  most  holy  " 
(ch.  xliii.  12),  the  immediately  following  detailed 
description  of  the  altar  of  burnt-oHering  and  its 
consecration  can  only  point  to  the  future  mani- 
festation of  Jehovah's  holiness  and  the  sanctifica- 
tion of  His  peculiar  people  (1  Pet.  ii.  9).  "  What 
holds  good  of  the  altar  refers  also  to  the  whole 
court ;  the  blessing  of  the  altar  includes  in  it  that 
of  the  community.  By  means  of  the  expiation  of 
the  altar,  tiie  purpose  of  the  divine  love,  to  see  a 
holy  people  assembled,  is  efiected.  The  first  act, 
consequently,  in  which  the  significance  of  the 
new  sanctuary  is  expressed,  is  the  complete  ex- 
piation of  the  people,  and  its  efficacy  in  this 
respect  far  surpasses  in  extent  and  glory  that  of 
the  old  sanctuaiy  "  (Hiv. ).  Accordingly,  if  they 
who  are  sanctified  are  perfected  lU  to  lir.vnca  by 
the  Tfttipofn  ijna.  (Heb.  x.  14),  the  full  and  com- 
plete ott'ering  on  Golgotha,  then  the  idea  also  of 
this  altar  of  burnt-ofiering  upon  the  very  high 


CHAP.  XL.— XI.VI. 


449 


mountain  must  be  fulfilled.  But  as  the  otfering 
which  fulfils  is  the  most  personal  jiriestly  offer- 
ing, so  the  sanctification  of  the  people  in  Ezekiel's 
typical  temple  takes  place  on  the  altar  of  burnt- 
otiering  in  the  priests'  court,  which  therefore  still 
remaiit^  separa^d  from  the  court  of  the  people,  as 
in  Solomon's  temple,  whereas  in  the  tabernacle 
there  was  only  one'  court.  The  sjTubolical  repre- 
sentation of  the  dominant  idea  of  the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  people  was,  from  their  being  represented 
by  the  priests,  rightly  localized  in  a  priests'  court, 
which  gives  it  due  prominence  here,  where  every- 
thing hinges  on  locality  and  arrangement.  Thus 
also,  as  Bahr  observes,  in  the  camp  of  Israel  the 
priestly  family  in  its  four  main  branches  encamped 
close  around  the  sanctuary  on  its  four  sides. 
[Comp.  with  this  section  the  Additional  Note  on 
ch.  .xliii.  13--27,  p.  410.— W.  F.] 

15.  As  the  shutting  of  the  east  gate  (ch.  xliv. ) 
for  the  future  puts  the  key  of  Ezekiel's  temple 
into  the  hand  of  Him  who,  according  to  the  typo- 
logy of  the  law  and  the  prediction  of  the  prophets, 
is  the  Coming  One  of  Israel,  so  the  prince's  sitting 
and  eating  in  the  east  gate  must  be  taken  as 
throwing  light  on  the  Slessianic  future  of  the 
people  of  the  promise.  It  is  very  evident  that 
by  the  "  prince  "  is  not  to  be  understood  the  high 
priest  of  Israel.  This  interpretation,  which  was 
a  Maccabean  prolepsis,  has  now  been  abandoned. 
Kliefoth,  Keil,  and  Hitzig  justly  dispute  the  in- 
definite sense  w^hich  Havernick  gives  to  the  X'tl'J- 

yet  they  do  not  sufficiently  attend  to  what  may 
be  said  in  defence  of  Havernick's  indefiniteness, 
and  which  certainly  tells  against  those  who  make 
the  future  theocratic  ruler  to  be  one  with  the 
King  David  of  ch.  xxxiv.  and  xxxvii. ,  because 
he  too  is  calletl  X'w'3,  ^s  indeed  he  is  also  called 

ny'l.     They  must  own,  however,  that  there  is  a 

difference  between  :  "  My  servant  David  shall  be 
king  over  them,"  between  the  "one  shepherd" 
who  is  "prince  for  ever,  "and  the  X'tl'SH  here,  who 

comes  into  consideration  qv&  S'CO-     Now  if  this 

must  be  granted,  then  it  is  only  with  justice  that 
Havernick  observes  that  the  designation  ^{<i;>3  sets 

before  us  the  original,  or,  as  he  calls  it,  "  the 
purely  natural  constitution  of  the  Israelites " 
(Ex.  xxii.  27  [28]>,  although  not  so  much  be- 
cause "the  time  of  the  exile  had  again  limited 
the  people  to  this  original  constitution,  or  left 
them  only  a  poor  remainder  of  it,"  as  because, 
looking,  as  in  our  vision  we  always  should  do,  at 
the  Jlessiah  and  His  times,  the  discrepancy  be- 
tween theocracy  and  kingly  power,  which  showed 
itself  at  the  rise  of  the  latter  under  Samuel,  is  to  be 
adjusted  on  the  original  ground  of  the  peculiarity 
of  Israel.     The  x'C'J  is  the  prince  of  the  tribe, 

as  the  tribal  constitution  of  Israel  put  the  juridi- 
cal power  and  the  executive  into  the  hands  of  the 
natural  superiors,  the  heads  of  families  and  tribes. 
And  even  when  in  time  of  need,  as  in  the  days  of 
the  judges,  a  dictatorship,  the  power  of  one  over 
all  others,  is  had  recourse  to,  it  is  potestas  dtlegata, 
and  is  on  both  sides  considered  as  nothing  else. 
With  a  tribal  constitution  such  as  the  natural 
fonstitution  of  Israel  was,  the  want  of  an  ojitward 
centrum  unitntis  might  in  itself  be  painfully  felt, 
and  the  instituting  of  one  be  looked  on  as  a  poli- 
tical necessity  ;  but  that  for  Israel  .the  necessity 


of  the  time  as  such  should  have  demanded  a  per- 
manent institution  of  the  kind,  is  strikingly  refuted 
by  the  days  of  the  judges,  for  the  present  aid  ol 
Jehovah  answered  to  the  momentary  distress,  and 
raised  up  the  competent  helper  from  out  of  the 
tribes  of  Israel, — "  then  when  they  entreated  and 
wept,  the  faithfulness  of  God  helped  them,  and 
sooner  than  they  supposed  all  distress  was  over," 
— just  as  the  former  examples  of  Moses  and  Joshua 
showed  that  in  the  Israelitish  theocracy  the  right 
men  were  not  wanting  at  the  right  time.  Jeho- 
vah alone,  as  on  another  side  the  fundamental 
canon  of  the  priesthood  still  held  up  before  the 
people,  claimed  as  His  due  to  be  Israel's  king 
in  political  respects  also.  Originally  there  couhl 
be  beside  Him  no  other  political  sovereign,  but 
merely  the  institution,  in  subordination  to  Him, 
of  the  princes  of  the  tribes,  and  a  sort  of  hege- 
mony of  a  single  tribe.  The  unity  of  the  reli- 
gious sentiment,  which  made  the  twelve  exter- 
nally separate  tribes  internally  one  community, 
bad  in  earlier  times  made  up  for  the  want  of  an 
external  centrum  unitatU,  and  the  free  authority 
of  certain  individual  representatives  of  this  senti- 
ment was  quite  in  harmony  therewith.  Hence 
Jehovah  says  in  1  Sam.  viii.  :  "  They  have  not 
rejected  thee,  but  they  have  rejected  Me,  that  I 
should  not  reign  over  them."  Thus  the  demand 
of  the  people  requesting  a  king  must,  having  re- 
gard to  Samuel,  who  occupied  in  Israel  a  position 
similar  to  that  of  Moses,  be  looked  on  as  a  symp- 
tom of  disease,  altliough  the  disease  was  one  of 
development.  We  may  concede  to  the  elders  of 
Israel  who  come  before  Samuel,  Samuel's  age, 
which  they  urge  ;  and  still  more,  as  the  occasion 
of  their  demand,  the  evil  walk  of  his  sons.  We 
can  point  to  the  picture  exhibited  in  the  later 
period  of  the  judges,  when  everj-thing,  even  the 
temporary  alliance  of  individual  tribes,  appears 
to  be  in  a  state  of  dissolution  ;  we  can  along 
therewith  take  into  account  the  pride  of  Ephraim, 
in  whose  midst  the  sanctuary  stood,  and  to  whose 
claims  of  superiority,  even  over  Judah,  all  the  tribes 
were  more  or  less  compelled  to  bow.  Nay,  even 
in  the  law  (Deut.  xvii.  14  sq. ),  where  it  refers  to 
the  future  taking  possession  of  Canaan,  the  future 
development  of  an  Israelitish  kingdom  is  taken 
into  view  by  Jehovah  Himself,  and  the  very  form 
foreseen  in  which  the  demand  came  to  Samuel : 
"I  will  .set  a  king  over  me,  like  all  the  nations 
that  are  about  me."  But  although  this  possible 
desire  of  the  people,  because  tolerated,  is  not  ex- 
pressly blamed,  yet  neither  the  self-derived  resolu- 
tion there:  "when  thou  sayest :  I  will,"  etc., 
nor  the  pattern  :  "  like  all  the  nations  that  are 
about  me,"  is  spoken  of  approvingly  ;  nor  can 
there  be  behind  the  emphatic  command  :  "thou 
shalt  in  any  wise  set  him  to  be  king  over  thee 
whom  Jehovah  thy  God  shall  choose,"  anything 
but  a  presupposed  conflict  with  the  kingly  autho- 
rity of  Jehovah,  against  which  provision  must  be 
made  in  the  very  outset.  Accordingly,  when 
Jehovah  Himself  takes  into  view  the  earthly 
kingship  for  Israel,  He  does  so  in  a  way  not  very 
different  from  what  Christ  says  in  Matt.  xix. 
regarding  the  Mosaic  permission  of  divorce  be- 
cause of  Israel's  hard-heartedness  :  «t'  ifx"!  ^'- »" 
ytytiiiv  oSiTu.  But  Jehovah  is  the  Physician  of 
Israel,  who  (Num.  xxi. )  made  Moses  set  the  brazen 
serpent  on  a  pole,  as  a  remedy  against  the  bite  ol 
the  fiery  serpents.  That  which  expresses  to  the 
full  the  sentiment  of  the  people  under  Samuel  is 


ir.o 


EZEKIEL. 


nine  the  umiisguised  :  "like  all  the  nations;" 
witli  this  thuir  it-qiiest  before  Samuel  closes  empha- 
tically as  its  culminating  point.  Although  to 
Sanmel  the  thing  that  pei^nally  concerned  him  : 
"that  he  may  judge  us,"  which  they  gave  as  their 
object  in  the  case  of  the  king  to  be  appointed, 
was  displeasing,  was  in  his  eyes  the  bad  element 
in  the  request,  Jehovah  first  set  the  matter  be- 
fore him  in  the  light  that  in  His  eyes  the  request 

for  the  "king"  (t17D)  ^^  rather  a  rejection  of 

His  reigning  over  them,  and  explained  to  him 
the  :  "  like  all  the  nations,"  in  the  mouth  of  the 
elders  of  the  people,  by  their  hereditary  disposi- 
tion :  "they  forsook  Me,  and  served  other  gods." 
Kingly  power,  such  as  the  heathen  nations  have 
from  early  times,  is  a  necessary  self-defence  of 
polytheism  against  its  own  divisive  and  centri- 
fugal elements  in  the  realm  of  polities  ;  it  is  a 
socialistic  attempt  to  arrange  a  life  in  commu- 
nity, and  that  is  to  unite,  both  to  make  the  inter- 
nal unity  and  order  strong  and  powerful  externally, 

and  to  keep  them  so.      For  TpO,  from  TipOi    is 

'lerived  from  ;  "judging,"  as  still  attested  by  the 
Syrian  signification  :  "  to  advise,"  and  also  by  the 
I'act  that  the  kingly  power  in  Israel  arose  from 
that  of  the  judges  :  the  ruler  is  he  who  stands 
jver  the  opposing  parties,  over  the  strife,  he  who 

Dnites  ;  very  different  from  whom  is  ijCHO,  the 

tyrant,  pij;,  the  coming  to  power  by  the  right 

of  the  strongest.  Thus  kingly  power  is  from  the 
first  peculiar  to  heathenism  ;  and  because  the 
boundary  between  the  human  and  the  divine  is  to 
the  heathen  consciousness  a  fluctuating  one,  king- 
ship, especially  in  connection  with  the  idolatrous 
worship  thereof  which  grew  up  among  the  heathen 
nations,  comes  to  be  regarded  as  the  contrast 
to  the  theocratic  relations  of  the  monotheistic 
peo])le  of  Israel.  Accordingly,  when  the  people 
of  Jehovah  ask  a  king  such  as  all  the  nations 
have  (comp.  1  Sam.  viii.  20),  this  indicates  that 
the  theocratic  consciousness  is  darkened  and  weak- 
ened in  them  ;  and  thus  a  visible  king  appears 
necessary  to  them,  because  the  invisible  Kuler 
has,  as  it  were,  disappeared  from  their  view.  In 
times  of  religious  and  moral  insensibility,  inquiries 
are  always  directed  to  the  political  constitution  ; 
not  to  the  state  of  society,  but  to  the  civil  arrange- 
ments. And  when  Israel,  forgetting  the  divine 
national  prerogative  they  had  enjoyed  since  leav- 
ing Egypt,  placed  themselves  on  a  level  with  the 
heathen,  then  they  must  have  looked  on  them- 
selves with  eyes  like  those  of  the  heathen  ;  it 
could  not  but  occur  to  them,  that  in  comparison 
Kith  heathen  monarchy  they  were,  as  Ziegler 
says,  "  a  people  poorly  and  weakly  organized, 
visibly  only  republican,  and  therefore  easy  to  be 
overcome  by  the  heathen,  whose  power  was  con- 
centrated in  monarchy."  Thus  Israel's  disease 
in  desiring  a  monarchy  "  like  the  nations  "  was, 
that  they  had  become  infected  by  the  political 
mia,sma  of  the  polj-theistic  spirit  of  the  age.  For 
wliile  the  first  king  of  Israel,  Saul,  very  soon 
entereil  on  the  path  of  the  heathen,  the  monarchy 
which  is  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  Israel  first 
assumes  shape  with  David,  and  then  chiefly  in- 
ternally, and  with  Solomon,  and  then  almost 
entirely  ext«tnally.  This,  too,  explains  the  sig- 
Qificance  of  these  two  tj'pes  of  kings  for  the  Mes- 


sianic idea.  Ziegler  calls  David:  "the  king  among 
kings."  "  He  comprehended  thoroughly  the 
office  of  a  king  in  a  theocracy  ;  he  was  the  best 
mediator  between  the  people  and  Jehovah.  Be- 
cause he  was  the  servant  of  Jehovah,  he  was  also 
the  lawful  king.  Through  him  the  kingdom 
became  the  very  best  means  for  attaining  to  the 
divine  purposes."  Comp.  Doct.  Keflec.  14,  etc.  on 
ch.  xxxiv.,  and  Doct.  Keflec.  21  on  ch.  xxxvii. 
But  already  with  David — so  that  Solomon's  sink- 
ing down  from  the  greatest  external  kingly  glory 
into  the  surrounding  polytheism,  and  the  after- 
division  of  the  royal  power  through  its  being 
broken  into  two  kingdoms,  only  furnish  the  foil  to 
it — the  wider  and  higher  future  of  Israel  was 
founded  in  spirit,  namely,  as  this  future  should 
be  realized  in  the  Messiah.  According  to  the 
flesh,  the  Coming  Oneof  Israel  is  the  son  of  David ; 
according  to  the  spirit  of  Messianic  prophecy, 
David  is  the  historico-personal  basis,  its  personal 
foundation,  a  thoroughly  prophetic  personality ; 
as  Ziegler  says  :  "  Partly  inasmuch  as  he  is  mani- 
festly a  TvTo;  Tov  fi.i\Xovroi  in  many  phases  of  his 
character  and  life,  even  in  the  minute  particulars, 
—  that,  like  Christ,  he  began  his  official  career  in 
his  thirtieth  year,  and  that  he  went  weeping  over 
th^  Kedron,  and  ascended  the  Mount  of  Olives 
with  covered  head  ;  but  also  partly  because  in  his 
psalms  he  manifests  himself  a  prophet  in  the  nar- 
rower sense  of  the  word,  a  prophet  who  by  his 
psalms  really  adds  new  elements  of  revelation  to 
the  old,  his  prophecies  entering  into  the  most 
minute  details,  his  Son  is  the  Spirit  of  his  poetry. 
If  the  people  were  comprehended  in  Moses  as  the 
KifaXv  as  to  the  law,  we  may  say  of  David  that 
they  are  gathered  together  in  him  as  to  the  theo- 
cratic kingdom. "  Hence  these  are  far-seeing  divine 
thoughts,  and  bearing  special  reference  to  the 
Messianic  salvation  which  in  1  Sam.  viii.  Jehovah 
repeatedly  urged  upon  Samuel,  viz.  to  listen  to 
the  voice  of  the  people,  although  the  people  will 
not  at  all  listen  to  Samuel's  voice.  Not  that 
Israel  had,  as  Ziegler  supposes,  to  be  set  by  the 
monarchy  on  a  level  with  he  world  in  order  to 
l)e  preserved  in  the  world, — for  it  was  just  the 
monarchy  that  destroyed  its  national  existence, 
by  drawing  it  into  the  politics  of  the  great  world, 
— but  (and  this  is  the  sole  object  in  view  in  the 
law  regarding  the  king  in  Deut.  xvii. )  the  pos- 
sible conflict  with  Jehovah's  royal  dominion  over 
Israel  was  guarded  against  by  this,  that  in  the 
Israelitish  monarchy,  especially  as  represented  by 
David  personally  and  by  Solomon  regally,  Jeho- 
vah made  His  "Anointed"  for  eternity  assume 
a  preparatory  shape,  that  is,  filled  the  heathen- 
political  form  of  government,  which  might  be 
and  still  more  might  become  such  a  contrast  to 
the  true,  the  theocratic  Israel,  witli  that  which  is 
the  final  purpose  of  God's  dominion  over  Israel 
(just  as  already  to  the  patriarchs  kings  were  pro- 
mised as  their  descendants).  Accordingly  in 
Deuteronomy  also,  as  the  Israelitish  kingship 
rises  up  as  on  the  foundation  of  the  judgeship,  so, 
parallel  therewith,  and  in  connection  with  the 
priestly  office,  the  prophetic  oflUce  rises  up  as  a 
continuation  of  the  revelation  by  Moses  ('jb3  <"■ 

liD3,  Dent-  xviii.),  in  whom,  according  to  Peter, 

was  the  •mufji.x  Xfir-roii.  And  not  less  signifi- 
cantly does  "the  prince"  in  Ezekiel  sit  and  eat 
in  the  gate,  through  which  the  glory  of  Jehovah 
hod  entered,  and  which  it  has  Messiunically  sano. 


CHAP.  XL.— XLVl. 


4dJ 


lified.  With  him  Israel  appears  again  as  what  it 
was,  just  as  the  elders  of  Israel  asked  from  Samuel 
a  kim;  like  the  nations,  to  be  chief  representative 
of  IsPdel  according  to  its  tribal  constttution  ;  he 
who  can  be  styled  directly  N'K'Sn, '  will  be  so  in 

Messianic  consecration  and  sanctification,  so  that 
Christian  kingship  might  be  symbolized.  Umbreit 
observes :  "  Whereas  at  first  every  particular  tribe 
had  its  Nagi,  they  now  are  all  reunited  under  a 
single  one.  Thus  an  old  name,  and  yet  again  new 
in  its  signification."  From  this  Umbreit  infers  a 
prince  "clothed  with  great  splendour  (?),  like 
another  llelcliizedek,  who  may  combine  well  the 
rights  of  the  state  and  of  the  Church  in  one  spirit," 
etc.  etc.  Yet  surely  Havernick  is  right  in  finding 
indicated  here  the  "true  and  complete  harmony 
of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  oi'der  in  the  days  of 
the  Messiah."  "  Christ  has  no  vicar  ;  to  no  one 
but  Himself  shall  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  be- 
long ;  but  to  pious  princes  (to  princes  as  they 
ought  to  be),  to  lawful  magistrates  and  lords,  per- 
tains a  prerogative  over  the  faithful,  which  again 
is  a  duty  and  a  service  "  (Cocc. ).  Cornp.  what  is 
said  on  this  point  in  the  exposition  of  ch.  xlvi.  2. 
[See  also  Additional  Note  on  p.  417.] 

16.  In  regard  to  the  priests  of  Ezekiel's  temple, 
Hengstenberg  thinks  the  prophet  "wishes  to 
draw  away  the  view  from  the  dreary  present, — the 
priests  without  prospect  of  otfice,  the  ruins  of  the 
priesthood, — and,  on  the  contrary,  presents  to 
the  eye  priests  in  office  and  honour,  in  whom  the 
Mosaic  ordinances  are  again  in  full  exercise  and 
authority  ;  and  next  he  wishge  to  labour  for  the 
regeneration  of  the  priesthood."  It  is  only  sur- 
prising, when  in  accordance  with  Hengstenberg's 
general  view  of  our  chapters  the  fancy  is  worked 
on  here  too  by  ideas  of  Mosaic  priests,  that  the 
idea  of  the  high  priest  is  wanting,  that  this  most 
powerful  impression  is  disregarded.  But  as  re- 
gards the  removal  of  the  degradation  of  the  pre- 
exile  priesthood,  the  mention  of  Zadok  sets  forth 
too  prominently  for  this  end  just  the  age  of  David 
and  Solomon.  Ezekiel's  priests  certainly  are  Mo- 
saic priests,  but  the  Mosaic  priests  had  a  people  to 
represent  of  whom  it  is  said  in  Ex.  xix.  6  :  "  Ye 
shall  be  unto  Me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  an 
holy  nation"  (at  the  passover  the  whole  people 
acted  as  priests)  ;  so  that  it  is  certainly  Mosaic, 
although  according  to  the  inmost  idea  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  when  the  people  of  the  future  are  in 
Ezekiel  specially  represented  by  the  priests.  But 
it  is  quite  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  that,  in  order  duly 
to  set  forth  the  sanctification  of  the  people  by 
the  lofty  holiness  of  their  priests,  the  high  priest 
appears  in  certain  respects  absorbed  into  the 
priests,  and  these  are  represented  in  a  high- 
priestly  aspect.  As  the  people  are  dealt  with  in 
ch.  xliv.  6  sq.  for  the  bad  priests  set  to  keep  the 
charge  of  Jehovah's  holy  things  (ver.  8),  so  the 
exemplification  of  priestly  instruction  of  the 
people  given  in  ver.  23  is  that  of  the  true  priests' 
teaching  to  discern  the  diH'erence  between  the 
holy  and  the  profane,  the  unclean  and  the  clean  ; 

I  It  will  each  time  be  a  more  definite  person,  but  that 
does  not  determine  who  it  will  be:  only  tliis  perhajis  is  im- 
plied, that  each  nation  may  retain  what  is  natural  to  it, 
what  accords  with  its  special  chavacterand  hi-toric  develop, 
ment.  The  Bible  'ficrates  neither  a  church  constitution 
nor  a  state  constitution  ;  but  in  Ezekiei  there  is  symbolized 
what  in  every  constitution,  m  itself  human,  ouglit  to  he  the 
abiding,  the  higher:  the  humanly  highest  one  (j<^b'3n) 
Bits  and  eats  in  the  east  cate  of  the  Highest,  of  Jehovah. 


the  high-priestly  sanctity  of  the  priests  is  to  serre 
for  a  high-priestly  sanctification  of  the  people  * 
the  high-priestly  idea  is  to  become  a  national 
reality,  just  as  the  ajgregate  of  these  Old  Testa- 
ment letters  (for  whlWi  comp.  Zech.  vi. )  is  the 
fulfilling  word  of  the  "body  of  Christ"  as  the 
Church.  For  the  figure  of  Zidok,  the  tj'pical 
high  priest,  taken  from  the  very  specially  Mes- 
siifhically-typical  age  of  Da%-id  and  Solomon, 
corresponds  to  only  such  a  Messianic  prospect. 
Zadok's  sons  are  called  the  true  jiriests  of  the 
people,  just  as  the  true  Shepherd  of  the  people 
(ch.  xxxiv.  and  xxxvii. )  is  a  descendant  of  David. 
And  here  we  have  a  parallel  exactly  similar  to 
that  of  Jer.  xxxiii.,  where  the  continuance  of  the 
Levitical  priesthood  is  guaranteed  in  like  manner 
as  the  continuance  of  the  race  of  David,  and 
similarly  as  to  the  increase  of  both, — in  which 
respect  there  shall,  according  to  Isa.  Ixvi.,  be 
taken  of  the  Gentiles  for  priests  and  for  Levites  ; 
and  so  in  this  way  the  position  of  priests  among 
the  Gentiles,  promised  to  Israel  in  Isa.  Ixi.,  fulfils 
itself  as  a  universal  priestly  ytosition.  Haver- 
nick makes  a  "special"  blessing  for  the  priest- 
hood be  connected  with  the  "general  blessing 
of  the  theocracy,"  inasmuch  as  "  not  its  hitherto 
meagre  (?)  form,"  but  the  priestly  otfice,  "as  a 
faithful  expression  of  the  idea  inherent  in  it,  will 
be  established  in  perpetuity  ; "  and  he  compares 
Mai.  iii.  3;  "A  new  priesthood,  made  anew  by 
the  power  of  the  Lord,  arises  on  the  soil  of  the 
Old  Testament  priesthood  in  the  new  theocracy  ; " 
just  as  Ezekiel  s  main  concern  is  "the  priestly 
office  in  general,"  so  also  the  idea  "of  a  really 
spiritual  priesthood  "  comes  to  light  in  his  writ- 
ings, etc.  When  Hengstenberg  compares  Ps. 
xxiv.  for  the  reformation  of  the  priesthood,  we 
observe  that  the  "demands  on  His  people," 
spoken  of  there  "  from  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
of  glory,"  are  no  specially  priestly  demamls,  but 
are  addressed  to  the  whole  house  of  Israel  ;  antl 
the  same  is  really  the  case  with  Isa.  xl.,  which  he 
also  cites.  The  Messianic  references  of  the  priest- 
hood of  the  sons  of  Zadok,  whereby  (neither  by 
Zadok  personally,  nor  by  Samuel)  the  prophetic 
word  spoken  to  Eli  (1  Sam.  ii.  27  sq. )  is  fulfilled, 
is  not  only  maintained  by  the  Fathers,  but  also 
by  Keil  ; '  comp.  on  1  Sam.  ii.  35  sq.  The  Berle- 
burg  Bible  observes  :  "  .\3  in  the  person  of  Solo- 
mon the  Spirit  of  prophecy  pointed  to  the  true 
and  anointed  Solomon,  so  also  in  this  priest  it 
points  to  the  great  High  Priest,  Jesus  Christ.' 
Hengst.  remains  "quite  on  the  ordinary  priestly 
ground  ;  the  prospect  into  the  New  Testament 
relations  remains  completely  closed."  According 
to  him,  the  prophet  has  to  do  only  with  what 
is  "to  be  accomplished  after  brief  delay,"  etc. 
On  the  other  hand,  Umbreit  says  :  "The  priest- 
hood is  quite  in  accordance  with  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  house  of  God.  The  old  class  of 
mediators  between  Jehovah  and  His  people,  con- 
secrated by  descent,  has  disappeared,  and  we  no 
more  find  the  high  priest  than  we  find  the  ark  of 
the  covenant.  Instead  of  the  Levites,  who,  to- 
gether with  the  people,  have  to  bear  the  guilt  of 
the  profanation  of  the  covenant,  there  have  come 
now  only  the  inwardly  worthy,  the  sons  of  Zadok, 
who  should  fulfil  their  significant  name  by  main- 
•  "The  final  fulfilment  comes  with  Christ  and  His  king- 
dom ;  accordingly,  the  Lord's  Anointed,  before  whom  the 
approved  priest  shall  alway  walk,  is  not  Solomon,  ttut  David 
und  David's  Son,  wboBe  kingdom  shall  endtu'c  for  ever' 
(Kkili. 


W2 


EZEKIEL. 


taining  fidelity  in  this  ideal  sense  ;  and  the 
supreme  enhanced  law  of  the  new  priesthood  is 
the  maintaining  of  inward  purity  from  every  out- 
ward stain,  etc.  Their  outward  sui>port  is  the 
holy  gift  of  Jehovah,  so  that  they  can  say  with 
the  godly  man  in  Ps.  xvi. :  '  Jehovah  is  my  por- 
tion and  my  cup  ;  ray  lot  has  fallen  to  me  in 
pleasant  places '  (ver.  5  sq.)."  [Comp.  Additional 
Note  at  pp.  419,  420.] 

1".  The  temple  building,  with  its  sacred  archi- 
tecture on  the  basis  of  the  first  tabernacle,  as 
Solomon's  temple  most  richly  displays  it,  sym- 
bolizes essentially  the  .same  as  that  which  in  the 
priesthood  of  the  temple  of  Ezekiel's  vi.sion  is 
illustrated  liturgically  by  the  ministrations  in 
this  temple.  For  the  accomplished  dwelling  of 
the  Holy  One  in  Israel  proclaims  His  people  to 
be  a  sanctified,  and  therefore  a  holy  people. 
These  are  the  worshippers  that  the  Father  desires 
(John  iv. ),  a  kingdom  of  priests,  or  a  royal 
jiriesthnod  (1  Pet.  ii. ) ;  just  as  the  "prince,"  re- 
presenting the  people  civilly  and  politically,  fulfils 
his  idea  in  King- Messiah  ;  while  the  priests,  the 
"sons  of  Zadok, "  represent  them  ecclesiastically 
and  spiritually.  This  is  the  purpose  and  consti- 
tution of  Israel,  the  people  of  God.  What  the 
temple  is  "in  spirit,"  the  representation  by  the 
priesthood  of  the  new  temple  gives  "in  truth," 
that  is,  in  faithfulness  and  tnieness  of  life.  In 
the  former,  everything  is  most  holy  ;  in  the  latter, 
all  are  high-priestly.  But  in  Christ  the  idea  to 
be  represented  is  realized  in  so  much  the  more 
priestly  a  manner,  because  we  have  here  the  com- 
munity of  the  Lord,  the  «ti/i/««o>,  where,  in  the 
case  of  Israel,  was  the  congregation  of  the  people, 

the  rnj?.  t'>^    irip.    We  might,  moreover,  find 

some  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  omissions,  and 
also  the  occasional  so  pregnant  additions  and 
stricter  definitions  taken  from  the  idea  of  the 
law,  in  the  ordinances  regarding  the  jjriesthood, 
with  what  Hengst.  maintains,  namely,  that 
the  aim  is,  "  by  a  few  well-chosen  strokes,  to 
bring  out  the  thought  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Mosaic  priesthood  in  its  customs  and  its  rights," 
while  it  has  been  .so  easy  for  the  exposition  (which 
comp.)  to  show  the  prominence  given  throughout 
to  the  priestliness  and  sanctity  of  the  priests' 
office  and  the  priestly  order  with  reference  to  the 
people  to  be  represented.  As,  moreover,  the 
prince  is,  in  ch.  xliv. ,  advanced  to  a  privileged 
relation  to  the  sanctuary  (comp.  ch.  xlv.  13  sq.), 
DO   along   with   teaching,  instruction,  especially 

in   holiness    (^fp  C'lp  pa)    and    sanctification 

(nint:!'  NOB'pa!!,  ch.  xUv.   23),  the  settlement 

of  disputes  by  the  judgment  of  God,  the  esta- 
blishing of  righteousness  (as  is  perhaps  indicated 
in  the  name  "Zadok"),  is  specified  in  ver.  24 
among  the  official  duties  of  the  priests.  The 
prince  eats  in  the  east  gate  in  the  enjoyment 
of  peace ;  the  priests  have  always  to  restore 
peace. 

18.  As,  on  the  one  hand,  the  burnt-offering  is 
tlie  predominant  note  in  this  temple-system  of 
the  future,  so,  on  the  other,  in  ch.  xlv.  "  obla- 
tion "  is  said  in  reference  to  the  whole  land.  It 
is  the  same  idea  of  devotion  to  Jehovah  which  is 
expressed  by  both, — the  national  life  consecrated 
to  the  Lord  in  fellow.ship  with  Him  (comp.  the 
sacrificial  feasts,  in  the  east  gate,  of  the  prince 


of  this  people),  Israel's  state  of  grace.  The  dis- 
quisition on  the  oblation  of  holiness,  etc.,  preli- 
minary to  ch.  xlvii.  and  xlviii.,  and  for  wliich  ch. 
.xliv.  28  sq.  furnishes  the  occasion,  is  significant 
from  the  very  fact  of  being  thus  occasioned.  For 
where  priests  and  LevitcS  are  taken  account  of 
expressly  according  to  their  ministry  in  relation 
to  Jehovah  (ch.  xlv.),  there  the  whole  house  of 
Israel  (ver.  6),  and  the  prince  in  particular,  with 
their  portions  of  land,  appear  in  the  liglit  ol 
sacred  property  belonging  to  Jeho'ah,  .and  also  ai 
His  servants,  who,  while  His  more  peculiar  ser- 
vants, the  priests,  are  to  see  to  holiness  and  sanc- 
tification, have  to  endeavour  after  judgment  and 
righteousness.  In  tliis  way  the  new  nationality 
dedicated  to  the  Lord  (chiefly  hy  the  burnt- 
offering,  and  symbolized  by  the  "  oblation  ")  has 
to  exhibit  itself  in  civil,  social,  and  secular  life. 
It  is  actually  a  new  nationality  in  relation  to 
land  and  people  ;  but,  considered  by  itself,  and 
apart  from  ch.  .xliv.  28  sq.,  it  appears  to  meat 
the  division  of  the  land,  and  especially  thi 
"oblation."  Spring  has  come,  )'ea,  the  fields 
are  now  already  white  for  the  harvest  (John  iv. ). 
The  "oblation  of  holiness"  announces  itself  as 
the  commencement  of  the  future  harvest.  Ewald  : 
"The  holy  portion,  which  is  previously  taken 
from  the  rest  of  the  land  ( like  the  tithes  from  tho 
fruits  of  the  field),  and  set  apart  for  its  own  spe- 
cial purpose,  is  here  very  exjiressively  mentioned 
in  the  outset,  and  with  manifest  reference  to  the 
now  completed  description  of  the  temple  (ver.  2 ; 
comp.  ch.  xlii.  20)  ;  while  the  prophet  evidently 
hastens  more  quickly  over  the  portions  connected 
therewith  of  the  common  Levites  and  the  city  of 
Jerusalem,  in  order  to  come  to  the  portion  and 
duties  of  the  prince,"  etc. 

19.  Havemick  says  on  ch.  xlv.:  "After  the 
description  of  a  so  newly  reviving  order  of  things 
in  church  matters,  it  appears  as  a  matter  of  course 
that  the  land  itself  must  be  treated  as  a  new  land, 
and  stand  in  need  of  a  new  special  division.  This 
division  stands  in  a  converse  relation  to  that 
under  Joshua.  While  at  that  time  the  people 
before  all,  each  particular  tribe,  receive  their  por- 
tion, and  not  until  afterwards  was  a  fixed  seat  in 
the  land  assigned  to  Jehovah,  here  Jehovah  first 
of  all  receives  a  holy  gift,  wirich  is  presented  to 
Him.  A  portion  of  land  is  separated  for  the  sanc- 
tuary and  the  priests,  and  one  of  equal  size  for  the 
Levites.  The  new  temple  is  moreover  kept  sepa- 
rate by  a  kind  of  suburb,  in  order  to  point  out  its 
special  holiness." 

20.  The  design  of  the  Mosaic  regulation,  ac- 
cording to  which  priests  and  Levites,  especially 
the  latter,  were  to  dwell  dispersed  among  all  the 
tribes,  whereby  the  curse  fonnerly  uttered  with 
respect  to  Levi  by  Jacob  in  his  blessing  of  the 
patriarchs  (Gen.  xlix. )  became  fulfilled  as  a  bless- 
ing for  Levi  and  for  all  Israel,  was  to  settle  the 
tribe  among  Israel  in  accordance  with  its  calling. 
Bahr  says :  "  If  the  Levites  were  to  preserve  the  law 
and  word  of  God,  and  thereby  spread  religious  know- 
ledge, promote  religious  life,  pronounce  judicial 
decisions  in  accordance  therewith,  etc.,  then  it  was 
not  only  suitable,  but  necessary,  that  they  should 
not  all  dwell  in  one  place,  in  one  district.  Their 
dwelling  dispersed  reminded  them  to  spread  the 
light  of  the  fear  of  God  and  piety  among  the  whole 
people,  to  give  preference  to  no  tribe,  and  tc 
neglect  none."  On  this  we  flbserve,  that  it  is 
certairly  not  to  oe  looked  on  as  an  abolition  o( 


CHAP.  XL— XLVI. 


459 


the  Mosaic  ordinance  that  in  Ezekiel  priests  and 
l,evites  are  all  concentrated  in  one  place, — the 
negation  of  the  fonuer  would  necessarily  have  to  be 
formally  announced, — but  the  fulfilment  simply 
comes  in  placeof  the  formerarranfjement,  inasmuch 
as  the  end  proposed  by  that  arrangement  and  regu- 
lation is  present  with  ajid  in  the  future  Church. 
Hengst.  thinks  the  relation  of  the  priests  and 
Levites  to  the  sanctuaiy  is  meant  to  be  made 
cle;ir  by  their  concentration  in  its  neighbourhood. 
But  already  before  this  the  cities  of  the  priests 
at  least  were  to  be  found  in  those  tribal  districts 
which  lay  nearest  to  the  place  of  worship.  The 
idea  from  which  the  grouping  of  the  priests  and 
Levites  around  the  sanctuary  has  to  be  under- 
stood is  rather  what  Jeremiah  predicts  :  that  they 
shall  no  more  teach  every  man  his  brother,  etc., 
that  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  they  all  shall 
know  Jehovah  (ch.  x.xxi.  34).  The  aim  of  divid- 
ing Levi  among  all  the  tribes,  viz.  to  care  for, 
preserve,  and  spread  abroad  everywhere  the  law 
and  the  testimony,  is  thus  attained.  The  people 
of  the  future  will  be  such  that  their  liturgical 
representation  and  the  dwelling  of  their  priests 
and  Levites  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  temple 
suffice  ;  and  besides,  this  significantly  brings  out 
the  thought  that  Levi,  this  election  from  the  elect 
people,  is  a  "  people  of  God  in  the  people  of  God" 
(  Bahr).  For,  what  was  designed  by  the  appointed 
cities,  in  which  we  already  see  them  collected  while 
they  were  dispersed  among  all  the  tribes,  is  fully 
accomplished  in  the  land  of  the  priests  and  the 
Levites  (ch.  x\v. )  ;  and  if  Bahr's  interpretation 
of  the  number  of  the  48  cities  of  the  priests  and 
Levites  as  referring  to  the  sanctuary  {Symb.  d. 
mos.  Kult.  ii.  p.  51)  needed  confirmation,  it 
might  have  it  here,  where  what  this  interpreta- 
tion makes  of  Levi's  dwelling  in  the  midst  of  Israel 
is  expressly  stated  of  the  dwelling-place  of  the 
priestly  Levites:  "a  holy  place  for  the  sanctu- 
ary" (ver.  4).  Accordingly  it  is  with  this  diversity 
as  respects  the  Mosaic  law,  which  Philippson  calls 
"the  real"  diversity,  exactly  as  Christ  says  in 
Matt.  V. ;  "I  am  come  not  to  destioy  (xoirdj.uyai), 
but  to  fulfil,"  and  that :  "  not  one  jot  or  one  tittle 
shall  pass  from  the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled. " 

21.  The  sanctuary,  the  land  of  the  priests  and 
Levites,  and  the  prince's  portion,  form  almost  the 
centre  of  the  land.  The  city  does  not  include 
the  sanctuary,  but  is  situated  beside  it,  also  in 
the  midst  of  the  land.  **No  jealousy  about  the 
possession  of  them  can  any  longer  separate  the 
tribes"  (Hiv,).  "  This  whole  district,"  says  Bun- 
sen,  "is  not  to  lie  in  the  territory  of  a  single  trilie, 
which  might  thereby  appear  privileged,  but,  as 
accords  with  its  sanctity,  is  separated  from  the 
tribal  territories.  In  other  words,  the  union - 
authority  of  the  confederacy  is  to  have  a  special 
seat  for  manifesting  its  activity.  No  wiser 
political  idea  could  be  devised.  Hence  Jeru- 
salem still  remains  Jerusalem,  but  it  no  longer 
belongs  to  Benjamin."  The  central  sanctuary 
is  that  which  unifies  also  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
just  as  the  priesthood,  royalty,  and  public  property 
grouped  around  it  give  local  expression  to  the 
unity  and  oneness  of  the  whole.  Instead  of  the 
"  violence -inflicting  and  heaven -assailing  tower 
of  Babel  "  (NetelerI,  "  the  tabernacle  of  Shem  " 
has  become  "a  divine  sanctuary,"  which  then  no 
longer  S3Tnbolizes  solely  Jehovah's  dwelling  in 
Israel,  but  is  at  the  same  time  a  type  for  man- 
kind in  general  of  His  tabernacle  with  men  (Kev. 


xxi.  3),  and  of  their  being  united  to  and  undet 
Him.  Comp.the  Doct.  Reflec.  onch.  xlvii.,  xlviii. 
22.  Chiliasm — and  this  is  conceivable  of  tin 
Jewish  Chiliasm,  whereas  such  a  final  JudaisTi 
cannot  but  prove  injurious  to  modern  Christian 
Chiliasm  (Gal.  iii.  3)  —  forgets,  while  studying 
these  closing  chapters  of  our  prophet,  the  begin- 
ning of  his  prophecy,  the  cosmic  character  of  ch. 
i.,  which  relates  to  creation  generally,  and  on  which 
the  whole  book  is  based.  But  indeed  if  -roit 
'l^r"i>-  in  Rom.  xi.  is  the  people,  i.e.  Israel  after 
the  flesh,  then  it  is  only  logically  consistent  to 
interpret  the  requickening  in  ch.  xxx\'ii.  as  a 
bodily  resurrection  of  all  dead  Jews.  Those  who 
are  raised  become  by  this  fact,  or  as  at  one  stroke, 
converted  to  Christ ;  those  who  are  alive  are 
Christians  already,  or  will  become  so  in  conse- 
quence of  this  ;  and  this  whole  Israel  returns  to 
Palestine,  and  forms  in  a  transformed  state,  as 
it  is  already  marked  out  for  being  by  this  awaken- 
ing, the  focus  of  the  "millennial  kingdom"  for 
fresh  salvation  to  all  nations.  It  is  illogical  to 
wish  to  pick  out  one  piece  here,  and  to  under- 
stand another  merely  spiritually  ;  but  he  who 
here  says  A  must  also  say  B.  Whether  the  con- 
verted Jews  are  to  live  in  their  own  land,  "  under 
kings  of  the  house  of  David,  as  a  people  who  are 
to  be  preserved  and  finally  also  converted,"  as 
Kliefoth  allows  to  be  the  doctrine  of  Scripture,  or 
whether  King  David  will  then  return  and  rule 
over  Israel  in  glory,  is  rather  an  antiquarian  than 
a  theological  question.  Scripture  teaches  none  of 
these  fancies  ;  nor  does  it  speak  of  a  kingviom  of 
glory  in  the  earthly  Jerusalem,  in  which  the 
Gentile  Church  is  to  be  joined  to  Israel  under  the 
dominion  of  the  then  reappeared  Christ-Messiah 
(as  Baumgarten).  According  to  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  it  has  been  the 
destination  of  Israel,  as  the  people  separated  from 
all  nations  from  the  time  of  their  first  fathers,  to 
be  a  blessing  to  mankind.  And  the  more  its 
national  theocracy  expanded  itself  to  univereal 
Christocracy,  which  comprehended  also  the  Gen- 
tiles under  the  blessing  of  the  Messiah,  the  more 
evidently  there  becomes  exhibited  in  Israel,  with 
its  ecclesiastical  and  political  forms,  the  preforma- 
tion of  an  Israel  which  wholly  is  what  Israel 
exhibits  only  in  type, — a  people  of  God  that  com- 
prehends the  redeemed,  the  saints  of  all  mankind ; 
in  which  accordingly,  as  to  its  worship,  and  as  to 
its  nationality  in  general,  traced  back  to  its 
original  idea,  and  also  viewed  with  respect  to  its 
future  realization,  the  whole  and  (what  is  specially 
emphasized)  every  part  always  exhibits  holiness 
and  sanctification,  the  service  of  the  holy  God 
in  spirit  and  in  truth  (Ps.  xxii.  28  [27]  sq.,  xlvii. 
10  [9],  cii.  16  [15]  sq.  ;  Isa.  xxvi.  2,  li.,  Ix.; 
Luke  i.  17  ;  Rom.  ix.  24  sq.;  2  Cor.  vi.  16  ;  Tit. 
ii.  14  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  5  sq.,  9,  10,  etc.).  Nation  and 
nationality  are  historical  and  hence  perishable 
colourings  of  the  idea  of  mankind,  which  have 
entirely  faded  since  the  eternal  idea  of  Israel  has 
been  fulfilled  in  Christ,  in  whom  there  is  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek  (Gal.  iii. ),  but  man,  the  new  man 
(Eph.  ii. )  iv  GtKOLiiffvtti  Kcti  ir/irtiri  Tn;  ai,nfii'zs. 
What  could  be  fulfilled  according  to  the  letter — 
which,  however,  is  the  expression  borne  by  the 
spirit  of  fulfilment— has  been  fulfilled  in  the 
people  of  Israel  by  their  rising  and  revival  from 
the  graves  of  the  exile,  by  their  return  thence- 
forth to  Canaan  under  Judah  as  "Jews,"  by  the 
period  of  the  Maccabees,  certainly  in  historical 


i54 


EZEKIEL. 


preluile  only  to  the  ideal,  the  entire,  true  fulfil- 
ment of  the  spirit-letter  in  the  kingdom  of  God 
Etirough  Christ ;  according  to  which  fulfilment  the 
elect  people  are  the  people  of  the  elect  from  all 
mankind,  and  the  Jewish  people  now  neither 
exist  as  a  people,  nor  have  a  future  such  as  Klie- 
foth  would  assign  to  them,  namely,  to  be  "holy 
in  the  same  way  that  every  Christianized  nation  (!) 
now  is,"  for  l^fiairi  st'  avrou;  h  opyn  ii;  t(Xo; 
(1  Thess.  ii.  16).  For  the  Church  of  God  in 
Christ,  so  far  as  it  belongs  to  this  world,  the 
i-epresentation  of  its  spiritual  life  in  a  service  of 
atoning  sacrifices  and  cleansings,  as  here  in  Eze- 
kiel,  can  be  no  antithesis  ;  for  still,  according  to 
Heb.  xii. ,  the  EVTipunaTo;  u.fjt.a.^~ta  has  to  be  laid 
aside,  and  (James  iii.  2)  voXXa.  -rratofiiv  a^avn; 
(comp.  Ezek.  xlv.  20).  But  to  Ezekiel  no  other 
representation  of  the  future  could  be  given  than 
in  types  of  the  sacred  past  of  Israel — as  of  its  law, 
so  of  the  Davidic  royalty  and  of  Canaan  as  the 
land  of  promise.  "  But  however  prominent," 
observes  Keil,  "is  the  Old  Testament  clothing  of 
the  Messianic  prophecy  in  Ezekiel,  yet  even  in 
this  guise  lineaments  are  found  by  which  we 
i-ecognise  that  the  Israelitish-theocratic  guise  is 
only  the  drajjery  in  which  is  concealed  the  New 
Testament  form  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  "  and  he 
veiy  justly  refers  to  1  Pet.  i.  10  sq.,  while  he 
far;  1:  er  says  :  ' '  Even  although  the  prophets,  in 
their  uninspiied  meditations  on  what  they  had 
prophesied  as  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  may 
not  have  known  the  tj^ical  signification  of  their 
own  utterances,  yet  we  who  live  in  the  times  of 
fulfilment,  and  know  not  only  the  beginning  in 
the  appearing  of  our  Lord,  etc. ,  but  a  considerable 
course  of  the  fulfilment  too  in  the  eighteen  hun- 
dred years'  spread  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on 
earth,  have  not  so  much  to  inquire  after  what  the 
Old  Testament  prophets  thought  in  their  search- 
ing into  the  prophecies  with  which  they  were  in- 
spired by  the  Holy  Ghost, — if  these  thoughts  of 
theirs  could  be  in  any  way  ascertained, — but  we 
have  to  inquire,  in  the  light  of  the  present  mea- 
sure of  fulfilment  (comp.  2  Pet.  i.  19),  what  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  which  enabled  the  prophets  to 
behold  and  prophesy  the  future  of  His  kingdom 
in  figures  of  the  Old  Testament  kingdom  of 
God,  has  announced  and  revealed  to  us  by  these 
figures."  Apart  from  the  occasional  references  of 
Ezekiel's  representation  to  paradise,  to  the  first 
creation  (comp.  on  ch.  xx.xvi.  35,  xvi.  53),  to 
which  there  is  a  return  in  Christ  through  God's 
new  creation,  the  whole  handling  of  the  Mosaic 
law  in  Ezekiel,  of  its  forms  of  worship  as  hiero- 
glyphs of  the  future  to  be  prophesied  of  the  true 
Israel,  can  be  understood  only  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  transmutation  of  the  law  into  its  fulfil- 
ment. 

HOMILETIC  HINTS 

On  Ch.  xl. 

Ver.  1  sq.  Jerome,  despairing  of  the  possibi- 
lity, and  especially  of  his  own  ability,  to  expound 
these  chapters  of  Ezekiel,  wished  to  break  off  and 
finish  his  commentary  here.  Only  the  urgency 
and  importunity  of  friends  urged  him  to  con- 
tinue ;  but  every  instant  he  acknowledges  his  in- 
ability, etc. — "  The  commencement  and  close, 
the  cherubim  and  the  new  temple,  are  what 
every  one  first  thinks  of  when  Ezekiel's  name  is 
mentioned"  (Hengst.). — The  vision  of  the 
temple,  as  regards  the  date  given,   a  trilbgy  of 


thoughts  ;  from  judgment  to  mercy,  from  prison 
to  freedom,  from  the  world  to  Christ  and  into  tha 
community  of  God. — "  Under  the  material  i»ro- 
mises  of  God  are  concealed  spiritual  ones  ;  take 
that  to  heart  in  these  chapters  too,  therefore, 
mrsum  corda"  (Staiick). — "God  raises  up  His" 
own  in  their  misery  by  _His  comfort,  and  keeps 
them  through  the  hope  of  things  to  come  in  faith 
and  patience.  When  there  is  no  prospect  of  de- 
liverance, when  no  help,  no  refuge  appears,  then 
the  Lord  is  present  with  His  comfort"  (Hafen- 
iiEFFEK).  — "  When  it  seems  that  all  will  be  over 
with  the  Church  of  God,  then  God  thinks  of  its 
maintenance  and  amelioration  "  (Starke). — "To 
human  eyes  Canaan  was  lost  for  Israel,  to  human 
eyes  Jerusalem  lay  in  the  dust ;  but  the  prophet 
sees  it  again  far  more  glorious.  Such  seeing 
again  is,  however,  truly  given  by  God  in  the 
Spirit.  Land  and  city  and  temple  had  been  lost 
through  the  sins  of  the  people  ;  yet  Israel  must 
remain  and  fulfil  its  eternal  purpose  for  the  glory 
of  God.  God  makes  it  even  already  in  this  pro- 
phet and  in  all  like-minded  bloom  forth  only  the 
more  gloriously,  so  that  neither  the  sins  of  the 
people  nor  the  power  of  its  enemies  can  put  an 
end  to  Israel.  A  fairer  and  loftier  Jerusalem  and 
temple  must  be  still  in  store  for  Israel,  which 
the  prophet  represents  entirely  by  figures  taken 
from  the  old  land,  the  old  roj'al  seat,  and  the 
old  temple.  Yet  he  does  not  merely  make  the 
old  be  renewed  ;  everything  becomes  quite  dif- 
ferent, in  order  to  indicate  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  will,  in  its  completion,  present  a  quite 
different  figure"  (Diedkich). — "The  word  of 
God,  too,  counts  the  years  and  months  and 
days  of  our  distress,  to  make  us  understand  that 
it  is  not  unknown  to  God  how  long  we  have 
borne  the  yoke  of  the  cross  and  the  oppression  ol 
tyrants  "  (Stakck). — "Ezekiel  was  already  fiv( 
and  twenty  years  in  a  foreign  land.  We  must  be 
prepared  and  purified  in  many  ways  by  God's 
Spirit  before  we  can  rightly  understand  the  con- 
solations of  God  ;  and  one  grows  in  God  wheE 
one  learns,  under  present  sufferings,  to  see  mor« 
and  more  of  the  eternal  comfort "  (Diedrich).  — 
"  It  is  manifest  that  this  vision  ought  to  have 
comforted  the  Israelites, — that  they  who  neithei 
had  nor  saw  a  temple  were  meanwhile  to  busy 
themselves  with  considering  this  temple,  and  tc 
study  what  such  a  vision  might  denote  "  (Cocc.) 
— "In  the  selfsame  day  the  hand  of  Jehovah 
was  upon  me  :  in  this  is  verified  anew  the  name 
of  the  prophet.  God  is  strong  ;  for  in  Him  as  in 
all  others  flesh  and  blood  cry  out  :  Gone  is  gone, 
lost  is  lost"  (Hengst.). 

Ver.  2.  "Give  me  eyes  to  see  the  glorious 
grace  of  Thy  kingdom  ;  give  me  strength  to 
go  even  into  the  sanctuary!"  (Lampe.) — "The 
prophet's  visions  are  not  deceptive  dreams,  but 
true,  divine  inspirations,  Jer.  xxvi.  12"  (Cr.).— 
"The  land  of  Israel  is  the  hieroglyph  of  the  in- 
heritance which  God  will  give  to  His  people  from 
the  whole  world,  which  in  contrast  thereto  is 
called  the  sea  or  the  wilderness  "  (Cocc.).- — "The 
Church  of  God  is  the  city  set  upon  a  hill.  Matt. 
v.  14"(TiJB.  Bib.). — How  different  was  it  in 
Matt,  iv.,  when  the  tempter  took  Jesus  to  an  ex- 
ceeding high  mountain,  and  showed  Him  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them  ! — 
"Through  Christ  we  come  even  here  in  thn 
kingdom  of  grace  to  the  mount  of  God,  to  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  but  the  tnie  e  jtrancn  stil! 


CHAP.  XL. 


455 


awaits  us  in  the  kingdom  of  glory,  Heb.  xii.  22  " 
(Starke). — la  the  world,  and  yet  high  above  the 
world  ;  yea,  the  kingdom  of  the  Anointed  One  is 
not  of  this  world,  and  our  citizenship  is  in 
heaven  (Phil.  iii.  20)  ;  and  they  who  live  by  faith 
of  the  Son  of  God  seek  the  things  that  are  above 
(Col.  iii.).  The  very  high  mountain  points  to 
the  highest  height. — On  Mount  Zion  stands  (Rev. 
xiv. )  the  Lamb,  with  His  hundred  and  forty  and 
four  thousand. — "  The  high  mountain  is  Christ, 
on  whom  the  Church  is  founded"  (Gregokt). — 
"The  very  high  mountain  is  Mount  Zion  ;  uot, 
however,  in  its  present  form,  the  state  of  humi- 
liation, but  in  glorious  e.xaltation.  The  high 
place  already  existed  in  the  days  before  the  de- 
struction of  the  temple,  Ps.  xlviii.  3  [2],  Ixviii.  17 
[16].  It  now  returns.  The  new  exaltation  took 
its  beginning  in  the  return  from  the  exile,  and 
found  its  completion  in  the  coming  of  Christ 
(ch.  xvii.  22,  23)"  (Hengst.). — This  is  indeed  a 
place  to  sit  down  in  and  meditate.  Jerasalem  in 
the  Old  Covenant,  the  Jerusalem  which  is  the 
Christian  Church,  and  the  Jerusalem  above, — 
what  a  theme  for  contemplation  throughout  time 
and  eternity  ! — The  repose  in  the  contemplation 
of  human  and  divine  things. — Jerusalem  a  Sab- 
batic place  in  the  working  days  of  the  world's 
history. — Ver.  3.  "Christ  is  indeed  the  foundation 
and  corner-stone  of  His  Church  ;  but  He  is  also 
the  Builder,  who  has  laid  the  foundation  and 
brings  the  building  erected  thereon  always  more 
and  more  to  perfection.  Matt.  xvi.  18  "  (Stakke). 
^"  The  brass  signifies  holiness  and  purity,  also 
life  and  permanent  strength"  (Cocc. ). — "He 
gives  the  holy  and  eternal  temple,  in  which  will 
be  imchangeable  repose"  (CEcolampadius). — 
"  He  is  the  strong  and  invincible  Hero"  (Stabck). 
— "The  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  too,  was 
brazen  ;  and  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  for  ever"  (Luthek). — "In  the  Church 
everything  must  be  ordered  and  judged  by  the 
rule  of  the  divine  word.  Acts  xvii.  11  "  (Starke). 
—The  harmony  of  the  kingdom  of  God. — "In 
the  Church  everything  should  be  done  decently 
and  in  order  (1  Cor.  xiv.  40)  ;  in  it  there  is  to 
be  no  confused  teaching  or  dissolute  life" 
(Starck). — "Let  every  man  examine  himself  by 
this  measuring-rod,  how  far  he  has  advanced " 
(Gregory). — "  Here  applies  what  Plato  wrote  on 
his  school  :  Let  no  one  enter  who  is  ignorant  of 
geometry"  (Hafenreffer). — "Every  believer 
ought  to  measure  the  temple  of  God  and  its 
magnitude,  towers  and  palaces,  and  distinguish 
it  from  that  which  is  not  God's  house,  Ps.  xlviii. 
13,  14  [12,  13]"  (Coco.).— "Elsewhere  also 
Christ  stands  at  the  door  and  calls,  invites  in, 
shows  the  way,  and  opens  the  entrance  to  the 
temple  and  into  the  inner  sanctuary "  (Berl. 
Bib.). 

Ver.  4.  "Christ  by  His  Spirit  speaks  with  us 
as  man  with  man  "  (Cocc). — "  There  has  been  a 
difference  of  opinion  among  teachers  regarding 
the  signification  of  this  temple,  altar,  city,  and 
territory.  But  the  opinion  to  be  rejected  above 
all  is  that  of  the  Jews  and  men  like  them,  who 
think  that  it  is  to  be  the  third  temple,  which 
must  be  built  by  their  coming  Messiah,  and  in 
their  vain  and  foolish  hope  boast  much  of  its 
great  glory,  and  do  not  see,  blinded  and  dull 
people  that  they  are,  that  the  text  will  not  bear 
such  dreams  as  theirs.  Therefore  this  building 
of  Ezekiel's  is  not  to  be  understood  of  a  new 


material  building,  but,  like  the  chariot  at  thi 
beginning,  and  also  the  builTling  at  the  end,  U 
nothing  else  than  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  the 
holy  Church  of  Christendom  here  on  earth  even 
to  the  last  day.  But  how  all  the  parts  are  to  be 
properly  interpreted  and  placed,  that  we  will 
defer  until  that  life  in  which  we  shall  see  the 
whole  building  prepared  and  ready.  Now,  wliiia 
it  is  still  in  process  of  building,  and  much  stone 
and  wood  belonging  thereto  are  not  yet  born,  not 
to  speak  of  their  being  squared,  we  cannot  see  it 
all  ;  it  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that  it  is  God's 
house  and  His  own  building  wherein  we  all  are  " 
(Luther). — The  thing  is  to  see  and  hear  exactly 
and  lay  to  heart  what  serves  for  our  peace  ;  and 
this  Israel  has  not  done  (Luke  xix.  42).  —  "But 
all  Israel  must  know  its  eternal  calling  ;  and  if 
God  gives  special  revelation  to  particular  pro- 
phets, that  revelation  must  accrue  to  the  good  of 
all"  (Diedrich). — Although  it  is  a  mystery,  it 
ought  not  to  remaiit  a  mystery. — But  what  Israel 
was  contemplated  in  this  ?  Certainly  not  that 
which  is  called  Israel  after  the  flesh,  but  the 
spiritual,  true  Israel.  The  former  built  not  after 
the  pattern  ;  the  latter  still  continues  to  b\iild 
itself  in  this  temple. 

Ver.  5.  "To  learn  to  understand  the  arrange- 
ment, the  holy  building,  begin  with  the  most 
distant  things.  We  nmst  not  despise  even  those 
who  stand  employed  at  the  threshold.  The  will, 
not  the  ability,  is  pleasing  to  God.  Beware, 
therefore,  of  despising  those  who  are  still  en- 
gaged in  laying  the  foundations,  and  give  only 
distant  hope  of  life,"  etc.  ((Ecol.) — "The 
boundary  of  the  wall  had  a  twofold  signification. 
To  the  community  it  was  a  warning  not  to  ap- 
proach the  sanctuary  with  unrenewed  hearts  (Ps. 
XV. ).  With  respect  to  God,  it  was  a  pledge  that 
He  would  eventually  separate  His  Church  from 
the  world.  Because  the  people  of  God  had 
neglected  the  admonition  cont^iined  iu  the  bound- 
ary, the  boundary  was  as  a  righteous  punish- 
ment destroyed  also  in  the  latter  respect.  Dese- 
cration as  punishment  followed  desecration  as 
guilt.  In  the  broken-down  wall  of  the  smitten 
city  was  typified  the  abandoning  of  the  people  of 
Goil  to  the  world.  That  this  relation  will  in  tho 
future  take  another  shape,  that  God  will  again 
raise  up  His  reformed  people  to  be  an  inde- 
pendent power,  is  typified  by  the  erection  of  the 
new  wall,  which  is  in  this  respect  an  embodiment 
of  God's  protection  and  grace,  that  are  to  be  im- 
parted to  the  covenant-people  renewed  in  spirit ' 
(Hengst.). — "The  Church  has  a  triple  wall: 
God  as  protection,  the  angels  as  guardians,  and 
believers,  in  other  words  their  prayers "  (X 
Lapide). — "God  has  indeed  broken  down  by 
the  death  of  Christ  the  wall  of  separation  which 
was  in  the  Old  Testament  between  Jew  and 
(Jentile,  yet  He  makes  in  the  New  Testament 
an  invariable  distinction  between  believers  and 
unbelievers,  Eph.  ii.  14"  (Starke).  — "  If  even 
among  men  the  king's  measure  is  larger  than  the 
ordinary  one,  not  so  much  because  kings  require 
a  more  abundant  measure,  as  because  kin^ 
should  replenish  their  subjects  with  all  munifi- 
cence, why  should  not  God's  measure  overflow 
with  grace,  truth,  and  power?"  (Cocc.) — The 
larger  measure  of  the  sanctuary  :  (1)  from  the  Icvo 
wherewith  God  loves  us  ;  (2)  according  to  the 
love  wherewith  we  ought  in  return  to  love  God 
in  the  brethren. — "One  should  be  more  liberai 


456 


EZEKIEL. 


for  the  adTanceraent  of  God's  service  than  for 
other  and  worldly  things,  Gal.  vi.  9"  (0.). — "The 
breadth  of  the  Church  points  to  love,  for  nothing 
is  broader  ;  the  height  embraces  the  contempla- 
tion and  knowledge,  which  alway  ascend  higher  " 
(Gregory). 

Ver.  6.  "How  beautifully  is  everything  mea- 
sured and  arranged  in  the  community  of  the 
Lord  by  the  eternal  counsel  of  God  !  This  is 
done  by  the  wisdom  of  the  great  Founder  and 
Master-builder  (Eph.  iii.  10,  11,  iv.  12) ;  which 
prepares  by  the  measuring-rod  of  the  gospel  (Gal. 
vi.  16  ;  Phil.  iii.  16)  living  stones  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  Church,  that  it  may  become  a  habita- 
tion of  God  in  the  Spirit  (1  Pet.  ii.  5) "  (Tub. 
Bib.). — "When  believers  enter,  they  have  (1)  a 
Guide  with  them  into  all  truth  ;  (2)  without 
Him  they  can  do  nothing  ;  (3)  progress  is  made 
toward  full  knowledge  of  God  and  Christ,"  etc. 
(Cocc.) — "We  ought  to  increase  and  grow,  as 
in  age,  so  in  wisdom  and  grace,  Luke  ii.  52  " 
(StakckI. — "  Christ  is  the  dayspring  from  on 
high,  who  for  us  has  opened  the  way  for  the 
rising  of  the  light"  (Gregory). — The  east  gate 
as  model  and  pattern  gate  in  its  homiletic  signi- 
ficance ;  every  sermon  ought  to  lead  to  the 
Father  through  Christ. — "  In  order  to  educate 
us  by  His  Spirit,  Christ  undertook  freely  in  our 
name  this  labour  here,  in  that  He  became  man 
for  us,  and  ascended  to  the  Father  through  suffer- 
ing. Those  also  ascend  these  steps  who  will  not, 
staying  outside,  give  themselves  up  to  lusts,  but, 
wiser  than  the  foolish  multitude,  attach  them- 
selves to  God's  people"  (CEcoL.).  — "  CJne  must 
not  so  thoughtlessly  imagine  that  only  a  single 
■leap  is  required  to  come  into  heaven,  but  con- 
stant ascent  is  requisite  and  necessary  in  order  to 
seek  after  the  things  that  are  above,  Col.  iii." 
(Berl.  Bib.) — Ver.  7.  "In  the  Lord's  house 
are  many  mansions,  according  to  the  distinction 
of  ofBces  and  gifts ;  each  mansion,  however, 
serves  to  ornament  the  house,  John  xiv.  2 " 
(Tub.  Bib.).— "  Since  there  are  many  mansions 
in  the  Lord's  temple,  there  is  certainly  still  room 
there.  Let  no  one  wantonly  exclude  himself 
therefrom.  Acts  xiii.  46"  (Starke). — The  mani- 
fold positions  and  ministrations,  and  hence  the 
manifold  occupations  in  the  kingdom  of  God. — 
"  The  thresholds  show  that  entrance  and  exit  arc 
alike  ;  as  the  beginning,  so  the  end  :  he  who 
begins  well  shall  and  wfll  end  well "  (Starck). 
— ^Ver.  8  sq.  Behold,  a  wall  round  about  ;  thou 
shalt  not  dream  of  overleaping  it,  or  esteem  it  as 
non-existent ;  those  whom  God  chose  for  Himself 
went  out  from  the  world,  and  are  not  of  the 
world.  There  are  also  gates  through  which  we 
have  to  enter  in  ;  but  the  way  for  mankind  to 
God  is  through  the  one  door,  which  is  and  con- 
tinues to  be  Christ.  Finally,  the  charge  of  the 
house  for  goings  in  and  out  is  committed  to  the 
Spirit  of  Truth.  No  one  shall  enter  in  through 
the  gate  by  lying  and  hypocrisy,  and  without 
the  seal  of  the  Spirit  no  one  shall  go  out  of  the 
sanctuary  into  the  world  or  pass  over  to  eternity. 
— We  first  ascend  the  mountain  on  which  the 
sanctuary  is  situated ;  next  we  must  go  up  through 
the  gate  ;  and  then  we  have  before  us  the  most 
holy  place,  namely,  the  manifestly  revealed  heart 
of  the  Father,  with  its  blessed  thoughts  of  peace. 
— "As  he  who  no  longer  remains  without  is 
sheltered  from  the  storms  which  rage  there,  so 
the  Christian  is  not  driven  about  by  any  wind. 


The  porch  reminds  us  of  the  peace  and  repose 
connected  with  the  consciousness  of  the  grace  of 
God  "  (CEcol.  ). — "  Truly,  they  who  are  preparing 
for  the  holy  office  of  the  ministry  are  measured 
in  many  ways,  and  they  should  still  farther  test 
themselves  by  the  measure  of  the  sanctuary ' 
(Starck). — "0  soul,  when  so  many  depths, 
breadths,  and  heights  of  knowledge  come  before 
thee  in  the  commencement  of  thy  Christian 
course,  let  not  that  discourage  thee !  Christ 
gives  thee  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  wUl  by  degrees 
teach  thee  all  thing.?,  John  xiv.  26  "  (Starke). — 
Ver.  12.  Ministers  of  the  Church  should  be  pro- 
tected against  being  too  much  pressed  upon, 
for  they  are  still  but  men.  There  is,  however, 
a  professedly  pious  impertinence,  which  ad- 
dresses them  as  if  their  bones  were  iron  and 
brass;  e.g.,  "The  Lord  is  able  to  strengthen 
you,"  and  the  like.  The  Lord  has  in  Ezekiel  set 
a  fence  around  the  chambers  of  the  keepers  of 
the  gate.  —  "We  ought  to  avoid  a  brother  who 
walks  disorderly"  (Starck). — Ver.  13  sq.  "Thus 
those  who  are  in  this  way  are  walled  around, 
covered,  and  protected  on  all  sides  ;  so  that 
nothing  can  befall  them  in  Him  who  is  the  Door 
and  the  Way,  but  everything  leads  forward  to 
the  sanctuary  when  we  walk  in  Christ  Jesus" 
(Cocc.).— Ver.  16.  "  In  the  Church  of  God  dark- 
ness has  no  place,  but  the  light  of  truth  and 
faith  shines  eveiywhere ;  yea,  believers  them- 
selves are  a  light  in  the  Lord,  whose  works  shint 
before  men,  Matt,  v."  (Starck.) — "  Teacher.i 
and  preachers  ought  to  have  a  fuller  knowledge 
of  the  divine  mysteries  than  others,  1  Tim.  iii.  9  " 
(0. ). — "They  who  walk  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord 
have  the  true,  cheerful,  and  clear  light  ;  while 
the  natui-al  soul  is  a  gateway  without  windows  " 
(Starck). — "  What  is  signified  by  the  palms  is 
already  fulfilled  in  the  essential  nature  of  be- 
lievers, and  will  be  so  in  particular  in  Christ's 
glorious  kingdom  (Ps.  xcii.  13  [12]  sq. ),  when 
they  shall  sing  of  victory  in  the  tabernacles  of 
the  righteous  (Ps.  cxviii.),  with  palms  in  their 
hands,  Rev.  vii.  9"  (Berl.  Bib.). 

Ver.  17  sq.  "In  the  Church  of  God  provision 
is  also  made  for  satisfying  the  need  of  spiritual 
fellowship  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  like- 
minded,  and  no  one  requires  for  this  reason  to 
wander  about  outside  the  wall  in  this  *or  that 
sect,  hole-and-corner  conventicle,  or  society  for 
any  object  whatever.  Notice  the  'apartments' 
here,  and  how  Christ  hallows  them  (Matt. 
xviii.  20),  and  comp.  Zech.  iii.  10"  (Cocc). — 
"Those  who  are  employed  in  God's  house  ought 
to  keep  even  their  feet  clean,  for  holiness  is 
the  ornament  of  His  house"  (Starck). — Ver. 
20  sq.  "  By  the  diversity  of  the  gates  yoa 
may  recognise  the  diversity  of  those  who  enter  " 
(CEcol.). — "The  way  to  the  sanctuary  has  been 
opened  to  the  nations  of  the  north  also  "  (Starke). 
— "  As  in  our  cathedrals  every  part  tells  something 
to  the  deeper-seeing  connoisseur,  so  this  is  still 
more  the  case  in  Ezekiel's  temple"  (Richter). — 
"  Everything  here  is  in  harmony  and  mutual  cor- 
respondence, like  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments, Moses  and  Christ,  the  prophets  and  the 
apostles"  (Starck). — Ver.  28  sq.  "The  courts 
are  separated,  for  the  covenant  of  Abraham  is  one 
thing,  the  covenant  of  Moses  another,  and  the 
covenant  of  Christ  still  another.  Yet  they  only 
mutually  confirm  one  another.  For  are  not  the 
contents  of  the  covenant  the  promises  of  God, 


CHAP.  XLI. 


457 


who  gracibusly  forgives  sin  ?  One  court,  how- 
ever, is  nearer  than  another  to  the  sanctuary. 
Walkest  thou  unhindered  in  the  court  of  the 
priests,  busied  with  spiritual  sacrifices ;  then 
thank  the  Lord  and  extend  meanwhile  the  hand 
to  others,  that  by  thy  support  they  may  over- 
come difficulties"  (CEcoL. ). — "The  inward  and 
the  outward  measure  must  correspond  perfectly 
in  Chiistians"  iSt.irke). — Ver.  31.  "  So  2  Pet. 
i.  5-7  enumerates  eight  virtues"  (Bebl.  Bib.). — 
Ver.  38  sq.  "This  signifies  that  our  heart  may 
remain  unclean,  even  when  we  give  our  bodies  to 
be  burned  for  the  glory  of  God.  The  constant 
mortification  of  the  flesh  must  ground  itself  on 
Christ,  otherwise  we  will  lose  courage,"  etc. 
(CEcoL. )  —  "  The  believing  soul  presents  its 
heart,  as  one  sets  a  table,  on  which  Christ  as 
sacrifice  is  beheld,  for  faith  lays  hold  of  this 
aloue"  (Stakck). — Ver.  44  sq.  "A  place  in  the 
house  of  God  is  justly  due  to  them  who  sing  the 
praise  of  God  in  spiritual  and  heavenly  songs, 
which  contribute  so  powerfully  to  spiritual  edi- 
fication" iTt'B.  Bib.). — "The  spiritual  songs  of 
them  who  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  because  they  have 
been  enabled  to  come  to  the  altar  and  stand  be- 
fore God,  form  part  of  the  spiritual  sacrifice " 
(CEcoL. ). — "  In  these  corrupt  days  music  is  used 
more  for  sin  and  vanity  than  for  the  praise  of  God. 
When  will  it  be  free  from  this  service  to  vanity  ? 
Ps.  cxvii.  1  ;  Isa.  xii.  1  "  (Starke). — "  He  who 
draws  near  to  God  sings  to  Him  also  in  his  heart  ; 
they,  however,  sing  best  who  in  the  midst  of 
troubles  are  full  of  joy.  They  incite  others  to 
sing,"  etc.  (Cocc.) — Ver.  46.  "Since  'sons  of 
Zadok '  is  in  our  language  equivalent  to  :  sons  of 
righteousness,  this  implies  that  only  those  dul)' 
keep  the  charge  who  are  justified  by  faith  and 
born  of  God,  whom  Jesus  Christ  has  begotten  and 
upholds  by  the  word  of  His  power"  (CEcoL.K  — 
Ver.  47  sq.  "The  true  temple  is  the  body  of 
Christ  as  He  took  it  out  of  the  grave  on  the 
third  day,  for  it  surpasses  all  figures  and  is  pure 
life.  The  prophet  here  prophesies  of  it ;  but  he 
does  so  in  lisping  words,  and  for  the  sake  of  his 
contemporaries  his  understanding  of  Christ  in 
these  chapters,  where  he  speaks  of  Christ's  king- 
dom and  sanctuary,  is  still,  as  it  were,  in  swad- 
dling clothes"  (Diedkich). 

On  Ch.  xli. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "We  ought  to  go  forward  under 
God's  guidance  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord  from 
glory  to  glory,  but  not  to  go  backward  or  stand 
still  except  in  meditation"  (Starck).  —  "The 
temple  a  figure  of  the  Church  of  Christ ;  as  the 
former  was  gloriously  built,  so  also  the  spiritual 
form  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  glorious,  Ps.  xlv. 
14  [13]"  ^Tl'B.  Bib.).— "The  Good  Spirit  leads 
men  to  the  Church,  there  to  listen  devoutly  to 
the  word  of  God  ;  the  evil  spirit  keeps  them  back 
from  it,  1  John  iv.  6  "  (Starke).— That  that  can 
be  entitled  a  palace  which  is  at  the  same  time 
called  a  tabernacle,  shows  how  the  King  had 
resolved  to  become  a  pilgrim,  just  as  He  who  is 
enthroned  in  the  sanctuary  on  high  walks  with 
pilgrims,  and  is  at  home  in  the  tabernacles  of  those 
who  are  humble  and  contrite  in  heart. — Ver.  4  sq. 
"  The  most  holy  place  is  set  before  us  as  the  goal, 
and  we  understand  thereby  a  heavenly  state  on 
earth,  namely,  the  Church  of  the  New  Testament. 
Accordingly,  in  ch.  xJiii.  the  entire  circuit  of  the 


mountain  is  called  most  holy,  from  which  it  it 
evident  that  no  one  is  truly  inside  of  this  temple, 
or  even  in  its  courts,  who  is  devoid  of  the  New  "tes- 
tament perfection,"  etc.  (Cocc.) — Heavenly  glory 
or  eternal   bliss  is  no  doubt   the   only  complete 
holy  of  holies  ;  yet  he  who  has  entered  the  king- 
dom of  grace  has  come  to  a  glory  which  eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  entered  iLtc 
the  heart  of  any  man,  to  praise  and  glorify  God 
for  ever. — "'W^en  we  meet  together,  God  is  pre- 
sent in  the  temple  (Matt,  xviii.)  ;  for  our  heart 
is  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Father  and  the  Son 
in  the  Holy  Ghost"  (St-AJsck).— Ver.  5  sq.  That 
the  chambers  are  connected  denotes  the  brotherly 
relation  in  the  sanctuary,   Ps.  cxxxiii.  ;   1  John 
iii.  1  sq. — God  provides  for  His  servants  covert 
and  shelter  in  this  world. — The  chambers  are  not 
all  of  the  same  size,  but  they  are  all  connected 
with  the  sanctuar)- ;  the  same  is  the  case  with  the 
progress  and  growth  of  the  members  of  the  body 
of  which  Christ  is  the  Head.—  The  saints  of  God 
are  also  measured  round  and  round  ;  no  heavier 
task  is  laid  upon  them,   no  greater  temptation 
befalls  them,  than  what  is  their  Father's  will. — 
Indetiniteness  in  spiritual  endeavours  is  a  token 
of  disease,  a  want  of  sobriety  and  obedience  of 
faith. — Ver.   6.   Leaning   upon    God,   upheld   by 
Him,  but  not  mixed  up  with  Him  in  our  atfairs. — 
Of  ourselves  we  cannot  stand  a  single  moment. — 
Ver.  7.  "In  God's  house  we  must  go  upward  by 
growth  in  grace,  that  the  mind  may  be  always 
the   more   firmly  directed   heavenward"  (Berl. 
Bib.).— The  breadth  in  the  top  part.— "Chris- 
tians ought  not  to  contract,  but  to  expand  as  they 
grow  older"  (Starck). — Higher  grace  gives  ex- 
pansion in  nHdth  and  breadth.      The  naiTowc 
points  of  view  with  which  we  ascend  gradually 
disappear. — The  broader  heart  on  the  height  of 
the  Christian  life  in  theory  and  practice. — Prayer 
an  ascending  stair. — But  let  us  not  forget  that 
which  lies  in  the  middle !     In  the  middle  is  the 
means,    the   way   of    mediation.  —  Ver.    8.    The 
secret  of  the  height  depends  on  the  foundation.  — 
Ver.   12  sq.   The  history  of  dogmas  is  in  many 
respects  the  off-place  in  Ezekiel's  temple. — Ver. 
15  sq.   God  knows  and  determines  the  magnitude 
of  the  Church  on  earth. — Ver.  17.   "Enlighten- 
ment is  from  above  ;   only  thus  do  we  obtain  a 
conception  of  heavenly  things  "  (Stakke). — Faith 
is  a  window,  and,  as  compared  with  vision,  a  nar- 
row one. — "Through  His  wounds  we  see  into  the 
heart  of  Christ  as  through  a  window"  (i  Lapide). 
— Ver.  18  sq.   "The  ever-flourishing  palm  is  the 
righteous  one  who  has  overcome  sin  and  is  in  the 
eternal  habitations.     And  so  also  we  are  genuine 
men,  in  God's  strength,  with  the  heart  of  a  lion  " 
(Heim-Hoff.). — The  palm  a  sign  of  victory,  of 
life,  of  eternal  glory.  ^The  view  of  the  palm  which 
is  promised  to  the  victor. — "Teachers  ought  to 
be  men,  especially  to  humbled  consciences,  but 
also  to  be  lions  against  enemies"  (0.). — Ver.  21. 
The  New  Testament  presents  no  other  view  than 
the  Old.— Ver.  22.   "This  altar  is  at  the  same 
time  a  table,  as  Christ  is  to  our  souls  in  the  Holy 
Supper  "  (Stakck). — Wood  :  the  humanity,  too, 
of  Jesus  was  like  us  in  all  things  except  sin. — 
Ver.  23  sq.   Doors  let  in  and  shut  out ;  so  also 
does  the  Church. — Ornament  is  here   combined 
with  solemnness.     We  have  not  here  the  joyous 
worldly  beauty  of  Greece,  but  neither  have  we 
the  solemnness  dark  as  death,  as  in  Egypt.     The 
world  opens  its  doors  half  to  frivolity  and  half  t« 


458 


EZEKIEL. 


despondency. — "The  sanctuary  of  the  heart  also 
must  be  shut,  anil  not  with  one  door  only.  Our 
treasure  is  incomparable,  and  ought  to  be  pre- 
served with  much  watchfulness  and  strong  ex- 
hortation" (Heim-Hoff.). — "There  is  no  men- 
tion of  a  veil  before  the  holy  of  holies,  because 
it  was  rent  at  the  death  of  Christ,  and  must  not 
reappear.  This  the  Lord  knew,  who  showed 
Ezekiel  everything,  and  Himself  rent  the  veil. 
Christ  is  the  fulfilment  and  substitute  for  every- 
thing in  the  former  temple  that  is  wanting  in  the 
latter"  (RiCHTEK). — Here  on  earth,  however,  are 
only  windows ;  face  to  face  will  be  first  in  heaven. 

On  Ch.  xUi. 

Yer.  1  sq.  :  "As  this  temple  was  provided 
with  many  chambers,  but  each  had  its  own  pur- 
pose, so  believing  Christians  must  be  sanctified 
chambers  for  the  glory  of  God, — one  for  this  use 
and  another  for  that,  2  Tim.  ii.  21  "  (Starke). — 
Ver.  5  sq.  While  in  the  previous  chapter  the 
breadth  increased  with  the  elevation,  it  here  be- 
comes narrower.  The  progressive  growth  in  grace 
is  a  wider  consciousness  of  Christ,  but  a  con- 
stantly narrowing  self-eonsciou,sness  (1  Cor.  xv. 
9). — So  is  the  service  in  the  gospel,  when  with 
increasing  years  our  view  into  eternity  expands, 
and  similarly  contracts  in  temporal  matters  ;  the 
nearer  the  day  of  reckoning  is,  our  responsibility 
becomes  the  clearer  to  us,  and  the  more  clearly 
do  we  see  our  many  mistakes  and  disloyalties.^ 
"  There  are  three  stages  of  life  :  youth,  manhood, 
and  old  age,  and  the  last  is  the  narrowest  of  all  " 
(Starck). — Ver.  7  sq.  God  is  able  to  set  walls 
around  those  who  desire  to  keep  themselves  pure 
from  the  stains  of  the  flesh,  and  to  protect  them 
in  the  hour  of  trial  and  temptation. — "True 
believers  are  protected,  no  one  can  injure  them, 
John  X.  27  sq."  (Starke.) — The  protection  which 
is  in  an  evangelically-understood  official  and 
priestly  dignity.  —  "If  God's  servants  have  no  place 
under  heaven,  yet  they  have  one  in  heaven" 
(Starck). — "  By  these  buildings  connected  with 
the  temple,  and  pertaining  to  its  outward  eco- 
nomy, we  should  be  reminded  that  the  Lord 
bestows  upon  the  pious  the  other  necessaries 
of  life  also.  In  Him  they  find  their  entire 
satisfaction ;  but  they  use  food,  drink,  inter- 
course with  men,  and  this  whole  world,  as  if 
they  did  not  use  all  this.  Thus,  to  the  pure 
all  things  are  pure  that  they  do  with  pure  and 
upright  heart.  The  word  of  God  makes  us  strong 
when  it  is  with  us,  and  blesses  also  outward 
'.hings.  David  never  saw  a  righteous  man  for- 
saken (Ps.  xxxvii. ).  So  also  has  the  Lord  ordained 
that  they  who  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of 
the  gospel,  1  Cor.  ix.  13,  14"  ((EcoL.).— "Oh, 
how  sweet  it  is  to  cling  to  the  temple  like  Anna  ! 
Luke  ii.  37"  (Starck). — Ver.  13  sq.  "If  we 
have  to  understand  by  the  priests  the  early 
Christians,  or  those  brought  up  from  childhood 
in  the  faith  of  Chri.st  and  walking  in  this  way, 
then  in  these  verses  is  figured  their  fellowship 
with  one  another  in  particular,  their  united  in- 
quiry into  the  word  and  meditation  thereon  and 
on  the  mystery  of  Christ  for  growth  of  knowledge 
and  increase  of  joy,  so  that  they  are  prepared 
and  adorned  in  one  ^id  the  same  faith,  alway  to 
return  to  and  worship  at  the  altar,  which  is 
Christ'  (Cocc). — "  In  word,  in  work,  in  every- 
thing,  be  Jesus   read,   and  He    alone"    (Teks- 


teegen). — Glory  and  holiness  in  their  connec- 
tion ;  how  this  connection  is  stamped  on  this 
temple  and  its  arrangements  and  purposes,  ever 
to  the  most  minute  particulars. — His  office  secures 
enjoyment,  too,  to  the  minister  of  the  gospel, 
but  enjoyment  from  the  holy  ;  the  Lord  wills  to 
be  enjoyment  to  His  own. — Profane  ministers 
profane  the  sanctuary.  — These  two  verses  fom)  a 
fitting  text  for  introduetion  and  ordination  str- 
mons.  — That  wliich  is  seemly  for  every  Cliristian 
is,  however,  special  duty  for  the  priests.  One 
should  be  able  to  discover  in  a  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  above  all  else,  above  all  science,  know- 
ledge, culture,  etc.,  that  he  is  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  sins  of  tiie 
world. — "So  also  we  ought  not  to  approach  the 
holy  table  of  the  Lord  with  worldly,  impenitent 
hearts"  (Calov.). — From  ver.  14  much  pastoral 
wisdom  may  be  learned. — "  But  the  lesson  is 
not  that  a  pastor  may  for  a  time  lay  aside  his 
clerical  robes  or  hang  them  on  a  nail  to  make 
merry  with  the  world"  (Beiil.  Bib.). — A  true 
minister  of  the  gospel  does  not  want  to  be  called 
a  clergyman  in  distinction  from  the  laity,— a 
Pharisaic  title,  which  the  church  regulations  of 
our  fathers  do  not  know,  and  which  modern 
State  bureaucracy  ought  to  abolish, — but  as  he  is 
so  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  in  contrast  to  the 
world,  even  to  the  so-called  world  of  culture. — . 
The  wrong  and  dangerous  sociability  of  a  minister 
of  the  word.  The  clerical  coat  does  not  make 
the  clergyman,  yet  it  is  a  defence  and  an  admo- 
nition. The  best  clerical  garment,  and  one 
which  we  may  always  put  on  and  wear  every- 
where, is  our  sanctification  in  Christ. — It  is  as 
great  a  mistake  to  carry  about  the  clerical  coat 
everywhere,  like  a  monk,  as  to  leave  it  at  home 
from  unclerical  frivolity  or  worldly -mmdedness. 
— Paul  became  all  things  to  all  men  (1  Cor.  ix. 
19,  22),  but  not  at  the  expense  of  his  ministerial 
oSice. — "  When  we  sinners  come  in  contact  witlr 
Christ  by  faith,  we  are  made  clean,  and  become 
a  holy,  reasonable  sacrifice,  acceptable  to  God. 
But  when  once  we  are  consecrated  to  God,  we 
have  to  be  on  our  guard  that  we  on  no  occasion 
defile  ourselves"  (CEcoL.). — Ver.  15  sq.  "God 
gathers  His  Church  from  all  the  fo"T  quarters  of 
the  world,  Isa.  xlix.  12"  (Stakke,.  — "So  wide 
and  spacious  will  the  New  Testament  Church  be, 
in  distinction  from  the  Old  Testament  Church. 
A  greater  than  Solomon  in  all  his  pomp  and 
glory  is  here  ;  for  Jesus  is  the  Light  of  all  nations, 
Isa.  xlii.  6,  xlix.  6;  Lukeii.  32"(Starck).— "  AU 
believers  in  the  whole  world  belong  to  this  temple. 
The  true  Church  is  the  collection  of  the  scattered 
believers  that  are  in  the  world "  (Starck). — 
"  Observe,  only  after  he  had  learned  exactly  the 
internal  magnitude  did  the  prophet  learn  tht' 
external.  It  is  labour  in  vain  to  labour  in  inves- 
tigating nature  until  we  have  first  laid  a  good 
foundation  in  godliness.  Without  this  we  con- 
tinue too  much  devoted  to  the  contemplation  of 
visible  things,  and  make  them  our  idols,  so  that 
they  become  a  stumbling-block  and  a  snare  to 
ourselves  and  other  inexperienced  persons.  But 
when  thou  hast  come  to  know  the  inner  meaning 
of  spiritual  things,  and  hast  tasted  the  length, 
height,  and  depth  of  the  love  of  God,  then  thou 
mayest  busy  thyself  with  .all  visible  things 
Thou  wilt  everywhere  pause,  and,  contemplating 
things  with  the  spiritual  eye,  say  :  0  Lord  out 
God,  how  excellent  is  Thy  name  in  all  the  eaith  ' 


CHAP.  XLIII. 


45S 


Thou  who  liast  made  the  heavens,  declare  Thy 
glory,  etc.  For  by  the  contemplation  of  outward 
things  thou  wilt  be  borne  along  to  the  prai,se  of 
the  divine  glory  and  the  overflowing  lo\t  of  the 
heavenly  Fatlicr  toward  His  people,  for  whose  sake 
He  has  made  also  this  whole  artistically-compacted 
fiamework  of  visible  things"  (Heim-Hoff.). — 
"The  prophet  has  now  depicted  everything  so 
fully  and  clearly,  in  order  to  preach  to  his  con- 
temporaries, as  babes  in  understanding,  in  a  way 
intelligible  to  them,  the  consoling  truth  that 
God's  Church  is  eternal  throngh  His  grace,  and 
that  He  will  always  rebuild  His  house  among  us, 
provided  we  only  desire  to  be  His.  Whatever  is 
lost  must  truly  be  restored  more  glorious  than  ever 
to  theih  who  love  God  ;  and  where  God's  word 
findslovers,  Hiskingdom,  too,  increasingly  assumes 
shape.  But  in  Christ  all  has  assumed  such  a 
shape,  that  through  Him  the  sanctuary  now 
always  continues  present  in  humanity ;  and  the 
true  altar  of  burnt-offering,  Golgotha,  is  always 
before  the  eyes  of  the  Most  Holy  Father,  in 
order,  for  the  sake  of  the  sacrifice  thereon  offered, 
to  lo/e,  .sanctify,  and  protect  us  all.  We  thank 
thee,  0  most  gracious  eternal  God  and  Father, 
who  hast  set  up  an  eternal  sanctuary  for  us  sin- 
ijcis,  never  to  depart  from  us,  and  hast  sanctified 
us  by  the  blood  of  Thy  Son,  and  now  givest  unto 
js  the  four  ends  of  the  earth  to  embrace  by  Thy 
gospel  ;  grant  unto  us  to  remain  faithful  in  con- 
templation of  Thee,  and,  ever  fuller  and  fuller  of 
Thy  Spirit,  to  praise  Thee  tlirough  Jesus  Christ. 
Amen"  (Diedkich). 

On  Ch.  xliii. 

Ver.  1.  "Jerusalem,  how  gladly  would  our 
libot  stand  in  thy  gates!  "  (I's.  c.xxii. ) — "Open  to 
me  the  pearl  gates.  Thou  who  art  the  Ornament 
.)f  heaven's  city.  Light  from  Light,  chosen  as  the 
Light  before  the  world  began,"  etc.  (Desslek). — 
To  come  to  Christ  is  really  to  find  out  the  bear- 
ings of  this  world. — "The  entrance  took  place 
ifter  the  measuring  of  the  temple  and  consideration 
of  its  adornment.  So  did  Christ  show  His  dis- 
ciples, represented  in  the  person  of  the  prophet, 
the  whole  heavenly  edifice  by  word  and  work 
(John  xvii.  6)  ;  and  everything  pertaining  to  the 
building  of  this  spiritual  temple  was  finished  on 
the  cross.  The  entrance  of  the  glory  from  the 
east  for  lighting  the  temple  took  place  when  the 
apostles,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  were  endued 
with  power  from  on  high,"  etc.  (CEcoi..) — "  When 
Jesus  comes  there  is  light ;  darkness  must  disap- 
pear, and  all  is  pure  joy  and  comfort,  Ps.  xcvii. 
11  "  (C'R.). — Ver.  2  sq.  "  The  giacious  advent  of 
Jehovah  indicates  the  visitation  of  grace  in  the 
forgiveness  of  all  sins,  in  light,  salvation,  and 
blessedness"  (Starck),— "The  voice  is  that  of 
Ps.  xix.,  the  voice  of  the  gospel,  which  resounds 
through  the  whole  world"  (Starck). — Where 
the  gospel  is  preached,  the  waters  of  life  make  a 
noise  not  only  of  themselves,  but  also  from  the 
stones  which  men  cast  in,  and  from  the  rocky 
banks  of  worldly  hearts  which  make  resistance  ; 
but  the  glory  of  eternity  shines  upon  earth. — 
"  The  loud  noise  of  the  glory  is  the  voice  of  them 
who  praise  the  Lord  with  one  heart  and  one  voice, 
here  on  earth  as  there  in  heaven,  Rev.  xiv.  1 " 
(Heim-Hoff.). — "We  have  here  the  hymn  of 
pnise  and  the  triumphant  joy  of  the  saints  as 
they  cheer  and  encourage  one  another  ;  the  con- 


tradiction, confutation,  and  blasphemy  of  th« 
wicked  at  the  confessions  of  believers  ;  the  cries 
of  the  spectators  expressing  their  various  opinions, 
and  the  songs  of  the  witnesses  unto  blooti  at  the 
stake  ;  just  as  in  a  triumphal  procession  the 
victors  shout  with  joy,  the  vanijuished  howl. 
There  is  no  more  glorious  victory  than  that  of 
faith"  (Cocc. ). — " 'The  creature  has  its  voice  only 
from  the  Creator  ;  and  thei-efore  His  voice  must 
sound  louder  than  its,  however  loud  it  is,  Ps. 
xciii.  3,  4  (Dan.  x.  6  ;  Rev.  i.  15).  He  who  said  . 
'  Let  there  be  light,'  Him.self  shines  forth  at  His 
appearing  in  the  clearest  light,  as  He  whc 
dwelleth  in  light  that  is  inaccessible,  1  Tim.  vi. 
16  ;  James  i.  17  [Ps.  1.  2  ;  Dent,  xxxiii.  2  ;  Rev. 
xviii.  1]"  (Hengst.).  — "The  justice  and  wisdom 
of  God,  kept  secret  since  the  world  began,  are  set 
before  the  eyes  of  all.  There  was  no  comer  in 
which  the  truth  was  not  heard,  whether  it  met 
with  approval  or  contradiction.  Thus  no  one 
perishes  unless  he  is  an  enemy  to  the  light. 
Christ  is  altar,  priest,  and  sacrifice  ;  hence  they 
who  are  near  the  altar  cannot  but  have  a  sight  of 
His  glory"  (Cocc). — "Let  us  pray  God  to  en- 
lighten the  dark  earth  of  o\ir  heart  with  that 
holy  light  of  Hisgloiy!  "  (CEcoL.)— Ver.  3.  The 
terror  of  the  prophet  on  account  of  the  past  and 
in  the  present ;  what  will  be  the  future  terrors  of 
the  wicked! — "The  thought  of  the  perdition  of 
the  lost  always  causes  pain  and  alarm  to  the  true 
prophets"  (Starck).  —  "The  knowledge  of  God 
never  causes  pride,  but  humility,  because  it  at 
the  same  time  discovers  the  corruption  of  the 
heart.  The  more  modest  a  man  is,  and  the  less 
he  trusts  to  himself,  the  more  is  ho  endowed  with 
the  knowledge  of  God.  The  bowed  down  are, 
however,  revived  by  the  Lord  and  led  by  the 
Spirit  to  the  place  where  the  majesty  of  the  God 
of  glory  shines"  (Heim-Hoff.). — Ver.  4  sq. 
Whom  the  Spirit  has  cast  down,  the  S[)irit  raises 
up  again. — This  is  life  in  dying,  rising  up  in 
falling.  —  "Yea,  thus  shall  God's  temple  be,  full  of 
divine  spirit  and  life  ;  but  then  it  must  consist  of 
other  materials  than  brick  or  stone"  (Diedrich). 
— "What  hinders  this  glorj'  from  filling  also  thy 
heart,  provided  it  is  not  full  of  other  things,  and 
needs  first  to  become  empty,  that  thy  hunger  and 
desire  may  by  the  breath  of  the  Spirit  seek  and 
find  satisfaction  in  its  fulness?  "  (Berl.  Bib.) 

Ver.  6  sq.  "God  does  not  relinquish  man- 
kind ;  He  continually  creates  anew  His  Israel  for 
Himself"  (Diedrich). — "That  Jesus  aimed  .at 
the  preservation  of  the  temple  is  shown  by  His 
cleansing  of  the  temple  at  the  commencement  oi 
His  ministry,  whereby  He  intimated  His  inten- 
tion to  effect  a  wholesome  reformation.  Not 
until  after  this  reformation  was  decisively  re- 
jected did  He,  at  the  close  of  His  ministrj',  effect 
the  second  cleansing  of  the  temple,  which  is  the 
symbolical  announcement  of  its  destruction  :  Ye 
would  not  have  reformation,  therefore  ye  must 
have  revolution.  The  sentence  :  '  Behold,  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate'  (Matt,  xxiii. ), 
immediately  follows  the  saying  :  '  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children,'  etc.  Had 
they  let  themselves  be  gathered,  their  house 
would  not  have  been  destroyed  ;  it  would  have 
become  'a  house  of  prayer  for  all  people'  (Isa. 
Ivi.  7).  Jesus  speaks  first  in  view  of  His  pas- 
sion in  Matt.  xxiv.  2,  when  the  stiff-necked 
obduracy  of  the  people  had  been  completely  re- 
vealed.    Had  the  Jews  listened  to  Him,  had  theT 


ten 


EZEKIHL 


not  imposed  silence  on  His  disciples,  the  stones 
of  the  temple   would  not  have  cried  out  (Luke 
xix.    40  ;   comp.    Hab.   ii.   11).      Not  until  they 
had  stopped  up  the  mouths  of  the  true  witnesses 
did   the   preaching   of  the   stones   sound   forth. 
But  while  the  abolition  of  the  form  was  brought 
on  by  the  mass  of  the  people,  who  once  more, 
and  in  the  most  culpable  manner,   thrust  away 
froa  them  their  Creator,   and  lightly  esteemed 
the    Rock  of  their  salvation   (Deut.    xxxii.   15), 
the  election,  far  from  being  deprived  of  the  bless- 
ing pertaining  to  them,  found  a  glorious  compen- 
sation for  the  loss  of  the  temple  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  the  legitimate  continuation  of  the  temple, 
John  ii.  19"  (Hengst. ). — "It  is  man  in  whom, 
as  in  a  temple  chosen  for  Himself,   He  sets  the 
throne  of  His  glory.     This  is  a  New  Testament 
word  of  promise  ;  for  what   else   does   it   imply 
than  that  sins  are  forgiven,  our  heart  renewed, 
confirmed,  and  made  obedient   to    the   truth  ? " 
(Heim-Hoff.)— "(1)  This   temple   shall  be  the 
true  temple  ;  (2)  this  temple  is  different  from  the 
former  temple.     Into  it  nations  and  kings  bring 
indeed  their  glory,  but  the  kings  and  people  of 
Israel  no  longer  their  abominations"  (Coco.). — 
False  doctrine  brings  the  threshold  of  God  and 
"he    threshold    of  men   close    to    each   other. — 
"Where  the  government  of  the  Church  is  con- 
ducted by   and   according  to    the  spirit   of  the 
State"   (Berl.    Bib.). — In  this  way  the  divine 
becomes   human,    and    the    human   looks   as   if 
divine  ;  and  this   is    the   devil's   union-work. — 
Therefore  the  sanctuary  of  the  king  is  still  not 
Jehovah's   sanctuary. — "A    table    at    once   the 
Lord's  and  the  devil's,   Paul  has  expelled  from 
the  Church"  (Starok). — Ver.  9.    "  God  now  first 
returns  to  the  apostates  ;  but  His  grace  is  de- 
signed  to   work   repentance,   and  then   He  will 
never   more   depart   from   them  "  (Diedkich). — 
Ver.  10   sc|.    "Solomon's  temple  left  the  people 
in  their  disobedience  and  worship  of  idols  ;  but 
this  house  belongs  to  a  higher  order.     He  who 
lays  it  to  heart  will  cease  sinning,  and  duly  exa- 
mine the  temple  and  its  measurements.     For  the 
measuring  of  the  temple,   which  is   not  visibly 
present,    must   be   done   in   the   Spirit,    '  which 
temple,    however,    are    ye'  (1    Cor.    iii.).      And 
therefore  each  one  should  examine  with  abase- 
ment his  heart  and  conscience,  and  be  displeased 
with   himself  because  he  has  lived   so   long   in 
ingratitude    toward    God,"    etc.    (CEcoL.)— The 
shame  of  the  poor   sinner  finds  in  the  temple, 
which   is   Christ,    exactly   the  right  measure. — 
The    understanding  of    Ezekiel's    temple-vision 
from  the  selfjknowledge  of  the  heart. —  The  turn- 
ing to  repentance  through  the  promises  of  the 
gospel. — "The   contemplation   of    the   goodness 
and  the  works  of  God  ought  to  bring  shame  into 
our  hearts"  (Stakck). — "The  form  of  the  divine 
economy  of  grace  is,  in  outline,  here  described  " 
(Bei!L.  Bib.). — Ver.  11    sq.    "They  who  repent 
of  their  sins  are  capable  of  knowing  the  temple 
and  its  arrangements,  while  those  who  wantonly 
pursue  fleshly  desires  receive  not   the  Spirit  of 
wisdom,  and  are  incapable  of  knowing  the  law  of 
the  Lord  (2  Tim.  ii.  19  ;  1  John  iii.  3).     For  the 
law  of  '.he  house  is  God's  law,  that  everything  be 
most  LjIv  "  (Heim-Hoff.). — "That  the  temple 
itood  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  lets  the  whole 
land   hiive   it   continually  before  its  eyes  in  its 
midst,  and  not  now  and  then  only  on  occasional 
risits'   (DlEDRlCH). 


Ver.  13  sq.  "Christ  is  the  true  altar  (Heb. 
xiii.  10)  ;  for  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  s'.nt 
(1  John  ii.  2  ;  Rom.  iii.  25),  and  He  has  sancti- 
fied Himself  for  us,  John  xvii.  19"  (Cr.). — "  No 
one  could  go  into  the  temple  without  passing  by 
the  altar,  and  so  no  one  can  go  into  heaven  with- 
out the  sacrifice  of  the  death  of  Christ,  Acts  iv. 
12"  (Stabck). — Golgotha  the  true  altar  of  burnt- 
otfering  :  "here  hangs  the  antitype  of  all  the 
sacrifices"  (Lampe). — Ver.  18  sq.  "Thus  God 
comes  first  and  gives  grace  ;  His  grace  make* 
ashamed,  chastises,  sanctifies,  reconciles,  ami 
produces  intimate  eternal  fellowship.  This  is 
always  God's  way  with  us  men,  provided  only  we 
recognise  it  aright  in  these  days  of  ours,  when 
now  it  is  set  in  the  most  glorious  light ;  Christ 
and  the  aposiles  have  given  additional  clearness 
to  Ezekiel"  (Diedrich). — "In  the  New  Te.sta- 
ment  we  no  longer  offer  material,  but  spiritual 
sacrifices  through  Jesus  Christ,  etc.,  1  Pet.  ii.  5  " 
(Tub.  Bib.). — "He  who  would  bring  an  off'ering 
pleasing  to  God  must  be  of  the  race  of  Zadok, 
Isa.  i.  15  sq."  (Starke). — The  prayer  of  a 
righteous  man  availeth  much,  because  it  is  effec- 
tual, Jas.  V.  16. — "All  true  believers  are  priests 
who  can  draw  near  to  God,  for  access  to  the  throne 
of  grace  has  been  opened  to  us  through  Christ" 
(Starck). — The  ministers  of  a  king  are  glorious  ; 
how  much  more  so  are  they  who  minister  before 
the  King  of  all  kings ! — Ver.  21.  Comp.  Heb. 
xiii.  11  sq.  —  "All  this  only  illustrates  more  clearly 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ"  (Richteb). — Ver.  22. 
Golgotha  the  place  of  purification  of  all  altars.  — 
Ver.  23  sq.  "  A  man  can  offer  himself  as  a  burn  - 
sacrifice  to  the  Lord,  when  he  fully,  entirely,  and 
unreservedly  devotes  himself  to  Him  in  faith  and 
love.  The  end  of  our  creation,  redemption,  and 
sanctification,  involves  this"  (Beel.  Bib.). — V^r. 
25  sq.  Christ  finishes  His  work  in  His  people  too. 
— "  It  is  not  enough  to  begin  well  in  what  is 
good  ;  we  must  also  stand  fast  in  the  Lord,  and 
continue  stedfast  unto  the  end,  2  Thess.  iii.  13  ; 
Heb.  iii.  14;  Rev.  ii.  10,  iii.  11"  (Cr.).  — "But 
those  who  are  sanctified  to  the  Lord  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ  ought  to  praise  God's  benefits,  and 
especially  to  remember  them  at  the  Holy  Supper, 
according  to  the  saying  :  This  do  in  remembrance 
of  Ale,  and  :  Show  the  Lord's  death  till  He  come  " 
(Heim-Hoff.). — Ver.  27.  "They  who  were  in 
Christ  before  others  ought  in  this  to  serve  as 
priests  to  the  younger  believers  "  (Berl.  Bib.  ). 

On  Ch.  xliv. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "  Blessed  are  they  who  walk  under 
God's  guidance,  whom  He  brings  back  as  here  to 
the  principal  gate  toward  the  east"  (Starck). 
— "God's  connection  with  mankind  remains  a 
secret"  (Diedrich). — "  The  shut  gate  is  the  book 
sealed  with  seven  seals,  which  only  the  victorious 
Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  opens,  and  no  ona 
shuts  (Rev.  V.  5).  When  we  draw  near  to  Him 
who  is  the  Door  of  the  sheepfold.  He,  becau.se  He 
is  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father,  will  open  unto 
us  and  show  us  the  Father"  (CEcOL.). — "Christ 
needs  no  successor  to  figure  as  His  vicar  in  the 
Church  "  (Berl.  Bib.).  —  "  But  certainly  in  what 
follows  a  prerogative  is  indicated  which  pious 
princes,  magistrates,  and  lords  may  have"  (Cocc). 
— "Our  heart,  too,  should  be  shut  to  the  world 
and  the  devil,  when  once  the  Holy  God  has 
entered  into  it,  and  His  glory  has  swallowed  u; 


CHAP.  X\.l\. 


481 


sin  and  misery  in  us"  (Starke). — "Alas,  if  the 
door  of  heaven  .shovild  be  shut !  "  (Stakck.  ) — 
Ver.  3.  The  position  of  the  prince  in  the  sanctuary 
»f  the  Lord. — Even  the  highest  civil  power  has 
nothing  to  complete  here,  but  only  enjoys  the 
fruits  of  the  completed,  perfect  sacrifice  of  Christ. 
— Piincedoni  ami  power  in  the  light  of  the  glory 
of  Christ. — The  Christian  ruler  and  the  ride  of 
Christ. — Privileges  and  the  corresponding  respon- 
sibility.— *'  The  nearer  we  are  to  the  sanctuary, 
the  more  holy  and  godly  ought  we  to  be" 
(Staiick). — The  Christian  ruler  ought  to  be  the 
Christian  pattern  to  his  people. — He  is  not  to 
preach,  just  as  it  is  not  his  office  to  oft'er  sacrifice  ; 
but  he  is  to  nourisli  and  protect  the  Church  and 
avow  its  faitli. — "Christ  is  the  gate,  the  only 
gate  ;  through  Him  the  glory  of  God  has  entered 
into  the  Church.  It  also  belongs  to  Him  alone 
to  speak  the  word  of  God.  Hence  even  the  prince 
is  not  allowed  to  enter  the  Church  for  the  pur- 
])Ose  of  making  his  own  discourses  be  heard  there. 
For  in  the  Church  is  the  throne  of  Christ  alone, 
and  of  no  one  else.  What  is  said  of  the  prince 
is  rather  this,  that  he  ought  to  have  a  good  con- 
science and  joy  before  the  Lord  because  of  his 
nrincely  office,  which  does  not  merely  consist  in 
this,  that  we  live  in  peace  and  quiet  under  his 
sceptre,  but  also  that  the  people  may  hear  the 
word  of  God,  and  without  fear  offer  to  Him  the 
s,acrifices  of  their  worship"  (Cocc. ).  (Interpret- 
ing the  prince  as  the  Messiah  :  "No  one  knoweth 
the  Father  but  the  Son,  who  is  from  God,  because 
He  says  ;  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that 
.sent  me"  (John  iv.  34),  fficoL.) — Ver.  4.  "  If  the 
prophet  here  again  falls  to  the  ground  before  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  have  we  not  humbly  to  acknow- 
ledge and  confess  eur  frailty  and  weakness  in 
presence  of  the  divine  mysteries  ?  No  plummet 
of  the  understanding  sounds  the  abyss  of  the 
mysteries  of  God.  Let  us  be  content  with  what 
revelation  presents  to  us  "  (after  Jerome). — "God 
reveals  His  glory  to  His  servants,  especially  when 
He  calls  on  them  to  make  known  His  will  to  the 
people.  Acts  xviii.  9,  x.xiii.  11"  (Tl'B.  Bib.). — 
"  Consider,  0  Christian,  whether  thou  art  what 
thou  art  called  ;  whether  thou  hast  God  or  some 
one  else  dwelling  in  thy  heart ;  whether  thou  art 
full  of  glory  or  of  worldliness,  sensuality,  and 
carnality  !  "  (Starke.  ) — Ver.  5  sq.  Divine  things 
are  not  to  be  drowsUy  listened  to,  or  drowsily 
engaged  in. — In  everything  there  must  be  heart 
— in  seeing,  in  hearing,  in  doing. — Pectus  thto- 
logvm  facit,  not  pathos. — The  goings  in  and  out 
of  the  sanctuary,  a  solemn  consideration  for  every 
one,  but  especially  for  those  who  keep  the  charge 
of  the  sanctuary,  whatever  their  rank  in  the  ser- 
vice.— "The  sin  which  still  adheres  to  believers 
makes  them  often  inattentive  in  the  most  neces- 
sary things  ;  hence  they  need  many  a  stirring 
up  and  putting  in  remembrance,  2  Pet.  i.  13" 
(Starke). — Ver.  6.  Sinners  make  light  of  their 
doings  ;  but  God  suddenly  says  :  Euougu.  —  "  He 
who  seeks  to  be  saved  out  of  this  lost  world  must 
once  for  all  have  enough  of  it"  (Stakck). — The 
feeling  of  final  surfeit  of  the  world  must,  how- 
ever, include  aversion  ;  for  repentance  is  conver- 
sion, not  so  weariness  of  the  world,  disgust  with 
the  world,  or  such  like. — There  is  a  difference 
between  the  Israel  after  the  flesh  and  the  Israel 
after  the  Spirit. — Ver.  7.  "  The  false  Israel  gives 
the  sacraments  to  the  heathen,  and  elects  heretics 
to  office"  (DlEDKicu). — I  know  thy  works,  saith 


the  Lord,  but  of  thy  faithfulness  I  know  uotliing. 
Quite  enough  to  remove  the  candlestick,  althougt 
baptizing,  marrying,  and  dispeusiug  the  Lord'e 
Snpper  still  go  on.  — The  so-called  liberal  clergy. 
— The  voice  of  the  people,  the  choice  of  the  people, 
is  not  God's  voice,  God's  choice,  but  frequently 
God  s  judgment  to  the  full.  —  Strange  doctrine 
indicates  an  uucircumcised  heart ;  and  where  that 
is,  in  spite  of  ordination  and  consistorial  confirma- 
tion, and  whatever  else  pertains  to  circumcision, 
there  is  nothing  but  the  foreskin  of  a  hireling,  a 
thief,  and  a  murderer  of  the  sheep. — "  Self-chosen 
divine  service  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord  " 
(Starke). — The  responsibility  in  the  election  of 
a  pastor. — The  outward  discharge  of  the  mini- 
sterial office,  however  exact,  does  not  make  a 
minister  such  as  he  should  be  according  to  God's 
word. — A  person  baptized  in  due  form  may  yet 
be  no  Christian  alter  the  Spirit. — Ver.  S."  The 
false  teachers,  who  please  the  spirit  of  the  age 
and  have  the  applause  of  the  world. — What  gene 
ral  can  employ  a  soldier  who  is  everything  else, 
but  no  soldier  ?  And  the  general  superintendents 
[bishops,  presbyteries]  ordain  year  by  year  men 
who  have  got  through  their  examinations  and  are 
of  canonical  age,  but  who  are  fitter  for  anything 
else  than  for  being  pastors. — Vei\  9.  "It  is  ac- 
cordingly a  token  of  the  greatest  decline  of  the 
Church  when  the  wicked  and  manifest  hypocrites 
are  not  only  not  expelled,  but  go  freely  in  and 
out,  and  even  have  the  ruling  power"  (Berl. 
Bib.). — The  Church  of  the  future  of  Jesus  Christ, 
a  pure  church. — Ver.  10  sq.  The  judgment  on 
the  priests  of  the  sanctuary,  already  begun  in- 
wardly, is  their  evil  conscience,  that  cripples  all 
energy  in  presence  of  the  world,  and  degrades 
them  to  the  position  of  paid  domestics  ;  and  out- 
wardly too,  for  even  men  of  the  world  have  no 
respect  for  them,  although  tliey  do  not  revile 
them  as  fanatics. — The  false  righteousness,  which 
is  not  God's  righteousness,  is  also  a  detestable 
idol,  behind  which  so  many  preachers  commit 
adultery. — "Where  there  ip.e  ungodly  teachers 
there  is  no  want  of  ungodly  hearers,  Jer.  v.  31  ' 
(Starke). — The  lower  service  in  the  sanctuary 
a  question  of  conscience  reaching  into  many  a 
pastor's  life. — Degraded  priests  a  mirror  for  pas- 
tors.— Ver.  11.  But  even  in  the  performance  of 
subordinate  service,  where  one  originally  stood 
higher,  the  grace  of  God  may  be  with  us,  pro- 
vided we  let  God's  humbling  of  us  issue  in  con- 
version of  heart,  and  look  upon  the  punish- 
ment as  a  righteous  recompense.  It  is  not  at  all 
necessary  that  we  should,  as  the  world  calls  it, 
make  a  successful  career  in  the  clerical  profession. 
—  It  is  not  natural  gifts,  but  heartfelt  piety, 
which  decides  as  to  the  testimonials  which  the 
Lord  grants,  and  as  to  capacity  for  office  in  His 
eyes. — Ver.  12.  Least  of  all  should  a  preacher  be 
a  stumbling-block  and  cause  of  destniction  to 
others.  Yet  the  grace  of  God  will  still  raise  up 
from  their  fall  even  those  who  caused  others  to 
fall.  Grace  and  always  g:-ace.  Let  us  not  despise 
the  offer,  let  us  not  neglect  the  day  of  grace. — 
But  there  is  no  grace  without  self-judgment  and 
self-condemnation. — The  sins  of  the  preacher  le 
their  consequences  as  regards  the  life  of  the  com 
munity. — "  A  minister  of  the  Church  ought  to  Ixi 
a  pattern  to  the  flock  in  doctrine  and  life,  1  Tim, 
iv.  12;  2  Tim.  i.  13;  Tit.  ii.  7"  (Stakck). 
The  servant  who  knows  his  lord's  will  and  doei 
it  not  shall  receive  a  double  amount  of  stripes.- 


iG2 


EZEKIEL. 


Vers.  13,  14.  The  ignominy  of  failure  In  mini- 
Itfrial  life  :  personal  access  to  God  is  hindered, 
and  the  oHioe  becomes  a  torment. — "  Wlierein 
3an  they  who  have  cause  to  be  ashamed  before 
others  of  their  former  doings,  and  have  given 
much  offer  ce  to  others,  complain  of  God  that  the 
first  have  become  last,  when  God  still  finally 
receives  and  takes  hold  of  them,  although  they 
do  not  attain  to  such  a  high  position  as  other- 
wise they  might  have  attained  to,  and  which 
otheiu  have  attained  to  ?  Should  they  not  rather 
extol  God's  exceeding  gi-eat  and  undeserved  mercy 
to  them?"  (Behl.  Bib.) 

Vers.  15,  16.   The  sons  of  Zadok  are  those  who 
have  neither  received  the  mark  of  the  beast  in 
their  hand  nor  in  their  forehead  (Rev.  xiii.). — 
"  Faithful  servants  of  God  are  highly  esteemed 
in    His   sight,   Ps.   cv.   15"   (Cr.). — Ver.   16  sq. 
Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see 
God  (Matt.  v.). — "Sheep  they  ought  to  be,  but 
neither  to  keep  the  sheep  for  the  sake  of  the 
fleece,    nor   to    enter    in    in    sheep's    clothing " 
'Berl.  Bib.). — "Let  him  who  desires'to  be  found 
it  last  among  them  that  are  clothed  in  white 
robes,  be  diligent  to  have  a  conscience  void  of 
offence,  Acts  xxiv.  15  sq."  (Starke). — The  pre- 
cepts according  to  the  law  should  remind  us  that 
preachers  particularly  run  within  lists,  as  Paul 
writes  of  the  Christians.     What  is  fitting  for  any 
one  else  may  yet  be  far  from  seemly  in  a  preacher. 
— But  it  is  just  those  who  take  things  easy  that 
speak  most  of  their  severe  toil  and  the  heayy 
labour  they  have  to  undergo. — Ver.  19  sq.   "Let 
them  manifest  their  intimate  fellowship  with  God 
and  the  glorious  privileges  over  which  their  soul 
rejoices   in  a  becoming  walk   and   conversation. 
They  are  not  to  conform  to  the  world,  but  to 
shine  as  lights  among  men  (Phil.  ii.  15)  ;  while 
at  the  same  time  they  are  not  to  make  a  show 
of  their  inward  life,  lest  the  people  from  hypo- 
crisy should  imitate  that  to  which  their  mind 
is  a  stranger"  (Heim-Hoff.). — "They  certainly 
should  go  among  the  people,   but   not   seek  to 
exalt  themselves  over  the  people  because  of  their 
prerogatives,  but  to  hold  converse  with  them  as 
brethreu  with  brethren  "  (Coco. ).     (Comp.  on  ch. 
xlii.    14.) — He  who  ministers   at   the  sanctuary 
must  never  seem  profane,  nor  a  fop  in  his  attire, 
nor  comic  in  his  speech,  nor  a  man  of  the  world 
in  his  transactions.     He  may  seem  ridiculous  to 
the  world,  only  never  conformed  to  the  world. — 
But   the   pretended   sanctification   through  holy 
priests  is  also  of  the  devil,  for  of  God  Christ  is  made 
to  us  sanctification,   etc.,  and  there  is  no  other 
mediator  than  He,  the  only  Mediator  between  God 
and  men. — Ver.  20  sq.  Seemly,  but  not  remark- 
able either  in  defect  or  excess. — Men  of  extremes 
are  unfit  for  the  holy  ministry. — "The  spirit  of 
believers  is  a  spirit  of  power,  and  of  love,  and 
of  a  sound  mind,  2  Tim.  i.  7  "  (Behl.  Bib.). — 
Y*r.  22.   Ministers'  widows  an  exception  among 
widows. — But  this  neither  bids  ministers  marry, 
nor  forbids  their  remaining  unmarried,  only  the 
marriage  ought  to  be  a  priestly  one. — The  spiritual 
side  of  the  married  state. — Ver.  23.  As  their  life, 
BO  above  all  their  teaching  ought  to  preserve  the 
people  from  defilement,  and  train  them  to  purity. 
— Ver.    24.   God's  word  is  God's  judgment,  the 
righteous  Judge,  right  law  and  upright  judgment. 
—The  servant  of  God  as  umpire  in  disputes.     He 
must  Dot  be  a  party  man,   but  stands  over  the 
parties.— The  Sabbath  in  the  pastor's  house  also 


a  subject  for  reflection. — Ver.  2.1  si).  They  who  ar« 
the  messengers,  heralds,  and  repi'esentatives  of  ao 
eternal  life  shall  neither  have  their  serenity  dis- 
turbed by  the  death  of  believers,  which  is  no 
death,  nor  their  pure  walk  defiled  by  the  life  of 
the  spiritually  dead,  which  is  no  life. —  "Have 
no  fellowship  with  those  who  love  dead  works 
but  hate  the  life  of  God  "  (Berl  Bib.).— We  toe 
are  allowed  to  wipe  our  eyes,  as  God  wipes  away 
eveiy  tear  from  the  eyes  of  His  saints. — At  Jeho- 
vah's altar  is  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost 
(Ps.  cxxxii.  9,  16).— Ver. '28.  "Why  dost  thou, 
0  teacher,  strive  for  a  larger  stipend  and  greater 
income  ?  Knowest  thou  not  that  the  Lord  Him- 
self will  be  thine  inheritance  and  thy  exceeding 
great  reward,  or  wishest  thou  not  that  He  should 
be  so?"  (TOb.  Bib.) — "All  who  have  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  for  their  possession,  are  also  truly 
priests.  God  feeds  them  wholly  on  what  is  hal- 
lowed, and  he  who  will  have  a  blessing  in  his 
house  must  evince  love  to  them"  (Diedrich). — 
What  greater  inheritance  can  there  be  than  God, 
the  Lord  of  all  ;  and  what  greater  possession  than 
He  who  made,  who  sustains,  and  rules  heaven 
and  earth? — "  So  Christians  ought  not  to  endea- 
vour after  filthy  lucre  ;  they  are  not  to  have  their 
portion  in  this  world,  but  to  have  their  home  in 
heaven"  (CEcoL.). — Ver.  31.  "In  God's  service 
there  is  no  filthy  lucre.  The  Lord  purifies  every- 
thing for  them  who  eat  with  Him  "  (Diedricu). 

On  Ch.  xlv. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "Here  in  particular  I  acknow- 
ledge the  weakness  of  my  knowledge.  I  silently 
revere  the  mysteries  of  this  passage.  Neither 
will  any  mortal  explain  them  completely,  be- 
cause that  which  God  has  prepared  for  them  that 
love  Him  does  not  come  into  the  heart  of  man. 
This  indeed  I  see,  that  he  speaks  of  the  posses- 
sion of  the  land  of  the  living,  as  also  the  Keve- 
lation  of  John  has  borrowed  much  from  this  pas- 
sage."  Thus  Qicolampadius  expresses  himself. 
— "God  promises  believers  an  inheritance,  and 
will  also  give  it  them  in  due  time,  but  that  is  in 
heaven  "  (Stauck). — "  God  the  Lord  needs  in- 
deed no  land  for  Himself,  yet  it  is  for  His  honour 
when  real  estates  are  bequeathed  to  churches  and 
schools,  that  those  who  labour  in  them  may  re- 
ceive their  support  from  them.  Gen.  xlvii.  22 " 
(Starke). — "They  who  live  from  God's  hand  are 
content  with  His  measure,  even  when  it  turns 
out  small  and  modest"  (Starck). — "  It  ought  to 
be  our  joy  to  be  near  God,  to  be  associated  with 
Him"  (STAKfiK). — Ver.  2.  "There  is  nothing 
twisted  and  crooked  with  God  ;  with  Him  every- 
thing isstraight"(STAROK). — "The  paths  are  often 
crooked  and  yet  straight  on  which  Thou  makest 
Thy  children  come  to  Thee,"  etc.  (Arnold.) — 
Ver.  3.  The  sanctuary  was  situated  in  the 
centre  of  all  ;  so  ought  religion  to  be  the  central 
point  of  all  life,  and  Christ  the  centre  of  true 
religion.  —  Religion,  faith,  Christianity  ought 
not,  either  in  the  life  of  nations  or  of  indivi- 
duals, to  be  placed  in  a  corner  merely  as  a  tole- 
rated piece  of  antiquity. — Ver.  4.  "  If  those  who 
labour  in  the  church  and  the  school  have  no 
official  houses,  still  they  must  have  houses  to 
dwell  in.  Therefore  it  is  fitting  that  the  com- 
munity should  build  such,  and  keep  them  in  a 
habitable  condition  "  (Starke). — "  When  mini- 
sters' houses  are  near  the  church,  they  jan  th- 


CHAP.  XLVI. 


■ifia 


better  attend  to  their  ofiice,  1  Chron,  ix.  27  "  (0.). 
— "The  Lord's  faithful  priests  shall  dwell  beside 
Him,    and  be  with  Christ,   for  refreshment  and 
revival  from  the  strife  and  disquiet  of  men  among 
whom  they  are  scattered"  (Cocc. ). — Ver.   5  sq. 
"  Although  a  lesser  service  in  the  Church  appears 
to  be  incumbent  on  church  officers  and  school- 
masters, yet  care  must  be  taken  to  provide  them 
with  food  and  lodging,"  etc.  (Stakck.) — "  Hence 
otiices  and  ranks  which  are  not  mutually  destruc- 
tive ought  to  continue  ;  only  let  each  in  his  place 
belong  to  the  Lord"  (Tossani). — "  The  sanctuary 
is  not  included  in  the  city  or  state  as  formerly, 
for  God  will  not  permit  His  kingdom  to  be  con- 
founded with  the    temporal   power ;  this,    how- 
ever, does  not  mean  that  God  cannot  rule  in  the 
state,  bu    only  that  God's  kingdom  and  human 
kingdoms  are  dilferent.     For  human  authority  is 
not  to  interfere  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  the 
divine  authority  does  interfere  in  the  kingdoms 
of    men,    and   God   makes   subjects    ,obey   their 
princes,  servants  their  masters,  and  children  their 
parents  ;  and  all  obedience,  if  of  the  right  kind, 
is  paid   to    Him   as   the   Lord,   and   to   men  as 
bi'ethren  and  fellow-servants  whom  the  common 
Lord  has  placed  in  authority  for  the  Lord's  sake. 
But  we  do  not  obey  God  for  the  sake  of  a  man, 
nor  can  any  man  by  his  power  make  us  obedient 
to  God,"  etc.  (Cocc.) — "Hence  when  this  pro- 
phecy places  the  sanctuary  outside  of  the  city, 
and  yet  anne-xes  the  sanctuary  to  the  city,  that 
indicates   that  in   the  kingdom  of  Christ  states 
and   governments   wUl  belong   to  the  people  of 
God  ;  in  which,   however,  the   kingdom  of  God 
•will   not  be  absorbed   nor  confined"  (Cooc.).^ 
"The   magisterial   office  is  holy,   and   has   also 
part  in  the  holy.  Num.  vii.   ]   sq."  (Cu.) — "For 
princes  to  have  their  domains  is  not  unjust,  but 
they  should  not  seek  to   draw   everything  into 
these  domains,"  etc.  (Stakkk. ) — Ver.  8  sq.   "To 
protect,  but  not  to  fleece. — "Governments  ought 
to   give   good   heed   to   weights,    measures,    and 
coinage,   and  allow  no  inequalities  to  creep  in  " 
(TiJB.   Bib.). — "Christians  ought  to  be  upright 
in  their  dealings,  1  Thess.  iv.  6"  (0.). — "  Know- 
ingly to  pass  spurious  coin  is  intentional  deceit, 
and  so  is  the  clipping  of  coins  in  order  to  lessen 
their  weight"    (Starke). — "Unjust  gain  does 
not  profit  the  third  generation.     Lightly  come, 
lightly  gone"    (Hafenkeffer). — Ver.     13    sq. 
"  Even  the  small  gifts  of  the  poor,  when  given 
in  tiTie  love,  are  an  acceptable  offering,  Heb.  xiii. 
16"  (Cocc). — -"It  is  reasonable  that  a  man  set 
apart  a  considerable  portion  of  his  income  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  support  of  the  true  worship, 
Rom.  XV.   16"  (TttB.   Bib.). — "The  revenue  for 
spiritual  objects  is  most  defrauded"  (Starke). — 
There   are  liberals  and  liberals  ;   the   liberals  of 
former  days  built  churches,  the  liberals  of  to-day 
would  like  to  tear  them  down  ;  to  the  former, 
■jhurch  endowment  was  an  aim,  to  the  latter  an 
eyesore. — "Almsgiving  in  private  is  a   fruit  of 
faith  ;  but  not  less  so  is  liberality  in  endowments 
for  churches  and  schools ' '  ( Cocc. ).  — The  Christian 
lounificence  of  our  fathers  was  a  very  different 
thing  from  the  duty  of  subscribing  to  associations 
imposed  on  their  chOdren,  and  from  the  whole 
ordinary  system  of  collecting  as  it  is  carried  on  to 
raise  supplies  for  the  kingdom  of  God. — Ver.  15. 
"  The  antitype  of  the  lambs,  the  Lamb  that  bore 
the  sin  of  the  world"  (Starck). — The  sacrifices 
cousiderel  in  Christ.-  Christian  sacrifices    are 


spiritual  sacrifices. — The  fulfilling  of  the  sacrifices 
in  the  Spirit  of  Christ. — Ver.  17.    "  When  Chris' 
on  the  cross  consecrated  the  new  temple.  He  can 
celled  our  sins  "  (Heim-Hoff.  ). — Ver.  18  sq.   The 
new  year  of  grace. — "At  the  beginning  of  the  new 
year  of  grace,  and  with  the  newly  rising  light,  the 
temple  was  again  raised  up  or  opened,  and  the  true 
justification  and  sanctification  through  the  sa<ri- 
fice  of  Christ  recognised  and  proclaimed  "  (Berl. 
Bib.  ).  — Without  cleansing  there  is  no  sanctuary 
for   man,   nor  sanctification  of  him  ;   "  Let  him 
who  desires  to   be  clean  cleanse  himself  iu  the 
blood  of  Christ,  1  John  i.  7  "  (Statxk). — Ver.  20. 
Sin  as  error  and  seduction,  and  error  and  seduc- 
tion as  sin. — "  We  ought  to  attend  divine  service 
from  beginning  to  end"  (Cr.). — Ver.  21  sq.   The 
ever  -  renewed    remembrance   of    redemption    in 
every   participation   of   the   Lord's  Supper,    and 
also   in   the   experience  of  believers. — Every  so- 
lemnization  of    the    Lord's    Supper    a    fulfilled 
paschal  solemnity. — But  our  passover  is  Christ, 
1  Cor.  V. — How  wearisome  are  church  festivals  tc 
the  men.  of  our  time!  —  "This  prophetic  repre- 
sentation- contains  a  beautiful  pattern  for  many  a 
laud  ;  yet  the  main  matter  is  this,  that  the  Holy 
Ghost   teaches   us   here  how   firmly  and  fixeilly 
God  with  His  grace  has  settled  down  among  us 
men,  and  how  priesthood  and  royalty  are  upheld 
in    Christendom   from   His   fulness.      But   they 
must  keep  close  to  the  sanctuary,  and  the  magis- 
tracy must  protect  the  confessors  of  the  truth  on 
the  right  and  on  the  left.     The  deepest  ground, 
however,    is   this :  Christ's   disciples   are   all    o( 
them  priests,   and  they  themselves  are  also  the 
royalty  ;  they  themselves  offer  sacrifice  and  also 
protect   themselves,    for   God   Himself    is    their 
strength  through  Christ.     He  who  has  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  will  easily  understand  the  whole  of  this 
figure,"etc.  (Diedrich).^"  Itbehoves  us  to  cele- 
brate the  feast  of  tabernacles   in  spirit  and   in 
truth    so   much  more  than  the  Jews  the  nearei 
we  approach  eternity.     For  the  nearer  we  come 
thereto,  the  less  ought  we  to  hold  by  this  world, 
but   on   the    contrary   ought    to    withdraw   our 
thoughts   from   the   earth,    from   houses,    cities, 
and  lands,  and  allow  scarcely  a  thought  to  arise 
in  us  that  we  still  have  a  portion  on  earth  and  in 
the  world  ;  but,  since  we  only   dwell  in  taber- 
nacles, let  us  have  our  loins  girded,  as  those  who 
are  ready  to  depart,  that  they  may  be  with  the 
Lord"  (Bebl.    Bib.). — "Our  home  is  above,  to 
which   we   draw   nearer  every  moment "  (Heim- 
HoFF.). — Tabernacles  ought  to  be  as  passover  ; 
that  is,  we  ought  to  pursue  our  pilgrimage  on  the 
ground  of  eternal  redemption. 

On  Ch.  xlvi. 

Ver.  1.  "  There  is  a  time  for  prayer  and  a 
time  for  work.  On  work-days  we  are  not  vc"  rest, 
as  on  the  Sabbath.  He  who  does  not  work  ought 
not  to  eat,  whatever  his  pretences  are.  The  door 
to  the  Father,  the  Source  of  all  grace,  opens  itself 
to  us  when  the  gracious  light  of  the  love  of  God 
again  shines  forth,  as  it  often  does  after  great 
darkness.  The  way  to  the  Father,  on  which 
Christ  preceded  us  when  He  prayed  for  us,  now 
stands  always  open  to  us,  for  the  Sabbath  is 
eternal,  and  we  see  the  door  to  the  inHer  sanc- 
tuary of  the  temple  :  only  in  a  figure  through  a 
flass  do  we  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord"  (Heim- 
low.)- — -^^  the  door,  but  not  at  the  altar.— 


t64 


EZEKIEL. 


The  temporal  power,  moreover,  ought,  in  rever- 
ence for  what  is  saci'ed, — which  is  and  ought  to 
remain  sacred  to  its  subjects, — not  to  overstep 
the  privileged  position  assigned  to  it,  not  to  com- 
mand or  forbid  when  it  has  no  authority  for  the 
one  or  the  other.  —  "Princes  and  lords  should 
abide  in  their  calling"  (Cr.). — "But  the  tem- 
poral power  and  teachers  and  preachers  ought 
also  to  live  in  harmony  with  one  another,  aud  to 
assist  one  another  in  furthering  the  glory  of  God, 
2  Chron.  xix.  11  "  (W. ). — Ver.  3  sq.  Prayer  and 
diligent  attendance  on  divine  service  are  becom- 
ing alike  for  people  and  prince. — In  the  Old  Cove- 
nant it  is  said  :  before  the  Lord  ;  in  the  New  Cove- 
naut ;  in  the  Lord. — Ver.  8  sq.  Kvery  one  has 
his  assigned  path  under  God's  guidance,  and  on 
it  he  should  abide. — "God's  guidance  demands 
quiet ;  where  the  foot  itself  makes  a  noise,  the 
will  of  the  eternal  Father  is  exchanged  for  our 
ovni  choice"  (Zinzendorf). — "  But  many  shall 
come  from  the  north  and  from  the  south  to  wor- 
ship in  the  Lord'shouse,  Matt.  viii.  11"(Stakke). 

—  "The  influence  of  love  shall  extend  into  the 
whole  world  from  the  south  to  the  north,  so  that 
they  from  the  north  and  they  from  the  south 
shall  go  to  meet  one  another,  in  order  to  receive 
and  embrace  one  another  as  brethren"  (Berl. 
Bib.). — "  He  that  will  serve  God  must  never  go 
backward,  but  always  forward,  growing  in  grace, 
2  Pet.  iii.  18  "  (Starck). — "  No  one  should  go 
out  of  the  church  as  he  came  into  it ;  he  should 
always  take  home  with  him  something  for  his 
edification,  Eccles.  iv.  17  [v.  1];  Acts  xvi.  14" 
(Starke). — The  prince  has  to  go  in  the  midst  of 
his  people,  that  his  prerogative  be  not  perverted 
into  injustice  ;  for  the  people  do  not  exist  for  the 
sake  of  the  prince,  but  the  prince  for  the  sake  of 
the  people. — "When  magistrates  and  authorities 
give  a  good  example  to  subjects  and  subordinates, 
that  is  a  stronger  motive  than  much  teaching  and 
exhortation,  2  Sam.  vi.  15"  (Stakke). — Ver.  11  sq. 
Grace  makes  the  heart  free,  and  so  also  willing. 
Voluntariness  is  a  measure  of  grace,  as  merciful- 
ness is  a  sign  that  we  ourselves  shall  obtain  mercy. 

—  "He  who  confines  his  prayers  and  devotions  to 
Sundays  and  festivals  does  not  yet  know  what  it 
is  to  serve  God,  what  it  is  always  to  pray  (Luke 
xviii.  1)  and  to  worship  God  in  spirit  aud  in  truth. 
Daily  ought  we  to  exhort  and  arouse  ourselves, 
that  we  fall  not  again  into  sin  ;  daily  ought  the 
praise  of  God  to  be  heard  from  our  mouth,  Heb. 
iii.  13  "  (Starke). — In  every  gift  God  looks  on 
the  giver's  heart  :  My  son,  give  me  thine  heart. — 
A  people  that  shall  be  pure  willingness,  the  pro- 
spect held  out  in  Ps.  ex. — As  God's  grace  is  new 
every  morning,  so  also  ought  our  devotion  to  Him 


to  be  renewed  every  morning.  — The  whole  life  of 
man  ought  to  be  a  life  consecrated  to  God.— 
"  Our  whole  life  should  be  a  sacrifice,  from  morn- 
ing to  night,  and  next  morning  again"  (Beki- 
Bib.). — The  con^ecratiou  of  time. — Since  Chri.st's 
appearance  the  night  has  disappeared,  aud  the 
day  has  come  ;  there  are  now  only  morning  satii- 
fices. — Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  was  a  ques- 
tion of  pre-Christian  longing.  Is  there  not  yet 
light  towards  Hebron !  was  the  daily  question 
of  the  priest  in  the  old  temple.  —  "The  whole 
section  is  of  the  deepest  importance  for  us,  ina.<j- 
much  as  it  instructs  us  to  live  in  the  word,  when 
God's  grace  does  not  make  itself  known  to  us  iu 
the  visible  "  (Hengst.  ). — Ver.  16  sq.  If  the  prince 
is  undeistood  to  be  the  Messiah,  then  according 
to  that  view  Christ's  gifts  here  to  the  children  are 
different  from  those  to  servants,  which  are  only 
temporary,  and  taken  from  them  again  ! — "The 
year  of  freedom  shall  be  '  the  day  of  revelation  of 
righteous  judgment,'  which  is  already  exercised 
in  secret.  The  hypocrites,  who  are  condemned 
by  the  silent  judgment  of  their  heart,  shall  one 
day  be  manifest  also  to  the  world  "  (Heim-Hoff.). 
— ■"  Rulers  ought  not  to  invade  the  rights  of  their 
subjects,  1  Kings  xxi.  2sq."  (Tub.  Bib.) — "He 
who  is  profuse  in  giving  is  (easily)  compelled  to 
take  from  others  what  belongs  to  them  "  (  Hengst.  ). 
— "  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  very  different  from 
an  earthly  one,  for  He  supports  His  subjects,  not 
His  subjects  Him,  John  x.  11"  (Starck). — In 
Christ's  kingdom  injustice  has  no  formula,  either 
socially  or  judicially. — "Spiritual  things  ought 
to  be  left  in  the  spiritual  order,  and  temporal  in 
the  temporal ;  confusion  in  this  particular  con- 
fuses the  position  of  the  people  in  other  particu- 
lars also"  (Heim-Hoff. ).  — Ver.  19  sq.  In  the 
kingdom  of  God,  as  in  the  kingdom  of  nature, 
and  in  the  full  sense  of  the  expression,  everything 
has  its  own  place.  Only  the  things  of  men  are 
in  disorder,  because  they  are  sinners,  and  sin  is 
disorder  in  every  respect. — Servants  of  the  Church 
should  have  the  gift  of  distinguishing  times  and 
places,  and  above  all,  of  discerning  the  spirits.  — 
Consideration  for  the  people,  an  important  part 
of  pastoral  prudence. — To  cook  is  to  bring  to  a 
proper  condition,  so  that  the  food  tastes  well  and 
is  agreeable  ;  so  ought  also  the  truth  to  be  pre- 
pared. — Is  not  homiletics  a  kind  of  sacred  cookery  ? 
— ' '  When  teachere  have  rightly  experienced  whole- 
some truths  in  their  heart,  then  they  understand 
also  how  to  set  them  rightly  before  others.  Matt 
xiii.  52  "  (Starke). — "  The  same  kind  of  food 
does  not  do  for  the  simple  and  children  and  for 
grown  men  "  (Berl.  Bib.). 


(2.)  The  Holy  Laud  and  the  Holy  City  (<h.  xlvii.,  xlviii.). 

Ch.  xlvii.  1.  And  he  brought  me  back  to  the  opening  of  the  house,  and,  behold, 
waters  issued  from  below  the  threshold  of  the  house  eastward :  for  the 
front  [the  face]  of  the  house  is  toward  the  east,  and  the  waters  came  down 

2  from  under,  from  the  right  side  of  the  house,  south  of  the  altar.  And  he 
brought  me  forth  the  way  of  the  north  gate,  and  made  me  go  round  the  way 
without  to  the  outer  gate,  the  way  of  the  eastward-looking  [gate] ;  and,  behold, 

3  waters  came  purling  out  from  the  right  side.  When  the  man  went  forth  to 
the  east,  there  was  a  measuring-line  in  his  hand.  And  he  measured  a  thou- 
sand cubits,  and  made  me  pass  through  in  the  water- -waters  to  the  ankles 


CHAP.  XLVII.  405 


4  And  he  measured  a  thousand,  and  made  me  pass  through  iu  the  water — waters 
to  the  knees  [thty  reached].     And  he  measured  a  thousand,  and  made  me  pass 

5  through — waters  to  the  loins.     And  he  measured  a  thousand — a  river  [was  u 
then]  which  I  could  not  pass  through,  because  the  waters  rose  up,  waters  of 

6  swimming,  a  river  that  could  not  be  waded.     And  he  said  unto  me,  Hast 
thou  seen,  son  of  man  1     And  he  led  me,  and  brought  me  back  to  the  bank 

7  of  the  river.     \Vhen  I  returned,  behold,  on  the  bank  of  the  river  very  many 
6  trees,  on  this  side  and  on  that.     And  he  said  unto  me.  These  waters,  going 

out  as  they  do  to  the  east  boundary,  then  flow  down  over  the  steppe,  and 
come  to  the  sea,  brought  forth  [they  come]  to  the  sea,  and  the  waters  are  healed. 
9  And  it  cometh  to  pass  that  every  living  thing  which  shall  creep,  whitherso- 
ever the  double  stream  shall  come,  shall  live ;  and  very  many  fish  are  there, 
for  these  waters  come  thither,   and   they  shall  be  healed ;  and  everything 

10  liveth  to  which  the  river  cometh.  And  it  cometh  to  pass  that  fishers  shall 
stand  on  it  [shau  place  themselves  over  it],  from  En-gedi  even  unto  En-eglaim  there 
shall  be  a  spreading-place  for  nets ;  as  to  their  kind,  their  fishes  shall  be  as 

1 1  the  fishes  of  the  great  sea,  very  many.     Its  mire  [ns  swamps]  and  its  pools  [hoie<], 

1 2  these  shall  not  be  healed  ;  they  are  given  to  salt.  And  [yet]  on  the  river  there 
shall  rise  up,  on  its  bank,  on  this  side  and  on  that,  every  kmd  of  tree  for 
food  ;  its  leaf  [foliage]  shall  not  fade,  nor  its  fruit  cease  ;  according  to  its  months 
it  bears  first-fruits,  for  its  waters  flow  forth  from  the  sanctuary ;  and  its  fruit 

13  is  for  food  and  its  leaf  [foiiace]  for  healing.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah: 
The  territory  itself,  the  land  which  ye  shall  take  to  you  for  an  inheritance, 

1  i  [shall  be]  for  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel ;  for  Joseph  [two]  portions.  And  ye 
inherit  it,  every  one  as  his  brother,  which  I  lifted  up  My  hand  to  give  to 

15  your  fathers ;  and  [so]  this  land  falleth  to  you  for  inheritance.  And  this  is 
the  border  of  the  land  on  the  north  side,  from  the  great  sea  on  the  way  to 

IG  Hethlon,  to  come  to  Zedad  ;  Hamath,  Berothah,  Sibraim,  which  is  between 
the  border  of  Damascus  and  the  border  of  Hamath  ;  Hazar  the  middle,  whi  h 

17  is  on  the  border  of  Hauran.  And  the  border  from  the  sea  is  from  Hazar- 
Enon,  the  border  of  Damascus,  and  [in  the]  north  northward  there  is  the  bor- 

18  der  of  Hamath ;  and  [this]  as  the  north  side.  And  as  to  the  east  side,  from 
between  Hauran,  and  Damascus,  and  Gilead,  and  the  land  of  Israel,  is 
the  Jordan  ;  from  the  border  ye  shall  measure  to  the  east  sea ;  and  [this]  as 

19  the  east  side.  And  as  to  the  south  side,  to  the  right;  from  Tamar  to  the 
waters  of  Meriboth-Kadesh  is  the  inheritance  [to  the  river]  to  the  great  sea ;  and 

20  [this]  as  the  side  to  the  right  southward.  And  with  respect  to  the  west  side, 
the  great  sea  from  the  border  to  over  against  the  way  to  Hamath  ;  this  is  the 

21  west  side.     And  ye  divide  this  land  for  you  according  to  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

22  And  it  cometh  to  pass  that  ye  shall  allot  [divide]  it  as  an  inheritance  to  you 
and  to  the  strangers  sojourning  in  your  midst,  who  have  begotten  children  in 
your  midst ;  and  they  are  to  you  as  the  native  among  the  children  of  Israel ; 

23  with  you  shall  they  share  in  the  inheritance  among  the  tribes  of  Israel.  And 
it  cometh  to  pass,  that  in  the  tribe  with  which  the  stranger  sojourns,  there 
shall  ye  give  him  his  inheritance.     Sentence  of  the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Ver.    1.  Sept. :   K.  lirvyttyir  ^i  in  rat  Xfi9$upx  .  .   .  ire  rou  xkirovt  rev  St^tetj  ixe  forw  txi  to  SvffiaffT7]pioi. 

Ver.    2.  .  .  .  Tfl  uittfj  xatTi^ipiTo —    Vulg. :  .  .  .  aifux  redundantes — 

Ver.    3.  xxfioK  iicio;  iyipof  iitfxtrtxf.    K.  ^*jT^o»  .  .  .  x.  iifiXdtf  i»  .  .  .  ilttp  a^irim.    Vulg.:  .  .  .  et  traduxit  i*m 
ftr  aquam — 

Ver.    4.  .  .  .  «.  ityjXQtt  .  ,  ,  ifigtp  ia^  ruf  f^^paf'  .  .  .  IMf  offuof— 

Ver.  -6.  .  ,  .  ^u/jMpfout,  «.  oiix  yiiutxTn  . . .  iiv^pi^tv .  . .  itlmp  is  pciZ»  x*^M^fh^  ^  ^  Ztixfirtfcuratt,    ^Another  reading: 
^aV  N7,  Syr.,  Arabs.) 

Ver.    6.  Sept.:  ...  in  TO  ;t^iAo;  tow  totobuom  (7.)  to  t.  iTiffT/JO^  f^cu. 

Ver.    8.  .  .  .  ih   rro   raA^Aocjao    T,]»    xpo{    iffliToAaf   ...  1*1    TT,'   'Apafilar  .  .  .  ^x^eLfffai    in  TO  iia/p  TVs;  ix3o>.Vf — 

"Vnlg. :  .  .  .  qux  egrediuntur  adtumutos  tabuti  orientati*  .  .  .  ad  plana  daerti,  intrabunt  mare  ct  exibutU —    (Aiiotbel 

tladinR:  Hpvjn,  Syr.,  Chald.,  Arabs.,  in  hexaplU  Origttia.) 

Ver.     9.  .  ,  .  Toto-oe  *^vxv  rtin  ^mut  rtn  !*s!fO»Tiio  .  .  ,  i  #«TaM«(  .  -  •  vyiat*tt  X.  \riffirxi  irxr   .  .  .  ixti  ^ijfflrai. 

Ver.  10.  .  .  .  ^uyfAc;  c-ctyKtm  iffTtu,  xetr'  airno  irretf  M.  «f  «—    Vtllg.:  .  .  .  pburimm  tpecus  trunt  piscium  <rw 
itoU—    CAnother  reading:  D^J^l.) 


466 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.  11.  .  .  .  i»  T*)  iiiXfoXr,  xlvov  X.  e»  T.  iTiffTpo^  xoTov  X.  i*  T.  uTtpoLfffti  »i/T6t/ —    Vulg. :  M  Ullofibus  auttm  .  . 
m  lalinat  dabunCur.     (Another  veadinK :  VH^'Z^^  et  in  veMilibus  suis.    Sept.,  Syr.) 

Ver.  12.  ,  .  .  T«v  juAey  ^patiriiJ^v  oxi  fi, ;  TaA«i*fl»]  et'  airof ,  Ji>5i  **»]  iajAi/T*}  o  Kctprroi  airey  T>:f  aMtj»oT>]Tcf  at;  rM 
mf^Tafio),nru  .  .  .  *.  ^  ctvoti3ctffi;  eti/Tuv  us  Cyitatv.     Vulg. :  .  .  .  afferet  primiiiva — 

Ver,  13.  .  .  .  Tayra  rot  o/)ia  aMraxKvipeyofi,yirtTS  rn;  yvSt  ''«'f  Sft'Sf^flt  .  .  .  rperStffts  r;t**'"^^*">-  Vult:.  :  Hie  ;*' 
Umtinus  in  quo possidtibitis  terrain  in  .  .  .  quia  Joseph  duplic^m  funiculum  habet.     (.Another  reading :   Ht)  K''3') 

Ver.  15.  .   .   .   Trji  liEyaXtlf  T.  Xx'rx0alv6uffvf  *.  a't^'tf'X'^*''^*'^ i  ^*''  (''TeSey '  HooeflfASa/*. 

Ver.  16.    Mai^irBrpect^   'E^pec^ccy,XuoCLC^   a*ai  pLtirov   T.  6/)iaj^    'HAiatfl  .  .   .   AocfMtrKOu,  Kumtn  X.   TOu   Ei^Jtt,   «/  £*«•(»  £*«»■»-• 

Valg. :  .  .  .  e(  confimurr.  Emath,  domus  Tichon  qux  est — 

Ver.  17.  .  .  .  aire  r.  xiiXr,;  iiTj  Aivact.    (Another  TeadinK:  nNC  nSTO 

Ver.  18.   .   .  ,  avoc  pclffov  rr,?  '  [IpxviTiiti    ...   0  '\opi{cvr,f   iiept^ii  in  T.  6x\ataffixr  T.  vpot  ivartfXaf   ioi>iX4$yor —      VulC 

'  .  .  de  medio  Auran  .  .  .  Jordanis  disterminaiu  ad  mare  orientate;  metiemini  etiam  plagam —    (Another  reading: 
D'n  nj; ;    DNB  DNT,  etiam,  Ver.  19.) 

Vei.  19.  .  .  .  T^es  V6T0V  X.  Xil^a.  are  ^ocipucv  x.  iaiyixtnoi  iaii  iiSecTo;  yLvpifLoiB  EaS*if,  XKpixTu^ev  Wi —  Vulff. :  Plaga 
autem  auitralis  meHdiana  .  .  .  aquas  contradictionis  Cades,  et  torrens  usque^  (Another  reading:  713  ^Dj  Vulg., 
Syr.,  Chald.) 

Ver.  20.  Towto  tb  papos  votos  x.  Xf^,  touto  to  fjtlpos  Tfif  8x>.x<rffY,s  T.  pLlyxXrtS  itopi^tl,  tai{  xix7ifotvTt  rrf  tiffoic-j  'H^afl, 
ims  tiffeZeu  etCreu —    Vulg.;  .  .  .  a  co^finio per  directum,  donee  venias —     (Another  reading :   D^'HSD   HKV) 

Ver.  22.  Sept  :  B«A£iti  olutviv  ev  xXjjptt  .  .  .  trpotrriKt^roK  .  .  .  pud'  ifx*/v  ^etyovrau  £v  xXripov6pi.ta. —  Vulg. ;  .  .  .  vobU 
cum  dividerit  possessionem — 

Ver.  23.  .  .  .  iv  fyAjj  ^porvjXuTUt  it  rois  rper*i>Mrois  fj.fi  Aiirmt.    'Exit  iuffiTi  .  .  .  aiiTcie — 


EXEGETICAL  REMARKS. 

As  the  entrance  of  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel 
(ch.  xliii.  and  xliv.)  forms  the  centre  for  the  first 
section  of  this  closing  vision  of  the  glory  of  Jeho- 
vah's kingdom,  namely,  for  the  temple  and  its 
service,  so  the  waters  of  life  from  the  temple  give 
the  key-note  for  the  second  section, — the  holy 
land  and  the  hoi}'  city, — and  at  the  same  time 
furnish  the  interpretation  of  the  second  and  there- 
by of  the  first  section. 

Vers.  1-12.     The  Waters  of  Life.' 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE. 

[  '•  It  is  necessary  to  take  the  first  part  of  this 
chapter  apart  from  the  second,  which  relates  to  a 
different  subject,  the  new  division  of  the  land, 
and  which  ought  to  have  formed  part  of  ch. 
xlviii.  The  vision  contained  in  the  first  twelve 
verses  of  this  chapter  is  a  thing  by  itself,  although 
it  stands  in  close  connection  with  what  jirecedes, 
and  springs  naturally  out  of  it.  The  prophet  has 
been  exhibiting,  by  means  of  a  variety  of  de- 
tailed representations,  the  blessed  results  to  the 
Lord's  people  of  His  re-occupying  His  temple. 
The  way  now  stands  open  to  them  for  a  free  and 
elevating  communion  with  the  Lord  ;  and  the 
work  proceeds,  on  their  part,  by  the  regular  em- 
ployment of  all  spiritual  privOeges  and  the  faith- 
ful discharge  of  holy  ministrations.  God  is  duly 
glorified  in  His  people,  and  His  people  are  blessed 
in  the  enjoyment  of  His  gracious  presence  and 
the  benefit  of  His  fatherly  administration.  But 
what  is  to  be  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  in  this 
new  form,  in  respect  to  the  world  without !  Is  it 
to  be  of  a  restrictive  or  expansive  character  f  Is 
the  good  it  discloses  and  provides  for  a  regene- 
rated people  to  be  confined,  as  of  old,  to  a  select 
spot,  or  is  it  to  spread  forth  and  communicate 
itself  abroad  for  the  salvation  of  the  world  at 
large  ?  In  an  earlier  prophecy  (ch.  xvii. ),  when 
speaking  of  the  future  Head  of  the  divine  king- 
dom under  the  ima^e  of  a  little  twig,  plucked 
from  the  top  of  a  cedar  in  Lebanon,  and  planted 

I  W.  Nehmann  :  The  Waters  0/  Life.  An  Eiegetlcal  DlB- 
aulHliion  on  Ereklel  xlvli.  1-12.  Berlin,  1848.  Somewhat 
hyperboiical,  but  written  with  intelligent  and  hearty  appre- 
ciation. Ifl  the  spirit  of  the  language  and  faith  of  the  pro- 
phets of  IsraeL 


upon  a  lofty  mountain  in  Israel,  the  projihet  had 
represented  this  not  only  as  growing  and  taking 
root  there,  but  as  winning  the  regard  of  all  the 
trees  of  the  field,  and  gathering  under  its  ample 
foliage  beasts  of  every  kind  and  birds  of  every 
wing.  The  kingdom  of  God,  as  thus  exhibited, 
seemed  to  carry  a  benign  and  difi'usiie  aspect 
toward  the  entire  world.  And  should  it  be  other- 
wise now,  when  presented  under  the  different  but 
more  detailed  and  variegated  form  of  a  .spiritual 
house,  with  the  living  God  Himself  for  the  glo 
rious  Inhabitant,  and  a  royal  priesthood  for  its 
ministering  servants  ?  No  ;  it  is  for  humanity, 
mankind  as  a  whole,  that  God  was  thus  seen 
dwelling  with  men  ;  and  though  everything  pre- 
sents itself,  according  to  the  relations  then  exist- 
ing, as  connected  with  a  local  habitation  and 
circumscribed  bounds,  yet  the  good  in  store  was 
to  be  confined  within  no  such  naiTow  limits  ;  it 
was  to  flow  forth  with  healthful  and  restorative 
energy,  even  upon  the  waste  and  deail  places  of 
the  earth,  and  invest  them  with  the  freshness  of 
life  and  beauty. 

"  This  fine  idea  is  presented  by  the  prophet 
under  a  pleasing  natural  image.  He  is  brought 
back  by  the  angel  from  the  outer  court,  where  hf 
was  standing,  to  the  door  of  the  temple  on  the 
east ;  and  there  he  sees  a  stream  of  water  gushing 
from  beneath  the  threshold,  and  running  in  the 
direction  of  south-east,  so  as  to  pass  the  altar  on 
the  south.  He  is  then  brought  outside  by  the 
north  gate,  and  carried  round  to  where  the 
waters  appeared  beyond  the  temple-grounds,  that 
he  might  witness  the  measurements  that  were  tc 
be  made  of  them,  and  the  genial  effects  they  pro- 
duced."— Fairbairn's  tkekiel,  pp.  489-491.— 
W.  F.] 

The  bringing  back  of  the  prophet  in  Ver.  1  is 
explained  from  the  circumstance  that  he  had 
tarried  (ch.  xlvi.  21)  in  the  outer  court ;  latterly, 
at  the  sacrificial  kitchens  for  the  people.  The 
opening  of  the  house  is  the  temple  gate,  where 
the  entrance  into  the  holy  place  of  the  temple 
opens. — nnjlD  stands  fii-st  by  itself,  both  times 

parallel  to  each  other,  to  describe  the  very  first 
impression,  namely,  that  the  waters  (HXv.  :  "in 
particular,  living  spring  water  is  often  in  Si-rip- 
ture  a  symbol  of  the  divine  blessings,  Isa.  xli. 
17  sq.,  xliv.  3  ")  came  forth  from  below,  and  sc 


CHAP.  XLVII.  1,  2. 


4tj; 


did  not  pour  down  from  the  heavens,  but  issued 
from  the  depth  of  the  sacred  foundation  upon 
the  mountain  ;  and  this  is  without  doubt  to  be 
thought  of  in  connection  with  the  filling  of  the 
house  -with  the  glory  of  Johovah  (ch.  xliu., 
xliv.).  What  Tacitus  observes  {Hist.  v.  12) 
about  "a  never-drying  fountain,  whole  mountains 
hollowed  out  below  the  surface,  and  ponds  and 
cisterns  for  keeping  the  rain  water  ; '  or  when 
Robinson  does  not  doubt  that  there  is  in  the  rock 
"an  artificial  well  at  a  depth  of  some  80  feet 
below  the  Harani,"— all  this  serves  for  under- 
standing the  prophet  only  by  way  of  contrast ; — 
he  means  and  intends  to  describe  nothing  of  the 
kind.  [VV.  Kraft  (Topographie  von  Jerusalem) 
thinks  that  the  prophetic  contrast  refers  to  the 
spring  known  only  to  the  priests  as  hidden,  and 
whose  water  served  only  for  the  outward  cleansing 
of  the  people.]— The    n'an  [nSO   that  follows 

subjoins  the  more  exact  definition  of  the  first 
nnriD,  iis  :  below  the  threshold  of  the  door  of 

the  temple,  nnnO  without  a  ^,  so  that  we  have 

to  seek  the  fountain-head  not  at  this  threshold, 
but  farther  in  in  the  house. — The  reason  for  say- 
ing eastward  is  the  "eastern"  position  of  the 
temple  front  ;  the  waters  which  issued  from  below 
the  house  flowed  toward  the  place  where  the  glory 
of  the  Eternal  had  entered  the  house.  Even 
Hitzig's  dictum,  which  makes  no'lp  to  mean  ; 

"  in  the  east,"  does  not  destroy  the  very  expres- 
sive causal  nexus  of  the  two  sections  of  these 
concluding  chapters  of  Ezekiel  ;  but  W.  Neu- 
mann acutely  observes  :  "  The  circumstance  that 
the  water  flows  east  appears  significant  to  the 
seer,  and  yet  again,  on  the  other  hand,  natural  ; 
for,  says  he,  the  front  of  the  house  is  toward  the 
east.  According  to  ver.  12,  the  spring-  is  the 
bearer  of  the  mysteries  of  the  sanctuary,  and  con- 
sequently the  means  of  bearing  along  its  ideal 
substance  ;  and  to  this  the  D'jg  [properly  :  '  the 

constantly  changing  multiform  aspects  or  mani- 
festations of  the  soul  through  the  exterior,  the 
complex  unity  of  which  we  call  the  countenance,' 
Stiek]  corresponds ;  because  the  soul  of  the 
temple  looks  to  the  east,  the  gushing  stream 
flows  in  the  same  direction." — This  already  indi- 
cates the  farther  course  of  the  water  as  to  its 
direction  immediately  after  its  gushing  forth 
under  the  threshold  of  the  door  of  the  temple. 
But  before  treating  of  this  direction,  mention  is 
again  made  of  this  so  characteristic  gushing  forth. 
While,   however,  after  the  first  finriD,  to  avoid 

repeating  the  o  before  jnsD,  it  is  merely  said  : 

n'an  inSO  nnnO,  there  now  follows  after  the 

second  nnriD  the  more  exact  statement  :     BHSD 

n'an,  from   the  "shoulder"  of  the  house,  i.e. 

the  right  one.     nnriD  means  here  neither  :  in 

the  south  =  beneath  ( Judg.  vii.  8  which  is 
sufficiently  expressed  by  3330,  nor  .  downwards 

(Hitzig),  which  is  sufficiently  expressed  by 
D'Tl*.       What   is   meant   to   be  described   is   a 

«tream  of  water  flowing  from  the  temple,  not  one 
jondtt-.'ted  into  the   temple ;    hence  the    brook 


Etham  cannot  be  supposed,  from  which  Lightfoc'. 
brings  the  water  by  means  of  subterranean  channels 
for  washing  the  victims  and  cleansing  the  liouse. 
(Comp.  also  the  combination  of  Judah  Leo  iu 
Luudius,  die  alien  jiid.  Heili;jtli.)  Derescr  infei-s 
from  Dm\  that   the   fountain    "fell    into   the 

earth  on  the  south  side  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
oflering  in  the  court  of  the  priests,  and  flowed  on 
under  it  until  it  reappeared  outside  of  the  courts 
of  the  temple. "     Tfi  is  employed  to  accord  both 

with  ver.  8,  and  also  in  general  with  the  view 
current  in  Israel,  according  to  which  that  which 
tends  towards  the  abode  of  the  Highest  ascends, 
and  hence  that  which  comes  out  from  it  will 
descend.  Keil  :  "  because  the  temple  lay  higher 
than  the  inner  court." — n'JOTI.     After  the  re- 

peateiUy  marked  eastern  direction,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  which  right  side  is  meant  ;  a  person 
looking  to  the  east  has  the  south  on  his  right,  as 
also  3J3I3  plainly  indicates.     This  ajJD  li''>s  its 

signification   in  reference  to  the  altar  of  burnt 
offering,    which   stood   before   the   porch  of  th» 

temple  (ch.  xL  47):  nattsi',   the   right    (south i 

side  of  the  house,  the  south  part  of  the  east  side. 
The  fact  that  the  water  issued  "  from  the  south 
end  of  the  threshold,"  Heugst.  explains  from  the 
circumstance  that  "  the  altar  of  burnt-oH'eriiig 
lay  immediately  before  the  east  door  of  the  sanc- 
tuary ;  the  water  must  therefore  issue  not  from 
the  middle  of  the  threshold,  if  it  was  not  to  meet 
with  an  immediate  hindrance ;  it  must  first  come 
forth  where  the  altar  no  longer  stood  in  the 
way."  This  is  quite  natural.  Neumann  speaks 
of  "  the  prominence  given  to  the  right  side  as 
the  side  of  good  fortune  and  power."  He  siiys: 
"  If  even  in  the  feasts  of  the  Bedouins  the  cup- 
bearer must  hand  the  cup  to  the  drinker  from 
the  right,  to  prevent  complaint  of  want  of  re- 
spect, now  could  that  which  was  here  commanded 
by  a  heavenly  hand  for  healing  (ver.  8)  come  from 
another  quarter?"  [Klief.  :  "But  the  temple 
had  two  thresholds,  one  before  the  flight  of  steps 
at  the  door  of  the  fore-porch,  and  one  at  the  west 
end  of  the  porch,  before  the  temple  gate.  If, 
then,  ver.  1  speaks  in  the  outset  of  the  door  of 
the  temple,  that  shows  us  that  we  have  to  under- 
stand the  latter  threshold.  If  the  temple  is  tliK 
body,  and  its  fore-porch  the  head,  then  its  righl: 
shoulder  is  iu  the  angle  which  the  south  wall  o* 
the  temple  porch  forms  with  the  east  wall  of  thi- 
temple.  The  threshold  of  the  door  o!  vhe  templfr 
abutted  with  its  south  end  on  this  corner,  and 
thence  under  the  threshold  the  fountain  gushed 
out  and  ran  down  into  the  inner  court."]  "  The 
water,"  says  Hav.,  "  comes  from  the  sanctuary  ;" 
that  is  to  say,  "  it  is  the  fulness  of  blessing  which 
is  poured  out  over  the  community  from  the  new 
manifestation  of  God.  Without  this  going  before, 
the  people  cannot  serve  the  Lord  in  the  new 
manner  ;  and  the  service  of  God,  again,  is  itself  a 
grace  and  a  gift  from  Him.  If  the  fountain  pro- 
ceeding from  God  is  simply  a  testimony  to  His 
revelation  of  Himself,  then  it  cannot  be  a  mers 
material  fountain." 

Ver.  2.  In  the  court,  surrounded  with  buildingi 
and  walls,  Ezekiel  cannot  descry  the  farther  coursa 
of  the  waters.  For  this  he  is  brought  forth 
through  the  north  gate,  for  the  outer  east  gate  ii 


(G8 


EZEKIEL. 


always  shut,  and  to  go  out  through  the  south 
gate  the  projihet  would  be  obliged  to  cross  over 
the  waters.  (Neumaun  infers,  from  comparing 
ch.  xl.  35,  xliv.  4,  that  the  guide  had  a  prefer- 
ence for  the  north  gate  (but  see  ch.  xlvi.  9),  and 
Baeks  the  reason  in  the  significance  of  the  north 
in  the  prophecies.]  He  proceeds  on  the  outside 
along  the  wall  of  the  outer  court,  the  way  to  the 
e:ist  gate,  as  the  outer  gate  is  more  exactly  desig- 
nated. [Neumann  erroneously,  because  against 
the  prophet's  uniform  mode  of  expression,  refers 
the  epithet  eastward-looking  to  the  way.]  The 
thrice  repeated  •^^y!\  thus  emphasizes  and  depicts 

the  circuit  which  Ezekiel  had  to  take,  because 
the  aim  of  the  prophet's  going — the  regaining  a 
view  of  the  waters — is  the  main  matter.  Whether 
the  waters  flowed  forth  over  or  under  the  courts 
is  not  expressly  stated  ;  at  all  events  they  ran 
under  the  surrounding  walls,  and  doubtless 
under  the  stone  pavement  of  the  outer  coui't. — 
C'DTUni  resumes    verbally,    when    the   waters 

were  seen  again,  the  D^DTtSni  of  ver.  1,  so  that 
the  Q'o  without  the  article  occasions  no  diffi- 
culty whatever  ;  no  other  waters  can  be  imagined 
than  those  which  the  prophet  had  seen  before. — 
D'3SD  (,Piel  particip.    of   n3S)     only   in    this 

passage,  thus  a  unique  and  not  less  pictorial  ex- 
pression. Ges.  :  "to  trickle;"  and  Umbreit 
adduces  its  affinity  with  n33,  so  that  he  gets 

"  weeping"  waters,  which  would  portray  such  an 
"insignificant  commencement  of  the  issue"  as 
does  not  harmonize  with  ver.  1.  How  can  that 
he  thought  of  as  trickling  here  which  has  already 
flowed  through  the  courts  ?  The  affinity  of  the 
expression  with  pp3,  "to  pour  out,"  likewise 

observed  by  Gesenius,  would  lead  to  a  significa- 
tion such  as  :  to  gush  out.  Hitzig  goes  back  to 
']2B,  a  word  which  does  not  exist ;  and  Meier  to 

■]33,  "to   burst  forth"  (?).     Hengst.  thinks  of 

^S,   "a  bottle,"  and  supposes  a  "gurgling,"  like 

the  "  sound  which  the  emptying  bottle  makes," 
which,  however,  does  not  coirespond  to  the 
"character  of  fulness  and  livingness"  which, 
according  to  him,  the  waters  in  themselves  must 
have;  he  translates,  indeed:  "gushed  out." 
Neumann  assumes  a  radical  signification:  "to 
break  up,"  "to  set  free;"  hence:  nSS,  "  to  break 

forth."  To  translate  it  with  Keil :  "to  purl," 
very  probably  comes  nearest  the  figure.  — tinsniD 

n':D'n  ;  Hitzio  :    "not  the  south  side  of  the 

whole  temple-circuit,  but :  the  southern  half  of 
the  east  front  ;"  Neum.  :  "on  the  beholder's  right 
nand,  when  he  has  come  out  here  from  the 
north  ;"  Hengst.  :  "the  right  side  is  here  also 
the  south-east,  the  south  side  of  the  east  gate, 
where  the  water  comes  forth  only  because  it  has 
taken  its  rise  on  the  south-east  side  of  the  temple;" 
Klief.  :  "  the  angle  which  the  eastern  outer  gate 
formed  with  the  wall  of  the  outer  court  is  meant." 
At  all  events  this  is  meant  to  be  expressed,  that 
the  waters  which  Ezekiel  here  saw  again  were  the 
Raters  which  came  from  the  sanctuary. 


Ver.  3.  Hengstenberg  translates  :  "  When  tli« 
man  went  forth  to  the  east  with  the  measuring- 
line  in  his  hand,  he  measured  a  thousand 
cubits,"  etc.  Ezekiel's  guide  is,  in  distinction 
from  ver.  2  ('JS'Vi'l)!  ndw  considered  by  hiruseH 

(B^Nn-nsya).     He  had  i|5  (ch.  xl.  3 :  icns)— 

from  nip,    according  tc  Gesenius:    "to  twist;" 

according  tc  Meier  :  "  to  bring  together" — in  hi* 
hand,  which  is  remarked  because  of  what  fol 
lows,  where  not  merely  the  farther  course  of  the 
waters,  but  still  more  their  peculiarities  during 
the  course,  are  set  forth.  Following  the  waters 
in  an  eastern  direction,  the  man  measured  a 
thousand  cubits. — D'DSX  ''D  gives  the  experi- 
ence of  the  prophet,  whom  the  man  makes  to 
wade  in  the  water  from  one  bank  to  the  other  ; 
hence  it  is  not  appositional  to  D<t33,  but  an  in- 
dependent clause,  the  meaning  of  which  many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  distort,  when  yet  it 
must  contain  a  statement  corresponding  to  the 
following  increments.  Kimchi,  making  use  of 
Gen.  xlvii.  15,  interprets  it:  "water  of  vanish- 
ing "  =  little  water.  The  dual  form  :  D'DSK,  cer- 
tainly does  not  refer  to  an  abstraction,  but,  :ia 
unifonnly,  denotes  things  paired  naturally  or 
ai'tificially  ;  in  the  connection  here,  without  doubt, 
a  corporeal  duality,  but  not,  as  Genesius  :  "  foot- 
soles"  ("shallow  water  which  only  wets  the 
soles");  against  which  Hitzig  justly  obsen-es  that 
the  water  reached  to  the  foot-soles  in  the  very 
beginning.     DDX  'S  not  exactly  the  same  as  pg, 

that  is,  "  extension,"  flat  of  the  hand,  and  hence 
also  flat  of  the  foot,  foot-sole,  but  D'DSN  rather 

suggests  D'BB  lUnS,    a  garment  extended  so  aa 

to  reach  to  the  ankles.  [Neumann  thinks  that 
"waters  of  the  foot-soles"  probably  were  waters 
of  only  the  depth  of  the  sandals,  which  the  pro- 
phet had  put  otl'(!)  in  the  court  of  the  priests, 
and  again  put  on  ;  and  that,  in  conformity  with 
the  phrase:  j-ix  'DDK!  ^^  have  to  think  of  the 

two  ends,  the  two  lower  extremities  of  the  body, 
that  is,  the  feet :  waters  of  the  extremities  were 
waters  which  scarcely  covered  the  feet.  ] — nDN3, 

measured  by  the  measure,  which  was  a  cubit- 
measure. 

Ver.  4.  After  the  second  measuring  of  a  thousand 
cubits,  i.e.  of  distance  alongthe  courseof  the  waters, 
the  result  of  the  waters  becoming  always  deeper 
is  D'3"I3  D'D ;  an  ungrammatical  form,  so  much 

the  more  striking,  as  we  have  the  stat.  constr. 
<D  before   and  after.     See  Hitzig's  explanation, 

which,  however,  is  a  mere  conjecture,  while  the 
supposition  of  a  separate  clause  (waters,  to  the 
knee  they  reach)  is  easier,  and  at  the  same 
time  more  emphatic.  After  a  third  measuring, 
we  have  waters  to  the  loins.  But  after  the 
fourth  measuring  of  another  thousand  cnbits,  i.e. 
in  all,  at  a  distance  of  four  thousand  cubits,  it  is 

— Ver.  S — a  river!  pru  looks  like  an  exclama- 
tion of  Ezekiel's  surprise  on  seeing  what  reminds 
him  of  the  impetuous  rush  of  a  mountain  tor- 
rent.    The  going  through,   hitherto  possible,  i» 


CHAP.  XLVIl.  6,  7. 


4fiS 


1(1  longer  so,    for   the   waters    !)j<J,   "swelled," 

■'grew  in  height  "(Job  viii.  11,  x.  16;  comp. 
also  Ex.  XV.    1)   to  ^nL''"'D,  in  which  swimming 

was  possible,  yea,  necessary,  if  one  were  to  cross 
from  bank  to  bank — to  a  river  which  cannot  be 
waded.  The  prophet  describes  the  increasing 
volume  of  water  by  the  two  parallel  clauses  : 
"  waters  of  swimming,"  "a  river  that  could  not 
be  waded." 

The  question  in  Ver.  6  indicates  the  halting- 
place  in  the  vision,  whereby  what  had  been  already 
Sfcn,  that  is,  the  oui-flow  and  ow-flow  of  the 
waters  in  gradually  increasing  strength,  is,  in 
passing  over  to  what  follows,  marked  off  as  a 
thing  apart  by  itself.  Yet  it  is  specially  the 
continuous  increase  of  the  waters  to  which  the 
prophet's  attention  is  called.  Keil  :  "  A  natural 
brook  cannot  in  so  short  distances  have  increased 
so  mightily,  unless  brooks  fell  into  it  on  all 
sides,  which  was  not  the  case  here. "  Hengst.  : 
"The  Messianic  salvation  crescit  eundo,  while 
the  streams  of  worldly  enterprise  dry  up  after  a 
brief  course — are  streams  whose  waters  lie  (Isa. 
Iriii.  11  ;  Job  vi.  15  sq.).  Comp.  the  supple- 
ment through  the  person  of  the  Mediator  of  sal- 
vation in  Ezek.  xvii.  22,  23  ;  and  in  the  New 
Testament,  the  parables  of  the  mustard  seed  and 
the  leaven.  The  same  progress  which  is  exhi- 
bited in  its  efficacy  among  the  nations  shows 
itself  also  in  the  life  of  individuals,  making  them 
become  great  out  of  small,  fathers  in  God  out  of 
children."  Neum.  calls  attention  to  the  Mes- 
sianic element  in  the  designation  :  son  of  man, 
and  observes  that  "  the  seer  was  thereby  reminded 
that  his  vision  was  for  mankind,  that  this  swell- 
ing stream  flowed  on  to  the  days  of  the  completion 

of  the  human  race."    The  'J3^>1  taken  by  itself 

may  be  a  mere  recording  here  of  what  had  taken 
place  before, — "a  wading  in  to  the  neck"  (Isa. 
viii.  8),  as  Hengst.  expresses  it, — in  order  to  get 
the  knowledge  indicated  in  ver.  5  ;  or,  according 
to  others,  it  is  to  be  taken  in  conjunction  with 
*33t:'"V  ^  defining  it  more  exactly  :  he  brought 

me  back  to  come  np  again  out  of  the  water. — 

'nsb'"^V,  to  the  bank  (np  to  the  bank),  etc. 

Neumann,  Kliefoth,  and  Keil  understand  it  thus  : 
And  he  made  me  go,  namely,  away  from  the  last- 
mentioned  place,  and  brought  me  back  tcr  the 
bank  of  the  river  (Ewald,  too,  in  his  last  edition  : 
"  and  made  me  go  and  return  on  the  bank  of  tlie 
stream").  According  to  this,  the  prophet  was 
led  on  the  bank,  in  order  to  learn  the  depth  of 
the  waters, — but  he  was  rather  led  through  three 
times,  and  hence  the  fourth  time  probably  just  in 
and  out  again  !— and  brought  back  to  the  bank, 
to  see  that  it  was  covered  with  trees.  It  seems, 
however,  to  agree  better  with  the  end  intended, 

to  understand  '^jj  as  stating  the  purpose  ;  for, 

as  Hengst.  says,  the  attention  is  now  to  be  turned 
to  the  bank,  to  observe  it,  and  not  as  hitherto 
the  waters  in  their  bed.  [Hitzig  makes  the  guide 
measure  at  a  distance  from  the  water,  and  the 
prophet,  after  his  last  vain  attempt,  come  to  the 
guide  ;  whereupon  the  latter  put  his  question  to 
the  prophet,  and  returned  with  him  to  the  bank 
of  the  river,  and  during  the  time  that  Ezekiel's 


back  was  turned  to  tl  e  river,  its  bank  be<  am« 
adorned  with  trees.  HXv.  :  "  from  the  cud. 
from  the  point  where  the  river  flows  into  the 
Dead  Sea(!),  the  prophet  returned  once  moie  to 
its  bank."}— Ver.   7.  'JDlt'a,  literally:  "when 

I  turned  myself  back. "  Hitzig  disputes  the  transi- 
tive signification  of  the  verb,  hut  indisputably 
the  objective  soffix  'j  is  attached  to  the  infini- 
tive ;  whereas  Hitzig  takes  the  suffix  as  genitive 
of  possession  :  "when  he  came  back  with  me." 
On  the  return  of  the  prophet  (*331K'3  seems  tc 

comprehend   the  >33B?^1  '337i'1    of  ver.  6) — whc 

would  probably  have  followed  the  course  of  the 
water  still  farther  had  it  depended  on  him,  but 
is  obliged  to  return  to  the  edge  of  the  bank,  just 
because  he  has  to  notice  the  bank  of  the  river, 
and  that  (as  ver.  8  shows)  as  far  back  as  the 
sanctuary — that  is  realized  which  was  intended 
with  a  nam,  as  in  vers.  1  and  2  ;  it  is  the  third 

stage  in  the  vision.  How  much  the  matter 
treated  of  refers  to  the  brink  of  the  river,  the 
repeated  mention  of  it  shows.  But  the  fact  that 
"  so  long  as  the  beholder  followed  the  measurer, 
he  saw  nothing  of  the  trees  on  the  bank,"  arises 
from  the  nature  of  the  process  in  the  vision. 
The  looking  forward  gave  Ezekiel  the  knowlerlge 
of  the  progressive  fulness  and  depth  of  the  waters  ; 
not  until  he  looks  back  does  he  come  to  know — 
with  a  view  to  what  follows — the  fertilizing,  en- 
livening effect  of  these  waters,     y]],  as  the  words : 

very  many,  show,  is  collective  (Gen.  i.  11  sq.,  ii. 
9),  and  in  accordance  with  ver.  12  is  to  be  under- 
stood of  fruit-bearing  trees.  (The  phrase  :  on 
the  brink  of  the  river,  indicates  the  canse.     It 

has  been  said  that  Ezekiel  interchanges    ^y  and 

?X ;  tut  when  the  bringing  of  the  prophet  out  ot 

the  water  and  on  to  the  bank  was  referred  to,  py 

was  emploj'ed  in  ver.  6  ;  here,  where  the  reference 
is  to  the  trees  growing  on  and   overshadowing 

the  bank,  we  have  simply  pj{-)    But  it  confuses 

the  meaning  of  the  waters  when  Hengst.  finds 
here  "the  need  of  salvation  denoted  by  hunger- 
ing as  well  as  by  thirsting, "  Nothing  has  been 
said  of  this  in  connection  with  the  waters.  It  is 
not  the  case  that  "  life  or  salvation  is  here  repre- 
sented in  the  shape  of  the  fruit-tree,  as  before  by 
the  water  "  (for  which  Hengst.  compares  Isa.  Iv. 
1  sq.). — It  cannot  with  strictness  be  said  that 
"the  trees  have  here  no  independent  import,  but 
come  into  account  only  for  their  fniit,"  for  there 
is  not  the  slightest  mention  here  of  their  fruit. 
It  would  be  better,  with  Hitzig,  to  call  to  mind 
ch.  xxxvi.  35,  and  to  think  of  the  restoration, 
cultivation,  and  fertilization  of  the  land  in  gene- 
ral, as  a  blessed  dwelling-place  for  Israel.  The 
trees  are  not  very  "great,"  but  very  "  many," — 
not  one  tree,  as  in  ch.  xvii.  22  sq.  ;  Dan.  iv.  7 
[10]  sq.  "  That  this  stream  here  depends  on  the 
four  streams  watering  the  garden  of  Eden  (Gen. 
ii. ),  and  this  forest  on  the  tree  of  life,  is  a  gra- 
tuitous assertion.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  immor- 
tality-giving power  of  the  trees,  and  the  waters 
no  more  bear  fish  of  paradise  on  their  waves  tha» 
do  the  rivers  in  Ps.  i.  3  "  (Necm.). 


470 


EZEKIEL. 


Ver.  S.  Corresponding  to  the  twofold  direction 
of  the  pniphet's  observation,  the  interpretation, 
which  now  begins,  tells  us  regarding  the  course 
of  the  waters  and  the  efl'ects  they  shall  produce. 
Had  tlie  prophet  desired  to  follow  the  water 
farther,  this  desire  would  have  been  met  by  the 
saying  :  ' '  these  waters  go  out ; "  in  other  words, 
as"  they  come  out  from  the  sanctuary,  vers.  1,  2 
(D'NVS  ver.  1),  i.e.  take  their  departure  thence, 

so  their  progress  is  directed  out  "toward,"  "  to" 
(^S),  etc.— The  statement:  nMolpH  nis'isjn,  is 

no  such  "  general"  determination  of  the  region  in 
wliich  the  waters  are  to  prove  themselves  eftV'ctual 
as  Hengstenberg  supposes.  At  any  rate,  what  is 
thereby  designated  is  not — as  the  exegesis  of  the 
Fathers,  following  the  Sept. ,  delighted  to  maintain, 

in  view  of  Jesus'  residence  there — ^'pan  of  Josh. 
XX.  7;  the  D^^jn  b'bi  of  Isa.  viii.  23  [ix.  1];  the 
northern  district  in  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  called 
n^^i'jn  in  2  Kings  xv.  29 — the  later  Galilee.  On 
the  contrary,  n^itni^H  expressly  distinguishes  it 
from  that  Galilee.  The  verj'  word  n^'^JJ.  the  femi- 
nine formation  from  p'pj,  evidently  denotes  with 
the  article  a  definite  district ;  there  were  several 
'ni^'^sj,  Josh.  xiii.  2  (Joel  iv.  4  [iii.  9]),  xxii. 
10  sq.     Derived  as  it  is  from  773,  "to break  off," 

"  to  roll  off,"  a  "  section,"  something  "  bounded 
off,"  is  to  be  understood  ;  and  because  it  is  here 
in  the  east,  the  border-land  there,  lying  opposite 
the  centre  of  the  land,  would  be  meant,  as  dis- 
tinguished  from   every  other  border   district. — 

After  the  statement  of  the  direction  (px  iW), 

there  follows  the  account  of  the  course  of  the 
waters,  as  also  it  is  said  in  the  outset  in  ver.  1 
(Dm')  that    the  waters,   namely,   came  down 

(flTl),    "  flowed  down,"   ^jj,    that  is,   over. — 

naijjn,  defined  by  the  article,  is  to  be  interpreted 

by  the  context.     From  the  intransitive  3ijj,  to 

be  "contracted,"  hence  to  be  "arid,"  "dry," 
heath,  wilderness,  steppe  is  meant. — Geographi- 
cally, the  Arabah  is  the  whole  valley  of  the  Jor- 
dan, extending  even  beyond  the  Dead  Sea  ;  comp. 
our  Comment,  on  Deut.  i. ;  but  in  accordance  with 
the  previous  definition,  we  find  ourselves  in  that 
part  of  the  Ghor  which  lies  above  the  Dead  Sea. 
— After   t(s'   aid  TV,  we  have  now  Ki3.    the 

coming  to  the  goal.  How  much  stress  is  laid 
upon  this  goal,  as  that  which  is  to  be  defined  in 
respect  to  the  course  of  the  waters,  is  shown  by 

the  repetition  of  nB>n"7K  after  nSTI.  As  the 
Dead  Sea  is  called  in  Deut.  Iii.  17,  iv.  49,  D' 
naijin,  so  in  ver.  18  of  our  chapter  it  is  desig- 
nated the  "east  sea  ;"  and  thus  we  cannot  with 
other  expositors  understand  here  the  western,  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  which,  morefver,  is  distin- 
guished in  ver.  10  as   "the  great  sea."     If  the 


Arabah,  the  ft-yn  u-iJjov  of  Jo.sephus,  which  he 
names  iffifmty,  is  an  unhealthy  plain  "  full  01 
salt  clay,"  then  this  is  only  the  fitting  introduc- 
tion to  the  Dead  Sea,  with  its  well-known  ]ieculi- 
arity.— D^XyiSn  (particip.  Hoph.)  n^'H-^N  li'is, 

following  the  Sept.,  been  translated  :  "  into  tlie  .s'a 
of  the  mouths,"  inasmuch  as  theJf>rdan  falls  into 
it,  and,  according  to  Gadow  (in  tlie  Journal  oj 
the  Gertnan  Oriental  Societi/,  1848,  i.  p.  61), 
forms  "  a  slimy  delta."  [Ew.\ld  :  "  into  the 
sea,  into  the  sea  of  the  muddy  waters  ;"  S^'^HJ, 

"muddy,"  "foul"!]  The  comparison  of  Ztch. 
xiv.  8  and  the  dual  form  in  ver.  H  have  led  others 
to  suppose  a  dividing  of  the  waters,  so  that  ns' 

refers  one  time  to  the  east,  but  afterwards  also  to 
the  west.  "The  prophet,"  says  Umbreit,  "sets 
out  first  and  specially  from  the  Dead  Sea  ;  he 
does  not,  however,  confine  himself  to  it,  bu 
makes  the  waters  flow  also  into  the  great  west 
and  world  sea.  For  the  sea  of  the  wilderness 
appears,  indeed,  as  the  most  fitting  symbol  of  the 
death  of  sin  ('the  Lord  hath  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  sinner,  but  that  he  should  turn  and 
live') ;  but  until  now  there  is  no  water  altogether 
healthy,  and  for  this  very  reason  there  is  a  flow- 
ing forth  of  the  fountain  of  life  still  farther  into 
the  world  of  sin  and  of  death. "  [According  to  the 
Midrashim,  the  river  divides  itself  into  twelve 
waters,  which  flow  to  the  twelve  tribes  ;  it  is 
even  said  to  flow  on  so  far  as  to  Calabria  and  into 
Barbary.]  It  only  remains  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  stress  laid  upon  the  issuing  fortli  of  the 
waters  in  question  in  vers.  1  and  2,  and  again  in 
ver.  12,  we  understand  the  expression :  brought 
forth,  used  of  the  waters  ou  their  way  to  the  sea, 
as  an  emphasizing  again  of  the  fact  that  they  pro- 
ceeded from  the  temple,  and  that  this  is  done  just 
here  in  order  to  pass  on  to  the  purpose  effected 
by  them  when  they  have  reached  their  goal. 
(Hengst.  :  reference  "to  the  higher  hand,  which 
executes,  according  to  deliberate  counsel,  the  plan 
of  salvation."  Neum.  :  "waters  that  well  forth 
from  the  threshold  of  the  temple,  that  come  to 
the  Dead  Sea.  Not  only  that,  but,  moreover, 
having  arrived  at  the  Dead  Sea,  they  are  brought 
forth  ;  thus  the  sanctuary  of  the  blessing  ex- 
pressly connects  itself  with  the  doomed  domain 
of  the  curse.") — The  waters  of  which  it  is  saiil 
that  they  are  healed  are  self-evidently  (2  Kings 
ii.  22)  the  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea,  as  is  shown, 
also  Tjy  what  follows.  The  spiritual  signification 
of  the  waters  is  now  told  to  the  prophet  :  healing 
of  the  dead,  which  accordingly  means  only  sick 
unto  death,  is  the  aim  of  their  being  brought 
forth  from  the  sanctuary  to  the  Dead  Sea,  to  the 
east  boundary  ;  that  is,  we  might  say,  from  Israel 
into  the  world,  which  Is  thereby  auspiciously 
symbolized  as  in  the  east,  consequently  with  a 
reference  to  the  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
(Mai.  iii.   20  [iv.   2j).     [Grotius  explains  isaiJI 

in  this  way,  that  the  waters  flowing  in  con- 
tinue wholesome,  notwithstanding  their  flowing 
through.]  The  character  of  the  water  of  the 
Dead  Sea  has  already  been  correspondingly  de- 
scribed by  Diodorus  :  ix-i  ht-rixpov  xat  Kaf  vvip. 
/3oXii»  SwrtuS',-.  Comp.  Tacitus,  HiM.  v.  6.  Jerome 
calls  it  mare  amarhsinwm,  quod  Greece  Xi/j-ti'. 
irfaXTcu,  id  est,  stagnuvi  hituminis  coe»tur. 
Comp.  von   Schubert  {Eeise  in  d.  Morgenl.  iii 


CHAP.  XLVII.  !). 


p  85),  who  remarks  on  the  deceptive  appearance 
'or  tl)iisty  persons  of  the  "clear  and  pure"  water. 
Corap.  moreover,  von  Kaunier's  Faliistina,  p.  61 
sq. ;  Robinson's  Physical  Geography  of  the.  Holy 
i^a«(/,  p.  209  sq.  [Hexgst.:  "  The  wilderness  is 
in  Scripture  a  hgnre  of  ungodliness  (?),  and  so 
a  fitting  emblem  of  the  world  estranged  from  God 
and  excluded  from  His  kingdom,  Ps.  cvii.  5.  In 
Joel,  the  valley  of  the  acacias,  the  tree  of  the  wil- 
derness, corresponds  to  the  Arabah  here.  Comp. 
also  Isa.  .xx.fv.  6.  As  a  symbol  of  the  corrupt 
world  lying  in  wickedness  (1  John  v.  19),  the  Dead 
Sea  is  the  more  appropriate,  as  it  owes  its  origin 
to  a  judgment  on  the  corrupt  world,  and  the 
spiritual  eye  discerns  under  its  waves  the  figure 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  (ch.  xvi. )."] 

Tlie  transition  is  now  made  to  the  effects  of  the 
waters  flowing  to  the  Dead  Sea.  Very  impres- 
sively Yer.  9  begins  first  of  all  with  the  prophetic 
rrni  (Neum.:   "it  has  then  come  to  pass,  then 

the  fact  lies  open  to  observation ")  :  what  mani- 
fest.i  itself  in  con.sequence  of  the  healing  of  the 
water,  in  reference  to  the  water  itself,  as  an  effect 
of  tlie  healing  waters  of  the  sanctuary. — But  what 

of  iTn  B'S:";?3?    Is  there,  then,  any  living  thing 

In  the  Dead  Sea  ?  There  is  not,  although  Prince 
Piiekler  asserts  that  he  ate  theie  fishes  taken 
living  from  the  Dead  Sea.  The  Jordan  carries  in 
some,  or  "  they  voluntarily  accompany  its  waves" 
(voN  ScHtiBERT),  but  "they  must  soon  pay  with 
their  life  for  their  love  of  travel,  because  they  die 
in  the  salt  brine,  or  because  this  brine  thrusts  out 
their  light  bodies  to  the  shore."  A  fish  seen  by 
Eobinson,  and  said  to  have  been  caught  in  the 
Dead  Sea,  was  fouml  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Jordan,  and  dying  in  a  state  of  exhaustion. 
'  Neither  fi.shes  nor  snails  live  in  this  very  salt 
lake  "  (VON  Schubekt).  "  Some  herons,"  Gadow 
relates,  "sought  the  little  fishes  washed  into  the 
sea,  that  died  instantly  in  the  sharp  lye  ;  I  myself 
observed  some  wrestling  with  death.  Sea  fishes 
which  Marshal  Marmont  at  Alexandria  cast  into 
water  taken  from  the  Dead  Sea,  died  in  two  or 
three  minutes.  '  Thus  "living  things"  can  only 
be  spoken  of  in  respect  to  the  Dead  Sea  as  thin^ 
that  were  alive  and  then  died  there,  or  that  live 
but  niu.st  die  when  they  come  thither.  But  the 
mode  of  expression  employed  is  rather  a  prophetic 
anticipation,  picturing  as  it  does  in  the  healed 
water,  in  contrast  to  the  death  dominating  it,  life 
already  preserved, — life,  too,  which,  through  ^t^'K 

J'^l"",  significantly  alludes  to  Gen.  vii.  21,  viii. 

17  (death  and  preservation),  and  Gen.  i.  21  (crea- 
tion). Quite  as  readily  could  a  contrast  to  the 
Jordan  carrying  the  living  to  death  in  the  Dead 
Sea  be  found  in  the  following  words  :  every- 
thing whithersoever  the  double  stream  shall 
come  shall  live.  Hitzig  :  "  which  creeps  in  evei-y 
place  to  which  rivers  (D'iriJ.  pointed  as  plural) 
come."  (Ewald:  D^nj.)  Keil:  "which swarms 
wherever  the  brook  comes." — Q'^inj.  What  is 
the  meaning  of  the  dual,  where  hitherto  we  have 
always  had  ^nj?     Keil  thinks  the  best  solution 

is  that  of  Hengstenberg,  who,  refening  to  Jer.  1. 
21,  explains  "  two  rivers  "  as  equivalent  to  strong 


river,  remarking  that  the  doubled  often  st.indi 
for  the  distinguished  (Job  xi.  6  ;  Isa.  Ixi.  7  .  Ha 
might  have  known  tliat  already  Umbreit  trans- 
lates it :  "  two  rivers, "  and  in  doing  so  refers  to 
"the  fulness  of  the  water."  The  «uai<«  cmpha- 
tiai^s,  too,  of  Stier  (Lehrgeb.  p.  21 S)  comes  to  ths 
same  thing,  as  he  also  cites  for  it  Jer.  1.  Th« 
original  "waters"  (D'D)  have  grown  in  ver.  5  to  1 

Tino ;  may  they  not  now,  when  they  have  mixed 

with   the  waters  of  the   Dead   Sea,  when  D<J2n 

TOan  and  the  healed  D'BD  have  been  expressly 

named  side  by  side  in  ver.  8,  be  very  appropriately 
(not  indeed  as  Maurer  :  because  of  the  similarity 
with  D'D)  expressed  succinctly  by  the  dual  form 

Dvnj,  and  by  Q'^nj  indefinitely,  because  of  their 

rushing  streams  sweeping  away  death  and  open- 
ing up  the  way  to  life  f  Thus,  as  Neum. :  "  We 
see  it  at  once,  the  result  of  the  flowing  in  is  mani- 
fest in  the  sea  itself ;  the  river  is  not  lost  in  it, 
but  neither  does  the  river  swallow  up  the  sea  ;  it 
impenetrates  it  with  its  living  power,  and  wherevet 
the  eye  follows  these  united  streams,  it  behohls 
the  swarming  newly  produced  life,"  etc.  Klief. 
"When  tlie  waters  of  the  river  shall  come  into 
the  waters  of  the  sea,  they  will  divide  themselves," 
etc.  —  n'n*,  to  retain  life  and  to  enjoy  life,   in 

pregnant  contrast  to  the  dying  of  which  this  sea  ii 
suggestive.  Keil:  "to  revive,  to  come  to  life." 
[Hitzig,  too,  remarks  on  the  masculine  construe-  ■ 
tion  of  t'B3  (rrrr  and  J"!:;"),  so  that  n>n  ap- 
pears as  a  substantive  in  the  genitive  dependent 
on  vzi-      Neum.  :  "  Thus  everything,  that  in 

the  power  of  life  bears  in  itself  tue  germ  of  life, 
shall  unfold  this  germ  ;  the  view  which  underlies 
is  not  that  of  the  feminine,  of  what  is  upheld  by 
the  Spirit,  but  of  what  breathes  independently.  '] 
— The  descriiition  of  this  life  accoids  wiih  the 
nature  of  the  water,  the  healthy  vital  power  of 
which  finds  expression  in  its  fulness  and  the  mul- 
titude of  its  fishes.  But  we  have  first ' '  everything 
that   creeps   and    moves    quickly,  f'-|t5',  s"iJ   of 

every  kind  of  animal  mobility"  (Neum.),  in  order 
primarily  to  give  pictorial  expression  to  life  in 
general  in  the  all-sided  manifold  swarm.  Thij 
following  clause  adds  the  more  special :  and  ther-> 
are  very  many  njin  (a  collective,  expressing  at 

the  same  time  the  most  different  kinds),  a  femi 
nine  form  of  jtj,  which,  from  nW,   "to  becom' 

thick,"  denotes  first  of  all,  as  here  too  in  accord- 
ance with  the  context,  the  strong  large  sea-fish, 
and  then  fish  in  general.  (Umbk.  :  "  to  live  and 
multiply  most  abundantly.") — The  cause  of  this, 
which  was  formerly  incoqiorated  in  the  general 
description,  is  now  taken  by  itself,  in  order  to 
explain  the  special  case  of  the  fishes  :  for  these 
waters  come  thither  and  they  shall  be  healed, 
i.e.,  as  this  repetition  from  ver.  8  clearly  showR, 
the  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea,  to  which  nfJC'  ''Iso 

points. — But  the  description  reaches  its  full  height 
of  expressipn  of  life  vnth  tbj  clause  :  and  every- 
thing liveth,  etc.  First,  everything,  etc  ;  then,  tht 
many  fishes  of  various  kinds  in  particular  — in  other 


172 


EZEKIEL. 


words,  ihe  Dead  Sea  in  its  piscine  life  ;  finally, 
the  whole  Dead  Sea  as  such.  Hence  formerly 
Qt;*.  whereas  the  two  folloiving  times  nOt?;   *s 

»lso  the  preceding  ^KSI'I   (imperf.   Niphal)  is 

illustrated  by  'pg  ipil,  *di1  therefore  also  we  have 

trun,  from  ver.  5  sq.,  in  antithesis  to  the  waters 

of  the  Dead  Sea.  "The  Dead  Sea  has  become  a 
sea  of  life"  (Neum.).  [Ewald  :  every  one  that 
draws  water  out  of  it.  Calmet  :  every  land,  how- 
ever unfruitful,  provided  only  the  river  waters  it, 
shall  be  at  once  made  most  fruitful.  Dereser  ; 
"all  the  regions  of  the  Dead  Sea,  to  which  the 
water  penetrates,  shall  swarm  with  fish."] 
Ver.  10.  n\ni  agiiiu.    [ "  Out  of  death  there  arises, 

by  the  omnipotence  and  grace  of  God,  a  rich 
life.  The  new  community  is  numerous,  innumer- 
able as  the  fi.shes  of  the  sea,"  Hiv.]  Because 
not  onlj'  the  life  of  the  sea,  but  the  (Dead)  Sea 
itself  as  alive  is  exemplified  in  the  abundance  of 
fish,  this  abundance  is  described  partly  as  to 
the  emplo^Tnent  it  occasions,  and  partly  as  to  the 
numerous  kinds  of  fish.  In  the  former  respect, 
vbv  noy    (Qeri  :     iiloj?,     "they   have   placed 

themselves,"  one  sees  them  standing),  "  fishers 
place  themselves  over  it"  (the  river,  not  the 
Dead  Sea,  but  also  not  the  whole  length  of  the 
river  on  its  banks,  hut  where  the  Dead  Sea  touches 
it,  because  the  filling  of  it  with  fish-life  is  the 
subject  in  hand).  With  this  agrees  also  the 
statement  as  to  locality  given  ;  |'j;"ljn    '13  pyo 

D'?jy,  which  has  given  occasion  to  so  many  dis- 
quisitions. These  miist  be  two  points  lying  near 
each  other,  as  the  same  expression  :  'pj>  and  'pVi 

and  not  less  the  difference,  which  is  simply  that 
between  a   "kid"  and  "two  calves,"  seems  de 
signed  to  show.     Hengst.  thinks  that  perhaps 

D'Pjy  is  a  dual,  such  as  that  in  ver.  9  :  "  the 

double  calf  in  parallelism  with  the  kid."  He 
supposes  "the  fountains  are  named  after  the 
finders,"  "the  calf  had  distinguished  itself  by 
the  discovery  "  (!).  Seriously,  however,  En-gedi 
("kid's  fountain,"  which  reminds  Sepp  of  the 
ibex,  seldom  pursued  here  by  a  hunter)  is 
"  Ain-Didi, "  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Dead  Sea, 
the  southmost  point  inhabited  by  the  Israelites, 
with  an  Egj'ptian  climate  and  Egyptian  products  ; 
and  regarding En-eglaim  ("two-calves' fountain"), 
Jerome  says  that  it  is  situated  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  the  Jordan  flows  in,  that 
is,  northward.  Since  the  death  of  living  things 
occurs  at  the  entrance  into  the  Dead  Sea,  we  feel 
certain  that  this  is  the  right  place.  Hengst. 
finds  "  En-gedi  obliquely  over  against  the  Eglaim 
mentioned  in  Isa.  xv.  8  ;"  for,  "  as  obviously  the 
whole  compass  of  the  sea  is  intended,  En-eglaim 
is  to  be  looked  for  on  the  east  side."  Ewald  : 
"  the  whole  present  stretch  along  the  Dead  Sea." 
Neum.  disregards  any  geographical  basis  :  "  Two 
fountains  (py)  flow  now  into  the  Dead  Sea,  both 
of  them  living  and  full  of  fish,  into  the  dark 
depths  of  death  ;  but  in  those  days  of  salvation,  a 
river  of  life  shall  flow  from  the  one  to  the  other. 
No  longer  shall  there  be  only  small  and  quickly- 
dying  fishes  moving  here  and  there  before  the 


mouths  of  the  fountains  ;  the  whole  intervening 
water,  now  waste  and  dead,  shall  then  become 
alive,  and  swarm  with  the  fishes  of  the  great  sea. " 
— ^it^t^'0  [Ewald:   "a  casting-place  tor  nets"] 

is  distinguished  by  Neumann  from  nt3tt'0  i"  '-'i- 

xxvi.  5,  14.  Gesenius  holds  both  forms  to  have 
the  same  signification  ;  place  of  spreading  out. 
In  order,  however,  to  suppose  the  act  of  spread- 
ing out,  we  must  with  Neumann  take  the  fishers 
as  a  spreading  out  of  the  nets  ;  they  will  be  quite 
absorbed  in  that  occupation,  will  be  nothing 
else  ;  and  this  is  not  so  inadmissible  as  Kliefoth 
supposes  ;  while  Rosenmiiller's  interpretation  of 
the  vnS  as  referring  to  the  places,  that  they  shall 

be  places  for  spreading  out  the  nets,  can  quite 
well  be  extracted  out  of  the  phrase  ;  from  En-gedi 
even  unto,  etc.,  although  it  is  not  so  obvious. — 

Q'Din?,  whether  for  the  take,  or,  after  tlie  take, 

for  drying,  which,  however,  is  done  as  fresh  pre- 
paration for  new  labour,  for  a  new  take.  [Hengst.  : 
"  The  question  is  not  of  fishers  who  will  arrange 
after  their  kind  the  fish  caught,  but  only  of  those 
who  catch  fish  of  different  kinds."]  By  the  nets 
is  characterized  not  only  the  fulness,  hut  also  the 
manifoldness,    the  various   kinds   of   fishes   that 

may  be  or  are  caught. — riJ'O?,   "  as  to  the  kind  " 

(collective),  intentionally  (as  Raphe  shows)  with- 
out Mappiq,  means  at  bottom  the  same  as  with 
n  :  "  in  respect  to  their  kind;"  care  is  always 
taken  to  express  the  variety  of  kinds  correspond- 
ing to  the  n  Jl  here  and  in  ver.  9.  "Life  is  de- 
picted ■B'ith  far  more  significance  not  by  multi- 
tudes alone,  but  by  the  variegated  mixture  of  the 
most  different  kinds,  which  are  commingled  to- 
gether" (Neum.). — "  AUusion  to  the  account  of 
creation  (comp.  also  ver.  9) :  the  new  community, 
a  similar  creation  of  God's"  (Hiv.). — DnW,  °o*'- 

of  the  healed  Q'o  of  the  sea,  nor  of  the  Q'pnj 

of  ver.  9,  nor  of  tbe  banks  between  En-gedi  and 
En-eglaim,  but  of  the  fishers,  or  the  nets. — The 
comparison  vnth  the  fishes  of  the  great  sea,  said 
to  be  very  many,  is  connected,  as  Hitzig  observes, 

with  the  nj'olj  ■  there  shall  live  in  it  the  many 

kinds  of  fish  of  the  great  sea,  and  many  of  each  kind, 
— as  the  fishes,  sq. ,  is  proverbial  for  this — and  not 
merely  the  few  kinds  of  small  fresh-water  fish. 
The  fish  of  the  Mediterranean  thus  compared  are, 
moreover,  conceived  of  as  living,  so  that  this  too 
shows  that  the  Mediterranean  cannot  have  been 
spoken  of  previously.  [Hengst.  :  "  The  sea  is  a 
symbol  of  the  world  ;  accordingly  men  appear  as 
the  living  creatures  in  the  sea,  as  the  fishes  (Rev. 
viii.  9).  Hitherto  there  were  only  dead  fishes, 
only  unspiritual,  unsaved  men.  Thus  the  mean- 
ing of  the  fishers  cannot  be  doubtful :  the  fishes 
are  the  men  who  have  attained  to  life  through 
the  Messianic  salvation  ;  the  fishers  are  the  mes- 
sengers of  this  salvation,  who  gather  those  who 
are  quickened  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  intro- 
duce them  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Church,' 
Luke  V.  11  ;  Matt.  .xiii.  47,  etc.] 
Ver.  11.  nxsa  (Qeri :  VnSV3)  is  singular  ;  tl-t 

plural  of  the  Qeri  appears  to  be  put  because  of 


CHAP.  XLVII.  12. 


47i 


the  following  plural,  VX331-     Gesenius  :  vnxS3, 

incorrectly  written  for  VniS3-     nS3  is  a  moist 

place.  R.\sHl  :  inarais  (marsh).  One  might  per- 
haps make  the  distinction  to  be  what  is  turned 
into  swamp  by  the  natural  recession  of  the  sea 
from  the  bank,  and  the  artiiieially  constructed 
salt-pits  (Zeph.  ii.  9).  These  form  the  exception 
from  the  rule  of  healing  and  quickening  ;  they 
are  the  places  in  which  the  healing  waters  pro- 
duce no  eft'ect.  "  We  have  just  obsetved  the 
fishers  placing  themselves  from  one  fountain  to 
the  other,  that  the  life  of  the  sea  may  become 
conspicuous  through  them  :  but  here  in  the  pools 
is  death"  (Neum.).  "The  waters  even  which 
the  river  brought  to  them,"  thinks  Hitzig, 
"  would  become  corrupt,  if  left  standing  along 
with  the  whele  mass  of  water  without  any  fresh 
inflow."  J.  D.  MicHAELis  :  "Palestine  would 
lose  much  were  it  to  lose  this  salt,  got  without 
labour,  and  were  the  Dead  Sea  to  become  quite 
fresh  ;  hence  tliis  gift  of  nature  is  to  remain." 
Hitzig's  view    and   reasons,    even  if  satisfactory 

for  the  51KBT  {<?1,  are  certainly  not  so  for  the 

MF\i  nPDP ;  which  clause,  moreover,  is  not  to  be 

explained  on  the  ground  of  utility  (as  is  done  by 
Michaelis),  it  is  the  expression  of  a  judgment. 
' '  Those  districts, "  says  Havemick,  ' '  in  which  the 
salt-deposits  proper  were  formerly  found,  shall 
also  henceforth  be  such  waste  places.  The 
thought  is  this  :  onlj'  those  who  bar  themselves 
against  the  gracious  stream  of  divine  love,  and  ' 
are  unwilling  to  regain  health,  are  henceforth  to 
be  given  over  to  the  curse,  continuing  to  exist  as  j 
monuments  thereof  (Zech.  xiv.  17)."  Around 
the  sea  of  death  there  lingers  on  a  death  which 
abides  :  this  is  the  second  death,  the  death  unto 
death.  What  is  given  to  salt  is  entirely  for- 
feited to  death.  Klief.  :  "  They  shall  be  made 
into  salt."  Hengst.  :  "  The  salt  comes  into  consi- 
deration here  not  as  seasoning,  as  frequently,  but 
as  the  foe  of  fertility,  life,  and  prosperity  (Job 
xxxix.  6).  A  contrast  to  deliverance  from  the 
corrosive  power  of  the  salt,  which  would  be 
elfected  by  the  waters  from  the  sanctuary  were 
access  afforded  to  them  ;  they  remain  given  over 
to  salt :  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  of  God 
shall  not  see  life,  etc.,  John  iii.  36." — In  Ver.  12, 
that  of  which  the  seer  obtained  merely  a  general 
view  in  ver.  7  is  now  more  exactly  particularized 
to  him,  as  the  conclusion  of  the  entire  section. 
After  the  contrast  (ver.  11)  to  the  healing  effect 
of  the  waters  of  the  sanctuary  (ver.  8),  there 
comes  in  what  follows  something  antithetical,  and 
therefore  parallel  to  ver.  9  sq.  :  the  quickening 
effects  as  regards  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  so 
back  to  the  source  of  the  waters,  form  a  parallel 
to  the  quickening  effects  as  regards  the  goal,  in 
relation  to  the  Dead  Sea.  In  fine,  viewed  for- 
ward or  backward,  they  arc  the  waters  of  life  ; 
as  on  the  one  hand  they  sustain  life,  so  on  the 

other  they  produce  fruit. — pnjH,  as  the  waters 

since  ver.  5,  on  their  way  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and 
considered  in  contrast  thereto  (ver.  9),  have  been 
designated,  so  that  the  reference  is  to  their  course 
from  their  coming  out  of  the  temple  waUs.  — The 
description  :  on  the  river,  is  amplified  thus  ;  "  on 
its  bi  I'c  on  both  sides."    The  "  rising  up  "fonns 


also,  no  doubt,  an  antithetical  pendant  to  the 
former  deepening  and   deepening  and  descending 

ofthewaters. — ^3KD.  "what isedible"(HENGST. 

"all  fruit-bearing  trees  ;"  Hitzig  :  "  every  tree  of 
edible  fruit ").  Klief.:  "  they  shall  bear  edible 
fruits  of  all  sorts."  Their  described  quality, 
however,  is  uot  this  alone,  that  they  are  trees  of 
food,  and  hence  yield  food — not  wild,  acid,  hard 
fruit  ;  but  an  abiding  freshness  of  life  and  vigour 
distinguishes  this  growth  of  trees  (which  is  else- 
where  expressed    by   ever-flowing,    never-failing 

waters),  both  as  to  the  letif  (paj,  Ps.   i.  3,  "  to 

fade,"  "to  fall  off,"  cognate  with  533)  and  the 

fruit  (DOri)-     In  respect  to  the  latter  it  is  said  : 

according  to  its  months,  that  is,  as  these  change 
(Hitzig:  distributively),    133',  said  of  the  "first 

commencement,"  of  the  "first  of  a  thing;" 
hence  D'1133,    tl^e  first-fruits,  signify,  according 

to  Hitzig,  that  the  trees  produce  fresh  fruit 
every  month  ;  and  this,  according  to  Hengst., 
"  indicates  the  uninterrupted  enjoyment  of  sal- 
vation ;"  or  the  fruit  is  as  eagerly  desired  and 
hailed  with  as  much  joy  as  early  fiist-fruits,  or 
generally  as  superior  fruit,  which  can  claim,  as  it 
were,  the  right  of  the  first-born  (Dent.  xxi.  I61. 
Comp.  Rev.  xxii.  2.  Neim.  :  "  The  thought  in 
fact  is  :  what  used  to  delight  the  heart  every  year, 
will  henceforth  be  furnished  every  month.  Ac- 
cording to  Horapollo,  the  palm  puts  forth  a  new 
branch  with  every  new  moon.  The  month  is 
looked  on  as  the  property  of  the  trees,  because 
the  change  of  the  moon  always  enables  them  to 
put  forth  in  similar  change  the  life  welling  up 
in  them."  We  are  not  to  compare  here  the  en- 
chanted gardens  of  Alcinous  iOdyss.  vii.  114 
sq. ).  The  reason  assigned,  too,  which  makes  the 
leading  thought  the  active  principle  of  the  effects, 
accords  with  the  closing  character  of  the  verse  : 
its  (not :  the  stream's,  as  Neumann,  but  ;  the 
trees',  this  forest's)  wateis,  namely,  the  waters 
"proceeding  from  the  sanctuary."  Hitzig: 
"  from  the  dwelling-place  of  Him  who  is  the 
Author  of  all  life  and  fertility. "  Neum.  :  "a  deep 
disclosure  regarding  what  the  temple  of  his  God 
was  to  the  prophet.  With  Him  is  the  fountain 
of  life,  and  in  His  light  we  see  light,  Ps.  x.xxvi. 
10  [9].  But  this  is  just  the  sanctuary ;  because 
its  source  is  holy,  therefore  the  flood  of  the  river 
produces  fruitful  germs.     And  {jHlp  i*  not  moral 

purity,  but  sublime,  transcendent  purity,  which 
sheds  its  enlightening  beams  over  all  the  dark 
places  of  the  earth.  Hence  the  lofty  praise  of 
the  seraphim  in  Isa.  vi.  3." — As  formerly  the 
fishes  were  for  the  nets  of  the  fishers,  so  now  the 
fruit  of  the  trees  is  for  food,  etc.     :i'ni    iQcri : 

rrni,  which  is  unnecessary),  for  \>-\Q  is  not  neces- 
sarily the  fruit  of  each  and  every  tree,  but  can 
be  taken  collectively  with  the  plural.  As  we 
have  here  a  reference  to  paradise  and  the  first 
creation  (Gen.  ii.  9),  so  we  have  also  to  redemp- 
tion, the  future  salvation,  in  the  phrase  •  and  ita 

(the  forest's)  leaf,  nS^lflV-HiTziG  :  "  for  medi- 
cine;" on  which  he  remarks :  "doubtless  for  exter- 
nal application,  since  the  leaf  is  laid  upon  wouids 


*74 


EZEKIEL. 


as  soft  and  cooling,  apart  from  its  special  healing 
viitue  ;  ns^in  is  derived  from  HQ-\."     In  this, 

too,  the  thought  of  mending  and  of  healing  is 
united  and  conjoined  in  this  closing  clause,  so 
that  in  this  sense  "medicine"  is  by  no  means 
"a  very  unsuitable  disharmony  in  these  figures 
of  perfection, "  as  Neumann  says,  whose  thoughts 
run  on  "  the  blessed  salvation  enlivened  by  a 
sweet  life  of  rapture,"  and  on  "adorning  life 
with  fragrant  chaplets."  This  last  jvould  as 
mere  ornament  be  altogether  out  of  {.lace  here. 
Hengst.  :  "  Salvation  must  present  itself  for  the 
terribly  sick  heathen  world,  above  all,  in  the 
form  of  saving  grace.  Besides  the  nourishing 
fruits,  therefore,  are  named  also  the  healing 
leaves."  H.iv.  :  " The  trees  are  trees  of  life,  with 
allusion  at  the  same  time  to  Ps.  i.  ;  the  figure  of 
the  fishes  refers  to  the  extent,  the  greatness  of 
tlie  community ;  and  this  figure  of  the  trees  to 
its  nature,  in  so  far  as  the  divine  grace  transforms 
it  into  truly  living  members,  who  themselves 
bear  rich  fruit,  and  thereby  become  a  means  of 
life  and  recovery  to  others  also."  [Philippson 
says  of  the  entire  section:  "This  descrii)tiou 
answers  to  no  fountain  actuaUy  e.xisting  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  contains  suppositions  which  no  ac- 
tually existing  fountain  could  fulfil.  Hence  it 
belongs  to  the  realm  of  those  prophetic  intuitions 
of  the  future  land,  in  which  this  land  appeared, 
altered  in  its  nature,  endowed  with  the  most 
glorious  fertility  and  wonderful  virtues.  We 
have  to  consider  this  section  as  a  poetical  resting- 
point  of  the  prophet,  in  which,  between  dry  nar- 
ration and  representation,  the  prophet's  enrap- 
tured soul  expatiated  on  the  prospects  of  his 
people."  According  to  this,  the  hope  of  the  Jews 
of  the  present  should  finally  be  sesthetics.  ] 

Vers.  13-23.   The  Fixing  of  the  Boundaries  in 
the  Holy  Land. 

Hengstenberg,  in  accordance  with  his  view  of 

the  concluding  portion  of  Ezekiel,  makes  the  pro- 
phet return  from  the  distant  Messianic  future, 
the  prospect  into  which,  according  to  him,  sud- 
denly opened  in  vers.  1-12,  to  the  lower  salvation, 
the  temple  and  city  of  the  future,  which  formed 
the  presupposition  of  the  higher  salvation.  Ac- 
cording to  Hitzig,  "the  previoiis  section  forms 
the  transition  to  this,  inasmuch  as  in  that  sec- 
tion Ezekiel  first  of  all,  following  the  course  of 
the  river,  turns  himself  away  from  the  temple  and 
the  idea  of  the  Terumah  ;  in  other  words,  it  still 
remains  to  treat  of  the  land  itself  from  which 
that  Terumah  was  selected."  It  would  be  an 
entire  break  in  these  closing  chapters,  which 
hang  so  closely  together,  were  vers.  1-12  an  inser- 
tion of  essentij^'/  different  character,  meaning, 
and  signiflcatioi.  from  that  which  precedes  them, 
and  that  which  follows  them.  But  if  vers.  1-12 
are  decidedly  sj  mbolical,  and  their  contents  spe- 
cially Messianic,  then  we  have  in  them  the  key 
for  everything  in  these  chapters,  both  what  pre- 
cedes and  what  follows,  not  merely  "the  transi- 
tion" to  what  follows.  Then  the  temple  is  a 
gymbol  of  the  new  revelation  of  God  among  Israel 
in  their  own  land  ;  then  the  partly  indicated, 
partly  instituted  worship  as  to  acts,  persons,  and 
*mie3,  symbolizes  the  future  worshipping  in  spirit 
auii  in  truth  ;  then  the  blessing,  which  abolishes 
!7cii  the  Dead  S-'a  in  its  character  of  curse,  can- 


not leave  the  Holy  Land  untouched,  but  only 
with  the  fixing  of  its  l)oundaries  and  the  division 
of  the  enclosed  territoiy  among  the  trioes  (ch. 
xlviii.)  will  the  theocracy  of  the  future  be  com- 
plete. We  cannot  say,  with  Ewald,  that  "  th« 
whole  book  might  have  been  perfectly  well  con- 
cluded with  the  last  great  figure  in  ch.  xlvii. 
1-12."  Ewald  himself  is  coinpelled  to  admit 
that  "  the  position  of  the  sanctuary  and  its  im- 
mediate environs  in  ch.  xlvii.  1-8  is  not  yet 
explained  with  sufficient  clearness  ; "  but  what 
still  follows  finds  its  explanation  less  by  reference 
to  this,  than  by  the  fact  that  in  ch.  xlv.  1  the 
division  of  the  land  by  inheritance  is  presupposed, 
without  our  having  up  to  this  point  heard  any- 
thing regarding  it,  except  the  prophecy  of  the 
return  of  Israel  into  theii'  again  reviving  land 
(ch.  xxxiv.  25  sq.,  xxxvi.  8  sq. ,  xxxvii.  21  scj. ). 
Only  by  what  follows  from  ver.  13  to  the  end  of 
the  book  do  the  people  of  God  attain  to  rest,  as 
the  glory  of  God  came  to  its  rest  by  its  re-entranee 
into  the  sanctuary  (ch.  xliii.).  In  the  sense  of 
such  a  connection,  comp.   Kev.   xxi.  3 :   «ai  rien- 

vtkiffH  fjtiT    izl/TUVf   xai   avTot    Xaoi   itiiTou   iffovTcti  ;    the 

sanctuary  with  its  environs  still  continues  in  ch. 
xlviii.  the  main  point  of  view.  Not  merely,  as 
Hav.  says,  "  does  the  whole  representation  take 
its  departure  from  the  sanctuary,  and  so  naturally 
also  returns  thither,"  but  the  close  of  Ezekiel's 
book  is  intended  to  depict  the  glory  of  God  by 
the  glory  of  His  kingdom  (Introd.  §  b).  Thus 
neither  the  incidental  presupposition  of  the  divi- 
sion of  the  land  by  inheritance,  nor  the  oblation 
to  be  set  apart  as  defined  in  ch.  xlv.,  nor,  in  par- 
ticular, the  city— which,  it  is  true,  is  to  belong 
to  Israel  as  a  whole  (ch.  xlv.  6) — can  sulfice  :  but 
all  Israel  must  in  their  tribes  colonize  the  land, 
in  order,  after  everything  has  been  bounded  off 
externally  and  internally,  to  see  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  in  the  sanctuary,  as  the  foundation  of  the 
glory  of  Israel  in  their  own  land,  brought  to  full 
expression.  "Hence,"  as  Havernick  observes, 
"this  impresses  also  upon  the  whole  land  a  new 
aspect,  a  more  glorified  conformation." 

Ver.  13.  A  solemn  introduction  marks  olT  the 
following  section  (comp.  ch.  xlvi.   1,  16).     nj, 

Gesenius  :  "  unquestionably  a  false  reading  for 
nt  (as  ver.   15).     So  read  also  the  Sept.,  Vulg., 

Chald.,  and  fourteen  manuscripts."  This  is  easy 
to  say,  also  easy  to  imagine,  but  the  analogy  of  33 

for  f3,  after  ch.  xxv.  7  (which  see),  cannot  be  ap- 
plied here.  Although  we  can  hardly  say,  with 
Hengstenberg,  that  it  "would  almost  seem  a«  if 
Ezekiel  wished  to  tease  scribes  and  critics,  and  to 
put  them  to  the  test"  (!  !),  still,  the  propaga- 
tion of  such  a  clerical  error  as  nj  for  nt  in  ver. 

13  is  so  much  the  more  difficult  to  imagine,  as  the 
matter  is  really  different  in  ver.  15,  where  wa 
have  nt,  from  what  it  is  here.    Hengst.  makes  n-1 

to  be  of  similar  import  with  nn3  in  Prov.  xvii. 

22,  which  word,  occurring  only  there,  signifies, 
according  to  him,  "  the  inwards  "  !  He  trans- 
lates thus  ;  "  (this  is)  the  inside  of  the  border,' 
and  observes  on  it :  "The  stem  is  nn3  or  ni3  ;  cog 

nate  is  13,    middle  (in  Chald.   13),  {{"3,  valley, 


CHAP.  XLVII.  14-16. 


471 


»s  the  interior  enclosed  by  mountains."  All  th  s 
might  be  allowed  ;  but  that  'ij,  "people,"  is  "the 
interior,  the  centre,  in  antithesis  to  individuals 
as  the  periphery,"  is  so  far  from  correct,  that  tlie 
iirect  opposite  would  be  nearer  the  mark.  The 
stem  signifies  :  to  draw  together  ;  and  hence  <^3 
(people)  and  13  (body)  refer  to  "  connection."     A 

signification  such  as :  body,  suits  the  nnj  of  Prov. 

xvii.  22  in  its  parallelism  there  with  Q-ij,  and  a 

Himilar  signification  would  be  the  suitable  one 
here  in  Ezekiel.  For  tlie  question  in  ver.  13  is 
not  concerning  ^!|3J  in  the  sense  of  "border,"  as 

in  ver.  15,  but  concerning  the  territory  itself, 
wliose  borders  are  first  defined  in  ver.  15  sq. 
Vers.  13  and  14,  introductory  to  the  fixing  of  the 
boundaries,  and  vers.  22  and  23,  which  conclude 
it,  give  us  to  understand  that  the  division  of  the 
lijnd  among  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  is  the 
dominating  design  ;  only  with  reference  to  this, 
that  is  to  say,  preparatively,  are  the  boundaries 
of  the  land  to  be  treated  of. — jnXHTlK  explains 

713J  nj  sufficiently;  itJ'S   is  accusative. — ''JB'^ 

is,  according  to  Hitzig,  distributive,  and  denotes 
the  point  of  view  whicli  is  to  obtain  in  the  divi- 
sion of  the  land,  since  all  Israel,  the  re-united 
people  of  God,  shall  return  to  their  land  (ch. 
xxxvii. )  ;  from  which  point  of  view,  also,  the  curt 
D'73n  tjDV^  Joseph  shall  receive  of  it  (plural) 

"inheritances"  (measured  off  portions  of  land), 
's  directly  explained,  without  our  needing,  with 

£wald,  to  punctuate  dual  D'^Dri)  although   two 

portions  are  meant,  in  accordance  with  the  ancient 
prophetic  injunction  of  Jacob,  the  patriarch  of  the 
tribes  (Gen.  xlviii.  5).  The  more  exact  deter- 
mination is  so  much  the  more  presupposed  as 
anderstood  ;  "  as  Levi  is  to  have  no  other  portion 
of  land  except  that  in  the  sacred  Terumah,  the 
tribes  can  only  be  made  twelve  in  number  when 
(as  always)  the  tribe  of  Joseph  is  counted  and 
treated  as  two,  Ephraim  and  Manas.seh"  (Kuef.). 
Comp.  Josh.  xvii.  14  sq.  [The  Sept.  translate  the 
Kom.  pr.  e)Di'-]    Already  Eusebius  has  observed 

iu  the  Prcep.  ev. ,  that  Plato,  too,  divides  his  ideal 
state  into  twelve  parts,  and  the  capital  likewise. 

After  the  determination  concerning  the  point 
of  view  of  the  number  twelve  for  the  division  of 
the  land,  as  it  has  been  in  ver.  13  first  stated 
generally,  and  then  specialized  in  Joseph,  Ver.  14 
lays  down  the  second  principle  for  the  division  of 
the  land  :  into  equal  parts.  What  was  said  regard- 
ing Joseph  is  not  in  contradiction  with  this  prin- 
ciple, as  Hitzig  maintains,  for,  as  Keil  justly 
replies,   the  words  :   ye  inherit  it,  vnK3  V^K, 

only  affirm  that  of  the  twelve  tribes  which  Israel 
numbers  in  relation  to  n?n3,  tlie  one  shall  receive 

as  much  as  the  other.  Comp.  the  opposite  prin- 
ciple in  Num.  xxvi.  54,  xxxiii.  54  ;  and  comp. 
Ezek.  xlviii.  1  sq.  There  is  no  reason  for  sup- 
posing  that  -1B»}{  signifies:  "inasmuch  as,"  or; 

"because."  Comp.  ch.  xx.  28,  42. — The  sym- 
bolical character  of  these  introductory  regulations, 
which  the  very  norm  of  the  symbolical  number 
twelve  leaves  scarcely  questionable,  must  be  be- 


yond all  question,  unless  the  ]irinciple  of  equality 
iu  division  here  laid  down  should  ^0  on  the  strange 
supposition  that  each  tribe  would  comprehend 
the  same  number  of  individual  members,  or,  iu 
contrast  to  the  first  division  of  the  land,  the  new 
division,  with  all  its  appearance  of  justice,  .should 
yet  in  fact  and  reality  be  practically  unjust, 
namely,  because  treating  the  more  popuius  tribe 
exactly  as  the  weaker.  This  Philijij^son  also  ad- 
mits, when  he  remarks  "that  this  would  be  more 
contradictory  to  the  Mosaic  law  than  all  the  other 
deviations  of  the  prophet  taken  together  ;"  but  he 
gets  over  the  difficulty  by  saying  that  only  the 
same  direction  trom  east  to  west  is  given  for  the 
tribal  portions,  and  that  the  equal  division  among 
the  individual  Israelites  is  spoken  of.  Bunsen, 
on  the  contrar)-,  maintains  "the  ideal  nature  of 
the  plan."  7 he  number  twelve  of  the  tribes  oj 
Israel  exjtresses  the  whole  of  the  people,  but  it  does 
so  acconlini/  to  their  idea,  and  thus  in  a  spiritual 
manner  ;  but  still  more  does  the  equal  share  of 
each  tribe  in  the  common  inheritance  make  the  land 
of' promise  become  a  symbol  of  something  else  than 
the  earthly  Canaan.  (Comp.  2  Pet.  i.  1  ;  Ps. 
xxxvii.  11,  29.)  The  seed  now  has  come  to  whom 
the  land  was  promised  by  Jehovah  (Gen.  xii.  7, 
xvii.  8  ;  Gal.  iii.  7,  16). 

Ver.  15.  We  have  here  the  fixing  of  the  bound- 
aries, which  (as  in  Num.  x.xxiv. ,  Josh.  xv. )  is 
done  with  reference  to  the  four  cardinal  points ; 
but  here,  instead  of  south,  west,  north,  and  east, 
the  order  is  north,  east,  south,  west,  just  as  also 
in  ch.  xlviii.  the  several  tribes  follow  from  north 
to  south.  Hengst.  explains  the  difference  "fron. 
this  circumstance,  that  in  ancient  times  Israel 
oame  from  the  south  into  the  land  ;  here,  on  the 
contrary,  the  return  is  from  the  land  of  the  north. " 
Klief.  :  "  We  must  so  understand  this  deviation 
that  the  Holy  Land  will  in  that  future  be  indeed 
the  same  as  the  old  Holy  Land,  but  yet  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  opposed  to  the  old,  the  counterjiiirt  of 
the  old  Canaan." — After  that  nj    has   preceded 

with  vers.  13  and  14,  it  can  now  be  said  with  1  of 

the   boundaries   proper  :    7133  nfv  —  The   north 

boundary  begins  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  (as 
in  Num.  .xxxiv.  7  sq. ),  hence  in  the  west,  and 
proceeds  on  the  way  to  Hethlon,  to  come  to 

Zedad  ({<i3P,  of  the  direction  whither).  Since  nnjj 

or  "yyi  with  n  locaU  helps  also  to  determine  tli.s 

boundaiy  in  Num.  xxxiv.  8,  doubtless  on  the 
north-east,  as  the  antithesis  to  the  point  of  de- 
parture on  the  west  naturally  suggests,  so  cer- 
tainly no  other  Zedad  is  to  be  thought  of.  Robin- 
son holds  it  to  be  Sudud,  four  hours  from  Hasia, 
on  the  west  entrance  of  the  wilderness,  east  of  the 
road  which  leads  from  Damascus  to  Eraesa;  Keil  de- 
clares himself  against  this.  Hethlon  is  unknown. 
Gesenius  places  it  in  SjTia  of  Damascus. — Ver.  16. 
A  more  detailed  account,  by  means  of  several 
other  places,  of  the  north  boundary  as  compared 
with  the  other  boundaries. — Hamath,  of  which 
Keil  says  :  not  the  city  on  the  Orontes,  but  the 
kingdom  whose  south  border  forms  the  north 
border  of  Canaan  ;  while  Gesenius  takes  it  for  this 
important  Syrian  city  (Ei>iphania),  and  compares 
Num.  xiii.  21,  xxxiv.  8.  Hitzig  denies  that 
here  at  the  beginning  the  land  of  the  city  coulii 


>76 


EZEKIEL. 


be  me.tnt,  and  therefore,  appealing  to  the  Sept., 
he  takes  it  as  a  gloss  (from  ch.  xlviii.  1)  to  Zedad, 
the  word  before  it. — nriil3  is,  according  to  Ge- 

9enius  =  »nn3  (2  Sam.   \Tii.    8),   a  city  in   the 

kingdom  of  Aram-Zobah  ;  is  it  perhaps  the  sea- 
port of  Berytns  in  Phoenicia?  —  D'"13D  (identical 

with  p|3f  in  Num.  xxxiv.  9?)  is  further  defined 

by  the  clause:  which  is  between,  etc.,  without 
thereby  becoming  clearer.  —  The  closer  defini- 
tion :  which  is  on,  or  :  "toward"  the  border  of 
Hanran  (pin),  brings  the  middle   Hazer  (ivn 

iiD'nn,  "middle  court")  into  relation  with  the 

transjordanic  Auranitis,  without,  however,  defin- 
ing the  latter  more  exactly. — Ver.  17  "states  the 
north  border  for  the  third  time,"  says  Klief.  (with- 
out, however,  being  able  to  solve  the  difficulty  of 
the  double  Hamath  in  ver.  16),  "  but  so  that  it, 
after  ver.  16  has  named  the  series  of  Israelitish 
border  places,  defines  the  boundary  by  border  places 
outside  of  Israel. "  His  view  is,  that  "Damascus 
and  Hamath  are  the  boundaries  on  the  north,  in 
this  way,  that  the  north-east  Damascene  border 
place  opposite  the  north-east  Israelitish  border 
place,  Zedad,  is  Hazar-Enon,  while  on  the  north 
side  the  land  of  Hamath  extends  itself." — The 
point  of  departure  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
is  once  more  repeated  ;  hence  this  must  be  the 
most  western  point  of  the   north  border. — -isn 

jij'J?  (p'l?),   "  fountain  court  "  (Num.  xxxiv.  9), 

lieil  sets  down  as  "the  fountain  of  Lebweh  in 
the  Beca,  on  the  watershed  between  the  Orontes 
and  Leontes.  The  calling  of  Hazar-Enon  the 
border  from  the  sea,  indicates  that  it  forms  the 
most  eastern  boundary-point  for  the  north  bor- 
der drawn  from  the  sea,  as  it  is  added  :  the 
border  of  Damascus,  that  is  :  the  border  place 
from  Damascus,  or;  "on  the  border,"  etc. 
(Hengst.),  or  :  toward  the  border,  etc.  — 
njiSV  [isyi,    according    to    Hengst.,    "  denotes 

first  the  north  border,  to  which  all  the  places 
named  belong,"  and  then  "northward"  gives  the 
"special  in  the  general ;  "  for  "the  north  border 
was  no  straight  line,  but  had  its  more  northern 
and  le.ss  northern  points  ;  the  most  northern  was 
Hamath."  HXv.  :  "The  repetition  strengthens 
the  conception  :  northward  and  northward." — 
nSS  nXV   doubtless  as  accusative,  with  :  looks 

to,  or :  measures  oflT,  understood.  Havemick 
finds  "the  boundary-line  drawn  here  with  still 
greater  exactness  than  in  Num.  xxxiv.,  partly 
to  indicate  the  still  sharper  and  more  definite 
fixing  of  the  limits  of  the  new  Canaan  than  of 
the  old,  and  partly  to  express  here  too  the  thought 
that  the  new  community  shall  obtain  the  fullest 
possible  possession  of  the  promised  land. "  How- 
ever unknown  the  various  places  named  may  be, 
thus  much  seems  certain,  that  the  only  design  of 
the  many  names  is  to  draw  the  boundary  with 
full  sufficiency. 

Ver.  18  defines  as  the  east  border  briefly  the 
Jordan,  agreeing  in  this  with  Num.  xxxiv.  10 
sq.,  only  with  different  local  colouring.  Hau- 
ran,  Damascus,  and  Gilead  are  put  on  the  east, 
and  the  land  of  Israel  on  the  west  side.  Keil 
makes  the  remarkable  sequence  :  Hauran,  Damas- 
cus, Gilead,  to  have  arisen  through  regard  to  the 


Jordan,  which  does  not  reach  so  far  as  Damascus: 
if  it  had,  the  sequence  must  have  been  Damascus, 
Hauran,  Gilead.  While  Klief.  insists  on  this, 
that  Num.  xx.xiv.  gives  in  addition  the  district 
east  of  the  Jordan  conceded  to  the  transjordanic 
tribes,  whereas,  according  to  the  statement  here, 
the  Holy  Land  of  the  future  shall  no  longer  have 
any  portion  not  fully  incorporated  ;  Hengst., 
on  the  contrary,  maintains  the  continuance  of 
the  frontier  land,  referring  for  this  to  Ps.  Lx. ; 
Mic.  vii.  14;  Jer.  1.  19;  Zech.  x.  10:  also  in 
Num.  xxxii.  30,  xxxiii.  51  ;  Josh.  xxii.  9,  the 
land  of  Canaan  lying  west  of  Jordan  is  in  the 
same  way  set  over  against,  e.g..  Gilead. — The 
border  from  which  they  are  to  measure  is  the 
above-defined  north  border.  The  east  sea  is  the 
Dead  Sea,  in  distinction  from  the  west,  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea. 

Ver.  19.  The  south  border.  The  nearer  defini- 
tion of  the  direction  by  n3D*n  niarks  only  the 

T  -r     ■■  , 

transition  to  the  place  where  the  determination 
of  the  southern  boundary  begins.  Tamar,  says 
Hengst. ,  ' '  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament;"  it  is,  according  to  him,  to  be  sought  for 
' '  in  the  extreme  south-east,  at  the  end  of  the  Dead 
Sea. "  Robinson's  conjecture  in  favour  of  Thamara, 
that  is,  Kumub,  lies  open  to  many  objections.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  waters  of  Meriboth-Kadesh, 
that  is,  the  waters  of  strife,  are  tliose  known  of 
old.  Hengst.  observes:  "Only  instead  of  the 
singular  in  Num.  xxvii.  14,  the  plural  Meriboth 
is  put,  to  point  to  this,  that  the  strife  there  in- 
volves in  it  a  whole  fulness  of  rebelliousness, — a 
solemn  tiola  bene  for  those  who,  like  their  fathers, 
were  still  to  the  present  day  a  house  of  rebellious- 
ness."  These  waters  of  Kadesh  (Num.  xx. )  in  the 
wilderness  of  Zin  were  near  Kadesh  Barnea  (Num. 

xxxiv.  4). — nbnj,  accented  as  "  inheritance,"  ia 

retained  by  Hengstenberg :  "  the  inheritance 
(reaches)  to  the  great  sea,"  who  cites  for  this  the 
oldest  translators,  Sept.,  Jonathan,  and  the 
Syriac.  The  possession  here  (according  to  him) 
corresponds  to  the  border  of  the  laud  in  the  case 
of  the  first  two  sides.  On  the  other  hand,  already 
Havemick  (Vulg.)  thinks  of  the  "  river  of  Egj'pt," 
the  Wady  el  Arish,  which  appears  throughout  in 
the  Old  Testament  as  the  extreme  south-western 
boundary  of  Palestine;  also  Num.  xx.xiv.  5  is  (in 
his  view)  decisive  for  this  acceptation,  and  cou.se- 

quently  for  a  change  of  the  punctuation  into  nirij. 

Comp.  Josh.  XV.  4.  HiTZiG  :  "in  the  direction  of 
the  river  to  the  great  sea ;"  and  for  this  he  urges  in 
addition  that  'P;va  xapiupx  is  also  called  simply  Niix, 

that  is,  pnj,  with  the  omission  of  the  genitive. — 

The  Mediterranean  Sea  is  given  as  boundary-point 
on  the  south-west. 

Ver.  20.  The  west  border,  with  which  the  fixing 
of  the  boundaries  concludes.  As  it  is  formed  by 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  only  the  terminating 
points  south  and  north  have  to  be  noticed.     lu 

the  former  respect  stands  7133D,  t^at  is,  from 

the  south  border  defined  in  ver.  19 ;  in  the  latter, 

non  ftS2?  naiiy,  that  is,  to  over  against  the 

place  where  one  comes  into  the  territory  of 
Hamath,  which  was  set  down  in  ver.  17  as  the 
north  boundary ;  comp.  Num.  xxxiv.  6.  Klief. 
further  observes  :  "  The  Philistine  coast  districl 


CHAP.  XLVIII. 


477 


U  here,  as  with  Moses,  included  in  the  Holy 
Land  ;  the  fact  that  it  was  not  conquered  by 
the  Israelites  haiipenci  against  the  will  of  God  : 
the  Holy  Land  of  the  future  shall  be  the  real, 
entire,  full  Huly  Land." — Ver.  21.  A  concluding 
clause  referring  back  to  ver.  13,  as  well  as  pre- 
paring for  ver.  22  sq. 

Ver.  22.  Like  a  codicil  to  a  will ;  Ewald  : 
*■  and  with  the  genuine  prophetic  innovation, 
that  the  protected  should  have  quite  as  many 
rights  as  the  ancient  sons  of  the  soil."    n'ni, 

comp.  vers.  9,  10.  —  Hiv. :  "The  prophet's  per- 
spective extends  itself  beyond  the  borders  of 
Israel  to  those  of  the  Gentile  nations.  Israel 
arrived  at  the  goal  of  its  development  forms  at 
the  same  time  a  fresh  point  of  connection  for  the 
Gentiles.  He  who  connects  himself  with  the 
true,  perfect  Church,  enjoys  the  same  privileges 
and  blessings  as  Israel  itself.  That  which  the 
Old  Testament  contains  in  the  weak  type  in  rela- 
tion to  strangers  passes  here  into  complete  fulfil- 
ment." HnziG:  The  prophet  draws  here  the 
inference  from  Lev.  .\ix.  34  ;  the  limitation  and 
exception  in  Deut.  xxiii.  3,  i  is  here  omitted. 
For  this  he  gives  as  reasons  :  inasmuch  as  "resi- 
dence in  a  strange  land  could  even  weaken  an 
exclusive  disposition,"  and  "the  lessening  of  the 
population  of  Israel  made  them  wish  for  and 
favour  the  accession  of  strangers."  Hengst.,  on 
the  contrary,  holds  that  what  is  here  said  does 
not  primarily  refer  to  "strangers  in  general," 
but  to  those  who  have  begotten  children  in  your 
midBt,  hence  to  those  "who  have  been  naturalized 
in  Israel  in  the  times  of  affliction,"  as  similarly 
Abarbanel.  Hengst.  urges  against  "the  hosts  of 
the  heathen,"  "the  boundaries  of  the  land  con- 
Sned  between  the  Jordan  and  the  Mediterranean. " 
(Might  we  not  imagine  we  perceived  here  the 
Totionalisrmis  vulgaris?)  The  question,  too, 
"concerns  only  the  strangers  already  naturalized 
in  Israel."  He  says:  the  exception  which  the 
Ammonites  and  Moabites  make  (Deut.  xxiii.)  in 
regard  to  the  reception  of  born  heathen  into  the 
community  of  God  serves  only  to  confirm  the 
rule.  "Already,  in  the  state  in  which  Moses 
found  the  people,  there  was  a  considerable  foreign 
clement,  the  whole  posterity  of  the  servants  who 
went  down  to  Egypt  with  Jacob.  A  fresh  acces- 
sion took  place  in  Egypt  at  the  time  of  the  exodus 
(Ex.  xii.  38  ;  Num.  xi.  4).  In  1  Chron.  ii. 
34,  35  we  have  an  example  that  the.se  Egyptian 
strangers  were  considered  in  the  partition  of  the 
land,  and,  indeed,  in  the  territory  of  the  tribe  to 
which  they  had  attached  themselves.  Further, 
Moses  gives  in  Kum.  x.  29  sq.  the  friendly  in- 


vitation to  his  Midi.anitish  brother-in-law  to  share 
with  his  tribe  the  lot  of  Israel.  Hobab,  says 
Knobcl,  shall  accordingly  have  a  share  in  the 
land.  Hobab  consented,  and  we  find  his  rai;a 
afterward  in  the  Hebrew  land.  Comp.  Judg.  i. 
16,  iv.  11  ;  Jer.  xxxv.  Only  apparently  at  vari- 
ance with  Ezekiel  is  the  conduct  of  Ezra  toward 
the  heathen  wives  (Ezra  ix.  10),  and  that  of  Ne- 
hemiah  (ch.  xiii. )  toward  the  heathen  men  who 
had  settled  among  the  Israelites.  Ezekiel  speaks 
of  those  who  had  attached  themselves  to  Israel  by 
inward  inclination  at  a  time  when  it  had  no  form 
nor  comeliness,  and  when  there  was  nothing  in  it 
to  desire  but  the  true  God  ;  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
are  zealous  against  the  attempt  to  give  heathen- 
dom equal  rights  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  and  to 
break  down  the  partition-wall  so  necessary  in  the 
pre-Christian  times.  Both  the  attraction  which 
Ezekiel  commends,  and  the  repulsion  for  which 
Ezra  and  Neheraiah  are  zealous,  arise  rather  from 
the  same  principle  ;  it  is  the  true  God  who  here 
binds  and  there  severs." — Hitzig  remarks  on  the 
clause  :  who  have  begotten  children,  etc. ,  that 
for  their  sake  the  fathers  received  a  landed  pos- 
session, but  the  childless  proselyte  did  not.  Keil 
understands  it  of  permanent  settlement  in  Israel, 
in  contrast  to  temporary  or  transitory  residence 
there.  "  Here  too  there  is,  analogous  to  Isa.  Ivi. 
3  sq.,  attached  to  the  promise  a  condition,  the 
idea  of  which  is  already  involved  in  Deut.  xxiii. 
7,  8  (that  Edomites  and  Egj'ptians  shall  only  in 
the  third  generation  enter  into  the  congregation 
of  the  Lord).  This  involves  the  close,  firm,  and 
faithful  attaching  of  oneself  to  the  congregation, 
whereby  one  has  to  the  utmost  removed  and 
excluded  himself  from  the  national  communion 
of  heathens.  Comp.  also  Lev.  xxv.  45. "  Cer- 
tainly not  testifying  to  an  already  very  prevalent 
custom,  but  in  a  prophetic  mode  of  expres.=ion, 
Ver.  23  adds  again  a  n*nv      The  more  general 

sense  of  this  specializing  Havernick  expresses  to 
the  ibllowing  effect ;  "  Heathendom  forms  no  new 
church  alongside  of  Israel,  no  proper  tribe  along- 
side of  the  twelve  families  of  Israel.  It  is  absorbed 
into  Israel  as  God's  holy  ordinance,  which  con- 
tinues unalterable,  as  an  ensign  for  the  Gentiles, 
into  the  one  true  Church,  which  has  existed  from 
the  beginning  and  shall  exist  for  ever."  Very 
rightly  does  Kliefoth  point  out  the  connection  of 
our  prophetic  passage  with  the  prediction  in  ch. 
xxxvi.  36,  xxxvii.  9,  28  ;  only  he  wrongly  adduces 
ch.  xliv.  9,  which  compare.  "There  shall  hence- 
forth be  no  distinction  betiveen  the  members  of 
God's  people  bom  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  and 
those  bom  of  the  Gentiles." 


CHAP.  XLVin. 


1  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  tribes  :  from  the  north  end  by  the  way  of 
[toward]  Hethlon,  as  one  cometh  to  Hamath,  Hazar-Enon,  the  border  of 
Damascus  northward  to  the  border  of  Hamath,  and  they  are  to  him  the  east 

2  side,  the  sea :  Dan  one.     And  on  the  border  of  Dan,  from  the  east  side  to 

3  the  westward  side  :  Asher  one.     And  on  the  border  of  Asher,  from  the  east- 

4  ward  side  to  the  westward  side  :  Naphtali  one.  And  on  the  border  of 
Naphtali,  from  the  eastward  side   to   the   westward   side  :    Manasseh  one. 

5  And  on  the  border  of  Manasseh,  from  the  eastward  side  to  the  westward 

6  side  :  Ephraim  one.     And  on  the  border  of  Ephraim,  from  the  east  side  an<? 


Uk  KZEKIEL. 


7  to  the  Avestward  side  :  Reuben  one.     And  on  the  border  of  Reuben,  from  the 

8  e:ist  side  to  the  \vestward  side  :  Judah  one.  And  on  the  border  of  Judah, 
from  the  east  side  to  the  westward  side,  shall  be  the  oblation  which  ve  shall 
offer,  five  and  twenty  thousand  in  breadth,  and  the  length  as  one  of  the  tribe- 
portions  from  the  eastward  side  to  the  westward  side ;  and  the  sanctuary  is 

9  in  the  midst  of  it.     The  oblation  which  ye  shall  oflFer  to  Jehovah  is  in  length 

10  five  and  twenty  thousand,  and  in  breadth  ten  thousand.  And  to  these,  to 
the  priests,  shall  the  oblation  of  holiness  be  ;  northward  five  and  twenty 
thousand,  and  seaward  in  breadth  ten  thousand,  and  southward  in  len£;th  five 
and  twenty  thousand ;  and  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  is  in  the  midst  of  it. 

11  To  the  priests  is  the  hallowed  portion,  [to  those  descending]  from  the  sons  ot 
Zadok,  who  kept  My  charge,  who  went  not  astray  when  the  sons  of  Israel 

12  went  astray,  as  the  Levites  went  astray.  And  there  is  to  them  a  heave-por- 
tion from  the  oblation  of  the  land  most  holy,  by  the  border  [border  district]  ot 

13  the  Levites.  And  the  Levites  [receive],  over  against  the  border  of  the  priests, 
five  and  twenty  thousand  in  length,  and  in  breadth  ten  thousand  ;  the  whole 

14  length  five  and  twenty  thousand,  and  the  breadth  ten  thousand.  And  they 
shall  not  sell  of  it,  nor  exchange,  nor  shall  the  first-fruits  of  the  land  pass 

15  over  [into  another  hand]  ;  for  [it  Is]  holiness  to  Jehovah.  And  five  thousand  that 
are  left  in  breadth  before  the  five  and  twenty  thousand  that  is  profane,  for 

16  the  city,  for  dwelling,  and  for  open  space  ;  and  the  city  is  in  its  midst.  And 
these  are  its  measures  :  the  north  side  four  thousand  and  five  hundred, 
and  the  south  side  four  thousand  and  five  hundred,  and  on  the  east  side  four 
thousand  and  five  hundred,  and  the  westward  side  four  thousand  and  five 

17  hundred.  And  there  is  an  open  space  for  the  city,  northward  two  hundred 
and  fifty,  and  southward  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  eastward  two  hundred 

18  and  fifty,  and  westward  two  hundred  and  fifty.  And  the  residue  in  length, 
ovei'  against  the  oblation  of  holiness,  ten  thousand  eastward  and  ten  thousand 
westward ;  and  it  is  over  against  the  oblation  of  holiness,  and  the  produce 

19  thereof  is  for  food  for  the  labourers  of  the  city.     And  as  to  the  labourers  of 

20  the  city,  they  shall  labour  it  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel.  The  whole  obla- 
tion is  five  and  twenty  thousand  by  five  and  twenty  thousand  :  a  fourth-part 

21  shall  ye  ofter  the  oblation  of  holiness,  for  a  possession  of  the  city.  And  the 
residue  [iciongs]  to  the  prince,  on  this  side  and  on  that  of  the  oblation  of 
holiness,  and  of  the  possession  of  the  city,  before  the  five  and  twenty  thousand 
of  the  oblation  unto  the  border  eastward,  and  westward  before  the  five  and 
twenty  thousand  toward  the  westward  border,  over  against  the  tribe-portions, 
[it  belongs]  to  the  prince  ;  and  the  oblation  of  holiness  and  the  sanctuary  of  the 

22  house  are  in  its  midst.  And  [namely]  from  the  possession  of  the  Levites,  from 
the  possession  of  the  city  [from  that]  in  the  midst,  shall  be  the  prince's,  between 
the  border  of  Judah  and  between  the  border  of  Benjamin — the  prince's  it 

23  shall  be.     And  the  rest  of  the  tribes  :  from  the  eastward  side  to  the  westward 

24  side  :  Benjamin  one.     And  on  the  border  of  Benjamin,  from  the  eastward 

25  side  to  the  westward  side  :  Simeon  one.     And  on  the  border  of  Simeon,  from 

26  the  eastward  side  to  the  westward  side  :  Issachar  one.     And  on  the  border 

27  of  Issachar,  from  the  eastward  side  to  the  westward  side  :  Zebulon  one.  And 
on  the  border  of  Zebulon,  from  the  eastward  side  to  the  westward  side :  Gad 

28  one.  And  on  the  border  of  Gad,  toward  the  south  side,  to  the  right  is  the 
border :  from  Tamar  to  the  strife-waters  of  Kadesh  is  the  inheritance  [along 

89  the  brook]  to  the  great  sea.  This  is  the  land  which  ye  shall  divide  of  the 
inheritance  to  the  tribes  of  Israel,  and  these  are  their  portions :  sentence  of 

30  the  Lord  Jehovah.     And  these  are  the  out-goings  of  the  city  :  on  the  north 

31  side,  four  thousand  and  five  hundred  by  measure.  And  the  gates  of  the  city 
after  the  names  of  the  tribes  of  Israel :  three  gates  northward ;  the  gate  of 

32  Reuben  one,  the  gate  of  Judah  one,  the  gate  of  Levi  one.  And  on  the  eastr 
ward  side  four  thousand  and  five  hundred  :    and  three  gates ;    the  gate  of 

33  Joseph  one,  the  gate  of  Benjamin  one,  the  gate  of  Dan  one.  And  as  to  the 
scithward  side,  four  thousand  and  five  hundred  by  measure  :  and  three  gates  ; 


CHAP.  XLVIII.  1-7. 


iTS 


the  gate  of  Simeon  one,  the  gate  of  Issachar  one,  the  gate  of  Zebulon  onr. 

34  As  to  the  westward  side,  four  thousand  and  five  hundred  :  its  gates  threo  ; 

35  the  gate  of  Gad  one,  the  gate  of  Asher  one,  the  gate  of  Naphtali  one.  Round 
about  eighteen  thousand  :  and  the  name  of  the  city  from  that  day  :  "  Jehovah 
thither  "  (Jehovah  Shammah). 

Ver.  1.  Sept. :  .  .  .  iro  t.  kfix"^.!  .  .  .  «XT«  TO  atfiOf  Trs  xxrcc^xir'MS  Tou  rt^rx^Xotros  i-ri  T>;y  t'tiroiat  Tr,i  'Httotfl  •uX»!s 
r»  a;.«.,  .  .  .  'H,i«c9  ^l>.y,!-  x.i(rT«.i^ir<M  T«  »/«(  «vaTi>*«  IK  Tfoj  9a/l«o-ir«. —  Vulg. :  .  .  .  juzta  viam  .  .  .  pei-gmtibui 
Emath  atrium  Enan — 

Ver.    8.  .  .  .  i  ixtt^x"  ""  ifupirftai—  Vulg. :  .  .  .  primitix,  quas  separabitis— 

Ver.    9.  ...  17*  eL^optouri*— 

Ver.  10.  Tsurm  iiT-rai  .  .  .  -roa  liftvrii  ...  K.  to  oVot  To»  iyitn—  Valg. :  Hx  aulem  ertint  primitias  tantlvarH 
tacerdotum — 

Ver.  11.  .  .  .  T»i,-  iyixtr/iitu!  ^/oif —  Volg. :  Sacerdotibua  sanctuarium  eril  de  filiit—  (Another  reading:  '33 
ClpDH'   S^P*-  Arabs.) 

Ver.  12.  ...  17  i.T,>.i>xn  SsSouiv.;  i«  r.  irn-px"'  t.  yr<—    (Another  reading:  mOinO  ;   Bnpil  pro  JHSn.) 

Ver.  14.  Ow  ^pa.%r,iriTxi  ii  olItvj  oiht  Ketreti^-rpriffnrtraa,  eiit  a^eupiSr,iriTai  ra.  rpaiTtyi*fii/*a-a  T.  yijf — 

Ver.  15.   .  .  .  T^OTfj^irtta  IrTOLt  ~r,  TO\u — 

Ver.  17.  Another  reading:  'DXDI  instead  of  D'lp  nSBOl,  and  'nXDOl  Instead  of  nO'TIXSV 

Ver.  18.  .  .  .  «.  firo.Ti,  «,'  iraf  ■£«!  t.  iy,oa,  x.  f»-T»i  .  .  .  tok  if).«;otnvo.(  Tr»  toX...  Vulg. :  .  .  .  erunf  <icu(  prim*. 
tiat  sancCuarii  .  .  .  frugts  in  pants  his  qui  serviunt  cititatt. 

Ver.  20.  Sept:  .  .  .  ifcp^nri  xi-nv  rr.  iTi^x"!'  .  •  .  i-ro  Trt  x^.T^rx"!"!  ■'■  »oXw<t.  Vulg.:  Omms  primidK  .  .  . 
in  quadrum^  separabuntur  in  primicias  sanctuarii  et  in  possessionem  civitatis. 

Ver.  21.  .   .  .  IK  ToyToy,  *.    ix  Teum  axe  t.  kirapx^  .  .  .  x.  i'lS  t.   xa.ra.ffxi'ri'  -  •  ■   «*r«    T^orA-TO*  .   .  .  x'^-'«^«< 

^m;«o£,  «'*"<  T*»  0^***  T.Tpos  flaAairo-atv,  «.  (;^«(^*{e  tiw  /^tpiim  t.  «f>;7ouufv«f '     (Another  reading:  ?1jj  Py  instead  ci 

Ver.  22.  .  .  .  tv  ;^irai  tajv  CyT^oyuEMvy   .  .  .  rmn  eLtr^otjuu>i»n  trrau. 

Ver.  28.  .   .    .  x.  teas  T»»  Tfc!  >jpx,  «.  JoTii  0f(«  aifOu  ilo  e«,ito:>  «.  iSxTOf  B«/>l/i«9Ka5rt,  xhrpx'fMX,  lit  6(x\a.C(rr,c— 

(Aaother  reading:  JISBO  pro  nSS  i>«  ;   ''O  np  !   D'H  ny.) 

Ver.  29.  Another  reading  :  H^rUS. 

Ver.  34.  Another  reading :  O'lyU'- 

Ver.  35.   Ki/«A«ii«  .   .  .   K.  T.  o'>0"«  t.  toAiw,  «»'  W  i»  ii,ttJ/s««  ^.ihit*/-   TUvpiK  ixu  icriu  r.  cycfix  «iTi,f. 


EXEGETICAl  EEMAKKS. 

Vers.  1-29. — The  Division  of  the  Land  among 
the  Tribes,  with  the  Separation  of  the  Part 
to  be  separated. 

Vers.  1-7. — The  Seven  Upper  Tribe-portions. 

The  division  of  the  land,  like  the  fijdng  of  the 
boundaries  (ch.  xlvii.  15  sq.),  begins  in  the  north, 
inclining  thence  to  the  south.  Hitzig  denies  the 
significance  of  the  number  seven  here  :  "As  the 
section  itself  regarding  tlie  Terumah  is  put  in  the 
middle,  so  his  object  is  to  move  the  central  sanc- 
tuary, which  must  lie  between  Judah  and  Benja- 
min, but  historically  lay  far  nearer  the  south 
border  than  the  north,  as  near  indeed  as  possible 
to  the  centre,  yet  also  toward  the  south. "  Hengst. , 
on  the  contrary,  argues  from  the  division  of  the 
number  twelve  into  seven  and  five, — a  division 
irhich  often  occurs  also  in  the  grouping  of  the 
Psalms,  where  "the  sacred  number  seven  is 
always  the  chief  number,  and  five  appears  only 
as  its  supplement."  "  Even  upon  the  land,"  says 
Hiiv.,  "is  the  character  of  pleasing  to  God  to  be 
Btiimped  throughout" 

[ " 'Jhe  territory  to  be  divided  being  thus 
obriouslj'  viewed  in  an  ideal  light,  the  division 
itself  is  conducted  in  the  same  manner, — not  as  it 
ever  could  have  taken  place  in  the  reality,  but 
after  rule  and  measure,  in  exact  and  regular  por- 
ticns,  running  alongside  of  each  other  the  whole 
breadth  from  west  to  east,  and  standing  in  a 
common  relation  to  the  temple  in  the  centre. 
Seven  of  the  tribes  have  their  portions  on  the 
nort'i,  on  account  of  the  greater  strettih  of  the 


land  in  that  direction  with  respect  to  the  actual 
Jerusalem,  and  in  the  following  order  :— Dan, 
Asher,  Naphtali,  Manasseh,  Ephraim,  Reuben, 
Judah  ;  the  latter  having  its  place  close  by  the 
central  portion  on  the  north,  as  Benjamin  had 
on  its  south.  This  honour  appears  to  have  been 
given  to  these  two  tribes  in  consideration  of  their 
relative  historical  superiority,  having  so  long  ad- 
hered to  the  temple  and  ordinances  of  God,  when 
the  others  deserted  them.  Dan,  on  the  contrary, 
was  placed  at  the  extreme  north,  on  account  of 
the  low  religious  character  of  the  tribe,  precisely 
as  John,  in  representing  the  whole  elect  Church 
by  twelve  thousand  from  the  several  tribes  ol 
Israel,  leaves  Dan  out  altogether  (Kev.  vii. ).  As 
there  were  actually  thirteen  tribes,  he  finds  his 
twelve  times  twelve  by  omitting  Dan,  whose 
idolatrous  and  semi-heathen  character  made  it 
border  morally,  as  it  did  locally,  on  the  Gentiles. 
Here  the  two  tribes  of  Joseph  are  thrown  into 
one,  to  admit  of  Dan's  having  a  place,  but  it  is 
still  the  lowest  place  in  the  ideal  territory  of  a 
blessed  world.  With  these  exceptions,  we  can 
discern  no  specific  grounds  for  the  particular 
places  assigned  to  the  tribes  respectively^  The 
order  on  the  south  side  was,  Benjamin,  Simeon, 
Issachar,  Zebulon,  Gad.  But  the  city,  the 
temple,  the  prince,  and  priesthood,  with  their 
respective  portions,  being  situated  precisely  in 
the  middle,  and  not  within  the  boundaries  of 
any  of  the  tribes,  was  intended  to  intimate  that 
all  were  now  to  be  regarded  as  having  a  common 
interest  in  them  ;  aiid  that  the  miserable  and 
mischievous  jealousies  which  had  of  old  exercised 
80  disastrom    an    influence,   especially  between 


<«0 


EZEKIEL. 


Judah  and  Ephraim,  should  finally  and  for  ever 
cease.  All  now  should  stand  related  as  a  united 
»ud  compact  brotherhood  to  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Lord,  from  which,  as  a  central  fountainhead  of 
life  and  blessing,  there  should  continually  stream 
forth  manifestations  of  grace  to  all  the  people." — 
FxiRB.ur.ii's  Mekkl,  pp.  498,  499.— W.  F.] 

Ver.  1.  The  starting-point :  the  north  end, 
ch.  xlrii.  15. — The  course  goes  from  west  to 
east;  hence  "  Hethlon "  and  "Hamath,"  and 
"  Hazar-Enon  "  as  the  eastmost  point.  Hengst.  : 
"from  Hazar,  etc.,  to  the  border,"  etc.,  so  that 
the  northmost  point  is  Hamath,  ch.  xlvii.  17. 
— The  words  :  and  they  are  (pertain)  to  him,  refer 
to  the  tribe  immediately  named,  Dan.  — Q'lp-nsS 

D>n,  Keil  :  asyndeton  =  the  east  side  and  the  west, 

the  tract  toward  both  sides.  Hitzig:  "the  east 
aide  of  the  sea,"  that  is,  what  lies  east  from  the 
sea,  namely,  from  the  north  end  of  this  east  side, 
from  Hazar-Enon.  Hengst.:  "the  east  side,  the 
west  sea. "  But  he  takes  ' '  him  "  as  the  ideal  unity 
of  the  tribes  as  a  whole,  although  Dan  (he  says) 
was  specially  in  the  prophet's  mind.  At  the 
division  of  the  land  under  Joshua,  Dan  had,  west 
of  Benjamin,  taken  possession  of  only  a  part  of 
the  laud's  breadth  ;  but  in  the  days  of  the  Judges, 
Danites  had  pressed  northward,  and  had  named  the 
.conquered  Laish  Dan,  so  that  Dan  denoted  the 
nortn  border.  Hengst.  makes  one  of  the  prophet's 
points  of  view  to  be  to  show  the  equality  of  all 
the  tribes  as  "  members  of  equal  rank  in  the  body 
of  the  people  of  God."  Thus  in  the  case  of  the 
tribe  allotments,  and  afterwards  in  the  case  of 
the  gates,  "  the  sons  of  the  handmaids  and  of  the 
wives,  and  those  of  the  latter  again  among  one 
another,  were  intentionally  and  skilfully  inter- 
mixed (Rev.  vii.  5-8),  and  Dan  the  son  of  the 
handmaid  stands  at  the  head,  because  there  is 
with  God  no  respect  of  persons  :  Israel  is  a 
brotherly  people,  in  which  no  member  may  raise 
itself  above  another. "^nnS  fl  means:  that  Dan 
shall  receive  an  inheritance,  as  Keil  supplies  pan, 

from  ch.  xlvii.  13.  Klief. :  "the  single  equal 
heritage  for  each  tiibe  being  considered  as  a 
monad."  Similarly  in  what  follows  ;  and  always, 
in  distinction  from  the  former  order  of  things, 
taking  in  the  whole  breadth  of  Canaan,  ' '  from  the 
east  side  to  the  seaward  side." — Ver.  2.  Asher. — 
Ver.  3.  Naphtali. — Ver.  4.  Manasseh. — Ver.  5. 
Ephraim. — Ver.  6.  Eeuben. — Ver.  7.  Judah, 
who  is  thus  preceded  by  three  pair  of  tribes,  the 
list  of  the  seven  upper  tribes  closing  with  him, 
just  as  from  him  the  whole  people  received  even 
their  name.  Keil  observes :  "  Asher  and  Naphtali, 
who  formerly  occupied  the  most  northern  district, 
are  ranged  beside  Dan  ;  then  follows  Manasseh, 
since  lialf-Manasseh  formerly  dwelt  to  the  east  of 
Naphtali ;  and  Ephraim  is  ranged  beside  Manasseh, 
as  formerly  beside  the  western  half  -  Manasseh. 
The  r«ason  for  bringing  in  Reuben  between  Ephraim 
and  Judah  seems  to  be  that  Reuben  was  the  first- 
born of  Jacob's  sons." 

\'er.i  8-22.   The  Special  Portion  aU  off  from,  the 
Land. 

Ver.  8  places,  moreover,  the  Terumah  on  the 
border  of  Judah.  "  The  normal  condition  of 
Israel  Is  reached,  according  to  which  aU  the  life 
of  the  whole  land  streams  forth  from  its  truly 
ipiritual  centre,  and  the  unity  of  the  whole  com- 


munity rests  entirely  upon  the  Lord  Himself  and 
His  self-revelation  in  the  midst  of  the  people. 
In  this  way  the  fact  also  is  explained  that  Jndah 
dwells  nearest  the  sanctuary,  while  Benjamin 
occupies  a  corresponding  position  on  the  south 
side  of  the  temple.  The  reason  of  this  is  not  so 
much  the  warlike  character  of  these  two  tribes, 
as  their  attachment  to  the  temple  when  the  ten 
tribes  revolted  from  it.  Both  tribes  represent 
such  a  disposition,  and  the  prophet's  higher 
spiritual  point  of  view  manifests  itself  in  this 
division  of  the  tribes,  as  differing  essentially  from 
tlie  old  division,  inasmuch  as  this  latter  was  de 
termined  principally  by  outward  need  and  exter- 
nal relations"  (Hav.).  According  to  Bimsen, 
Judah  lay  suiSciently  near  the  centre  in  order, 
with  Ephraim,  "  to  form  the  fulcrum  of  defence.'' 
The  Terumah,  which  refers  us  back  to  ch.  xlv.  1 
sq.,  is  employed,  according  to  Hengst.,  sensu 
latiori,  including  also  the  portion  of  the  prince  ; 
it  rather  appears,  however,  to  be  denominated  a 
parte  potior i,  as  it  is  expressly  said  :  and  the  sanc- 
tuary is  in  the  midst  of  it,  although  the  five  and 
twenty  thousand  in  breadth  wiU  comprehend  all, 
if  the  clause  :  and  the  length  as  one  (any  one) 
of  the  tribe  portions  from  the  eastward  side  to 
the  westward  (seaward)  side,  is  to  be  understood 
in  accordance  with  ch.  xlv.  7.  Then,  however, 
Ver.  9,  the  oblation,  as  it  is  distinctively  called, 
which  ye  shall  offer  to  Jehovah,  will  not,  like 
that :  which  ye  shall  offer,  in  ver.  8,  be  the  Teru- 
mah in  the  special  sense.  The  "  sanctuary "  in 
ver.  8  forms  the  transition  to  this  specializing. — 
Thus  also  it  cannot  be  misunderstood  when  in 
Ver.  10  the  oblation  of  holiness  (comp.  on  ch. 
xlv.)  is  adjudged  to  the  priests,  for  the  sam^tuary 
lies  in  their  portion.  — The  clause :  northward, 
etc.,  makes  the  upper  boundary  of  this  main  divi- 
sion of  the  whole  the  same  (25,000)  in  length, 
that  is,  from  east  to  west,  as  the  last-measured 
boundary  southward.  Westward  and  eastward, 
whereby  the  breadth  is  given,  that  is,  in  the 
dii'ection  from  north  to  south,  the  measurement 
yields  the  same  result  in  each  case,  10,000.^ 
i3^n3  'n'ni  fixes  in  some  measure  more  exactly 

the  iaina  of  ^er.  8,  whose  suffix  Keil  makes  refer 

ad  sensum  to  ppn,  instead  of  to  nonn.     At  all 

events,  i3in3  there  is  not^  "therein"  (Hitzig). 

The  expression  :  "  in  the  midst,"  refers,  however, 
neither  to  one  of  the  tribe-portions  nor  to  the 
"oblation,"  but  to  the  priests'  portion,  which 
the  oblation  bounds  off  on  all  sides.  In  our  verse 
the  suffix  refers  more  definitely  to  the  oblation  of 
holiness  in  its  length  and  breadth,  which  are 
given  as  to  the  four  sides. — Ver.  11.  Kliefoth 
renders  t^pnn,  "the  hallowed  portion,"  to  the 

priests  it  shall  belong.  So  also  Rashi.  Pual  pass. , 
as  it  is,  can  here  denote  nothing  more  suitably, 
especially  as  the  suffix  in  the  previous  iaina    is 

thereby  most  easily  explained.  Most  expositors, 
following  the  old  translations,  and  influenced  by 
Isa.  xiii.  3,  render  it  in  a  plural  sense  ;  and  simi- 
larly Kimchi  takes  it  distributively :  "he  who  is 
hallowed  of  the  sons  of  Zadok."    The  participle 

certainly  lies  inconveniently  between  D'jnbb  ''°<i 
''330,  but  the  plural  in  2  Chron.  xxvi.  18  can- 
not decide  in  favour  of  the  singular  here,  for  tha 


CHAP.  XLVIII.  ]-2-i:>. 


481 


singular  heie  wouM,  as  Hengst  grants,  denote 
"  the  hallowed  part  as  distinct  f'roift  the  unconse- 
crated  part, ""—  a  restriction  ^vhich  can  no  longer  be 
introduced  iii  the  case  of  the  sons  of  Zadok  (cnmp. 
xliv.  15  sq. ),  after  they  have  been  repeatedly 
represented  as  the  hallowed  priestly  peYsonelk. 
What  does  this  saying  of  Hengstenberg's  mean  : 
that  they  are  sanctified  "  by  their  fidelity,  by 
which  they  made  their  election  sure"?  It  ought 
rather  to  be  said  that  the  part  of  the  Terumah 
which  is  specially  the  Terumah — the  "  oblation  of 
holiness"  (as  in  ver.  10),  or  tnpon,  as  is  said 

here — belongs  to  those  who  are  the  priests  of  the 
future,  namely,  to  the  priests  who  are  taken 
from  the  sons  of  Zadok,  who  kept,  etc.  (refer- 
ring to  the  "  sons  of  Zadok  ") ;  comp.  ch.  xliv.  15. 
The  12  denotes  no  selection  or  restriction  among 

the  sons  of  Zadok,  but  simply  their  descent, 
whence  these  priests  are,  with  a  reference  back  to 
what  is  contained  on  that  subject  in  the  previous 
chapters.     [Keil's  objection  in  respect  to  BnpDil 

tells,  moreover,  against  such  a  view  as  this  :  "  to 
the  priests  it  is  consecrated, " — a  viewwhich  indeed 
would  correspond  neither  to  the  fonn  of  the  te.xt 
nor  the  facts  of  the  case.]  The  mention  of  the 
going  astray  of  the  Levites,  like  whom  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  went  astray,  shows,  what  hitherto 
is  manifest  throughout,  namely,  tliat  the  tribe  of 
Levi,  not  the  priestly  family  of  Aaron,  was  in- 
tended ;  whereas  Hengst.,  in  order  to  have  the 
nece-ssary  distinction  and  contrast,  thinks  of  those 
who  were  "as  a  punishment  desecrated  (?),  de- 
graded, and  reiluced  to  mere  Levites. "  The 
meaning,  on  the  contrary,  is  simply  this  :  the 
sons  of  Zadok  stood  firm  when  the  rest  of  Levi 
stumbled,  and  aloug  with  Levi,  Israel.  That  some 
of  the  sons  of  Zadok  also  had  gone  astray,  and  in 
contrast  to  them  the  description  here  is  given,  is 

not  the  case. — Ver.  12.   Qn^  nn'm,  although  no 

fonr»il  apodosis  to  ver.  11,  most  expressly  con- 
firms the  view  taken  of  ver.  11.  —  ri'dirii  »s  'he 

following  JO  likewise  shows,  is  less  a  part  (Klief.  ) 

of  the  oblation,  than  an  abstraction  therefrom ; 
hence  in  a  spiritual  respect  somehow  in  relation 
to  the  oblation,  what  is  most  holy  in  relation  to  the 
sanctuary  ;  Keil  correctly :  "the  offering  from  the 
oblation."  But  this  "Teramiah"  from  the  "Teru- 
mah" is  designated  most  holy  liecause  it  is  this  in 
relation  to  the  part  which  belongs  to  the  Levites. 
Observe  how  the  old  ordinances  as  regards  places 
are  converted  into  or.iinances  in  reference  to  per- 
sons, and  thereby  .Jehovah's  relation  comes  out  as 
a  relation  appearing  in  men.  [Hengst.:  "the 
heave-portion  which  fell  to  the  priests  is  de- 
signated most  holy,  because  it  has  God's  sanc- 
tuary in  the  midst  of  it,  and  belongs  to  His  most 
eminent  ministers,  in  distinction  from  the  part  of 
the  Levites,  which  has  only  the  second  degree  of 
holiness,  and  from  that  of  the  city,  which  has  only 

tj?.e  third  "(?).]    The  closing  definition :  '^33-^K, 

net  merely  forms  the  transition  to  what  follows, 
but  also  indicates  that  we  have  to  imagine  the 
priests'  portion  as  adjoining  the  south  or  the  north 
Bide  of  the  Levites'  portion. — In  Ver.  13,  accord- 
ingly, this  latter  is  expressed,  as  it  had  to  be 
%xpressed  in  respect  of  t\e  Levites,  namely :  that 


they  are  to  have  th'-ir  appointid  portion  close  tc 
the  border  of  the  prissts  (riEV^).     Hengst. 

"  In  the  description  of  the  oblation,  the  prophet, 
for  theological  reasons,  began  with  the  middla 
portion,  the  priests'  part ;  it  was  then  necessary 
to  guard  against  the  thought  that  the  Levites' 
part  was  separated  by  the  city,  or  the  city  by  the 
Levites'  part,  from  the  sanctuaiy.  The  servant? 
of  the  house,  and  likewise  he  inhabitants  of  the 
city,  as  constituting  the  holy  assembly  at  the 
divine  services,  behoved  to  have  the  sanctuary  m 
near  as  possible."  Comp.  for  the  deterniin.ation 
of  the  circumference,  ch.  xlv.  5.  As  to  the  re- 
peated closing  clause :  the  whole  length,  it  will 
lose  its  appearance  of  tautology  if  we  assume 
with  Kliefoth  that  it  is  meant  to  express  briefly 
the  two  lengths  (north  and  south)  and  the  two 
breadths  (east  and  west),  instead  of  going  through 
the  cardinal  points  one  by  om-,  as  in  ver.  10.— 
Ver.  1-t.  Comp.  Lev.  xxv.  34.  "It  is  regarded, 
as  the  gift  of  first-fruits  to  Jehovah,  to  which  the 
Lord  has  the  sole  right,  and  which  thus  may 
never  come  iuto  the  hands  of  another"  (Hav. ). 
"  The  ordinance  applies  naturally  also  to  the 
priests'  land,  although  it  is  expressly  given  only 
for  the  Levites'  part,  because  its  holiness  is  less,  so 
that  the  thought  of  its  being  saleable  might  more 
readily  arise  "  (Hengst.). — "liay  (Qeri ;  i»ay«); 

the  Kal  is  quite  sufficient,  there  is  no  need  of  a 
Hiphil  form. — Thatwhich  is  acknowledged  as  first- 
fruits  of  the  land  is  holy  to  Jehovah.  "Trafhc 
is  excluded  where  God  is  the  landowner  and  the 
Levites  only  usufructuaries  "  (  Hengst.  ).  "  This 
land  is  an  offering ;  the  heaving  is  one  form  for 
it,  and  the  gift  of  first-fruits  the  other  "(  Klief.  ). 
As  in  ch.  .xlv.  6,  so  now  in  Ver.  15,  the  posses- 
sion of  the  city  comes  after  the  land  of  the  priests 
and  Levites.  Kliefoth  observes,  referring  to  ch. 
xl.  2  (0,  that  the  prophet  beheld  the  city  to  the 
south;  hence  it  lay  sout,h  of  the  priests' "portion 
and  the  sanctuary,  and  so  the  Levites'  portion 
lay  north  of  that  of  the  priests.  Ezekiel,  lie  goes 
on  to  say,  setting  out  as  he  does  fiom  the  middle 
of  the  Terumah,  does  not,  as  in  the  dirision  of  the 
land  among  the  tribes,  follow  the  direction  from 
north  to  south,  but  takes  first  the  more  centi-al 
priests'  portion  (vers.  9-12)  ;  but  the  fact  that  he 
then  (vers.  13,  11)  describes  the  Levites'  portion, 
lying  north  of  it,  and  thereafter  takes  up  the  city- 
possession,  lying  south  of  the  priests'  portion,  ha.s 
its  giound  in  this,  that  the  portion  of  the  Levites  i.i 
also  holy,  whereas  the  portion  of  the  city  is  profane. 
It  is  still  simpler  to  take  as  motive  for  the  order 
observed,  besides  the  reference  to  ch.  xlv.,  the 
connection  of  priests  and  Levites  with  the  central 
sanctuary.  In  this  way  the  Levites  necessarily 
preceded  the  city.  The  five  thousand  are  ht't 
when  we  subti'act  twice  ten  thousjnd  in  breadth 
(vers.  9  and  13)  from  five  ind  twenty  thousand  in 
breadth,  that  is,  from  noith  to  south  (ver.  8). — 
inijn  is  neuter,  according  to   Hitzig;   it  is  the 

particip.  Niph.  of  in'- — 'pB  by,  before  the  side 

in  question,  namely,  from  east  to  west ;  this  gives 
a  third  oblong,  which,  however,  is  only  half  the 
breadth  of  the  two  former. — y\r\  is  profane,  in 
contrast  to  the  former  "  most  holy"  and  "  holy" 
of  the  poition  of  the  priests  and  Levites.  Phi- 
LIPPSON  :  "  they  are  common  land  for  the  city. 


t82 


EZEKIEL. 


Havernick  makes  inn^U'  refer  to  -inijn,  und  tlu 

last  thought  of  ver.  18  to  be  ;  "  the  residue  of  the 
city -district  shall  serve  for  support  to  the  work- 
men, and  they  shall  cultivate  it,  for  which  they 
shall  be  bound  to  the  service  of  the  city."  (2) 
Hengst.  translates  thus  :  "who  serve  the  city  ;" 
and  "can  only  understand  by  this  a  militia  (!) 
that  take  the  city  in  the  midst, — military  service 
is  the  only  possible  service  on  a  large  scale  to  a 
city, — and,  as  is  so  emphatically  stated,  are  en- 
camped as  a  guard  beside  the  holy  oblation  with 
the  temple."  "On  the  north  side  of  the  holy 
oblation  are  the  Levites  as  the  militia  sacra  (Num. 
iv.  23,  viii.  24)  ;  on  the  south  side  the  ministers 
of  the  secular  arm,  which  has  to  protect  the 
Church."  "Adjoining  the  provision  made  for 
these  servants  on  both  sides  is  the  domain  of  the 
prince  (?!),  who  is  to  be  considered  the  com- 
mand(!r  of  these  guards."     For  13JJ,  in  the  sense 

of  "  military  service,"  Hengst.  refers  to  eh.  xxix. 
20.  But  if  ever  an  exposition  has  missed  the 
mark,  it  is  here.  We  hear  the  mounting  of  guard 
on  the  Berlin  University  Platz,  and  Hengst.  must 
also  mention  Egypt  as  an  example  "of  such 
military  colonies  endowed  with  laud  ;"  he  com- 
forts himself  with  the  thought  that  this  militia 
"  is  not  to  be  gathered  out  of  the  lands  of  other 
lords,  as  formerly  the  Cherethites  and  Pelethites, 
but  is  to  consist  of  such  as  are  willing  also  to 
serve  their  Lord  in  this  lower  (!)  sphere. "  (3) 
Klief.  :  "The  workmen  of  the  city  are  the 
labouring  class  dwelling  in  it ;  in  this  city 
they  are  not  to  be  destitute  of  possession,  as  is 
usual  in  the  cities  of  men,  theretbre  considerable 
portions  of  land  are  assigned  to  them  for  support ; 
and  to  explain  this  ver.  19  subjoins,  that  from 
all  the  tribes  of  Israel  (lay,  transitively  with  the 

accus.)  they  are  to  employ  these  in  labour; 
namely,  when  they  come  from  all  parts  of  the 
land  to  the  holy  city  to  tlie  feasts,  and  because  the 
land  in  the  capital  gives  employment  to  labourers, " 
etc.  (4)  Hitzig  takes  ^2]}  ^^s  colere  locum,  of  cul- 
tivating through  residence  =  to  inhabit;  hence, 
"  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  ;"  ver.  19  :  "And 
as  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  people  from  all 
the   tribes   of    Israel   shall   inhabit  it." — n3"yri, 

singular,  stands  as  collective,  "but  the  suffix  in 
^nnaj)'  does  not  refer  to  it,  and  to  make  it  refer 

to  "iniiin  would  yield  no  suitable  sense  ;   hence 

we  are  to  read ;  nn3J?',  and  the  reference  to  yy, 

which  is  certainly  not  of  the  common  gender,  is 
to  be  accepted."  As  in  ver.  18  the  masculine 
suffix  in  nhSISn  refers  to  "ipijn,  so  also  does  the 

suffix  in  ^n^l3J?\  Ewald  translates  thus  :  "  And 
every  labourer  of  the  city  will  cultivate  it." 
Neteler:  "and  as  to  the  workman  of  the  city, 
one  will  take  him  for  workman  out  of,  "etc. — Ver. 
20  sums  up  the  whole,  namely,  of  tlie  previously 
described  oblation,  as  a  square  of  25,000,  ».'.  in- 
clusive of  the  possession  of  the  city  ;  and  then 
dcsciibes  the  possession  of  the  city  .as  a  fourth- 
part  of  the  "oblation  of  holiness, "  as  the  portions 
of  the  priests  and  Levites  in  the  narrower  sense 
are  called,  which  liave  a  breadth  of  20,000,  of 
which  the  5000  of  the  possession  of  the  city  are  i 


for  chveilings,  and  for  environs."  These  five 
thoii.saud  are  set  apart  generally  for  the  city 
(I'V-)'  ""'^  specially  for  dwellings  and  as  pre- 
cincts for  free  use,  pasture,  arable  land,  etc.  As 
the  city  is  the  title  for  this  portion  of  land,  so  the 
verse  concludes  by  stating  that  the  city  is  nbina- 

Hengst.  makes  the  feminine  suffix  refer  to  the 
city  in  the  wider  sense  (TJ)?),  within  which  the 

city  in  the  narrower  sense  lies.  Kliefoth  trans- 
lates :  "  in  the  middle  in  it."  Since  the  city  lies 
in  the  midst  of  the  city-district,  this  makes  it,  as 
Klief.  observes,  lie  right  opposite  the  sanctuary 
in  the  south. 

Ver.  16  first  subjoins  the  more  exact  statement 
in  regard  to  the  length  from  east  to  west,  pre- 
viously only  indicated  by  'jg  jjy.    The  oblation 

.  affords  it  a  front  of  five  and  twenty  thousand  ;  its 
measure,  however,  is  such  as  to  make  a  square  of 
four  thousand  five  hundred  on  each  side,  to  which 
'S  added  in  Ver.  1 7  an  open  space  of  two  hundred 

itnd  fifty  on  each  of  the  four  sides.  The  L''On 
found  in  the  text,  and  left  by  the  Masorites  un- 
punctuated,  is  almost  universally  considered  an 
•■rror  of  transcription  ;  Hengst.,  on  the  contrary, 
itays:  "It  points  to  this,  that  the  south  side 
eqttaUij  with  the  north  side  has  4500  cubits  ;  five 
stands  for  :  on  the  five,  or:  to  the  five,"  etc.  The 
length  of  the  city-district  (namely,  city  and  free 
space),  from  east  to  west,  amounts  to  4500-1-250 
-f  250  =  5000,  and  to  the  same  in  breadth  from 
north  to  south,  so  that  the  square  in  tliis  respect 
occupies  the  entire  breadth  of  the  city-district, 
while  it  only  comes  to  a  fifth  of  the  25,000  in 
length  from  east  to  west.  ["The  small  compass 
of  the  city  district  "  (cubits  !),  observes  Hengst., 
"wholly  excludes  the  inhabitants  from  agricul- 
ture."]— Ver.  18  disposes  of  what  remains  of  the 
length  (Klief.  :  "  in  the  length  ")  along  the  holy 
oblation,  the  section  eastward  and  the  section 
seaward,  10,000  each.  "This  is  to  remain  over 
against  the  holy  Terumah,  that  is,  as  a  part  of  it, 
although  it  is  assigned  neither  to  the  priests,  nor 
the  Levites,  nor  the  city"  (Klief.).  Hengst. 
explains  the  phrase:  "over  against  the  holy 
oblation,"  as  indicating  "that  we  are  not  to 
imagine  that  the  Levitical  part  is  shoved  in 
between,  whereby  the  holy  oblation  would  be 
separated  from  its  guardians."  The  proventus, 
the  nsiari  of  tlie  -inisn,  wliat  of  fruit   the  soil 

of  tlie.se  two  districts  yields,  is  destined  for  sup- 
port (onfiS)    for    the  labourers    of   the    city. 

They  are  further  described  in  Ver.  19,  where  it  is 
said  of  them  :  !|n^n2J!'.    (1)Hav.  :   "  By  these  are 

not  meant  slaves,  nor  (as  KtMCHi)  such  as  culti- 
vate gardens  and  fields  (against  which  there  is  the 
TJjn),  hut,  as  Gesenius  puts  it  :  those  who  per- 
form service  in  building  the  city,  which  the  pro- 
phet represents  as  an  honourable  office.  The  holy 
city  as  well  as  the  temple  belongs  now  to  no  single 
tribe,  but  to  all  Israel,  so  all  the  tribes  take  part 
in  building  and  maintaining  it,  by  workmen 
chosen  I'ur  the  purpose,  who  receive  their  suj.']>ort 
from  land  assigned  to  them  situated  in  the  im- 
mediate  vicinity   of    the   holy  temph-distn  t." 


CHAP.  XLVIII.  21-;50. 


483 


fourth.  Fhilippsiiii,  on  the  other  hand,  translates 
thus :  "  In  square  I'orni  shall  ye  otter  the  holy  obla- 
tion, together  with  the  property  of  the  city  ;"  as 
•imilarly  EwalJ.      And  already   Havernick  took 

-pfjas;   "in   addition   to   the  possession  of  the 

city. " 

Ver.  21  ;  comp.  ch.  xlv.  7.  The  portion  of  the 
prince  on  both  sides,  east  and  west,  of  the  ' '  obla- 
tion" described  in  ver.  8  (25,000  from  east  to 

west).     '3a"i)X,  translated  by  Ewald :  "  close  to  ;  " 

byHengst.;  "over  against;"bj'  others:  "along," 
with  reference  to  the  east  and  west  skirt  of  tlie 
Teniinah,  which  was  only  25,000  long.  The 
position   is   described  first  eastward,    and   then, 

with  some  variations  (instead  of  jx,  "^o^  ?J?i  with 
omission  of  the  "  oblation  ;  "  instead  of  p^aj-lj), 
now  'j"^];),  westward  likewise  ;  while  in  conclu- 
sion there  is  added :  close  to  the  tribe-portions. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  in  e.\planation, 
that  the  prince's  portion  abuts  on  the  north  (like 
the  Levites'  portion)  on  the  portion  of  Judah,  on 
the  south  (like  the  pos.session  of  the  city)  on  the 
portion  of  Benjamin.  That  which  lies  eastward 
and  westward  between  Judah  and  Benjamin 
belongs  to  the  priuce,  to  whose  domain  the  suffi.x 

in    nbin3  refers,    namely,   to  ^ni3^• — Ver.   22 

describes  the  same  object,  only  instead  of  eastward 
and  westward,  it  is  now  from  nortli  to  south  ; 
hence,  setting  out  from  the  possession  of  the 
Levites,  namely,  in  the  north,  and  from  the  pes- 
session  of  the  city. — The  designation  TTina  does 

cot   belong   to  Tjjn  (Keil),    but    stands   as   an 

a-syndeton,  like:  possession  of  the  Levites,  and: 
possession  of  the  city ;  and  counts  as  the  third 
the  central  part,  nami-ly,  the  portion  of  the 
priests,  with  the  lately-mentioned  temple-sanc- 
tuary, after  mention  has  been  made  of  the  two 
outer  parts.  Thus,  what  is  to  be  the  prince's 
domain  extends  from  north  to  south,  namely, 
on  both  sides  (ver.  21) ;  and  when  it  is  described 
as  in  the  direction  of  north  to  south,  it  is  repre- 
sented as  lying  between  the  border  of  Judah  and 
between  the  border  of  Benjamin.  The  question, 
moreover,  of  ch.  .\lv.  is  renewed  here:  rods?  or 
tubits?  Keil  and  Kliefoth  reckon  by  rods,  be- 
cause, reckoned  by  cubits,  "the  prince's  land 
would  be  more  than  six  times  as  large  as  tne 
whole  Terumah  ; "  whereas,  measuring  by  rods, 
the  actual  size  of  the  land  is  in  correspondence. 
Hengst.  adduces  the  fifty  stadia  of  HecatiEus  in 
proof  of  the  18,000  cubits  of  Jerusalem. 

Vers.  23-29. — The  Five  Lower  Tribe-portions. 

Ver.  23. — The  rest  of  the  tribes  follow  south- 
ward ;  first,  Benjamin,  which  tribe  opens  the 
series  on  this  side,  as  Judah  closed  it  on  the  other. 
Three  pairs  precede  Judah,  and  two  pairs  follow 
Benjamin :  first,  Ver.  24,  Simeon ;  thereafter, 
Ver.  25,  Issachar ;  then,  Ver.  26,  Zehulon  ;  and, 
*inally,  Ver.  27,  Gad. — For  Ver.  2.S  comp.  on  ch. 
xlvii.  19. — Ver.  29,  a  closing  formula.  Hengst.: 
"It  is  said  of  the  inheritance,  because  a  part  of 
the  whole  was  not  to  be  distributed,  but  to  be 
previously  set  apart  as  holy  ground." 


["The  desire  of  giving  due  prominence  to  the 
sacred  portions  in  the  centre,  leads  the  prophet 
again  to  enter  into  some  statements  regarding 
the  Terumah,  or  oblation,  and  its  subdivisions. 
Nothing  of  importance  is  added  to  what  was  said 
before,  except  that  the  5000  rods  apportioned  out 
of  the  25,000  square  to  the  city  is  here  laid  oli 
in  a  square  of  4500,  with  the  250  all  round  lot 
suburbs.  This  space  for  the  city  was  not  strictly 
holy  ground,  in  the  sense  that  the  sacerdotal 
portions  were,  and  hence  it  is  called  profane  or' 
common.  But  being  thus  immediately  connected 
with  the  sacred  portions,  and  standing  apart  from 
the  individual  tribes,  the  city  built  on  it  formed 
a  fit  and  proper  centre  to  the  whole  land — in  its 
position  and  its  structure  the  beau-ideal  of  a 
theocratic  capital,  encompassed  by  the  most 
hallowed  influences,  ami  fitted  to  exert  a  uniting 
and  healthful  effect  upon  the  entire  community. 
Hence  the  prophet  closes  the  description  by  the 
mention  of  some  things  regarding  the  city  which 
might  serve  more  deeply  to  impress  the  feeling 
of  its  being  the  suitable  representative  and  com- 
mon centre  of  the  community.  Itself  occupying 
a  central  position,  and  immediately  in  front  ol 
the  house  of  God,  it  was  also  to  hai'e  twelve 
gates,  bearing  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
the  children  of  Israel ;  in  token  that  all  the 
family  of  faith  had  theii-  representation  in  it, 
and,  as  if  they  were  actually  resident  in  it,  stood 
before  the  Lord  for  the  enjoyment  of  His  favour 
and  blessing.  He  specifies,  again,  the  entire  cir- 
cumference of  the  city,  18,000  rods  (between 
twenty  and  thirty  miles),  as  a  symbol  of  the 
immense  numbers  of  the  covenant-people  under 
the  new  and  better  dispensation  of  the  future, 
immeasurably  transcending  what  had  existed 
under  the  old.  And  to  exhibit  the  character 
of  the  city  itself  as  representative  of  the  com- 
munity at  large,  and  indicative  of  its  own  relative 
position,  it  was  to  bear  from  that  day,  namely, 
from  the  period  of  the  beginning  of  this  new  and 
better  order  of  things,  the  honourable  name  of 
'  Jehovah-Shammah  '  —  not,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  Jehovah-there,  but  Jehovah -thither,  or 
thereupon.  For  it  was  in  the  temple,  rather 
than  in  the  city,  that  the  Lord  was  represented 
as  having  His  peculiar  dwelling-place.  But  His 
eyes  were  to  be  ever  from  the  temple  toward  the 
city,  and  again  from  the  city  toward  the  whole 
laud.  The  manifestations  of  His  love  and  good- 
ness were  to  radiate  from  the  chosen  seat  of  the 
kingdom  through  all  its  borders  ;  He  in  all,  and 
all  united  and  blessed  in  Him.  So  that  the 
consummation  of  this  vision  substantially  corre- 
sponds with  the  object  prayed  for  by  our  Lord, 
when  He  sought  respecting  His  people  that  they 
might  be  where  He  was,  and  that  they  might  be 
all  one,  as  He  and  the  Father  are  one  ;  He  in 
them,  and  they  in  Him,  that  they  might  be  made 
perfect  in  one." — Faihbairn's  JEzekiel,  pp.  499, 
500.— W.  F.] 

Vers.  30-35.—  The  City  as  to  Extent,  Oates, 
and  Name. 

In  continuation  of  Ver.  15  sq.,  we  have  now  in 
Ver.  30  the  out-goings  of  the  city,  that  is,  the  out- 
lets, with  evident  reference  to  the  gates  ;  for  "  th« 
boundary-lines  marked  out  by  walls"  (Hengst.), 
"the  extremities  into  which  a  city  runs  out' 
(Keil),  are  only  such  in  virtue  of  the  gates.    Th« 


•  S4 


EZEKIEL. 


measure  here  on  each  of  the  four  sides  is  4500  ; 
coiup.  ver.  16. — The  detailed  account  begins,  as 
ill  the  dividing  of  the  laud,  and  so  with  evident 
reference  thereto,  from  the  north. — Ver.  31.  The 
gates  are  designated  after  the  names  of  the  tribes 
of  Israel.  There  are  three  gates  to  each  side, 
hence  twelve  in  all ;  comp.  Rev.  xxi.  12.  The 
naming  does  not  follow  the  position  of  the  trilje- 
district,  and  thus  the  omitted  tribe  of  Levi  appeal's 
here  in  the  north,  honoured  by  a  gate  named  after 
it.  The  three  sons  of  Leah  (as  Deut.  xx.viii. )  are 
first  mentioned  ;  as  Keil  observes:  "the  first-born 
by  age,  the  first-born  in  virtue  of  the  patriarchal 
blessing,  and  the  one  chosen  of  Jehovah  for  His 
service  instead  of  the  first-born  of  Israel."  In 
Ver.  32  the  three  ea.st  gates,  where  Joseph  is 
named  next  after  Levi,  and  comprehends  in  his 
name  his  two  sons,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
,"  Raeliel's  sons  and  the  son  of  her  handmaid," 
Keii.).  In  Ver.  33  the  three  south  gates  bear 
the  names  of  the  other  three  sous  of  Leah  ;  and, 
lastly,  in  Ver.  34  the  west  gates  are  given,  after 
the  names  of  the  other  three  sons  of  the  hand- 
maids, as  Keil  observes. 

Ver.  35.  Then  follows  the  close  of  the  book  ;  it 
closes  with  a  name,  with  the  symbolical  name  of 
the  city,  whose  whole  compass — doubtless  calcu- 
lated likewise  in  a  symbolical  point  of  view — is 
given  as:  4x4500  =  18,000.  Kliefoth  remarks 
on  this  number,  that  it  is^l2  x  1500  ;  hence,  a 
product  of  12  by  a  multiple  of  10.  "The  city  of 
the  people  of  God,"  says  he,  "has  now  become  the 
capital  of  the  new  world. "  Neteler  connects  with 
it  the  millennial  kingdom,  saying  :  "A  thousand 
years  are  with  God  as  one  day,  and  one  day  as  a 
thousand  years  ;  lience  the  city  is  called  the  mil- 
lennial kingdom"  (!). — The  name  of  the  city  is 
annexed  to  its  whole  circumference,  just  as  before 
the  gates  named  follow  the  statement  of  the  extent. 
Thus  it  appears  that  the  name  of  the  city  itself 
now  expresses  the  same  relation  to  Jehovah  which 
the  names  of  the  gates  did  to  the  people  of  the 
covenant.  Hitzig  translates :  "  The  name  of  the 
city  is  from  that  day  :  Jehovah  there,"  and  un- 
derstands this  to  mean  :  from  the  day  of  its  being 
built.  Havernick  makes  the  following  excellent 
remarks  on  the  whole  connection:  "Already  in 
the  foregoing  the  thought  was  made  prominent, 
that  Jerusalem  sliou  d  be  the  common  property  of 
all  the  tribes.  Uver  against  the  temple,  the  place 
of  the  divine  revelation  is  Jerusalem,  the  Church 
of  God,  living  before  and  in  Him.  As  such,  it 
forms  a  closely  knit  together,  indissoluble  whole, 
a  stately  unity  rooting  itself  in  God.  In  order 
duly  to  set  forth  this  thought,  there  is  annexed 
to  the  division  of  the  land  among  the  individual 
tribes  a  consideration  of  the  city  itself.  For  that 
division  is  nothing  less  than  an  isolating  or  dis- 
severing of  the  individual  tribes  ;  but  forthwith 
the  higher  unity  of  the  prophetic  intuition,  again 
embracing  and  knitting  all  firmly  together,  pre- 
sents itself.  The  community  is  one  accepted  of 
fiod  and  hallowed  to  Him  ;  standing  itself  in  the 
presence  of  God,  it  forms  the  one  true  stem  of  the 
new  Church,  and  has  thereby  reached  its  full 
destination.  In  the  first  place,  the  greatness  of 
the  community  expresses  itself  to  the  prophet  in 
th^  coiupa.ss  of  the  city  ;  and  then  in  its  name, 
its  quality,  its  holine.ss.  'From  that  day, '  that 
18  :  henceforth  for  ever,  I.sa.  xliii.  13.  The  name 
it?elf  is :  'Jehovah  thither,'  not:  Jehovah  shall 
dwell  there.     For  Ezekiel  distinguishes  between 


temple  and  city  :  .Jehnvali  rloes  not  properly  dwell 
in  Jerusalem,  but,  in  the  proper  and  highest 
.sense,  only  in  His  sanctuary.  Tlience  He  looks 
toward  Jenisalem,  is  turned  thither  with  the  ful- 
ness of  His  love  and  grace.  What  now  ciake^ 
Jerusalem  a  true  city  of  God  is  the  love  entirely 
turned  toward  it,  the  good  plaisure  of  God  lestiiif; 
upon   it,"   etc.      Hexgst.  :    cisQ  means  :   from 

the  day  when  what  is  described  will  be  so  :  it 
does  not  and  cannot  mean:  "always,"  and  just 
as  little  can  it  mean  ;  "from  to-day."     nffiC'   's 

not:  " there, "  but,  as  always :  "thither."  But 
query  ch.  xxiii.  3  in  Ezekiel  himself,  if  not  ch. 
xxxii.  29  sq.  He  ex]ilains  the  name  trom  Deut. 
xi.  12.  "This  'Jehovah  thither'  manifested 
itself  in  the  most  glorious  manner  in  the  appear- 
ing of  Christ,  in  the  many  attempts  He  made  tc 
gather  the  children  of  Jerusalem,  in  His  tears 
over  Jerusalem.  AVlien,  however.  His  own  would 
not  receive  Him,  then  the  'Jehovah  thither,' 
which  had  availed  for  the  restored  city  five  hun- 
dred years,  passed  over  to  the  new  people  of  God, 
the  legitimate  continuation  of  Israel  and  Jerusalem 
(Matt.  xxi.  43),  to  which  Jesus  had  promised  to 
be  with  them  unto  the  end  of  the  world." — Klie- 
foth with  right  exfiresses  himself  against  an  alter- 
ation of  the  punctuation  ( nDB*  into  HDCS   "and 

the  name  of  the  city  is  henceforth  :  Jehovah  is  its 
name "),    and  also   against   the   idea   that  riBJ^ 

can  mean  anything  else  than  :  "thither."  "But 
then  the  name  purports  that  Jehovah  will  raise 
Himself  up  thither,  toward  the  city,  and  will  do 
so  from  the  day,  that  is,  from  to-day,  that  this  city 
and  what  depends  upon  it  may  come  into  being." 
In  view  of  the  total  ruin  of  the  people  of  God, 
the  whole  comfort  of  the  prophet's  predictions, 
the  full  significance  of  his  labours,  is  yet  once 
more  completely  summed  up  in  the  last  words  of 
his  ministry.  Schmieder  says :  "Notwithstanding 
the  irreeularity  of  the  natural  boundaries,  Ezekiel 
views  tlie  Holy  Land  as  a  rectangular,  oblong 
quadrilateral,  etc.  The  centre  falls  exactly  at 
Sychar,  where  Jesus  speaks  to  the  woman  of 
Samaria  (John  iv. ).  Mount  Gerizim  is  the  site  of 
the  new  temple,  but  the  Holy  City  is  at  a  distance 
of  about  five  miles  off ;  the  place  in  which  it  is 
situated  is  'the  place  of  Bethel.'  The  revelation 
of  John  contains  in  its  closing  chapters  cognate 
views,  which  presuppose  and  surpass,  but  do  int 
exactly  interpret  Ezekiel." 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE. 

["  Thus  ends  the  marvellous  vision  of  the  pro- 
phet— alike  marvellous  whether  we  look  to  the 
lofty  pattern  (true  in  the  spirit,  though  unavoid- 
ably wearing  the  garb  of  imperfect  forms  and 
shadowy  relations)  which  it-  embodied  of  better 
things  to  come  in  God's  kingdom,  or  to  the  time 
chosen  for  presenting  this  to  the  Cliurch  of  God. 
The  cause  of  Heaven  was  then  at  its  lowest  ebh. 
The  temple  that  had  been,  together  with  the 
kingdom  it  symbolized  and  represented,  were  laid 
in  ruins  ;  they  were  to  be  seen  only  in  brokt  n 
fragments  and  mournful  dilapidations,  as  if  smit- 
ten with  the  jiowerful  curse  of  an  irrecoverable 
jierdition.  Vet  from  the  midst  of  these  howling 
desolations,  as  from  the  very  '.suburbs  of  hell,' 
the  prophet  ascends,  with  assured  step,  the  mount 


CHAP.  XLVU.— XLVIII. 


48.i 


of  vision,  and  has  there  exhibited  to  his  view, 
not,  indeed,  the  very  image  of  better  things  to 
come,  but  the  ideal  pattern  after  which  the 
Messed  and  glorious  future  was  to  be  fashioned. 
He  even  sees  it  as  already  present ;  and,  with 
huch  imperfect  materials  of  thought  and  utter- 
ance as  then  stood  at  his  command,  he  gives  it 
forth  to  the  Church  and  the  world  as  a  thing 
which  his  own  eyes  had  beheld,  shomng  how 
God  would  certainly  dwell  with  His  people  in  a 
manner  He  had  never  done  before — how  He  would 
at  once  immeasurably  extend  the  sphere  of  His 
kingdom,  and  greatly  elevate  the  condition  of 
those  who  belonged  to  it — and  how,  through  the 
copious  effusions  of  His  life-giving  Spirit,  the 
former  imperfections  should  be  done  away,  the 
most  remote  regions  of  the  divine  territory  hal- 
lowed and  blessed,  and  even  the  peculiar  haunts 
of  cursing  and  desolation  made  to  rejoice  and 
blossom  like  the  rose. 

'0  scenes  snrpa«8ine  fHhIp,  and  yet  tmel 
Scenes  of  accomplished  I'li-s !  whicti.  wlio  can  see, 
Thouiih  bur  in  distan'  ino  pecu  and  not  feel 
His  boul  refre.^Iied  with  foietaste  of  the  joy?' 

"  That  such  scenes  should  hare  been  described 
with  such  assured  confidence,  and  at  a  time  so 
deeply  overspnad  with  gloom,  was  indeed  an 
ennobling  triumph  of  faith  over  sight.  It  gave  a 
most  illustrious  proof  of  the  height  in  spirittial 
discernment,  and  far-reaching  insight  into  the 
purposes  of  Heaven,  which  is  sometimes  imparted 
in  the  hour  of  greatest  need,  especially  to  the 
more  select  instruments  of  the  Spirit's  working. 
And  surely  the  children  of  the  kingdom  now 
must  be  chargeable  with  neglecting  an  important 
privilege,  if  they  fail  to  profit  by  so  inspiriting 
an  e-xample.  Here  the  heart  of  faith  is  taught 
never  to  despair — not  even  in  the  darkest  seasons. 
And  when  it  is  seen  how  much  nf  the  scheme 
delineated  in  the  prophetic  vision  has  already 
been  accomplished,  should  not  believers  feel  en- 
couraged to  look  and  strive  for  its  complete 
realization,  assured  that  God  is  re^idy  to  hear 
their  cry,  and  to  second  with  the  aid  of  His 
Spirit  the  efforts  that  are  made  to  dispossess  and 
drive  out  the  hostile  powers  that  continue  to 
linger  in  His  kingdom?  It  is  their.s,  if  they  feel 
thus,  not  only  to  contend  in  the  best  of  causes, 
but  also  witli  the  sui'est  prospect  of  success  ;  for 
the  Lord  Himself  is  upon  their  side,  and  His 
word  of  promise  must  be  established. 

*Thns  heavenward  all  things  tend     For  all  were  once 
Perfect,  and  all  must  be  at  leng'h  restored. 
So  God  liaa  in^eatly  pint'O-ed  ;  who  would  else 
In  His  dishnnonreil  woik^  Him-^lf  endure 
Dishonour,  and  be  wi-ont'ed  ^^ithout  redress! 
— Come,  the",  and  add--"!  t-i  Ttiy  many  erownt. 
Receive  yet  one  as  radiant  as  tiie  .est. 
Due  to  Thy  la-t  find  mn.st  effectiiul  work. 
Thy  word  fu  tilled,  the  cnnqu-st  nt  a  world.'" 

— Faikbaikn's  Ezekkl,  pp.  501,  502.— W.  F.] 

DOOTKINAL   KEFLECTIONS. 

1.  Ch.  xl.-xlvi.  show  the  temple  and  its  ser- 
Tice ;  ch.  xlvii.  and  xlviii.,  the  land  and  the 
tity.  It  may  be  said  that  in  these  two  parallels 
temple  and  service  stand  related  to  each  other,  as 
do  laud  and  city.  The  temple  come.n  to  expres- 
sion in  its  service,  as  the  land  finds  its  most  ex- 
{iressive  name  in  the  city,  ch.  xlviii.  35.  But  the 
and  gets  sanctificatinn,  healing,  and  quickening 
from  the  temple  ;  so  that  the  watei-s  which  stream 


forth  from  the  temple  in  connection  with  th« 
entrance  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  into  tlie  sane 
tuary,  and  transmit  the  bli  ssiiig  of  the  temple  to 
the  laud,  are  the  kernel,  as  they  ai'e  the  connecting 
link  between  the  two  closing  sections  of  our  pro- 
phetic book. 

2.  Havernick  sums  up  what  has  preceded  in 
the  expression  (Kev.  xxii.  3)  :  "  And  the  throne 
of  God,  etc.,  shall  he  in  it,  and  His  servants  shall 
serve  Him."  Ch.  xl.-xliii.  treat  of  "theiiewau'! 
glorious  indwelling  of  the  Lord  in  Israel  ;"  ch. 
xliv.-xlvi.  "of  the  new  service  of  the  Lord  which 
shall  follow  on  the  gi-ound  of  that  completion  of 
all  the  divine  manifestations  of  gr.ace  ;"  now, 
however,  according  to  him,  "the  rich  blessing  of 
God  which  comes  upon  the  new  community  from 
the  new  indwelling  of  God  "  is  described.  This 
latter  assertion  cannot  be  upheld  in  tlie  face  of 
ch.  .\lvii.  ;  at  least,  vers.  1-12  of  that  chapter, 
keeping,  as  they  do,  within  Canaan,  appear  to 
exhibit  in  a  very  characteristic  manner  the  per- 
fection of  Israel,  rather  than  to  contain  an  account 
of  what  accrues  to  the  new  community  of  the 
Lord  in  the  way  of  a  lich  blessing  of  God.  Tlie 
community  of  the  future,  with  the  service  which 
obtains  in  this  temple,  is  described  as  being  what 
it  should  be.  For  as  Jehovah  (ch.  xxxvi.  27) 
puts  His  Spirit  within  Israel,  so  He  makes  them 
walk  in  His  statutes,  aud  keep  and  do  His  judg- 
ments. But  this  sanctification  of  Israel  cnnies 
(ch.  xxxvii.  2S)  with  the  sanctuary  in  the  midst 
of  them.  Hence  not  only  the  specially  priestly 
temiile-service  (ch.  xliv. ),  but  likewise  the  repre- 
sentation therein  of  the  people  by  the  prince,  yea, 
the  people  themselves  (ch.  xlvi.  3,  9),  and  that, 
as  ch.  xlv.  shows,  as  to  judgment  and  justice 
(comp.  ch.  xliv.  24)  in  all  their  affairs  (ch.  xlv. 
9  s(\. ),  appear  in  connection  with  the  sanctuary. 
When  Ezekiel  portrays  the  new  community  as 
conformed  to  the  law  in  their  worship,  this 
specially  manii'ests  the  connection  of  the  sancti- 
fication of  Israel  with  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah 
(in  accordance  with  ch.  x.xxvii.  28)  ;  in  general, 
however,  the  prophet  comes  in  this  wav  only  to 
that  which  he  has  always  thro'^ghout  nis  book 
prophesied  as  the  form  of  the  .sanctification  and 
holiness  of  Israel.  Only  the  deviations  here  and 
there  from  the  Mosaic  law  in  the  service  of  the 
future  defined  by  the  temple,  and  in  general,  the 
freedom  which  prevails  in  this  respect  in  the 
ordinances  (while  Ezra's  scnipulously  exact  ad- 
herence to  the  law  shows  the  direct  ojipositei, 
presuppose  so  very  significantly  for  this  future  ot 
which  Ezekiel  prophesies  the  fulfilling  of  the  l:iw 
in  the  popular  life.  The  letter  of  the  law  is,  .is 
to  its  spirit,  learned  in  the  .Spirit  which  Jehovah 
put  within  Israel  (comp.  also  ch.  xxxix.  29),  in 
that  it  is  lived,  in  that  the  idea  of  the  law  has 
become  the  life  of  the  people.  Thus  there  is  an 
end  to  the  pedagogy  of  the  law.  The  fulfilled 
idea  of  the  law,  as  exemplified  by  our  prophet, 
realizes  itself  in  a  newness  of  life.  But  that  this 
newness  has  still  its  expression  in  a  legal  form,  iu 
the  forms  of  the  Mosaic  worship,  ..s  little  dis- 
parages the  new  reality  of  the  futur=  as  when  in 
the  New  Testament  the  sacrificial  serWce  fur- 
nishes clothing  for  the  thoughts  of  the  Christian 
life.  It  is,  however,  a  proof  not  only  of  the 
priestly,  but  of  the  historical  >>tiindpo;nt  gener.illy 
of  P^zekiel's  prophecy  ;  it  is  the  necessarj-  shell 
whic'h  adheres  thereto.  Comp.  V/:sides  the  Doct. 
KeHec.  on  ch.  xl.-xlvi. 


4S1 


EZblKIEL. 


2.  The  watirs  from  the  sanctuary — to  which 
they  aie  finally  traced  back  again  in  ver.  ]2,  and 
consequently  are  represented  as  belonging  thereto 
— no  doubt  raise  up  fniit -bearing  trees  on  their 
banks  ;  but  the  significance  of  this  is  not  the 
ainplilication,  e.g.  of  ch.  xxxIf.  26  sq.,  that  is, 
the  fruitfulness  of  the  land  (ch.  xxxvi.  8  sq.,  29 
sq. ) ;  for  as  the  aim  of  this  water  is  tlie  healing  of 
the  Dead  Sea  (ch.  xlvii.  8  sq. ),  so  likewise  the 
foliage  of  these  fruit-trees  serves  for  healing  (ch. 
xlvii.  12).  We  may  say:  As  the  aim  of  the 
temple-sanctuary  is  sanctification,  so  that  of  the 
waters  from  the  sanctuary  is  healing,  so  that 
sanctification  and  healing  are  the  two  leailing 
theological  thoughts  domiuacing  the  whole  closing 
part  of  Ezekiel.  But  with  the  thought  of  healing 
the  completion  of  Israel  is  alreaily  alluded  to. 

4.  Ch.  xvi.  53  prophesied  the  ethical  restora- 
tion of  Sodom,  and  the  same  thought  returns  here 
with  the  healing  of  the  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
Since  the  Dead  .Sea,  like  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
stand.s  throughout  the  whole  of  Scripture  as  a  type 
of  judgment,  the  judgment  is,  in  the  character  of 
threatening,  by  its  healing  symbolically  removed 
from  the  sight  of  Lsrael.  Israel  by  its  sanctification 
ii  exempted  from  judgment,  has  no  further  judg- 
ment to  fear  (ch.  xxxix.  29).  The  healing  of  the 
Dead  Sea  in  its  land,  w'hich  immediately  precedes 
the  settling  of  the  boundaries  and  the  divi.sion  of 
the  land  (ch.  xlvii.  13  sq. ),  is  the  characteristic 
symbol  of  the  completion  of  Israel,  the  commu- 
nity of  God.  Only  the  salt  pools  and  pits  of  ch. 
xlvii.  11  still  remain,  but  in  the  same  way  iis 
when  in  the  closing  verse  of  Isaiah  (ch.  Ixvi.  2-4) 
they  go  out  and  look  u]ion  the  carcirses  of  the 
apostates,  whose  worm  dieth  not,  etc.,  and  who 
are  an  abhorring  unto  all  flesh. 

5.  From  (jeuesis  onward,  which  also  relates  the 
genesis  of  Israel  as  the  people  of  God,  there  runs 
through  Holy  Scripture  a  twofold  reference, 
namely,  to  the  people  of  the  promise,  and  to  the 
Tromised  Land.  This  twofold  reference  meets  us 
here  also  in  these  closing  chapters.  But  as  we 
have  repeatedly  seen,  the  people  of  Israel  are  to 
be  taken  in  their  prophetical  character  of  the 
future'  as  referring  to  mankind,  and  the  land  of 
Israel  is  to  be  taken  as  referring  to  the  earth. 
Now  in  Ezekiel,  people  and  land  become  united 
in  the  symbol  of  the  sanctuary,  of  the  temjile  in 
the  midst  of  the  twelve  tribes  and  their  portions 
of  land,  as  indeed  the  prophet  accentuates  this 
centre,  which  thus  unites  all  the  parts  into  a 
whole.  By  this  the  idea  is  symbolized  which 
has  realized  itself  in  the  Son  of  man,  who  unites 
mankind  in  Himself ;  who  as  the  second  Adam  is 
the  centre  for  the  whole  earth  ;  who  can  say  :  To 
Me  is  given  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  go 
ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole  creation !  We 
have  there  the  sanctuary  for  sanctification,  and 
here  the  Sa'iour  for  healing ;  preparation  and 
fulfilment,  lieginniug  and  end. 

6.  Stier  on  John  vii.  38  rightly  interprets  the 
word  of  Scripture  to  which  our  Lord  appeals  there 
as  referring  to  Christ  Himself  (  Words  of  the  Lord 
Jem»,  vol.  v.  p.  282  sq. ;  Clark's  Tr.).  When 
here  in  Ezekiel  the  healing,  life-giving  waters  flow 
fiom  the  temple,  then,  at  least  according  to  what 
Scripture  here  says  (but  conip.  also  Joel  iv.  [iii.] 
18,  and  afterwards  Zech.  xiv.  8),  the  fulfilment 
cannot  po.ssiWy  be  sought  for  in  him  who  believes 
in  Christ,     (o  TiffTwuv  li;  i/a  corresponds  lo  the 


if  portal  rfo;  ifLi  (ver.  37),  just  as  in  John  vi.  3i 
0  kp-^ifjLiva:  rfc;  fxi  aud  o  Tiffnt/oj*  I'l;  ijut  mutually 
correspond.)  The  aOn;,  out  of  whose  xmXia 
ToTau.li  ftvtiviTtv  ijdoLTos  t^a/^Tcsy  can  also  accord!  jo 
to  John  only  be  He  i/  it  the  Baptist  (John  i.  33) 
saw  TO  rrvivuit  xacapaivav  Ktxi  /.tiicy  iir*  aurav^  and 
with  allusion  to  whom  he  says  in  general  (Johu 

iii.    34):    el    yap   if.   fJLl-rpcu   OiQ!^i7iv  0  files   to   -Trvivua, 

This  One  who  is  the  Anointed  ai^r'  il'x^'  explains 
to  the  Jews  (John  ii. )  the  temple  of  His  body. 
Consequently  He  not  only  could,  but  must  have 
understood  of  Himself  what  the  Scripture  says  of 
the  "rivers  of  living  water  flowing  out,"  as  He 
also  began  by  saying:  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  Me ;  and  this  quite  apart  from  the  cir- 
cimistancc  that,  as  the  feast  suggested  ever  since 
the  march  through  the  wilderness,  "  the  spiritual 
rock  that  foUoweil "  was,  as  Paul  expressly  says 
in  1  Cor.  x.  4,  the  Anointed  One.  Zech.  xii.  10 
also  was  very  clearly  uttered  with  this  reference, 
as  Jesus,  too,  iu  John  vii.  39  spoke  of  the  Sj>irit, 
not  that  should  flow  out  from  him  that  believes 
on  Him,  but  "that  they  should  recei%'e  {Xa/iS.ati,>) 
who  believe  on  Him  ;  for  Tui/ua  ayio»  (in  the  sense 
of  the  outpouring  of  Zech.  xii.  10)  was  not  yet, 
because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified. "  Comp.  John 
XX.  22.  Thus  Christ  has  interpreted  Ezekiel 
xlvii.  1-12  as  referring  to  the  Spirit  of  Pentecost. 
When  Stier,  in  accordance  with  his  ajiocalyptic 
mysticism,  niakcs  the  thought  be  included  here  of 
"  the  community  of  the  Lord,  particularly  in  its 
glorious  final  perfection,  but  only  the  community 
as  a  whole,  in  so  far  as  the  Lord  Himself  flows 
through  and  fills  it,  sends  fortli  from  it  His 
streams  of  blessing, " — that  goes  beyond  the  letter, 
upon  which  Stier  insists  so  much,  and  beyond  the 
sense  and  spirit  of  the  letter  in  John  ;  and,  more- 
over, the  word  of  ]irophecy  in  Ezekiel  does  not 
point  to  such  a  perfection.  We  may  at  all  events 
say  with  KoHhack  (AV.  Johannu,  i.  p.  302  sq. ): 
"  in  the  derived  sense  the  saving  may  hold  good 
of  believers  ;  for  twelve  Galileau  fishermen  and 
publicans  produced  that  spiritual  movement  in 
the  world,  the  swell  of  whose  waves  stUl  at  the 
present  time  presses  onward  to  the  remotest  ends 
of  the  earth."  "  Interpreted  as  referring  to  be- 
lievers generally,"  observes  Eolfhack,  "it  could 
not  but  wholly  mislead  thousands  regarding  their 
own  faith  and  that  of  their  brethren.  ' 

7.  Hengstenberg  says  in  his  commentary  or 
our  prophet:  "We  shall  have  to  regard  as  th» 
Mediator  of  this  salvation  for  the  whole  world  th- 
exalted  Descendant  of  David,  who,  acconling  t"- 
ch.  xvii.  23,  grows  up  from  a  feelde  Siipling  to  i. 
glorious  cedai',  under  which  all  fowls  dwell ;  to  tho 
fowls  of  every  wing  there,  correspond  here  the  fish 
of  every  kind  in  ver.  10.  In  harmony  with  ou"" 
prophecy,  the  salvation  here  announceil  took  its 
beginning  in  the  time  of  the  second  temple,  and 
poureil  itself  forth  from  the  place  where  Jesus 
had  the  chief  seat  of  His  activity  over  the  nations 
of  the  earth"  (comp.  on  John  vii.  3,  4).  In  the 
Cliruitoloijy,  2d  ed. ,  he  observes  in  particular: 
"  In  Ezekiel  the  water  issues  forth  under  the 
threshold  of  the  house  toward  the  east ;  according 
to  the  Apocalypse,  the  stream  of  water  (iroceeda 
from  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb.  John 
has  completed  Ezek.  xlvii.  1  from  ch.  xliii.  7.  The 
reason  why  the  streams  of  salvation  now  proceed 
from  the  sanctuary,  is  that  the  Lord  has  entered 
into  it  with  His  glory.  From  the  temple,  now 
lying  iu  ruins,  they  could  not  issue,  because  tl:« 


CHAP.  XLVII.— XLVIII. 


•is; 


ti-nijile  was  not  yet  truly  the  jilace  of  God's 
tliione.  Tins  the  sanctuary,  that  is,  the  Church, 
first  became  through  Him  in  whom  dwells  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  Henceforth  it  is 
called  'Jehovah  there,'  ch.  .\lviii.  35.  As  the 
anuouucemcnt  of  the  indwelling  of  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  in  ch.  xliii.  found  its  fulfilment  in 
Christ,  so  .John  points  to  this  when  he  speaks  of 
the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb."  In  his 
commentary  he  says ;  "The  relations  of  the  New 
Testament  to  our  section  (ch.  xlvii.  1-12)  are 
very  rich  and  manifold.  In  reference  to  it  the 
Lord,  in  Matt.  iv.  18,  19,  speaks  to  Peter  and 
And".w.  On  it  rests  the  miraculous  draught  of 
fishes  by  Peter  at  the  beginning  of  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  (Luke  v.),  ami  likewise  the  draught  after 
the  resurrection  (John  .xxi. ).  Jesus  with  evident 
design  embodies,  at  the  commencement  and  the 
close,  the  contents  of  our  prophecy  in  a  symbolic 
act.  Not  less  allusive  to  our  prophecy  is  the 
parable  of  the  net  which  gatliered  of  eveiy  kind 
(Matt.  xiii.  47).  Finally,  in  Rev.  xxii.  1,  2,  the 
last  and  most  glorious  fulfilment  is  announceil. " 

8.  "  Other  |irophets,  too,  have  the  .symbol  of  a 
temple  fountain  (comp.  Joel  iv.  [iii.]  18,  and  Zech. 
xiv.  8),  but  nowhere  is  it  seen  so  beautil'ully 
carried  out  as  here"  (Umbreit).  The  funda- 
mental passage,  or  at  least  the  older  passage,  is 
Joel's.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  consider 
Kzekiel  as  borrowing  from  Joel ;  the  thought  is 
ajiplied  as  originally  in  him  as  in  Joel  or  Zecha- 
riah  ;  the  only  thing  cummon  to  the  three  is  the 
water.  But  immistakeably  there  is  a  connection 
between  the  three  pro])hetic  passages.  That  which 
the  healing  of  the  Dead  Sea,  this  removal  of  a 
spectacle  of  judgment  as  old  as  the  days  of 
Abraham,  signifies  in  Ezekiel  as  to  the  fulfilment 
of  Israel,  is  in  Joel,  likewise  as  to  Israel,  expressed 
in  the  watering  of  the  valley  of  Shittim,  which 
symbolizes  as  fulfilled  the  wildemessjourney  of 
Israel,  their  period  of  probation  generally.  With 
tlie  east  sea  Zechariah  takes  up  Ezekiel's  thought  of 
judgment  of  the  Dead  Sea,  but  with  the  west  sea  he 
subjoins  thereto  reference  to  the  salvation  coming 
from  the  Jews  unto  the  Gentiles.  The  Israel 
completed  in  the  Messiah,  in  Christ,  the  temple, 
draws  water  with  joy  from  the  wells  of  salvation 
(Isa.  .\ii.  3).  When  Jehovah  counts  and  writes 
up  His  people  among  the  nations  (Ps.  Ixxxvii.), 
all  His  springs  are  in  Zion.  "  Ho,  every  one 
that  thir.steth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,"  it  is  said 
in  Isa.  Iv. ,  for  there  is  a  river  whose  streams 
make  glad  the  city  of  God,  the  dwelling-place  of 
the  Most  High  ( Ps.  xlvi. ),  whereas  judgment  passes 
over  the  world  in  the  morning  of  the  day  of  the 
Lord.  Peace  to  him  that  is  far  off,  and  to  him 
tliat  is  near,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  healed  it,  Isa. 
Ivii.  19. 

9.  Before  we  take  up  for  comparison  the  repre- 
sentation given  in  the  Revelation  of  John,  let  us 
Prst  consider  the  order  in  our  prophet.  That 
which  was  prophesied  to  Israel  specially  in  ch. 
xxxvii.  26  is  carried  into  etl'ect  in  ch.  xl.-xlviii., 
in  which  the  Messianic  salvation  as  to  land  ami 
city  is  symbolically  set  forth  in  the  temple,  its 
service,  and  the  waters.  These  chapters  are 
eschatological  in  the  sense  that  Christ  and  the 
Christian  Church  are  the  end,  the  fulfilment  of 
Israel.  Ch.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.,  again,  contain 
eschatology  in  another  sense,  that  is,  the  Chris- 
tian .sense;  see  p.  37-1  sij.  'These  rhapters  are  a 
specificall}  apocalyptic  enclave  in  Ezekiel,  whose 


close  (ch.  xxxix.  21  sip)  then  points  back  to  eli. 
xxxvii.,  by  way  of  ]jr.-paratiou  for  the  following 
chapters,  and  to  form  connection  with  theui. 
Thus  Gog  and  Magog  stretch  beyond  ch.  xl.- 
xlviii.  Since,  then,  the  schema  of  the  fulfilment 
of  Israel,  as  sanctification  to  be  God's  peo]ile  in 
the  spirit  that  is  to  be  poured  forth — tliis  fulfil- 
ment set  down  just  as  it  took  place  through  the 
Messiah,  by  means  of  the  Christian  Church — is 
summarily  expressed  in  ch.  xxxvii.  26  sq.  and 
xxxix.  29,  the  last  conflict  of  this  fulfilled  Israel, 
that  is,  of  the  Christian  Church,  is  foreseen  in 
the  apocalyptic  chapters  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.,  so 
that  the  world-progress  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
development  of  the  nationalities  for  and  against 
Christ  and  His  community,  will  lie  between  ch. 
xxxvii.  26  sq.,  or,  we  may  say,  between  ch. 
xxxix.  21  sq.,  and  ch.  xxxviii. -xxxix.  1-20. 
Alter  the  legal  yfttft-fca,  with  which,  although 
according  to  the  freedom  of  the  spirit  of  fulfil- 
ment, the  completion  of  the  Old  Testament 
Church  is  described  in  ch.  xl.  sq.,  there  comes, 
as  early  as  ch.  xlv.,  but  much  more  in  cli.  xlvii. 
13  sq.,  the  historical  ^fa/i^a  of  the  taking  pos- 
session of  and  dividing  the  Promised  Land.  As, 
in  order  to  understand  the  temple,  we  mu-st  go 
back  to  its  idea,  especially  after  the  entrance  of 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  (ch.  xliii. ),  and  as  in  con- 
nection therewith  (ch.  xliv. )  the  service  of  the 
community  of  this  sanctuary  is  understood  of  the 
worship  of  the  Father  through  the  Son  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  so  in  like  manner  the  only  signi- 
ficance which  the  undeniably  symbolical  temple- 
water  assigns  to  the  land  and  the  twelve  tribes, 
and  to  the  city  with  its  gates,  is  that  which  tile 
people  of  Israel  has,  through  the  Christian  Church, 
obtained  for  the  earth,  "the  lerritorium  of  the 
kingdom  of  God"  (Keil)  ;  for,  in  the  Church  of 
C'hrist,  Israel  has  become  complete  as  to  the 
members,  just  as  in  Christ,  the  Messiah  of  Israel, 
as  to  the  head.  The  Chiliastic  interpretation  of 
our  chapters,  even  if  correct  in  assuming  that  the 
letter  of  Ezekiel's  pro]ihecy — which,  however,  is 
symbolical — relates  to  Israel  and  Canaan,  that  is, 
tiiat  what  is  meant  is  an  earthly,  historical  fulfil- 
ment, nmst  still  be  regarded  as  advocating  a  re- 
storation to  the  pristine  condition,  irrespective  of 
the  fulfilment  of  the  Old  Covenant  in  the  New. 

10.  It  harmonizes  with  the  chronological  order 
given  in  Ezekiel  that  John's  Apocalypse  takes 
up  in  ch.  XX.  8  sq.  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel 
through  Gog  and  Magog  (ch.  xxxviii.),  that  is, 
in  its  specifically  apocalyptic  passage  (p.  3731,  and 
this  after  previously  introducing  in  Rev.  xix.  1 7 
sq.  the  final  conflict  against  Christ  of  anti- 
christianisni  and  pseudo  Christianity,  and  the 
judgment  and  overthrow  of  the  latter  as  the 
beginning  of  the  end  ;  we  have  seen  (p.  377)  why 
the  colouring  of  the  description  in  the  Ajiocalyjise 
is  borrowed  from  Ezek.  xxxix.  17  sq.  Tliat  this 
and  the  other  final  conflict  (Gog's)  both  belong 
to  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  of  Israel, 
is  perhaps  indicated  by  the  mention  o.''  the  ^'p^y/"' 
ToK  fn/iK"',  both  as  to  those  who  have  it  (Uev.  xix. 
20)  and  those  wiio  have  it  not  (Rev.  xx.  4),  which 
reads  as  parallel  to  ch.  xliv.  15,  although  the 
Old  Testament  framework  of  the  description  of 
the  sons  of  Zadok  has  something  essentially  dif- 
ferent of  its  own  mot  yet  overthrow,  but  digra- 
dation  is  inflicted  upon  those  who  stumbled,  in 
contrast  to  the  sons  of  ZadokK  But  it  Ezekiel  in 
ch.  xl.-xlviii.  beholds  Israel  perfected  on  eartt 


4SS 


KZEKIEL. 


in  tlie  temple  and  its  service,  and  placed  in  its 
twelve  tribes  witliin  the  bounds  of  Canaan,  and 
if  this  symbolical  representation  is  a  prophecy  of 
ChrLst  and  the  Christian  Church,  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  this  guise  on  earth,  then  the  Apocalypse 
of  John  interprets  the  certainly  apocalyptic  hint 
that  these  closing  chapters  of  our  prophet  come 
after  the  attack,  etc.  of  Gog,  and,  beginning  by 
making  Rev.  xx.  11  sq.  the  end  of  the  world,  the 
last  resurrection  and  the  final  judgment  precede 
Gog's  attack ;  hence  it  interprets  our  ch.  xl.-xlviii. 
us  referring  to  the  perfection  of  the  Christian 
Church,  the  kingdom  of  glory  {Rev.  xxi.  1-xxii. 
■I)  ;  and  here,  corresponding  to  Ezekiel's  earthly 
description  (Canaan),  the  Apocalypse  describes  a 
new  earth,  and  also  retains  throughout  the  Old 
Testament  colouring  of  our  prophet.  The  justi- 
fication of  interpreting  John's  Apocalypse  with 
this  application  is  to  be  found  in  the  principle 
that  the  perfection  of  the  Christian  kingdom  of 
God  at  the  end  of  the  world  is  just  the  full  final 
perfection  of  Israel  in  Christ,  just  as  Israel  after 
the  Spirit  and  the  Church  of  Christ  are  only  one 
continuous  thing.  That  which  the  general  judg- 
ment in  John  carries  out  in  its  reference  is  indi- 
cated by  the  giving  over  to  salt  in  Ezek.  xlvii. 
11,  with  respect  to  the  completion  of  Israel ;  and 
as  the  (Dead)  Sea,  in  ver.  8  there,  is  healed  to 
life,  so  in  Rev.  xx.  13  the  sea  gives  up  its  dead, 
and  there  is  no  more  sea  (ch.  xxi.  1),  and  there 
shall  be  no  more  death  (ch.  xxi.  4).  That  Keil 
says  too  much  when  he  saj-s  :  "The  prophetic 
picture  in  Ezek.  xl.-xlviii.  gives  a  clear  idea  of 
Ibe  kingdom  of  God  erected  by  Christ  in  its  full 
configuration,"  is  already  evident  from  his  own 
limitation  of  this  assertion,  for  he  supposes  merely 
a  "partial  Old  Testament  outline  to  this  New 
Testament  image  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  Rev. 
xxi.  and  xxii."  But  stiU  more  markedly  does 
the  compaiTson  of  the  Apocalypse  present  essential 
differences.  While  Ezekiel's  temple  is  situated  in 
Canaan,  as  repeatedly  stated  in  ch.  xlv.  and  xlviii., 
the  New  Jerusalem  (Rev.  xxi.  2,  10)  comes  down 
out  of  heaven  from  God.  Tne  distinction  is  not 
this,  that  In  Ezekiel  city  and  temple  are  separated, 
but  that  the  New  Jerusalem  of  the  Apocalypse 
has  no  temple  whatever,  God  and  the  Lamb  are 
its  temple  (ch.  xxi.  22) ;  and  this  furnishes  the 
most  express  confirmation  of  the  explanation 
given  of  Ezekiel's  temple,  as  referring  to  the 
dwelling  of  God  in  Christ.  While  in  Ezekiel  the 
entire  circuit  of  the  temple  is  most  holy  (ch. 
xliii.  12,  xlv.  3),  in  John  this  now  holds  of  the 
city.  The  glory  of  God  entering  into  and  filling 
the  temple  in  Ezekiel  (ch.  xliii.,  xliv.)  lightens 
the  city,  etc. ,  in  Rev.  xxi.  23  ;  its  gates,  too,  are 
not  shut ;  compare,  on  the  contrary,  Ezek.  xliv. 
2,  xlvi.  1  sq.  So  also  it  can  be  said  that  the 
holy  city  of  the  Apocalypse  is  called  the  "  bride  " 
<;h.  xxi.  2,  9)  of  the  Lamb,  just  as  He  is  alike 
her  Temple  and  her  Bridegroom.  The  closing 
representation  of  John's  Revelation  is  occupied 
with  this  city  of  twelve  gates,  and  is  accordingly 
borrowed  from  the  close  of  Ezekiel,  from  the  city 
"Jehovah  Shammah "  (ch.  xlviii.  351.  Apart 
fiom  particulars,  the  ample  magnificence  of  pre- 
(ious  stones  and  gold,  etc.  in  Rev.  xxi.  18  sq. 
lorms  a  no'eworthy  contrast  to  the  meagre  sim- 
plicity of  Ezekiel's  temple  (p.  445).  Moreover, 
the  cube  form  (Rev.  xxi.  16),  like  the  most  holy 
place,  comes  very  specially  into  consideration  for 
the  New  Jerasalem.     Bwt  in  respect  of  the  river 


of  the  water  of  life  (Rev,  xxii.  1  sq. ),  it  has  to  I  e 
noticed  that  in  the  Apocalypse  it  flows  in  tha 
midst  of  the  street  of  the  city,  and  that  the  leaves 
of  the  tree  of  life  on  either  side  are  designated  a» 
I'n  tipxTuxt  Till  iftut,  a  still  clearer  reference  to 
Ezekiel  (ch.  xlvii. ),  and,  in  accordance  with  the 
original  promise  that  in  Abraham's  seed  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed,  removing 
for  the  Gentile  world  (as  already  in  Rev.  xxi.  24) 
the  apparent  limitation  to  Israel  of  Ezekiel's  pro- 
phetic description;  as  Neumann  expresses  it: 
"The  transformation  of  Israel  to  a  blessed  eternity 
is  the  consecration  of  the  nations,  Isa.  Ix.  3  sq." 
Hengst.,  who  in  the  2d  edition  of  his  ChrUt- 
oloijy  makes  the  symbolical  view  of  our  closing 
chapters  be  confinned  beyond  question  by  the 
Apocalypse,  jnst  as  he  attributes  "to  the  entire 
description  of  the  new  temple,  in  its  main  points, 
a  Messianic  character  "  ( "  and  of  such  a  kind  that 
under  the  New  Testament  the  fulfilment  is  always 
going  on,  while  the  completion  belongs  to  the 
future"),  in  his  commentary  on  Ezekiel  cannot 
keep  the  Apocalypse  and  the  prophet  far  en  ugh 
apart,  simply,  indeed,  on  the  ground  that  "in 
Ezekiel  everything  is  mundane,  tliere  everything 
is  supramundane  ;"  neither  of  which  is  the  ca.se, 
not  even  in  the  form  of  expression,  and  also  not 
so  in  the  sense  ex])resseil.  At  all  events,  Heng- 
stenberg  finally  concedes  in  his  conjmentary  that 
"  the  fact  cannot  be  mistaken,  that  in  a  certain  (?) 
sense  the  entire  description  of  the  new  temple 
bears  a  Messianic  character,"  etc. 

11.  The  Mosaic  law  may,  in  respect  to  worsl'.ip, 
be  said  to  culminate  in  the  temple,  just  as  its 
goal  and  that  of  the  temple  is  tlie  Anointed  One, 
as  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  in  general  ;  and  so  the 
spirit  of  the  law,  as  well  as  the  .S]iirit  of  Christ, 
may  be  considered  as  the  water  llowing  from  the 
temple.  Both  met  together  at  the  first  Pentecost 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  moreover,  those  of 
Israel  on  whom  the  Spirit  was  poured  forth  were 
assembled  in  the  temple  :  and  the  preaching  of 
Peter  was  like  a  first  bursting  forth  of  these  waters 
from  the  temple. 

12.  "The  Dead  Sea  has  its  place  in  worship 
also.  The  Talmud  Menachoth  prescribes  that  the 
salt  used  in  sacrifice  should  be  salt  of  Sodom. 
Every  sacrifice  receives  in  the  salt  the  death-con- 
secration, and  consequently  it  is  just  tliis  use 
which  explains  why  the  waters  of  life  flow  into 
the  sea  of  death.  As  all  the  health  and  blessed- 
ness of  a  glorified  future  well  forth  in  the  former, 
so  in  the  latter  surges  the  torment  of  the  curse, 
all  the  woe  of  the  divine  judgments  which  cul- 
minate in  death"  (Neum.). 

13.  The  fishei-3  in  the  vision  (ch.  xlvii.  1-12) 
are  not  mere  figures  in  the  landscape,  however 
true  it  is  not  for  the  East  alone  that  fishing  is 
part  of  the  picturesque  in  a  well-watered  region. 
For  what  Ezekiel  treats  of  is  not  so  much  the 
abundance  of  water  as  the  abundance  of  life,  of 
living  fishes.  And  so,  too,  Neumann  has  no  riglit 
to  bring  in  the  fishes  as  palatable  food  (Num.  xi. 
5  ;  Neh.  xiii.  16),  as  the  third  kind  of  Sabbath 
food  among  the  Jews,  in  order  to  get  "an  ii  vit- 
ing  attraction,"  which  is  altogether  foreign  to 
our  vision.  Tnie  it  is,  however,  and  needing  no 
reference  to  the  fishponds  beside  the  temples  of 
Paplios  and  Hierapolis,  and  the  fish  idols  Derceto, 
Oannes,  and  Dagon,  that  "in  the  multitude  o( 
fish  is  mirrored  the  most  exuberant  I ! )  and  richest 
fulness  of  life."    Neumann  observes,  moreover 


CHAP.  XLVII. 


4SS 


"  the  lively  movement  in  the  element  of  all  purity, 
in  order  to  contemplate  in  this  figure  the  most 
blessed  existence  of  tlie  sinless."  In  the  Talmud 
the  Messiah,  too,  is  called  "fish,"  and  according 
to  Abarbanel  the  constellation  Pisces  announces 
His  birth.  The  swarming  life  of  the  fishes  in 
ver.  9  sq.  is  dramatized  by  means  of  the  fishes. 
Neumann  says  on  this  occasion:  "To  man  was 
given  the  dominion  also  over  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
Gen.  i.  28  ;  Ps.  viii.  9  [8].  He  has  now  grasped 
the  sceptre.  Comp.  Isa.  xix.  5,  8.  The  great- 
ness of  the  affliction  there  testifies  to  the  greatness 
of  the  blessing  here.  In  Jer.  xvi.  16  the  fishers 
are  the  executors  of  the  judgment ;  in  Ezek.  xxvi. 
3  they  are  suretii'S  for  the  fulfilled  judgment. 
Yet  where  a  Dead  Sea  became  alive,  there  the 
fishers  in  their  ceaseless  movement,  in  the  ardour 
of  their  activity,  testify  that  here  the  curse  is 
changed  into  a  blessing." 

14.  The  palms  of  Engedi  continued  to  be  known 
to  a  late  period,  and  although  the  vineyards  of 
Cant.  i.  14  have  disappeared,  still  there  was  here 
a  place  of  life  not  far  from  the  seat  of  death. 
May  not  (asksNeumann)  the  other  fountain  (Eneg- 
laim)  have  been  in  equally  beautiful  natural 
scenery  ?  like  two  oases  on  the  border  of  the  Dead 
Sea?  "And  the  names  fountain  for  oxen  and 
fountain  for  goats  surely  indicate  pasture  grounds. 
Thus  the  fountains  would  encompass  like  a  silver 
frame  the  steppe  that  was  to  be  ti-ansformed,  and 
from  their  brilliancy  the  figure  itself  would  be- 
come light." 

15.  It  is  only  in  accordance  with  the  speci- 
fically Israelitish  tenor  of  Ezekiel's  prophecy,  par- 
ticularly in  this  closing  section,  that  in  ch.  xlvii. 
22  the  reference  to  the  Gentiles  keeps  itself  within 
Israel ;  enough  has  been  said  in  the  earlier  chap- 
ters for  supplementing  and  explaining.  Hofmann 
compares  Isa.  xiv.  1  sq. ;  on  which  Delitzsch  ob- 
seiTes  that  "  the  letter  of  the  promise  at  all 
events  is  not  in  a  New  Testament  form,  becaus" 
the  community  (ecclesia)  has  no  other  mode  oi 
manifestation  for  Old  Testament  days  and  Old 
Testament  perception  than  the  national  form.  This 
national  form  of  the  community  is  broken  up  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  will  never  be  restored." 

16.  "When  the  new  earth  is  designated  as 
Canaan,  and  the  new  humanity  as  the  nation 
of  Israel  mth  its  twelve  tribes,  tliis  is  because 
that  has  appeared  in  the  new  humanity  and  the 
new  earth  which  was  aimed  at,  begun,  and  pre- 
figured in  Israel  and  Canaan.  In  proportion, 
however,  as  the  kingdom  of  God  extends  itself  on 
earth,  and  the  salv.'ition  of  Christ  finds  faith  in 
men,  the  people  of  God  become  oecumenical,  gain 
over  the  earth,  and  obtain  the  mastery  of  the 
world,  untU  God  gifts  it  to  them  as  a  new  world. 
The  Revelation  of  John  omits  all  features  which 
refer  back  to  the  previous  devjlopment,  because 
it  has  to  do  with  the  absolute  consummation. 
God  will  one  day  make  the  new  altar ;  life  will 
give  health  to  the  sea  of  nations ;  at  last  we  have 
the  consummarion  before  our  eyes.  Our  temple- 
vision  miy  be  compared  to  paintings"  (Kaul- 
bach's  frescoes),  "which  attempt  to  represent  his- 
torical developments  upon  one  sheet,  and  must  be 
interpreted  and  understood  like  these"  (Klief. ). 

17.  The  city  Jehovah  Shammah  forms  the  anti- 
thesis not  to  Babylon  alone,  but  also  to  the  city  of 
Gog  (ch.  xxxix.  16).  Perhaps,  too,  the  permanent 
giave  of  Gog  (ch.  xxxix.  11  sq.)  and  the  healed 
Dead  Sea  stand  to  each  other  in  significant  contrast. 


18.  Hofmann  thinks  "  the  hope  which  was 
ever  and  anon  whispered  to  the  national  commu- 
nity  of  God  under  all  circumstances  is  not  lost 
either  to  the  community  of  God  which  then  existed 
in  the  form  of  a  nation,  or  to  the  nation  which 
was  called  as  such  to  be  the  community  of  God  ; 
and  the  fulfilment  will  correspond  in  both  respects 
to  the  prophecy. " 

HOMILETIC  HINTS 

On  Ch.  xlvii. 
Ver.  1  sq.  "  Before  his  view  stands  a  paradise 
of  the  nation  returned  to  God,  from  wliom  the 
fountain  of  life  flows  forth  in  richest  effusion, 
filling  the  land  and  all  waters  with  healing  virtues, 
— behold  in  this  the  word  of  God  in  its  vigour  of 
heavenly  Ufe,  destroying  disease  and  death  !  "  (Um- 
BREIT. ) — "  From  the  restored  temple  issues  finally 
salvation  for  the  whole  world"  (Hengst.). — "For 
this  is  the  most  intrinsic  characteristic  of  these 
waters,  that  they  spread  through  the  world  the 
conseci-ation  of  the  most  holy  place"  (Neum.). — 
The  waters  of  life  in  their  significance,  whence 
they  come,  and  whither  the}'  flow.  —  "Watei. 
which  makes  the  unfruitful  land  fruitful,  and 
affords  refreshing  drink  to  the  thirsty,  is  in  Scrip- 
ture a  figure  of  the  blessing  and  salvation  which 
already  in  paradise  are  represented  as  a  watering 
of  the  ground  [den.  xiii.  10).  Comp.  in  Isa.  xii. 
3  the  wells  of  salvation,  and  in  Isa.  xliv.  3  the 
Spirit  as  the  blessing,  for  the  root  of  disease  is 
sin"  (Hengst.). — "In  the  Church  of  the  New 
Covenant  there  is  a  river  of  living  water,  the  rich 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  flow  out  into  it. 
Only  we  must  come  aud  taste  this  water,  that  we 
may  be  m.ade  whole,  John  vii.  37  sq."  (Tub.  Bib.) 
— "  The  watering  of  Canaan  implies  a  great  spi- 
ritual fruitfulness "  (L.^mpe). — "The  gospel  is 
no  invention  of  man,  but  an  outflow  from  God 
in  Christ "  (Starck).  —  The  Eastern  and  the 
Western  Church. — "The  water  is  the  fatherly 
kindness  and  compassion  of  God,  out  of  whose 
treasury  innumerable  benefits  flow  to"  us.  The 
water  turns  at  once  to  the  altar  of  Christ,  becaus' 
we  behold  in  Christ  the  love  of  God,  and  from 
Him  flow  upon  mankind  the  spiritual  streams  of 
blessing  which  are  to  quicken  and  give  health  to 
the  world,  John  xiii.  10,  iv.  10"  (Heim-Hoff.  ). 
— "By  this  water  is  signified  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  which  offers  to  us  grace  and  the  for- 
giveness of  sins  in  Christ.  Water  cleanses,  so  do 
God's  word  and  grace  (John  xiii.),  of  which  bap- 
tism is  the  symbol.  Also  the  course  of  the  gospel, 
as  the  course  of  these  waters,  no  one  can  stop " 
(Lavateii). — "  It  is  the  water  of  life,  which 
Oriental  mysticism  in  vain  seeks  for  in  other 
places"  (UMBr.EiT). — Ver.  2.  "The  kingdom  of 
God  Cometh  not  with  outward  show  (Luke  xvii. 
20) ;  at  first  it  has  even  an  insignificant  ap- 
pearance, but  soon  it  grows  and  increases 
mightily  (Matt.  xiii.  31,  32)"  (W.).— "That  the 
waters  at  first  flow  out  so  gently  is  meant  to 
intimate  how  entirely  different  is  the  process 
in  the  kingdom  of  grace  from  that  in  the  course 
of  worldly  things.  For  whatever  glorious  or 
great  thing  takes  place  in  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world  creates  great  wonder  and  surprise 
in  its  very  beginning  ;  but  the  kingdom  of  God 
Cometh  not  so  (Luke  x^^i.  20).  In  the  kingdom 
of  God,  things  proceed  from  little  to  great  ;  in 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  often  from  great  ti 


490 


EZEKIEL. 


little  ;  Satan,  as  Luther  says,  be^iis  his  things 
with  lofty  impetuosity,  but  finall}-  they  end  in 
nothing,  and  everything  comes  to  disgrace" 
(Hafenkeffer). — "At  first  it  appeared  an  in- 
significant work,  with  a  few  disciples  in  Judea  ; 
then  it  was  preached  in  Samaria,  and  soon  after 
in  the  whole  world  "  (Lav ater). — Ver.  3  sq. 
"  Faith  has  always  to  do  with  the  water  here, 
namely,  because  it  is  constantly  occupied  with 
consideration  of  the  word  of  God  "  (Starck). — 
"No  one  has  learned  so  much,  that  there  is  not 
more  to  lejirn  still.  Christianity  is  prefigured  in 
the  water  through  which  Ezekiel  was  brought. 
Experience  teaches  that  the  longer  Christians 
exercise  themselves  in  godliness,  the  less  value 
they  set  on  themselves ;  they  confess  finally 
that  they  cannot  reach  the  bottom  :  they  can 
depend  upon  nothing  that  is  theirs,  but  must 
submit  themselves  simply  and  solely  to  the  grace 
aud  mercy  of  God"  (Sceiver). — To  him  that 
hath  shall  be  given,  that  he  may  have  abundance. 
— "  The  mysteries  of  the  gospel  are  like  a  deep 
river,  which  finally  becomes  so  deep  that  one 
cannot  sound  it,  Eph.  iii.  18"  (TtiB.  Bib.). — 
"  When  rea.son  cannot  fathom  the  divine  mys- 
teries because  of  their  depth,  the  faith  which 
trusts  .to  the  truth  and  wisdom  of  God,  as  it 
were,  swims  across,  Luke  i.  34  sq."  (St.\rck). — 
"We  find  here  a  twofold  figure;  the  one  is  the 
four  measurements  of  a  thousand  cubits  each, 
the  other  is  the  four  depths  of  the  waters.  The 
one  refers  to  the  exceeding  great  extension  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  toward  all  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe  ;  the  other  to  the  different  degrees 
in  the  measure  of  the  Spirit  to  which  the  nations 
called  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall  gradually 
attain,"  etc.  (Meyer.) — "The  four  world-king- 
doms in  Daniel  are  like  a  shadow  of  the  four 
great  epochs  in  space  and  time,  through  which  the 
waters  of  life  diffuse  their  fulness  over  the  world, 
gradually  transforming  it  until  its  peace  shall  be- 
come as  a  river,  and  its  righteousness  as  the  waves 
of  the  sea  (Isa.  xlviii.  18)  ;  until  the  earth  shall 
be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea,"  Isa.  xi.  9  (Neum.). — "So  the 
books,  too,  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  are,  as  to 
their  contents,  like  these  waters,  of  dissimilar 
depth.  Some  come  only  to  the  ankles,  others  to 
the  knees,  or  even  to  the  loins,  and  some  are 
altogether  unfathomable,  like  these  last  nine 
chajrters  of  our  prophet"  (Pfeiffer). — "At  first 
the  word  of  God  seems  to  us  like  water  which 
reaches  only  to  the  ankles ;  one  thinks  it  is  not 
80  deep,  one  will  easily  wade  tkrough.  But  when 
a  man  reflects  diligently  with  heartfelt  prayer, 
then  his  understanding  is  more  and  more  opened 
in  the  divine  illumination  ;  then  it  already  reaches 
his  knees — he  acquires  a  far  higher  esteem  for  it 
(Ps.  cxix.  129).  When  he  advances  farther,  he 
gets  always  deeper  into  the  hidden  wisdom,  and 
Holy  Writ  is  to  him  a  water  which  comes  to  his 
loins  ;  he  is  so  captivated  therewith,  that  he 
finds  in  it  his  highest  satisfaction,  and  forgets 
over  it  everj'thing  else  in  the  world.  Finally,  it 
becomes  a  water  over  which  he  must  swim ;  he 
cannot  fathom  the  mysteries  "  (Glassius). — "  The 
river  of  life,  which  is  at  first  small,  always  grows 
in  volume,  because  the  grace  and  knowledge  of 
Christ  should  always  increase  in  us  ;  and  the 
divine  love  and  mercy  should  appear  i  us  always 
greater,  more  glorious,  and  more  worthy  of  ad- 
miration, the  more  attentivelv  we  consider  them. 


For  who  can  comprehend  their  height  and  depth! 
Who  is  so  void  of  understanding  as  not  to  be 
astonished,  when  he  considers  that  the  God  of 
immortality  interests  Himself  in  poor  mortal 
man,  yea,  in  the  sinner,  who  so  often  rises  up 
against  Him  and  breaks  His  word,  imparts  to 
him  heavenly  treasures,  makes  him  immortal  and 
a  partaker  of  the  diviue  nature  ?  Of  this  spiritual 
blessing  more  and  more  is  always  imparted  to 
believers.  Here  we  have  sprinkling,  cleansirg, 
the  taking  away  of  the  heart  of  stone,  and  the 
impartation  of  the  new  heart,  and  the  anointing 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  such  measure  does  the 
water  of  life  increase  "  (Heim-Hoff.).— -"  Friends 
of  missions  behold  here  a  glorious  emblem  of 
missions,  particularly  of  the  most  blessed  mis- 
sionary activity  proceeding  from  Israer'(RiCHTER). 
— Ver.  6.  "In  this  life  we  see  darkly  and  through 
means  of  the  word,  hereafter  face  to  face,  1  Cor. 
xiii.  12  "(Starck). — Ver.  7.  The  gospel  makes 
fruitful  trees  on  aU  sides. — "How  wholesome, 
how  fruitful  is  the  living  water  of  the  gospel, 
and  of  the  gifts  of  the  Spu-it  which  it  gives  us  ! 
They  restore  health,  they  bring  forth  fruits  of 
blessedness  which  endure  unto  eternity,  John 
iv.  14"  (TiJB.  Bib.). — Blessed  is  the  man  that 
trusteth  in  the  Lord  (Jer.  xvii.  7  sq.).  —  "Be- 
lievers are  trees  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water 
(Ps.  i.)  ;  they  flourish  to  the  glory  of  God  (Isa. 
Ixi.),  aud  produce  rich  and  ripe  fruit  (Ps.  xcii. 
13  sq.)  "  (Starke).— Ver.  8.  Fii'St  itrbi,  and  then 
orbi,  holds  good  of  the  Messiah. — Salvation  is  o-' 
tlie  Jews,  but  it  is  a  salvation  for  the  world.— 
"  Covered  with  loose  pebbles  and  wOd  rifted 
rocks,  furrowed  by  dry  torrent-beds,  euclosed  and 
obscured  at  the  sides  by  lofty  chains  of  moun- 
tains, the  Arabah  exhibits  only  here  and  there 
traces  of  fertility  in  the  growth  of  herbs  and 
plants,  where  fountains  and  streams  flow  down 
from  the  mountains  ;  it  is  the  evening  gloom  ol 
the  wilderness-night,  the  land  in  which  is  the 
darkness  of  evening  (Isa.  xxiv.  11  ;  Jer.  ii.  6). 
The  steppe  a  world  in  the  bonds  of  death,  where 
the  mystery  moulders  below  in  silence,  and  shoots 
up  in  roses  of  the  grave"  (Neum.). — God's  sanc- 
tuary a  well-spring  of  life  for  the  Dead  Sea  of 
the  world  (Ps.  Ixxxvii.  7). — The  Dead  Sea  in  the 
darkness  of  nature,  in  the  light  of  the  promise.— 
God's  thoughts  of  peace  over  the  abysses  of  the 
world's  wretchedness. — Judgment  and  grace. — 
The  world  is  a  desert  and  a  Dead  Sea. — "Oh  the 
greatness  of  the  grace  of  God,  which  desires  not 
the  death  of  the  sinner,  but  his  healing  1 " 
(Starck.) — By  conversion  we  lose  our  former 
.salt. — -"In  other  cases  a  clear  and  wholesome 
stream,  which  flows  into  a  muddy  and  putrid 
lake  like  this,  becomes  ccrrupt  ;  it  is  otherwise 
with  the  gospel,  which  brings  recovery  and 
health  to  the  earthly-minded  heart"  (Starke).^ 
"The  gospel  is  a  word  of  life  to  them  who  believe 
in  it  (John  vi.  68)  ;  and  its  spiritual  livers  are 
living  waters  to  them  who  drink  thereof  (John 
iv.  10)"  (TtJB.  Bib.). — "  It  is  a  power  of  God,  but 
man  will  not  let  the  power  work,  Heb.  iv.  2 " 
(Starke). — Ver.  9.  ''The  sea,  the  restlessly  swell- 
ing depth,  an  emblem  of  disquiet  (Isa.  Ivii.  20), 
unfruitful  (Isa.  xxiii.  3),  boiling  up  with  violent 
impetuosity  (Job  vii.  12;  Ps.  xlvi.  4  [3]),  even 
in  its  most  glorious  aspect  only  darkling  night, 
like  phosphorescent  gleams  around  a  cornipt 
tree,  awakening  a  painful  desire  and  longing 
for  k'lii.hing   'orth   '.u   distant  voyages  (DeuL 


CHAP.  XLYII. 


491 


XXX.  13),  and  down  even  to  the  shady  abyss 
(Lam.  ii.  13),  unfathomable  and  dark,  the  most 
natural  expression  of  the  dark  and  destructive 
power  of  death  (Jer.  li.  42  ;  Mic.  vii.  19),  its 
harshness  increased  by  the  flood  supersaturated 
with  salt,"  etc.  (Keum.). — "In  the  Dead  Sea  of 
tjie  world  there  arises  just  such  a  gladsome 
swarm  of  those  who  have  become  partakers  of 
life  from  God,  as  formerly  of  ordinary  fishes  in 
the  natural  sea  at  the  creation.  The  salvation  is 
for  all,  >vithout  distinction  of  nation,  rank,  or 
age"  (Hengst.). — "From  death  into  life,  from 
the  service  of  sin  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
cliildren  of  God,  come  rich  and  poor,  young  and 
old,  bond  and  free,  Jews  and  Greeks,  who  receive 
into  them  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life.  For  who- 
soever calls  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shaU  be 
saved"  (Heim-Hoff.). — "The  fishes  in  the  water 
and  the  drops  in  a  river  are  innumerable  ;  so  also 
the  multitude  of  believers  shall  be  amazing,  Isa. 
Ix.  7"  (Starke). — "The  two  rivers  are  the  two 
Testaments,  the  two  sacraments"  (Starck). — 
Ver.  10.  "  The  ministers  of  the  Church  are  com- 
pared to  fishers,  bedause  of  the  contempt  with 
which  they  are  regarded  by  the  rich  and  powerful 
of  this  world  ;  because  of  their  labour  by  day  and 
by  night,  in  heat  and  in  cold ;  because  of  the 
fraitlessness  of  their  labour  at  times,  when  they 
say  with  Peter,  We < have  caught  nothing;  be- 
cause, too,  of  the  dangers  they  incur  in  stormy 
weather:  because  of  tlieir  confidence,  which,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  husbandman,  must  rest  on 
God  ;  because  of  the  various  kinds  of  imple- 
ments which  they  use,  nets,  hooks,  etc.,  preach- 
ing, inviting,  admonishing,  etc.  And  they 
rescue  souls  from  the  abyss  "  (Stakck). — Nets 
and  fishers  everywhere,  this  is  the  a)ipearance 
wh;ch  the  world  in  Christ  presents. — "The  world 
is  the  sea,  the  fishes  are  the  men  ;  so  loug  as  the 
fishes  swim  freely  hither  and  thither  at  their  own 
will,  they  profit  no  one,  but  when  caught  they 
are  profitable.  In  the  same  way,  so  long  as  men 
walk  according  to  their  own  lusts  and  pleasures, 
they  are  of  no  real  use  either  to  God  or  theii' 
neighbour  ;  but  when  the}'  are  caught  or  con- 
verted by  the  gospel  net,  then  they  are  profitable 
to  Godand  their  neighbour,  Philem.  11  "(Starke). 
— Ver.  11.  "In  the  Dead  Sea  of  the  world  the 
marshes  and  swamps  are  originally  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  main  sea  ;  the  only  difference  is, 
that  they  shut  themselves  off  from  the  healing 
waters,  which  flow  from  the  sanctuary.  Comp. 
the  saying  :  Ye  would  not,  and  the  drawing  of 
the  Father  (John  vi.  44),  which  comes  to  meet 
the  longing  of  the  soul.  It  is,  however,  sufficient 
punishment  for  the  world  that  lieth  in  wickedness 
that  it  continues  as  it  is"  (Hengst.). — "The 
nmd-puddles  probably  indicate  separatist,  self- 
contained  parties,  which  do  not  receive  those 
streams  of  salvation,  and  consequently  cannot  be 
healed.  To  these  belong  Gog's  adherents,  ch. 
xxxviii."  (RiCHTEE.) — "Such,  too,  are  those  who 
enti'ench  themselves  against  the  truth  and  craftily 
wi'est  the  Scriptures  throughout ;  people  of  this 
kind  are  not  easily  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth"  (Berl.  Bib.). — "Over  the  figures  of 
light  there  comes  once  more  a  dark  shadow.  Yea, 
nothing  can  rescue  from  death  that  which  is  his 
o«Ti  Isa.  xxvi.  14).  All  transformation  is  only 
the  fruit  of  a  ripening,  during  which  there  is 
constant  need  of  being  put  in  mind  of  the  day 
of  wrath,  which  comes  on  the  earth,  as  here  on 


Israel"  (Neum.). — He  who  will  not  htve  Christ 
wills  to  have  eternal  death. — No  salvation  out  Oi 
Christ. — "  The  eyes  of  God  regard  him  who  opposes 
Christ  as  a  morass,  because  he  prefers  the  wilder- 
ness of  sin  to  eternal  salvation,  Jolm  iii.  ]  9 " 
(Starck). — "He  who,  in  case  of  conversion,  .still 
seeks  to  retain  bj-paths  and  bosom  sins,  is  not 
upright  before  God.  Divided  allegiance  is  of  no 
avail  here,  Matt.  vi.  24"  (Starke). — "The  un- 
godly, who  despise  God's  word,  or  do  not  persevere 
in  the  path  of  life,  remain  dry  and  unfruitful. 
Blessed,  on  the  contrarj-,  is  the  godly  man  who 
meditates  on  the  law  of  the  Lord  day  and  night 
(Ps.  i.).  He  is  always  flourishing,  always  alike  ; 
he  walks  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  edifies  and 
elevates  others"  (Heim-Hoff.). — Ver.  12.  The 
blessed  growth  close  by  the  river  of  life. — Ever- 
green leaves,  yet  not  leaves  merely,  but  also  fruit ! 
'i'hus  it  is  with  life  from  God's  sanctuary. — 
Hypocrisy  and  true  piety. — "The  never-fading  of 
the  leaves  implies  the  perseverance  of  believers  in 
temptations,  in  persecutions,  in  death"  (Stai;ci;). 
— ' '  The  works  of  believers,  which  in  other  respects 
are  done  even  by  unbelievers,  are  fragrant  of  faith 
and  love,  and  are  therefore  fitted  for  couvertiug 
the  heathen"  (Berl.  Bib.). — "Woidd  that  all 
men  knew  how  well  it  is  with  hiin  who  is  in- 
cluded in  the  niunber  of  Christians,  of  true  mem- 
bers of  Jesus  !  Then  one  always  goes  onward 
(and  never  backward)  in  his  happiness  ;  he  is  in 
the  path  of  life,  and  always  receives  grace  for 
gi-ace  "  (RoTHE). — HeaUng  and  sanctification. — 
"A  pleasant  figure  of  the  blessing  imparted  to 
mankind  from  the  dwelling  among  us  of  the  God- 
man.  His  word  flows  forth  from  Him,  swelling 
through  all  lands  with  ever-increasing  power,  and 
always  more  and  more  disclosing  its  fulness.  He 
who  holds  to  it  and  is  rooted  in  it  brings  forth 
fiuit  continually,  and  it  has  power  to  quicken 
even  what  has  long  been  lifeless,  and  to  turn  the 
curse  into  a  blessing.  In  Christ  we  have  this  as 
a  matter  of  daily  experience  ;  Ezekiel  in  vision 
saw  it  in  the  future  ;  his  prophecies  have  respect 
to  us"  (DiEDRlCH). — Ver.  13  sq.  "In  the  com- 
munity of  God  every  one  has  his  place  and  his 
share  according  to  his  gifts,  1  Cor.  xii  28  "  (TOb. 
Bib.). — "Who  can  define  the  boundaries  of  the 
Church,  especially  in  the  last  days  ?  But  as  here 
the  boundaries  of  Canaan  are  defined,  so  the 
boundaries  of  the  Church  are  faith  and  life  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  whicli 
accordingly  no  one  is  to  overpass.  Gal.  vi.  16  " 
(Starke). — The  Church  of  God  has  her  boundaries 
within  and  without.  The  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light  (1  John  iii.  1  sq.). — "God  gives  to  His 
children  very  differently ;  from  him  to  whom  a 
double  portion  has  been  given,  a  corresponding 
retm'u  is  required"  (Starck).  —  "In  the  New- 
Covenant  the  same  gi-aee  is  offered  to  all  men. 
God  is  not  a  respecter  of  persons.  It  is  one  and 
the  same  Christ,  one  Spiiit  for  all.  Gal.  iii.  26  " 
(Starck). — Ver.  22  sq.  "  Oh  what  comfort  it 
is  that  tile  Gentiles  are  no  longer  to  be  strangers 
and  foreigners  from  the  promise,  but  citizens, 
and  of  the  household  of  God  !  Eph.  ii.  19  " 
(Starke). — "It  is  not  birth,  but  the  new  birth, 
that  makes  men  children  of  God"  (Starck). — 
' '  Here,  tmder  earthly  figures,  the  Jerusalem  that 
is  above,  with  her  children,  is  tyjiified,  and  tha 
calling  of  the  Gentiles  from  east  and  west  and  th« 
utmost  hounds  of  the  earth  is  described  ;  for  manj 
shall  ccme  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  anj 


492- 


EZEKIEL. 


sit  down  to  eat  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  Ps.  xlvii.  10  [9] "  (Heim- 
HoFF. ). — "God  here  opens  to  all  the  holy  gates  of 
His  Church,  and  prescribes  to  the  Church  her- 
self the  commandment  of  meekness,  lore,  and 
brotherly  kindness"  (Hafenkeffer). — "Those 
who  were  formerly  strangers  shall  then  be  heirs 
of  the  whole  world.  In  Christ,  in  faith,  in  the 
Kew  Covenant,  the  alien  disappears.  Those  who 
were  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and 
far  off,  and  they  who  are  nigh,  are  made  one ; 
the  two  are  made  one  new  man,  Eph.  ii.  12.  For 
he  who  is  in  Christ  is  through  faith  Abraham's 
seed,  and  an  heir  and  possessor  of  his  promise, 
Gal.  iii.  28,  29.  The  incorporation  of  believers 
into  Christ  makes  a  complete  unity,  and  a  new 
spiritual  body,  consisting  of  all  true  members 
without  distinction,  for  in  the  new  creation  all 
members  prosper  alike  before  God,  etc."  (Bekl. 
Bib.) — Eight  and  title  in  the  faith. 

On  Ch.  xMii. 

Ver.  1  sq.  "  As  the  tribe  of  Dan  stands  at  the 
beginning,  so  in  the  kingdom  of  God  the  last  are 
first,  Matt.  xix.  30"  (Stakck). — Believers  are  all 
Israel,  and  are  so  in  truth,  because  according  to 
the  Spirit  of  sanctification. — Ver.  8  sq.  "Thy 
heart  is  in  thy  midst ;  take  heed  to  whom  it 
belongs  :  is  it  a  temple  of  God  in  which  His  Spirit 
dwells,  1  Cor.  iii.  ?  or  is  it  a  habitation  of  un- 
clean spirits,  Luke  xi.  26  ?"  (Staeke.) — God  has 
an  eternal  right  to  the  centre  of  man  ;  hence  He 
says  to  man  ;  Give  Me  thine  heart ;  God  is  the 
centre  of  the  spirit  world,  and  in  Him  everything 
lives  and  moves. — "We  ourselves  ought  to  be  God's 
oblation"  (Stakck). — Ver.  11  sq.  "Teachers, 
above  all  men,  ought  to  keep  God's  commands  and 
do  that  which  they  teach  others.  They  ought  to 
attach  themselves  chiefly  to  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Lord,  around  which  they  dwell"  (Starke). — 
God  is  near  to  them  who  show  themselves  to  be 
His  priests  and  ministers  in  this  world. — "To 
err  with  the  erring  excuses  no  one  ;  the  way  is 
broad,  not  for  us  to  walk  on  it,  but  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  narrow  path  of  life  "  (Stakck).  — Ver. 
14.  "  Simon  Magus  wanted  to  buy  the  power  of 
imparting  the  Spirit ;  but  that  is  not  permitted, 
because  it  comes  siolely  from  the  Lord  s  portion, 
which  may  not  be  bought  or  sold  "  (Heim-Hoff.  ). 
—  "In  the  administration  of  church-estates  no- 
thing ought  to  be  applied  to  one's  own  use " 
(St.\rke).  —  Ver.  15  sq.  Wherever  believers 
dwell,  their  city  is  always  one  and  the  same. — 
"The  city  pertains  to  the  holy,  as  respects  the 
eternal  destination  of  its  inhabitants,  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  are  called  with  a  holy  calling ; 
it  is  in  very  truth  the  fellowship  of  the  saints, 
of  the  truly  anointed,  for  Christ,  the  glorious 
Head,  is  its  Temple  and  Sanctuary.  But  in  the 
actual  state  in  which  the  Church  appears  in  thLs 
world,  the  righteous  and  the  hypocrites  are  inter- 
mixed, and  there  are  many  nominal  Christians 
who  count  as  dead,  that  is,  in  the  death-list  of 
the  Church,  in  which  list,  indeed,  those  who  have 
died  in  the  Lord  are  not  inserted ;  but  from  the 
appea.ance  whi'h  she  presents  here,  the  Cliurch 
universal  on  e  irth  must  also  be.  regarded  as  a 
profanj  Church"  (after  Staeck). — On  all  the 
four  sides  which  bound  the  world,  and  alway.s 
by  thousands.  Thus  the  Church  has  spread  from 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead.    This  her  false  friends 


forget  when  they  believe  they  must  enrich  her , 
but  not  less  so  her  enemies  and  persecutors,  when 
they  imagine  they  needed  only  to  rush  upon  her 
at  full  speed,  thinking  her  small  and  contemptible, 
and  that  she  and  God  and  conscieme,  etc.,  aia 
nothing  but  vain  imaginations  inLerited  from 
our  ancestors. — Ver.  18  sq.  "  Beheld  here  the 
great  goodness  of  God,  who  thinks  of  even  the 
labourers  in  the  city  and  cares  for  them,  Jaa. 
V.  4"  (Starck). — But  every  Christian  ought  to 
be  an  upright  labourer,  as  everj'  stone,  whereve" 
it  is  placed,  belongs  to  the  building  and  coi 
tributes  to  its  erection. — Ver.  21  sq.  The  princ 
protects  the  holy  portion,  the  centre  of  the  whoie 
land,  "on  the  east  and  on  the  west;"  by  which 
may  be  signified,  that  a  state  which  has  compre- 
hended the  nature  and  signification  of  the  Church, 
both  in  her  eastern  and  western  course,  shall  stand 
alongside  of  her. — Ver.  23  sq.  "Let  every  man 
be  content  with  the  portion  of  temporal  goods 
which  he  possesses,  for  the  Lord  has  apportioned  it, 
Matt.  XX.  14"  (Tub.  Bib.).— Ver.  29.  "Thou 
rejoicest  when  thou  obtainest  an  earthly  inhe'ri' 
ance,  which  thou  often  canst  possess  only  a  very 
short  time  ;  strive  rather  for  the  heavenly  in- 
heritance, for  the  inheritance  that  fadeth  not 
away,  which  is  reserved  in  heaven  for  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  1  Pet.  i.  4"  (Starke).— Ver.  30  sq. 
The  goings-out  of  the  city  of  God  are  toward  the 
four  quarters  of  the  world  ;  its  power,  like  its 
mission,  exteuds  to  all  places  ;  yea,  our  faith  is 
the  victory  which  overcometh  ihe  worM. — The 
names  of  the  gates  are  the  nam  /s  of  the  tribes  , 
the  names  of  the  tribes  are  the  names  of  the  song 
of  Israel  ;  thus  the  gates  taken  together  are  the 
whole  of  Israel — that  is,  however,  Lsrael  in  spirit 
and  in  truth. — "  In  this  holy  city,  which  repre- 
sents the  Church  of  Christ,  the  Lord  is  always 
graciously  present,  who  says :  Where  two  or  three, 
etc.  (Matt,  xviii.  20),  and  ;  I  am  with  yor 
alway,  etc.  (Matt,  xxviii.  20).  Comp.  also  John 
xiv.  23.  Happy  are  we  when  we  receive  such  a 
name  that  it  can  be  said  of  us,  The  Lord  is  there ! 
When  the  Lord  dwells  in  us,  then  our  hope 
ascends  to  the  New  Jerusalem,  which  cometh 
down  from  heaven,  etc.,  Kev.  xxi."  (Heim- 
Hoff.) — "The  dream  of  the  patriarch  Jacob  has 
been  fulfilled  :  God  has  a  city  upon  earth,  ii. 
which  all  narions  are  to  share.  The  Word  wa.i 
made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  behelu 
His  glory,  etc.  Bethel  has  by  this  obtained  its 
fulfilment  even  to  the  name.  Thus,  then,  God 
Himself  has  set  the  prophet  free  from  Jerusalem, 
and  the  old  temple,  and  the  old  ordinances,  and 
shown  him  a  higher  form  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Ezekiel  proves  that  he  was  a  true  prophet 
of  God  by  the  fact  that  he  withdrew  his  narion 
from  the  service  of  the  flesh,  and  with  plain 
words,  and  also  in  figures,  prepared  them  for 
Christ,"  etc.  (DiEDRiCH.) — "The  name  of  the 
prophet  denotes  one  in  relation  to  whom  God  is 
strong,  who  speaks  not  from  his  own  heart,  but 
is  impelled  and  guided  by  a  supra -mundane 
power.  We  have  the  verification  of  this  name 
in  the  prophecies  before  us.  That  holds  good  of 
them  throughout  which  the  Lord  said  to  Peter  : 
Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee, 
but  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Not  one  of 
His  words  has  fallen  to  the  ground.  The  whoV 
course  of  history  has  verified  His  saying  in  ch. 
xxxiii.  33  :  They  shall  know  that  a  [prophet  liat'u 
been  among  them  "  (Hengsx.  ). 


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Date  Due 

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-*'  15  HO 

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l\f0  9-'54 

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MAU-C. 'ftA 

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